Now before everyone goes absolutely mental at me pray let me explain.
I judge keepers as if they were in a league format. For example;
Premiership; Casillas, Cech, Buffon, Reina, Given, etc AND finally now, Almunia
Championship; Howard, Robinson, etc
Blue Square Premiership; Gomes
Get my drift?...........
I always had my doubts about Almunia but the Real Slim Shady lookalike is now finally beginning to stand up.
Last nights performance against Manchester United was the turning point for me. We needed our big players to stand up and be counted. Almunia stood taller than anyone.
I've always had Manuel Almuina down as a good keeper but one that did not rival the likes of Reina, Cech and Buffon. I have no hesitation in naming him amongst those star names now.
Keep it Goonerish............
30 comments:
good one wrighty , i like that funny bit too lol>>>>Blue Square Premiership; Gomes
I know its all subjective, but I do not rate Reina at all!
BUT, Almunia has shown this season, on numerous occasions that he is a quality keeper, IMO. Something I never thought I'd say!
I think the confidence he will gain from that could really make a difference in the second leg, and hopefully beyond.
I would say Almunia is our Player of the Year this season. To my knowledge, he's only had one bad game, against Tottenham.
You're silly Wrighty. Almunia has been this good all season. Your biases won't let you see it. It's like Alex Song. Now he's getting hailed. BUT HE HAS BEEN GOOD ALL SEASON.
I felt sorry for him about how he conceded.
He made all those saves and he was let down by some slack defending.
Not for the fist time this season.
How urself or anyone else (including the media) would think that Alumunia was just becoming a 'premier league' Keeper is beyond me. Have u not been seeing the games? He had a very good game on wednessday like every other good keeper does. But I guess players need these kind of games to give them recognition.
I'm still not fully convinced by almunia but my friend says im too harsh on goalkeepers and they're only human blah-blah. but every goalkeeper i rate has gone an entire season at some point without a single error. Almunia hasn't yet done it in my opinion.
Wrighty you clearly know nothing about goalkeeping mate. Mark Schwarzer of Fullham and Brad Friedel of AV are top quality keepers, with seasons far greater than Cech and Reina, you only put them in there because they are from the top 4. And it's a little tough on Tim Howard to be compared to that fucking bottler Paul Robinson. Like the idea Wrighty wrong execution.
Ole,
I know he has been good but for me he finally arrived last night on the big stage.
anon 21:32 above me, I agree. reputations are sometimes built on performances in "big" games.
he he . I meant to say some reputations are built purely on a few good performances in a "big" game.
I'm no goalkeeping expert but I know I'd rather have my Premiership keepers than Mark Schwarzer or Brad Friedel.
I do know they are quality keepers!
I couldn't name everyone I felt was top top class because I would be typing all day!
nis
Seriously mate, if you think any keeper goes a whole effin season without making a single mistake, you are crackers!
Sorry to burst the bubble but here goes.
Cech helped the Chavs get a 0-0 and we got beat. He should have saved the goal as it went through him, its HIS defence that we keep saying is shit. HE should take some responsibility.
He made saves that were hit mostly at him saves he is expected to make, although one of them was his best he has produced for our Club. The ball gets chucked into the box and he never wins anything, he boots the ball up the field to the waste of space Ade who was alone with two of the best aerial CBs in the League and that lump O'Shit to contend with giving them possesion immediately. The Spuds at home Stoke away for those with poor memories and there have been more. We were kept in the game because of their poor finishing and a bit of luck with the one off the bar, or do you Almunia fans think he had that covered too. We are a shambles at the back and he IS one of the defenders.
plz dont be so ridiculous
he had a good game - in fact a great game but he is not in and never will be in the class gigi buffon
he was brilliant yesterday...the best save gota be the one jus before the goal where i think tevez blasted it from a cross and almunia got down quick and saved it...gota say he has looked good all season, but last night he looked even better cos he was called on so much. thank fk we had him back
pls...lets beg arsene wenger to stop fabregas playing the hole behind adebayor...it makes adebayor useless and inefective...gooner 4 life
you are having a laugh? Almunia in the same class as Cech and Casillas. Are you for real?
Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head. And then everyone agrees as if what you are saying is gospel.
Come off it, you are just being silly.
