Having signed Brad Friedel, it is difficult to see where he fits in. Carlo has signed a new contract recently so it cannot be as a number two. I understand that PSV are keen on a return by our hero/villain of a number one and that Pletikosa is keen for a move. (Not surprising really when you consider that even in Gomes' darkest hour, he was simply not considered.) I really can't see Friedel signing as a number three, so by process of elimination, he must be our new number one. The problem is, although Friedel was ever present last year, Villa conceded 59 times against our 46. I guess in the area of communicating with the back four and commanding his area he is better. All credit to the fella, he is a good pro, but is he really the man who will give us an extra 8 or 9 points at the end of the season? I know it is early days, but if this is the level of our ambition ( I thought we were interested in Given) then it may be a struggle to keep hold of our top players.
IMO, Villa conceded those 59 despite of Friedel, not because of him, as they have a weaker defence. Of our 46 how many were because of goalkeeping blunders, I wonder? Don't get me wrong, I've always though Gomes was a great goalkeeper, but I can't blindly defend him as his errors are far too frequent. He used to make up for it by stopping some impossible shots, but last season his blunders severely outweighed them. I wouldn't mind Friedel as our number one. He wouldn't be my first choice to buy but he's top class and has a lot of premiership experience which should give our defence a new found confidence. I can only see this making us stronger.
i think he will be our no1.But he will surely be a stopgap until possibly end of next season,because of his age
If you have an error prone GK like Gomes it unsettles any defence, esp a moderate one like ours. Having a confident 'keeper who can command an area like Friedel would make our defenders less nervous and hopefully less prone to errors themselves (Dawson).
We need a keeper who screams at our defense! Gomes is so quiet on the pitch, I have no confidence when it comes to our back four allowing the ball to run through to Gomes! It's all about communication!
Good signing IMO just what is needed. A strong reliable consistent keeper. Keepers are like good wine they improve with age.
I think this is a good signing by Harry, your keeper last season was woeful (and we thought we had problems ) Friedel might not be a long term solution and I would have thought Given would have been a better signing. But Friedel is a top keeper, and whilst his best years are behind him, he should help to sure up the spurs defence next season.
Redknapp is trying to steady a rocking ship. If he can provide us with at least 1 season of sturdy goalkeeping, it allows us to look for a long term replacement in the knowledge that we aren't leaking goals in the here and now
There would be two problems with Given though, Piskie. The main one is that City almost certainly wouldn't allow him to join us (or you, for that matter) and the second one is a question mark hanging over his head about his injury problems. I have a feeling that we're going to try and rectify two problems with our keepers in this window. Friedel should help to bring some stability back to our defence in the short term, but I'm expecting at least one more signing in that position, too. An experience keeper to challenge Friedel and Cudicini is a possibility, especially if it's not costly (Sorensen for free?), but a young prospect would also be welcome. We've been linked with Scott Loach of Watford and the rumoured move to Sunderland of Keiren Westwood might unsettle Simon Mignolet. If we could get a youngster in and loan him back out for more first team experience, while still having a full set of top notch keepers, then that would be ideal. Alternatively, I hear that Almunia, Lehman and Hilario are all out of contract and looking for clubs...
I've always been impressed with Freidal whenever I've seen him play. Agree with the OP, though, that it seems like a strange signing, when we have two experienced keepers ahead of him. I'd have Cuducini as our No.1, with Gomes as backup, and Friedal as third goalie.
Lehmann!!! Wasn't he just a short term backup for arsenal? He surely can't play on much longer at the top level.
I think Lehmann will end up back in Germany and to be honest a position at Shalke would be a great move for him. He is no longer good enough for the Premier league though, the limited opportunity he had with us, was still strewn with the same old errors that he used to make, albeit with a bit less reaction time and speed I think Friedel is a good short term signing. Gomes was calamitous at times last season and he must have nearly caused Harry a heart attack at times. As for jealousy - ? Not really, I'd take Friedel for sure, but our long term GK position is being cemented by Szczesy. We just need some decent CB's to back him up
Do you think Szczesy is good enough to win silverware with you then? I mean, after he's got a bit older, he had a bit of a mare in the League Cup final, and that may be squashed with experience
Yes I think Szczesny is good enough. Our defence hasn't been though. - 'Squashed with experience' ? I'm not too sure I understand what you mean by that, but obviously experience is a key factor and Szczesny lacks that currently. Friedel has bags of it and I think he will be a good signing for Spurs, but I wouldn't want to see him in front of Szczesny at Arsenal.
