The Joel Robles Fanboy Thread.

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I have been very impressed with Robles. Yes he made a bit of a mistake coming off his line when he did, but he corrected his position better, didn't panic like last time held Stirling up and forced him to fluff the shot. Had he have remained on his line Stirling was in on goal because Coleman/Stones had gone to sleep. The way he improved dealing with coming off his line compared to Krosnadar shows what a bit of confidence can do.

Other than that he was very tidy. A couple of good saves from the Stirling shot at the park end and the Gerrard Free Kick. These are the sort of bread and butter saves that Howard has been messing up on this season and Robles might have made mistakes on last year.

I think the save he made off the deflection at the feet of Ibe was underated. He had to change direction very quickly, showing agility, assertiveness and bravery and was a very good save. I am not convinced Howard would have had the agility to make it.

The people criticising him I think are missing the point a bit. Nobody is saying he is David De Gea or making a string of world class saves. Pointing out the lack of saves misses the point. You don't get that slightly sick feeling of panic that I once had when he was in goal. He has a calm assurance that he lacked before and in honesty Howard has lacked this season. He is clearly giving the defenders confidence in front of him.

The best goalkeeper I've seen at Everton was Nigel Martyn. He gave confidence to those in front of him and you never felt worried watching him. Robles is going in that direction and is making some quite difficult saves look quite simple. (The save at Ibes feet is one example). I also remember thinking that about him when I saw him for Wigan when they beat us 3-1, he had a calmness in collecting corners that we lacked from Mucha and Howard.

Whether he is good enough to be our long term keeper is still up for debate. Last season and at the start of this season it would have been a no. But he never got a run in the side. He has now and nobody can deny the improvement there has been. I've been very impressed with all aspects of his game and a bit like Barkley and Stones before him you can see him growing in stature and confidence every week.
 
It's a myth Howard has been a top keeper for us, one decent season last season and that's it. Should of sold him after the World Cup when his stick was high after a good game against Belguim. I was saying earlier on in the season he should be dropped for Joel, it shouldn't of took an injury for this to happen.
 
Roger Milla said:
It's a myth Howard has been a top keeper for us, one decent season last season and that's it. Should of sold him after the World Cup when his stick was high after a good game against Belguim. I was saying earlier on in the season he should be dropped for Joel, it shouldn't of took an injury for this to happen.
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Lot has been made of that 1 game against Belgium but if you watch the game again a lot of the saves Howard made were saves you'd expect him to save or were hit right at him.... Not denying 1 or 2 were good saves but I do think some have gone over the top rating his performance that game..... Just my humble opinion.
 

Article in the Echo about the manager saying Howard is still the #1 keeper. I've defended Howard this season by saying that the goals we've shipped can be blamed on more than just him. However, I will be fuming if he is selected ahead of Robles. Robles deserves to keep his place. It's not just the clean sheets. It's the way he comes for crosses. It's the saves he made in the cup. I hope there are not politics at play here. The better performers play...that's the way football should be. Simple as.
 
I really don't think there could be any justification for dropping him again when Howard returns. I don't actually mind Howard but the stats suggest that for the first time this season, we have a settled back 5. Never mind your star strikers and creative talents up the top of the pitch, a settled, confident back line is crucial to the success of a team. This is evident not only with our performances last season, but with the current league leaders.
I genuinely believe that this season would've been completely different if we had started with the current back 5 and changing it now could rock the boat again.
 
Yes Joel has been improving week by week, but to suggest that Howard has only had one good season is foolish. He has been one of the most consistent keepers in the league for around 8 years now. All goalkeepers make mistakes, Howard more so this year than usual, but he is a proven quality keeper. I hope that Joel continues to progress to increase the competition when Tim comes back into the squad, but Joel definitely deserves to keep the number 1 shirt when he returns.
 


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