Almunia - good GK at best. How the fck you can say he is in the prem league of world goalies is beyond me.
21.53, your dreaming if you think any goalie on that list gets his hands up quick enough to stop that goal from going in. that he got his hands up enough to even block it into the roof of the net was fast, he had absolutely no time to react to that shot.
Some people are mad... Song good all season? He's good now, but you can't honestly sit there and tell me that he was good from the beginning, you have to be joking...
This whole season we've been told that Arsenal lacked a ballwinner in midfield that'd free Cesc to go forward. Now Cesc has been freed to go forward, and the criticism has become the exact opposite of the old one. Now Cesc has to be allowed to sit deep.
Funny how conventional wisdom turns full circle.
nobody has been better in the PL this season than big al.
cech & VDS are accident prone, and reina is probably a similar level to almunia.
i dont rate given as highly as most do, it seems he always saves his best performances for arsenal, altho he has put in some good performances this year.
given the level of competition for goalkeepers atm, almunia is top-class, and we have to acknowledge its another one of wenger's amazing signings
almunia has an advantage over van der sar cech reina...thats reliability..he's as good in every match..and now that hes pulling off blinders i rate him above them..
Ole Gunner,
You are wasting your time and energy here. Many of whom you are arguing with the are the'I want it now' support who have no sense of history and perspective of AFC.
Look at Wrighty himself. he has learnt from his mates at Le Grove that a screaming and scandalous headline (usually in CAPITALS) is the best way to attract the new 'fans' that our team has attracted.
Feed on their insecurities and sense of entitlement and you have a blog with a high readership and consequently decent advertising revenue. Did you think this was about Arsenal?
Objective no 1 was not to lose big (MU had just put 5 past Tott in 20 mins and it was obvious that they wanted to blitz Arsenal in the first 30 mins - in doing this they failed although they did score 1 early goal). Arsenal acheived this goal.
Objective no 2 was to keep it tight throughout the game. They were playing away from home in a 2 legged game and to be only 1 down after half time (90 mins) is not a bad result. Arsenal acheived this goal.
Objective 3 was to score an away goal if possible. Not acheived, but Bendtner was very close in the final minutes.
Obj 1 and 2 are more important than 3 (1-0 is much better than 4-1 or 3-1). They are playing Man Utd the top ranked team in the world away in the biggest game of the year. Due to the nature of the 2 legged system Man Utd needed a good lead from the first leg, and ideally a clean sheet. Arsenal are the 5th ranked team in the world and there is a small but distinct difference from 1 to 5 in the rankings. So AW’s tactics were perfectly understandable. To expect a gung-ho approach, and all out attacking formations to get an away goal is being overly optimistic. MU have the best defensive record in the PL for a reason. Better to go aggressively at the Emirates having kept it tight in the first leg (same approach as Chelsea - but at least Arsenal played a bit).
Being only 1 down at half time bearing in mind all circumstances is a good result. Seems like some have too high an expectation level.
There is also the story about Sir Alex F Word who had a really bad start with Manchester Bankrupt where the club was on the verge of sacking him - but he won a cup game and survived. If the supporters who wanted him out had been believed he would have gone elsewhere.
The timing is not the issue - Ferguson was early on in his era, Wenger is trying to build another successful squad, in my own small way I’ve been with the company for years and years and am trying to invent a new solution to our current downturn.
The issue is simply long or short term. I have watched Wenger give us two doubles and the unbeaten season. I am seeing a magnificent new team develop. I see the speed and pace and belief return. I have watched most of the 20 games unbeaten. And I think, “yes - more please”.
Others want a trophy today - or else change. Each person to his own - but I stay with my belief.
Wrighty,
I would go along with that to a degree.Keepers are always in the spotlight more so for their mistakes rather than their saves.James springs to mind.The key is to have a good understanding with your defence and to be in total control of the area.Schmeikel was a good example of that.i don't think any keeper has been outstanding this season,but invariably many have their game of the season when they come to the Emirates.
Alex, feck off back to ACLF
spike,
I guess i meant to say the perfect goalie wouldnt make a mistake an entire season. I dont watch enough football nowadays to have an informed opinion of any good goalkeepers, but I do watch enough liverpool or barca matches to say reina and valdes both suck. Almunia's moderately good, but I think we can do better.
Consistency is the key here Wrighty
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