ToffeeMark
Player Valuation: £30m
Howard had a good game tonight, it'd be harsh to blame him for the goal. Not always been great this season, but looked good today.
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Might have made a couple of decent saves, but still balls played into his 6 yard box and he was stuck to his line.
Not good enough.
I thought he could have done better at the goal, his positioning at the best of times is woeful.
We need to replace him.
Today's goal at Newcastle was NOT Howard's fault, he played it right. He and Distin were on the same page, and he came off his line looking to collect the ball that Distin allowed fly over his head. He likely assumed Baines would shepherd Cisse away as well.
Regarding the shot:
Had he stayed on his line, he would have been able to stop THAT shot, but at that split second, he didn't know if Cisse would head it straight, allow it to drop to his feet, or try the chipshot header. Continuing off his line to cut off the angles is exactly what he should have done, and fairplay to Cisse for adeptly choosing the option to beat Howard and getting it to drop just under the crossbar.
CB's individually:
Distin played it right in that he boxed out his man allowing the ball to go to the keeper. He clearly was not trying to head the ball.
Heitinga looks to attempt to head the ball, but as he often does, he was really just jumping into the man instead of aiming for the ball. Either he was blocking the man like Distin or he just misjudged the header.
The problems:
1 - Baines lost his man. It seems clear to me that Baines played that moment expecting any of the 3 players to head the ball. He was readying himself for a pass while holding a high off-side line in case the Newcastle player touched it. The ball bouncing through untouched obviously just left him in the wrong place at the wrong time.
2 - CB pairing understanding. The fact that both Heit and Distin were in on the same spot, both playing the man and not the ball showed a lack of communication/understanding between them though. I think I've seen it before when Distin will block off a player allowing Jags a clean header. Defenders are taught to never let the ball bounce in the box, so I believe Distin thought that Heitinga was going to head it clear or that Baines would be holding Cisse off so Howard could collect it.
Basically, a lot happened in those few seconds, and in realtime, many things looked like mistakes (Baines losing his man, Heitinga missing the header, Howard off his line). I would say the only real "mistake" is if Heitinga was actually trying to head the ball and just misjudged it... but as I stated above, I think Heitinga was actually playing the man and not the ball, but that meant that he and Distin both did the same thing, leaving neither to clear it.
He's a keeper ffs,,, he's supposed to make saves...2 superb saves in the RB position which gained us 2 points.
Those who want rid of him need their heads examined.
He's a keeper ffs,,, he's supposed to make saves...