A while ago I posted that I felt Gomes was being unfairly compared to Friedel as when Gomes went for a cross and missed it he was blamed whereas Freidel just watched the ball flying past him from a free header in the six yard box and was apparently absolved from all responsibility. Now I see Joe Hart is blaming himself for the Poland goal last night. Surely he is not to blame at all.... he couldnt get to the ball but if he had never tried he still wouldn't have saved the header. In these situations the goalie is much better off challenging for the ball and perhaps putting the striker off, than watching the ball flying past him on the line. Or have I got this wrong......
Not sure you can make a generalisation for this type of scenario. Ideally, a keeper should be able to know when it is right to go or stay on case by case basis. Brad and Gomes are at each end of that particular decision-making!!! Hart is a top keeper, but to be fair on this occasion he never looked likely to get near the corner, so personally he probably did make the wrong call. If Hart had stayed then he might have been able to stop the header.
Hart has quite rightly admitted that it was his fault. He came for a ball that he never got anywhere near. Completely misjudged it.
I'd be happy with blaming him if he could have got to it but didn't, but surely trying and failing is sometimes better than not trying at all....
Gomes' problem was that he was erratic and also tended to clatter our defenders in the process without communicating. Our defenders didn't know whether to look at the ball or turn to see if Gomes was charging at them knees and elbows flying. That and his basic handling errors were significant problems for a keeper at the top level, even though he was an excellent reaction shot stopper. As much as Friedel's willingness to stay on the line can cost us goals it's clear that the defence benefit from knowing what he's going to do and also staying on the line at least gives him a chance with most headers, where as going out and getting stranded or failing to clear the aerial ball far enough gifts the opposition an open goal. Hart's normally very good at his decision making and ability to get to aerial balls first which makes him a very good keeper, Gomes and Robbo were not. Being critical of himself is a good trait too, he sees where he can improve and will clearly work on it even harder.
This is exactly what I am arguing against. Sometimes it must be better to challenge for the ball and fail rather than give the striker a free header. The ball went nowhere near where Hart would have been if he'd stayed on the line so what he did made no difference at all.
I'm gonna fold on this hand..... Spurm was right - this has all the hallmarks of heading in a similar direction..... ;-)
It was an error of judgement on his part. Not only did he fail to get even close to the ball, he impeded the defender who was challenging for the ball. He has quite rightly accepted the responsibility, IMO.
i see where power is coming from, its a bit of a double standard. Striker misses open goal -> "ooh, well done for getting into a goal scoring position" (even though you totally failed) Goalkeeper comes for cross and misses - > "you twonk".
Gomes just had poor timing and was far too erratic. The fact he couldn't/ can't catch makes it worse. Still pulled of saves that I very much doubt any keeper in Europe could've pulled off though. As for Hart, I only saw it once on replay as to what happened. To me, if a keeper leaves his line to clear/ catch the ball, he SHOULD be doing so, the fact he didn't and Poland scored, I do feel the blame needs to lay with him. BUT if he stayed on his line, the question of "why didn't he come to claim it" would've been asked, so either way it's hard for him to win.
i agree with Roy Keane.....Hart is a bit of a gobshaite sometimes you think you are so good that you trip up going for the impossible.
I prefer in general a keeper who goes for crosses like Hart and Lloris to a 'stay on the liner' like Brad. But you you have to judge each case and keeper on their merits. Hart did mess up against Poland, but staying on your line can lead to goals conceded too.
Hart's been making a lot of mistakes recently. Is it mandatory for a keeper to become ****e when they become first choice for England and, if so, what was Ian Walker's excuse?
The 6 yard box should be the domain of the goalkeeper - especially when a corner is taken. Hart should have come for the cross - when it's in the vicinity of the 6 yard line.... OK he got it wrong - but if there had been a player guarding the post there would have been a reasonable chance of the header being cleared. The same could be said for Rooneys goal. Why do teams not have players patrolling the posts ? With keepers concentrating on the middle section of the goal, it would greatly reduce the opportunity of a goal.
Good points AR, with players on both posts, it makes adventurous goal keeping less risky at corners, as ever though there are balances to be struck etc. But like you, I like keepers who dominate the 6 yd box.
Hart is blowing smoke, lets hear him come out so honestly when he actually drops a clanger. He knows he could have made another choice but he didn't make a mistake as such. Blaming himself when there is no real blame to be given is a bit of a pretentious knob head thing to be doing. Maybe he should just shut up.
