Smudge1985
Player Valuation: £950k
Last night was unbelievable goalkeeping. Arsenal chuck a cross into his six yard box, and he actually ducks behind the striker. Then for the second, he stands and waits to try and punch it away with his eyes shut, completely oblivious to Koscielny getting there ahead of him. Both goals are easily avoided by a goalkeeper coming off his line to come and get the ball. Yes there are other problems at work here, that terrible zonal marking we do at set pieces still hasnt been binned off after all these years, but at the end of the day, Howard is the last line of defence, and he is a fraud and a coward who wont come and get the ball because he is scared of hurting himself. He throws the ball out to players who are under pressure, if he kicks it, he cant keep it in play, he has made an art form out of diving out of the way of shots, he is finished as a footballer. We saw it last year when Distin went on a year too long, Campbell years back, Phil Neville, it happens to everybody if they go on too long. We reached that stage with Howard at least 2 years ago. The defence have absolutely no confidence in him, which is affecting their own performances, and basically, while I know the 10 outfield players are good enough that we can expect to beat anybody on any given day, Im not actually confident of us beating anybody at the moment because he is making us such a liability defensively.
As for Joel, he may or may not be the answer long term. But a keeper cant be expected to come in and prove himself in one game, when being a goalkeeper is all about managing a relationship and understanding with the defence in front of you. Which is why I think it was clear that over the course of the 8 games or so he played in a row last Christmas (when again lets not forget that he came into a side that was letting in goals for fun, couldnt buy a win, and all confidence in the defence had been shot to pieces by Howard) he gradually improved, as did the whole defence. By the time we played Palace at the end of January, it was the first time in months Id felt safe with our whole defence, because their confidence had come back and they trusted each other. Palace put us under a lot of pressure in that game, but it felt comfortable, like we could deal with it. Joel actually showing he could come out and claim routine crosses and relieve the pressure at time being the biggest thing that we hadnt seen from Howard in years.
What happens next though is all on Martinez. Whether Joel is the answer, or we need to buy a new keeper, the most important thing in the short term at least is that Tim Howard cannot continue as our goalkeeper. I expect Joel will play against Norwich, because he usually does in the League Cup (but then remember when Martinez left Howard in at Swansea last year after his howlers at home to Palace to try and regain his confidence? Yeah that one we lost 3-0...) but it's all on who he picks to play against Sunderland. Even if he still has faith in Howard ever regaining his form, he absolutely is in no position to play right now, and needs dropping at least as a kick up the backside, a chance to have a break and work on the basics etc. Persisting with a terrible keeper who is costing us games all over the place is ruining the entire team right now. Im concerned with the armband passing to Howard thing, strikes me as the kind of thing managers do to try and make a statement of loyalty to a player, and he doesnt deserve it. He needs to make a stand and take him out. I dont think he will though.
As for Joel, he may or may not be the answer long term. But a keeper cant be expected to come in and prove himself in one game, when being a goalkeeper is all about managing a relationship and understanding with the defence in front of you. Which is why I think it was clear that over the course of the 8 games or so he played in a row last Christmas (when again lets not forget that he came into a side that was letting in goals for fun, couldnt buy a win, and all confidence in the defence had been shot to pieces by Howard) he gradually improved, as did the whole defence. By the time we played Palace at the end of January, it was the first time in months Id felt safe with our whole defence, because their confidence had come back and they trusted each other. Palace put us under a lot of pressure in that game, but it felt comfortable, like we could deal with it. Joel actually showing he could come out and claim routine crosses and relieve the pressure at time being the biggest thing that we hadnt seen from Howard in years.
What happens next though is all on Martinez. Whether Joel is the answer, or we need to buy a new keeper, the most important thing in the short term at least is that Tim Howard cannot continue as our goalkeeper. I expect Joel will play against Norwich, because he usually does in the League Cup (but then remember when Martinez left Howard in at Swansea last year after his howlers at home to Palace to try and regain his confidence? Yeah that one we lost 3-0...) but it's all on who he picks to play against Sunderland. Even if he still has faith in Howard ever regaining his form, he absolutely is in no position to play right now, and needs dropping at least as a kick up the backside, a chance to have a break and work on the basics etc. Persisting with a terrible keeper who is costing us games all over the place is ruining the entire team right now. Im concerned with the armband passing to Howard thing, strikes me as the kind of thing managers do to try and make a statement of loyalty to a player, and he doesnt deserve it. He needs to make a stand and take him out. I dont think he will though.
