The Shay Given situation

[tetsujin1979]

Ah come on Tets, stats don't tell the whole story though. Reina is a decent shot-stopper (no more) but is incredibly dodgy at coming for crosses. Even without the green-tinted specs on, I'd still rate Given as a far more accomplished keeper than Reina. If he had that Liverpool defence in front of him the whole time he'd have a hell of a lot more clean sheets...

I never said he was better than Given, just that to say there are at least 12 keepers in the Premiership better than Reina is way over the top. Reina would get in ahead of most keepers in last season's top 12, bar possibly James, Van der Sar and Cech

[EAFC_rdfl]

Given is miles and miles more gifted than Almunia

Don't think you needed to go to the bother of reading an arsenal forum to figure that one out in fairness. Almunia is much like Reina and to a lesser extent Van Der Saar, they have a pretty decent back 4 in front of them which is a big help, whereas the likes of Freidel at Blackburn and Given/Harper at Newcastle will be a lot busier due to the lack of quality in front of them

[seanfhear]

Reina is the best keeper in the premiership and probably the only keeper in that league I'd certainly rate above Given. That statement is just nuts, Reina is supurb.

Anyway, I checked out an Arsenal forum to see what they make of the situation. It's unanimous that Given is miles and miles more gifted than Almunia and the general feeling is that at 3.5m it's a steal. They're concerned about his injury record but otherwise it would seem to be a popular transfer among the supporters.

I have to disagree with you about reina.He definetly has the dracula syndrome although he is a good shot stopper and penalty saver.
Anyway to much more important stuff is there much substance to given going to arsenal.This would be a fantastic move for him if he fully recovers from his injury and would give him the opportunity to show doubters[even people with minor doubts]his true standing as a premiership/world goalkeeper

[carloz]

Reina is the best keeper in the premiership and probably the only keeper in that league I'd certainly rate above Given. That statement is just nuts, Reina is supurb.

Cech, Van Der Sar and Friedel are much more impressive than Reina. You cant say a keeper that is awful at crosses is the best in the Premiership. Personally i prefer Given, he has no obvious weakness unlike Reina

[Dr. Ogba]

Cech and Van der sar have had very poor seasons, that may have been true in the past, not anymore.
Friedel? odd choice, I'd say he's at least 3 years past his best.

I don't think I'm overrating Reina when I say that he's top 5 in the world. Coupet, Buffon, Casillas and Frey are the only ones that I'd say are undoubtedly better than Reina.

being a keeper is not just about being a decent shot-stopper. Assuredness under a high-ball is arguably more important and Reina is just pure dodge in dealing with crosses. I'd love to see how he would perform with that Newcastle defence in front of him...

[DmanDmythDledge]

that's a massive sweeping statement, Reina has kept the most clean sheets in the Premiership for 3 seasons in a row, and reached 50 clean sheets faster than any keeper in Liverpool history. He's one of the best keepers in the Premiership.

Well firstly I meant crap relative to the level he is considered to be. As others have pointed out already he is brutal in the air. He is a good shot stopper but you wouldn't make it as a keeper at U12s without being a good shot stopper.

Liverpool's defence was excellent before he arrived. Yes, he has improved it a bit but enough to be considered one of the best in the Premiership.

As for the dozen keepers I rate ahead of him (in no order):

James
Cech
van der Sar
Friedel
Niemi
Cudicini
Green
Given
Jaaskelainen
Howard
Lehmann (although he's gone now)
Gordon
Robinson

Also a couple others I would possibly consider better but haven't seen enough of them to judge properly.

[seanfhear]

Cech and Van der sar have had very poor seasons, that may have been true in the past, not anymore.
Friedel? odd choice, I'd say he's at least 3 years past his best.

I don't think I'm overrating Reina when I say that he's top 5 in the world. Coupet, Buffon, Casillas and Frey are the only ones that I'd say are undoubtedly better than Reina.

cech is not as assured as he was before the incident with hunt and another incident in training[not as serious] but probably still the best in the world.I havent seen much of buffon recently

[jmurphyc]

As for the dozen keepers I rate ahead of him (in no order):

So you're saying he's one of the worst goalkeepers in the Premiership. If he was that bad he would have been sold a long time ago. IMO he's one of the best in the world and still very young. He has the ability to become the very best as well as he's only 26 (I think he's younger than Cech). All goalkeepers make mistakes; Cech and Van Der Sar have all made a fair few this season. He is also by far the best "sweeper keeper" in the Premiership and his weakness on crosses is overstated. He has improved a lot on them. As for stats not meaning everything, there's no way his stats would be that good without him being an excellent goalkeeper.Anyway, Given is still IMO one of the best in the league nd he'd be a worthy addition to Arsenal. If they're interested, I really hope he goes to them.

[kingdomkerry]

Given should be with a top four club in the EPL. He is wasted at Newcastle.

[ShamrockIreland]

Given should be with a top four club in the EPL. He is wasted at Newcastle.

I heard Arsenal were looking at him as their first choice next season and would bid around 3.5 M for him. Anyone else here this?

[kingdomkerry]

Yeah I heard that aswell.

[Kingdom]

What I find funny is the very part of a keepers game that people are slating Reina over is the exact part of Shay Given's game that is poor in my mind, for club and country, is crossing.
Think of the amount of goals scored inside the 6 yd box against Given. Its the one thing that always crosses my mind watching him. I'd still have him playing for us ahead of anyone else mind. He's been superb for us.

[seanfhear]

What I find funny is the very part of a keepers game that people are slating Reina over is the exact part of Shay Given's game that is poor in my mind, for club and country, is crossing.
Think of the amount of goals scored inside the 6 yd box against Given. Its the one thing that always crosses my mind watching him. I'd still have him playing for us ahead of anyone else mind. He's been superb for us.

have to agree with you there this is givens achilles heel but still a very good keeper

[paulie_walnuts]

If you believe a News of the World story then I'll just assume you believe in the tooth fairy.

Given will not leave Newcastle this summer. He hasn't expressed any desire to leave, infact, like most of their bigger players, he has expressed his delight at working for Keegan. If and most likely when Given moves on, he will go to Spain. Nailed on.

[paul_oshea]

have to agree with you there this is givens achilles heel but still a very good keeper

its funny considering his background and stuff playing gaelic.

[lionelhutz]

Well firstly I meant crap relative to the level he is considered to be. As others have pointed out already he is brutal in the air. He is a good shot stopper but you wouldn't make it as a keeper at U12s without being a good shot stopper.

Liverpool's defence was excellent before he arrived. Yes, he has improved it a bit but enough to be considered one of the best in the Premiership.

As for the dozen keepers I rate ahead of him (in no order):

James
Cech
van der Sar
Friedel
Niemi
Cudicini
Green
Given
Jaaskelainen
Howard
Lehmann (although he's gone now)
Gordon
Robinson

Also a couple others I would possibly consider better but haven't seen enough of them to judge properly.

You're having a laugh saying these 5 are better than Reina - I wouldn't start Robinson with Limerick FC. And I'd say he's at the same level as most of the rest of them - with the exception of Cech

[Razors left peg]

Cant believe there was any doubt on this thread about Shay Given starting the season as Newcastle no.1, hes already made a couple of brilliant saves

[shakermaker1982]

Given was class today. I just hope he stays fit for the next 9/10 months because he is vital to the cause. Good to see Duffer get 90 minutes under his belt as well. He was asked to support Martin's today and he put a good shift in.