Match Day Thread 2016/17 Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

Banks, the same height as Pickford also.

 

It's not even that, you could argue theres an optimum height for a keeper (having to dive low for saves). But to say height doesn't affect you coming out to catch crosses at great heights compared to catching crosses at normal heights i'm flabbergasted!

 

That's the difference, I see it as a discussion.

 

If it's a a great height who the hell is going to head it?

 

Not to mention the intimidation factor.

 

That'll be a first for you then

 

Yes but the ball also drops down.

So for a loopy far post cross, the keeper who should be standing in the middle might just be able to catch it if he's 4 inches heights (also bigger arm span generally) than a shorty arse who will let it drift over his head and have andy carroll steaming in.

Also a shorty arse keeper will find it hard to challenge peter crouch in the air whilst a taller one will stand a better chance because keepers can't always time their jumps perfectly or position themselves right.

 

I'll believe that when i see who we buy.

 

This is all jolly good fun and all that, but does it really matter?
Keepers need many skills and assessing their quality is dependent on a number of things. All else being equal, height will help you dominate your box, but might make it more difficult to get down to low shots.
We'll see how well he does. Plenty of keepers look good in front of defences that make them work for a living, and everyone makes allowances for that when they chuck a few in. The real test is whether or not they can stay awake in a team that spends most of its time down the other end. Time will tell.
Everton need an upgrade - still stupid money, though.

 

Still remember being at Wembley in '89 with my Bluenose brother-in-law. Second half, 1-0 up and was just a matter of time before we killed it off (so we thought). Barnes caught a 25-yarder perfectly on his left foot (and he could hit a ball). Right in the bottom left corner, I was right behind it, - it was in.... and then. ****ing ridiculous save, really made Banks in '70 look like a lucky flap.

You'd have won in '86, imo. with Southall. But you didn't have him, and we did.

 

Without a doubt it's crazy much net. But with the likes of Shilton and Southall backing him....

I would have thought Butland was the target, but hey ho.

 

Not always. Clem wasn't the tallest, but he splattered friend and foe to get to a ball on his six-yard line. James was a goliath - but a total pudding. Kirkland was iffy too. Been a tremendous improvement in Migs, and I hope he keeps it up, but you can see it's not his nature. When De Gea first came over here he was attrocious at managing high balls - he too has really worked on it. Peter Shilton was good at it too.

I get the feeling that in the muddy seventies they got the big, hard forwards to rough up the goalie in training. Could you imagine being a chicken goalie if Tommy Smith of Brian Labone was your skipper? Think goalies back then were too scared to be scared.

 

That last paragraph made me chuckle, Smith would I guess get people by the throat. Labby, I would think the opposite.

 

If the question had been - are only tall keepers any good? or ... do you need to be tall to be a good keeper? ... then it's a different kettle of fish obviously because there's so much discussion to be had around those questions.

But the question posed [in regard to keepers] was - does being tall really help? How would you answer that?

 

No, it doesn't. Look at the examples I gave

 

I played against Fat Nev once.

 

That's why I said all else being equal, meaning that if all their other skills cancelled each other out in comparison, then height would be a factor. Obviously it's not enough to be tall if you're useless with it.
Anyway, I can't really be bothered getting into this, I just thought I'd been quiet for a while.

 

I wouldn't fancy my chances putting one past him either in his pomp or his plump

 

It was a few times actually.
His daughter and mine went to the same school for a few years, so I used to see him quite a lot. On school sports days we had the usual parent teacher footie game thing.
We never let him go in goal, because obviously we'd have no ****ing chance, so he played outfield.
Dirty bastard.

 

You're answering different questions though. Giving a couple of examples and saying 'he wasn't tall but was good' or 'he was tall but was rubbish' is extending the argument and not addressing your very specific point.

Given what you said was a generalised question then can you really say 'in general being tall doesn't help' a keeper? It's a ridiculous thing to say. Remember we're talking about it being 'a help' not a necessity.