Originally Posted by
EalingGreen
Fwiw, in my observation, there is a good case for claiming that Given is the best keeper in the EPL at present (certainly the most consistent).
That said, I would not claim he is "world class", in the sense that if you were to include him in a World XI alongside the likes of Messi and Cannavaro etc, it would cause little or no comment.
For I firmly believe that whilst playing standards in the EPL have risen during the last few years, goalkeeping standards have, if anything gone down (at least relatively).
For up until 15 or 20 years ago, top British keepers such as Shilton, Clemence, Jennings and Southall etc were at least as good as those found elsewhere (imo).
And when these declined, they were replaced by genuinely world class foreigners like Schmeichel and (pre-injury) Cech.
Yet for some reason, these have not been replaced at the top clubs by the very top keepers, For example, Van der Saar is undoubtedly a fine keeper, arguably "world class" at his peak. But No.1 at the age of 39 for England's top club?
Ditto Jens Lehmann at Arsenal - a good keeper, no doubt, but always No.2 to Kahn amongst Germans and even then allowed to go on far too long at the Arse.
And I would argue that this decline is most evident in the England team, where imo in years gone by, David James, Rob Green and Ben Foster would be lucky to have gained a dozen caps between them throughout their entire career, never mind vied for the No.1 spot, as they are presently doing.
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