Gomes was erratic...which is not a characteristic that you look for in a goalkeeper. He was also a bit of a big girl's blouse when he got a knock. I wasn't a fan. The summer that he signed, we also signed GDS, Bentley and Pav. At best, they were erratic too. In a few months, Commoli the DoF was rightly sacked...Modric not withstanding.
Similar can be said when we signed Cudicini as Gomes' understudy a few years earlier. While he wasn't the keeper he was in his prime, and he couldn't pull off some of the stopes Gomes' could, he also wasn't going to give us many heart attacks when he did play This is why I'm mystified by us perpetually being linked with Andre Onanna, as every time I've seen him play he fills me with as much confidence as the English electorate on polling day
But his clangers always seemed to cost us games. I was at one of his first home games in 2008 v Villa and he made a terrible mistake which ultimately lost us the match. The NLD v Arsenal which ended 4-4 saw him at fault for definitely 1 possibly two goals. I really wanted him to work out but he just did not inspire confidence. The only time I remember his mistake not costing us was when he let Nasri score at the Emirates when we came back to win 3-2 sfter being 2 down...that wss on my daughter's 13th birthday...10 yrs in November
When Brad Friedel took over he didn't make many mistakes at all. But he didn't make many outstanding saves either. I stll think the latter outweighs the former and we would have got more points with Gomes.
Marin Tyler said tonight, Everton to make the champions wait a little longer ? Sorry but I thought Man City are the current Champions , just goes to show that Sky has it's own agenda
I remember that game vividly not because I watched it, but precisely because I didn’t. I was working in a ski shop at the time and the only other shop assistant was an avid Gooner, he used to go to all the European away games until he broke his back falling out of a hotel window while on an away day trip. Anyway, between November and February it’s silly season in that kind of shop, you get run off your feet most of the time. The rest of the year it’s a picnic. Arsenal went 2 up and we’d been vaguely following the game. Didn’t manage to check the scores again after the second goal because we got so busy, he was giving it large the entire shift. He was heartbroken when we checked while locking up And I got to drive home with a massive grin on my face and look forward to Match of the Day. Good times.
I went to a pub on Holloway after watching that game and an Arsenal supporter that I know came in later that evening. It's fair to say that he was not best pleased to see me!
Genuine question: when was the last time there was a genuinely exciting Merseyside derby? They always fall into one of two categories: a turgid match where nothing of note happens, or Everton fail to turn up barring the one player who gets himself sent off It's similar to how Sky and BT hype the Manchester derby every season, yet these are always deathly dull affairs with little of note happening on the pitch yet the buildup makes that Mitchell & Webb sketch look restrained
NLD ****s all over the derbies in the Prem, always delivers. Win, lose or draw there's goals, drama and generally a lot of bookings.
Things are not that simple tbf. Goal keeping is not just about mistakes and great saves. Issues such as dealing with crosses, commanding the penalty area, positional play, communication and organising defenders all come into play. Keepers can organise defences and individual defenders to minimise risks and goal attempts and good positional play can remove the need for saves. The same is also true regarding how a keeper deals with crosses. Friedel was very good positionally and at dealing with crosses. He also organised his defence well during games. Gomes was not as good positionally imo and was awful on crosses. Defenders used to second guess him due to his mistakes and his lack of ability to command his penalty area. Friedel imho improved us.
Yup if your goalie is a liability, it creates panic in the defence, they dont know whether to trust the keepers calls, whether to just boot it clear or pass it back to him. They will go to head everything. Its just havoc
It was our eldests 13th birthday that day. She was supposed to go bowling and for pizza and then to the pictures with a group of mates but it all went tits up so to try and make her day a bit special we all went to Broadstairs for the weekend (it was our favourite family place to go at the time). When we arrived it was ht. We booked a indian restaurant for that night and went on the beach. Every November they pile a huge mound of sand on Broadstairs beach by the harbour that is about 8 foot high, 5 foot wide and it runs the length of the beach...it is to replace the sand washed away during the year. When we got to the beach Bale scored so we quietly celebrated. My internet on my phone kept cutting out so a mate was texting me updates. He texted there was a penalty...took a couple of minutes to tell me it was for us and then about 5 minutes to tell me we scored it... When VDV equalised we cheered loudly but when Kaboul scored we ran the length of the mound of sand screaming "KAAAAABBBBOOOOUUUULLLLLLLL" and threw our selves down the sandy slope ... still screaming. I am mixed raced and when I don't shave for a few weeks people assume I am muslim...so all the local thought there was a very small Muslim festival going on Watched MOTD in the bed and breakfast room that night but had recorded the whole game on sky before we left in a inspired moment of optimism so we watched that the next night. She still has very fond memories of her 13th birthday and seems to have forgotten how stressful it was beforehand!
What made that 3-2 even sweeter was that Gallas captained us. And the fact he smacked Nasri mid-game Not sure many players could play for Chelsea and Arsenal yet still go down well with Spurs fans.
Everyone else said that at the time and I agree with pretty much all of it. But that sort of thing should be coachable....whereas inate ability isn't. Under Redknapp all problems were solved by changing personnel....there seemed no attempt to improve individual performance levels.
Rangers appear to have signed Lyndon Dykes, an Australian striker who is currently at Livingston. This has confused the hell out of a lot of people on social media, who are freaking out about #Dykes trending. Shirt sales should be... interesting.
The FA have confirmed that Guendozi will face no punishment for his actions after the Brighton because VAR reviewed it at the time Absolutely unbelievable - but not a surprise
That's ridiculous. I thought that the ref should've sent him off at the time, but didn't do so to let things calm down. The ref saw Dier run into the crowd against Norwich, so I assume he'll get off, too. Yeah, right. Bent as ****.
