Friedl continues to defy old Father Time. However, both he and AVB Know that Lloris is the longer term future. In which case, yes he will be disappointed, but not entirely surprised, I suspect.
I don't know the answer to that one. I do see his logic in using this opportunity to give Lloris a run of games which includes his games for his country, but I have to say I was staggered when the teams were announced today. I also think that on form since the start of this season, Friedel's form has been up there in the best 2 or 3 keepers in the PL.
I think that Friedel's a big enough man to accept the reality of the situation and that was that Villas-Boas had to do what he thought was best for the team. He seemed happy enough on the bench during the game and I'm sure that the experience and maturity that he's got will allow him to see the bigger picture. A lot of other managers would have felt pressurised into using Lloris as soon as he was signed, so perhaps the American appreciates the fact that he was shown some faith?
Fair point, but just to see AVB's point of view, if he has two experienced keepers, that are both near the top of their game, its fair for him to rotate, if it believes it allows both keepers feel part of the 1st team, in terms of getting their chance and doesn't effect team performance. The issue I have with AVB on this, is the mixed messages, as he has been giving the impression that Freidal won't be dropped, and its his position to lose, so the comments coming out in recent weeks where wrong, and he should think before he makes them. What AVB should have done, is recognised we now have two top keepers and made his comments to reflect that, and also reflect that they will both play league games this season, and this isn't down to loss of form, but to make use of the squad.
Football has too many contradictions,we hear one thing and the opposite happens very often. We read that coaches say something and then learn that they didn't so who or what to believe. From now on I'm going to wait until match day to see the teams and not bother about what goes on behind the scenes. I've always maintained that we have had a good start considering the factors and the teams with whom we drew the first matches we will beat them at their grounds. As has already been said,WBA will fade and Norwich are right down there. We are slowly improving but only slowly with bits of luck thrown in as in Man U and today.
please log in to view this image I wish players were banned for 1-3 games for this sort of cheating. Time and time again Bale is diving, just like Suarez.
There's been a fair amount of praise once we beat United and made it 3 wins on the trot. I think it will continue to build up as we win. We'll have to play better than we did today though if we're going to beat Chelsea, or even get a draw. AVB's still learning though and I'm hoping there's more improvement to come from the side yet, we're still a bit of distance away from how we were at our best last season.
Look at Guzan's left foot before Bale goes down. It looks to all the World like he's going to go flying in on Bale and getting your feet off the ground when a 15 stone keeper's flying towards you. If he was diving he'd have appealed.
It looks like he's going to follow through doesn't it? Still a dive I think. I condemn it in other teams and I condemn it in my team. Cheating like that rebounds later on in the season.
And what was there instead of the ball at the time? Bale's standing leg. Again, if Bale was trying to get a freekick, why didn't he appeal, and why did he tuck his leg away rather than leaving it out there to try and get contact? If that was a dive, he's doing it totally different to every other player in football.
Ouch indeed!! Funnily enough, I had a very similar cut many years ago slightly higher on the knee. Opened up like a chasm and took 15 stitches to hold it all together, but didn't actually bleed at the time. Very odd..... Good player and wishing him all the best - hopefully he will only be out a similar time to Rooney.
In answer to an earlier thread ,perhaps Sir Ferguson could buy Friedel for 20 mil.This could settle his goalie problem!
It was a great call by AVB to play Lloris, and may well have won the game for us. So refreshing to see him coming out for crosses ealy on, which helped to settle nerves. He was really fast off his line to stop Gabby A, I doubt that Friedel would have got there.
Look at how Bale angles his hips and legs to simulate the impact though. He was anticipating Guzan's challenge but he wanted to get him sent off.
the angle of his hips would have been the body's natural reaction to protect itself, due to that incoming leg from Guzan. yes he was anticipating Guzan's challenge, but like YV says, if he was trying to get him booked or sent off, he would have appealed to the ref. instead he just got up and carried on, despite the fans going mental. Bale has definitely gone down too easily in the past and theres no excuse for anyone diving. But it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. - he's also been clattered and injured, as he's often targeted by the opposition. sometimes it's better to be a "pussy" and pull out of a challenge, rather than get hurt. I'm guessing this has probably been something that he's considered on a fair few occasions, after previous experiences.
I don't know if he would have. Players like Suarez, Tevez etc roll about and don't get anything - he may well have thought to himself 'if I appear to be honest here I'll get the foul'. He does angle his body in such a way that it looks like he's been clattered. But I see the point about trying to avoid contact, but surely he would have just hurdled the keeper, like players do 99% of the time?
The keeper pulled his leg out from appearing to hoof it at the last second, so nothing was there to hurdle. An unsavoury incident, but its not like the ref was surrounded by Spurs players claiming foul. Bale would have done better to get straight up if it was just avoidance though. Mountains and Molehills.
You're making an assumption that goes against everything you see in the clip. He was anticipating Guzan's challenge, we'll both agree on that, but how was he trying to get Guzan sent off? You talk about the angle of his hips but if you're running full tilt with your outsretched standing leg in the firing line all you can do is take it back off the floor which causes you to fall and it's only natural that he sought to get his leg away from the firing line. You can believe what you want about the incident but you can't pretend that it's a fact he was diving to get Guzan sent off.
