Oops, corrected. I'd have him in too but maybe it might be deemed too much a display of lack of trust in our other options, when they'll need to come in sooner rather than later anyway.
Last edited by CraftyToePoke; 14/03/2021 at 12:11 PM.
Oops, corrected. I'd have him in too but maybe it might be deemed too much a display of lack of trust in our other options, when they'll need to come in sooner rather than later anyway.
The Given comparison was made by me, and I still think it's relatively valid.
When Given was called up he had been released by Celtic, signed by Blackburn and been on loan at Swindon and Sunderland.
Bazunu was playing men's football at 16 with Rovers to a high enough level that one of biggest clubs in thr world signed him. At age of 18 when most keepers are still playing underage football City sent him out to get more 1st team experience and by all accounts he's doing very well in a sh1t team. I would be willing to bet that next season he'll be on loan in Championship.
I'm not saying it's the exact same as Given, my point is that Given at 19 wasn't as far ahead of him as you seem to suggest. If everyone was fit I wouldn't be calling for him to be starting, my point is more that if Kelleher is not fit he should be next in line and I wouldn't be overly concerned to see him start.
I think we could be lucky enough to have an excellent keeper competition for years to come
Still can't agree; they're the same age and that's about it.
It's a big performance gap turning in clean sheet after clean sheet en route to promotion from the second tier to shipping two goals a game en route to relegation at the foot of the third.
He good have a good future ahead of him, sure, but playing him against Serbia is in no way comparable to putting Given in for a friendly Russia, which I think was effectively the original comparison.
Fairy nuff. I would be quite worried if he had to start tbh; I still think he's not ready. I'd take Kelleher way ahead of him, and Westwood ahead of both. But sure lookit, let's see what happens I guess!
Westwood to start in Serbia if fit
Agreed. 500 games, mostly at a higher level than Bazunu has ever managed for starters. 21 caps too, and I think he was harshly treated a few times down the years as well, though sub keeper is always a tough one at international level. Regular first-team starter, injuries permitting. There's a tendency on here to overstate the current ability (as opposed to the potential) of our young players, and I think this is another case. I wouldn't have Westwood as far ahead of Kelleher as I would Kelleher ahead of Bazunu, but I think I'd start him.
Westwood should be further ahead of Kelleher (than Kelleher ahead of Bazunu) by that logic. And I'd agree.
Westwood seems the logical choice as a stopgap, maybe till the end of next season when Kelleher, Bazunu and Travers might be getting games at Championship level or equivalent. But given how his injury-prone nature and sometimes less than fulfilling experiences with the team (21 caps is a poor return for a player of his ability and it's easy suggest he was sometimes unfairly overlooked) would he have any interest in turning up to win another six or seven essentially meaningless caps? I'm inclined to throw caution to the wind and say go with Kelleher - young keepers need games, he's played at the highest level this season, albeit not much, and caps now would be an investment for his development. Might also put him in the window for a loan or an offer Liverpool couldn't refuse.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
I'm happy to give Kelleher some credit for being the current Liverpool reserve and for having played in the CL group stages. I think he'd do ok if he played, though it'd still be a risk as he has relatively little experience still. Bazunu is some way off that yet. He may be on the same potential chart, but he's a couple of years behind and right now, that's too much for my liking.
Also, the question posed by a couple of posters as to whether he'd accept a call-up is quite valid.
He's one or two games off that yet, not quite the few hundred Kelleher is off Westwood.
It's not just about counting the number of games though. I mean, I'm also one or two games off Kelleher's CL total but I'm not suggesting I be called up. It's what it says about each player that Kelleher is trusted with a CL game while Bazunu is sent out to Rochdale. They're at different stages in their development.
Westwood, meanwhile, has lots of experience at a level that's about as low as I'd ideally like to see a capped player. But Forde did a job from that division in fairness
That's fine, but how you can think Kelleher is closer to Westwood than Bazunu is to Kelleher is bizarre to me. Come on like.
Bookmarks