I swear he spills the ball temporarily before he picks it up for a bit of drama!
We collectively like him now do we? But this forum and twitter told me that after he "confronted terrified Saints fans in the Chapel End" after he had "launched/kicked an incredibly dangerous water bottle" in their direction that he should "never play for Saints again".
Oh Saints fans, you fickle ****ers you.
This is an observation of modern keepers and not just Artur, but they all seem more prone to spilling the football than I remember before keepers wore the big gloves. There were keepers like Pat Jennings or Gordon Banks who would claw the ball out of the sky and it would stick in their bare hands or they would wear small gloves. Jennings looked like he wore massive gloves but actually his hands were that big..! He could grip the old heavy ball in one hand, so plucking a cross from the sky with two was child's play. Keepers today are much better shot stoppers than they generally used to be, but they don't command their areas like the majority used to years ago. I wonder if it is the gloves that have helped to change all that.
The balls are lighter. Those old ones used to be a doddle to catch because they were so heavy!
Or that's my guess.
How has this thread lasted so long?
Just after I posted I remembered that there is video footage out there of Pat Jennings catching a whipped in cross single handed. And it stuck..!
What's the exact rule on emergency keeper loans?
Out with a broken hand for six weeks, apparently.