Rook
Player Valuation: £80m
He's boss at starting a counter though.
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He's boss at starting a counter though.
Darth Toffeeman
Player Valuation: £40m
That is something Robles has in his locker. His kicking ability is immense.
larrygobfiend
Player Valuation: £40m
He's decent and is a great second choice goalkeeper.
RFUS
Anustart
I think there are 4 main requirements for top drawer keepers:
1) Making very few mistakes. All keepers make some, but it should be a surprise when they do.
2) Dominating the box. Be that claiming crosses, not being bullied by the opposition at set pieces, even just shouting and being vocal with your defenders. In the box, the defence should have confidence in their keeper and the opposition should be intimidated by them.
3) Quick and smart reactions. Naturally this means being a good shot stopper, but that's the main pre-requisite of a keeper and goes without saying. I also mean things like being able to make split-second decisions to come off your line, and getting it right 95% of the time.
4) Making the difference at the right moment. It's a game of fine margins, so top keepers are the ones that pull out a crucial save when it really matters most. Especially if they've been a spectator for a long period of the game. Any good shot stopper looks like a world beater if he's playing for a crap team and faces 20 shots, but at the top end of the table you need the focus and speed of thought to be ready to save the team and ultimately help turn draws and defeats into wins.
You can read more in "RFUS's Goalkeeping 101: Catching Your Dream", coming soon to a skip near you.
...
Anyway, I've oversimplified it (E.g. a keeper needs good positioning, and to be resilient mentally, good distribution is nice as well), but either way I think Joel when he signed hit 1/4 of those. He is a great shot stopper but he was timid and prone to errors. For the past few years he's been improving and now I reckon he comfortably hits 3/4. Shot stopping, few mistakes and being a serious presence who plucks balls out of the air with ease. Whether he makes the difference when it really counts is what I'm looking for now. And to be fair, he did just that in our last game. At 0-0, 80 minutes or so into a game in which he's had nothing to do, he pulls off a fantastic save. And we win 1-0.
More of that and I think he can make it for us as a number 1. If he makes a mistake we need to be patient and not rip his head off, as individual mistakes have no meaning. If he starts making a lot like Stek, then you worry, but he's done nothing to suggest he will. Viva Joel.
1) Making very few mistakes. All keepers make some, but it should be a surprise when they do.
2) Dominating the box. Be that claiming crosses, not being bullied by the opposition at set pieces, even just shouting and being vocal with your defenders. In the box, the defence should have confidence in their keeper and the opposition should be intimidated by them.
3) Quick and smart reactions. Naturally this means being a good shot stopper, but that's the main pre-requisite of a keeper and goes without saying. I also mean things like being able to make split-second decisions to come off your line, and getting it right 95% of the time.
4) Making the difference at the right moment. It's a game of fine margins, so top keepers are the ones that pull out a crucial save when it really matters most. Especially if they've been a spectator for a long period of the game. Any good shot stopper looks like a world beater if he's playing for a crap team and faces 20 shots, but at the top end of the table you need the focus and speed of thought to be ready to save the team and ultimately help turn draws and defeats into wins.
You can read more in "RFUS's Goalkeeping 101: Catching Your Dream", coming soon to a skip near you.
...
Anyway, I've oversimplified it (E.g. a keeper needs good positioning, and to be resilient mentally, good distribution is nice as well), but either way I think Joel when he signed hit 1/4 of those. He is a great shot stopper but he was timid and prone to errors. For the past few years he's been improving and now I reckon he comfortably hits 3/4. Shot stopping, few mistakes and being a serious presence who plucks balls out of the air with ease. Whether he makes the difference when it really counts is what I'm looking for now. And to be fair, he did just that in our last game. At 0-0, 80 minutes or so into a game in which he's had nothing to do, he pulls off a fantastic save. And we win 1-0.
More of that and I think he can make it for us as a number 1. If he makes a mistake we need to be patient and not rip his head off, as individual mistakes have no meaning. If he starts making a lot like Stek, then you worry, but he's done nothing to suggest he will. Viva Joel.
TheBlueGibbon
Player Valuation: £40m
He's improved massively since he joined. Is he good enough for where we want to be? Possibly not, but given that we are unlikely to sign a top-class keeper this window, we may as well give him the rest of the season to improve and see where he is come summer.
It's nice having a keeper who will catch crosses, I can't remember the last keeper we had who did. Martyn Perhaps?
It's nice having a keeper who will catch crosses, I can't remember the last keeper we had who did. Martyn Perhaps?
smileychap
Player Valuation: £8m
Fair analysis that. Agree. The concentration against Palace was excellent, quite aside from the save itself.
If there's a '5th element', it would be confidence and the current run of games is giving him that. I quite liked the way he was goading Puncheon to shoot when he left him a gap from a free-kick. That might be ill advised but clearly shows hie's confident right now and wanting to add his weight to the way the team plays. Another of the 'green shoots' coming through right now. Good times, decent post.
RFUS
Anustart
Think confidence is a scale which affects everything. And mental resilience really influences how a player maintains their confidence. Contrast Ibra and say, Torres. Ibra can go 10 games without scoring but he's resilient, that confidence is still there and he'll score in the 11th game and then go on a run.
Torres on the other hand just lost that belief to the point where mocking websites with measurements of how long it'd been since he scored popped up. Of course other things impacted his situation (being overworked and losing a yard of pace), but you get my point.
Once Stek made his first mistake for us (at home against Southampton where to be fair it was a foul, but still he was weak vs Austin and it dropped into the net) he seemed to make more and more. It will be a big test for Joel when he makes his next mistake. Hopefully he'll shrug it off.
...Hansen said Grobelaar would drop many crosses but he really helped his CBs because they knew he would always come out to challenge. I agree with those on here who say Robles' presence and willingness to dominate his box is helping his defenders. His form is really good and I'm happy with him until that situation is proven wrong.
DownunderToffee
Player Valuation: £15m
Everyone shocked by recent improvement, the lad is still only 26 - which is quite young for a keeper at times.
Looks about 29 though.
Looks about 29 though.
Oh dear. I 'm the first to admit that Robles has done surprising ly well this season, but to say he's never really screwed up is nonsense. Without checking, there's Southampton in his first season; his comedy display against some Russian team in a dead rubber; howlers V Barnsley and Sunderland last term. I'm fairly sure there have been others.
Don't agree mate.
100% don't agree. Think he's going to be a top keeper and I'd be very grateful if Moshiri lobbed a massive offer to those good folk at Sunderland to prize him away from them.
Spend money on a keeper who is kept busy - yes he looks promising getting a lot of practice at Sunderland- let's see if Robles can improve this season may save us millions that needs spending elsewhere in our team?
Made up Joel is getting a run Joey, just posted in the transfer thread that his performances are helping the defence and vice versa as they are working as a unit.
Gotta say though and I've said it a few times that I like Pickford and I think he's going to be a top class keeper. I'd be delighted to see him earn his pennies with us mate and that's no criticism of Joel either who has done fantastic the past few weeks.
Still rather buy a cheaper younger back up keeper if Robles keeps his form going, as we need outfield players particularly if Lukaku is injured or decides to move on!
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