I recall Calamity James gaining plaudits in his later years.Hows that for irony. Just a bad spell imo and what someone said already mistakes by keepers get highlighted more so.Dropping him would shatter his confidence but other teams may try their luck more from range now...
Fook me. I thought I was quick to jump at players who make mistakes. Pepe is solid. If Pepe was as good a keeper as Carroll is a striker then we'd concede 10 a game, minimum. Everyone has their off days and pepes are few and far between. He makes cracking saves every game but we're so used to it that we don't bat an eye lid when it happens.
100% behind you here. I see Pepe on the team sheet and I'm filled with confidence even after last night. We are talking about the keeper who before last night held the best defensive record in the league. Yes he has made his mistakes which have gone on to cost us points but we wouldn't be talking about them if we were able to counteract them with some goals down the other end.
Swarbs - The Hammerhead is inviting you over for cocktails and soft lighting - the least you can do is let the soft sod know if you're going to be taking him up on the offer?
nah.... carroll is getting dogs abuse and why? hmmm maybe its cos he looks like a lazy no good piece of voronin.... well the fact is if downing would actually corss the ball more than once a game carroll might come alive... fact is pepe is a world class player and to pick on another player form our side to make the point that i shouldn't hgihlight pepe's not so hot form is very funny to me. come on guys... i said is reina untouchable? well it seems i can't open my mouth about him but carroll is fair game = he's untouchable. Again pepe is world class but he's making a lot of mistakes and he needs to cut them out. quite simple statement there... nobodies highlighted any of his attributed but me... world class distribution and sweeping up but lets face it everyone needs to improve.
The problem with keepers is that dropping them is so damaging to confidence. Its bad enough for strikers - Carroll is having a torrid time of it because he's getting few chances and not tucking them away. Of itself, Carroll's form won't lose us games, as others can score. But a Keeper needs to know he has the manager's confidence, else he's going to have in the back of his mind that the next mistake may be the last one he makes as No1. Doni is obviously not our No1, but he is a quality, experienced backup and could be turned to if Kenny felt that Pepe needed a break. Once you lose the No1 shirt, its not like you can do much to play your way into contention - it is the only position where there is just one shirt to play for... Pepe has been below the level he's set himself, but its a first real drop in form for 5 years...
It's not that he's untouchable- I think it's just that most of us feel with Reina his good points significantly outweigh the bad so why bother highlighting the bad? Yes, he's made a couple more errors than usual recently (he's always been prone to the odd one) but we can allow him that I think. His overall standard is still pretty high.
I can't believe this thread to be honest. Reina is probably in the top 5 keepers in europe, and sure he's made a few mistakes, but thats the nature of a goalkeepers job. Tell me where we could find a better keeper, especially of his age, for less than £30 million. Also tell me who you'd rather have between the sticks?
