he can't get a game ahead of Davis which sums up what the club think of his prospects, I would be very happy to see him loaned out. I don't rate him at all even his much vaunted distribution wasn't up to standard and I would prefer davis and britt to be our backups. Britt impressed me when I saw him in the u21s, I hope he goes with the first team for next preseason, he's already training with the first team which is probably fairly standard but good for him all the same.
Agreed. The one thing that a goalkeeper must be is commanding. Its not just about shouting at players, there are many ways it can be demonstrated. Gazzaniga is seriously woeful at taking any sort of command when required. For a tall man, he's a "flapper" at the high ball and although he came with a reputation for being a great kicker, I can't recall much evidence of that either. That save against Newcastle apart, he has looked poor I'm sorry to say. Maybe he was thrust in too early but he should have got over that by now. Oops - just reading back on previous posts in this thread and I realise I wrote almost exactly the same thing back in May. At least I'm consistent.
Gazzaniga reminds me a lot of a worse, younger De Gea (even though De Gea isn't old as he is probably of a similar age, but he has had a lot more experience of top flight football). Really uncommanding, something De Gea still is so this bollocks about you have to be commanding to be a good/great keeper is nonsense, not "filled out" and prone to a howler or 2. I'm not saying that with experience Gazza will be De Gea's level, just that I think it is far too early to really judge how good he could become. A loan to a League One team where hopefully he can secure the no 1 spot and get some much needed playing time, away from the media attention of the Premier League, under his belt could work wonders for his development.
Gazzaniga is a very poor goalkeeper all round if you look at the goals he conceded against ever ton his positioning and attempts to save the 2 goals are pathetic. He is of a good size and he can kick the ball a fair distance sometimes accurately but he can't goalkeep for mine.
I'm amazed at how people can talk so authoritively about Gazza'a credentials when no one has seen him actually play since pre season. When we signed him he was talked about in the same breath at Butland (who has also been written off by some). He proved at Gillingham that he has the command, distribution and all the other qualities to make a good goalkeeper (at that level!). Obviously its a bit different at Southampton because we are a bigger club with bigger names and that requires him to adapt. Working with Davis and Boruc will help him do just that. Goalkeepers tend to arrive in the first team much later so I would not write him off just yet. Still a good prospect more me. More so than Cropper I reckon.
Yes and the "good size" is what coaches look for keepers as almost their no 1 priority as it's something that cannot be taught. Positioning, dealing with crosses, even to a certain degree shot stopping (though I agree with you he doesn't look brilliant at it) can all be taught to a young keeper and also comes with experience. As I said above I don't know how good Gazza could become, it is obvious he is not going to be a top top keeper, but a keeper playing for a PL team? I think it is too early to say
Sorry, disagree. A goalkeeper has to be in charge. As I said, its not all about 'bluster'. Tim Flowers was a quiet chap but he nevertheless was able to 'command'. I agree that a lot of it is about confidence and whether the goalkeeper has it (and equally important whether the defenders are confident in the goalkeeper).
I agree that is a good quality to have, and could turn a good goalkeeper into a great one, but for it to be a necessity for a keeper to be deemed as good or not? I don't think so.
He's extremely raw, and he was put into the first-team far too early, but he still has potential and plenty of time to fulfil it, so I'm not writing him off just yet.
With his size and decent athleticism he could develop into a top class keeper within a couple of months. So much of goalkeeping is making the right decisions about when to come out and when to stay, where to position yourself for a shot, how to save it etc. And if Gazza could develop that mental side he would be a top class keeper however even the very best goalies make bad decisions every game because its an extremely hard thing to do in a match. He needs a lot of matches even then I don't think he has shown the existing ability or attitude to develop this mental side of his game to the point where he can do a job for us.
I don't see how you can say at this stage what his optimum level of development will be? He has at least 10 years tp reach his peak. I say loan him out and get an understudy for Boruc. Yes there's the argument about picking up bad habits but he was a former Gills player and we signed him so they can't have done too badly. Why not give him another full season at a L1 club, somewhere with good training practices where he Will play every week.
I was the first to call for Gazza to be dropped this time last year, but that's an unfair assessment. If you were to judge De Gea on his first 10 games for United alone, you'd probably have to say he's a rubbish 'keeper too. I think Gazzaniga's errors last year were more to do with confidence, or a complete lack thereof, which was understandable given the inexplicable decision to consistently field a 20 year old with a handful of League 2 appearances, who hardly spoke any English, in the most unforgiving and high pressure league in world football. De Gea eventually adapted; so can Gazzaniga. As others have cited, he made one world class save against Newcastle which was no fluke. I'm not saying he will be a Premier League goalkeeper, i'm just saying it's harsh to write him off based on his mistakes last year. As i said at the time, and i'll say now, Adkins is more to blame for those performances. And yes, he could very much do with a loan to a Championship/League One side.
