Tim Howard

[PhilM]

Your point "His decision making, or lack of, arguably puts pressure on his defenders which is not conducive for them to have a good performance." really means whatever happens on the pitch in our half will be by default his fault.

And as for "Howard is fairly pilloried.".....that made me grin.

To your first point, no it does not. However it contributes to it. For example, yesterday he threw the ball out to Stones with two players too close.

This put unnecessary pressure on Stones and we ended up losing the ball. A singular moment? No, as we had a similar situation against Palace.

It also happened against Bournemouth and others this season. It is not a one off situation, but a frequent occurrence. That causes doubt.

Then there are also far too regular moments where Howard and defenders do not communicate the simple collection of a ball becomes a farce.

If it was merely an issue of crosses as you mention then we could adapt to help alleviate this, but my point is that it is not. It's more than that.

It's a multitude of problems which his form is contributing to. As I said earlier, I was once a long time fan of Howard for his shot-stopping abilities.

He's never been the greatest communicator or distributor of the ball, but he could make great saves. Now he's declined further in all areas.

Ask yourself, if you were Stones would you be comfortable with Howard behind you? Would you be confident that he'd support you?

I, along with many others, would probably say no. That's why I'd suggest that our defenders are put under unnecessary extra pressure.

The defenders aren't blameless and are at fault as well, however you seem unwilling to accept that Howard may in some way contribute to this.

In fact you instead seem unwilling to accept that Howard is at fault at all, simply suggesting the defenders should do more to fix his deficiencies.

As of last week, he had the worst save percentage in the league this season and the second highest number of crosses not claimed.

Add to that four individual errors by himself which lead to goals and the number of free headers allowed in the six-yard box.

Six of the ten goals conceded before yesterday were from headers in the six-yard box. Shouldn't he be claiming those? It's not good reading...

Home and away you hear constant grumblings about how worried people are about Howard. I'm pretty confident Stones et al may feel the same.

 

[davids]

To your first point, no it does not. However it contributes to it. For example, yesterday he threw the ball out to Stones with two players too close.

This put unnecessary pressure on Stones and we ended up losing the ball. A singular moment? No, as we had a similar situation against Palace.

It also happened against Bournemouth and others this season. It is not a one off situation, but a frequent occurrence. That causes doubt.

Then there are also far too regular moments where Howard and defenders do not communicate the simple collection of a ball becomes a farce.

If it was merely an issue of crosses as you mention then we could adapt to help alleviate this, but my point is that it is not. It's more than that.

It's a multitude of problems which his form is contributing to. As I said earlier, I was once a long time fan of Howard for his shot-stopping abilities.

He's never been the greatest communicator or distributor of the ball, but he could make great saves. Now he's declined further in all areas.

Ask yourself, if you were Stones would you be comfortable with Howard behind you? Would you be confident that he'd support you?

I, along with many others, would probably say no. That's why I'd suggest that our defenders are put under unnecessary extra pressure.

The defenders aren't blameless and are at fault as well, however you seem unwilling to accept that Howard may in some way contribute to this.

In fact you instead seem unwilling to accept that Howard is at fault at all, simply suggesting the defenders should do more to fix his deficiencies

Home and away you hear constant grumblings about how worried people are about Howard. I'm pretty confident Stones et al may feel the same.

I believe strongly in the adage that you defend as a team and I do accept that Howard is in decline,but not that his form over this season has turned our defenders into nervous wrecks,Maybe we should be looking at why there are match-ups like Dann V Barry rather than trying to hang it all on one player.Also who would you suggest we play in his place? Believe me I've watched Everton for some years and for every Nigel Martyn there are four David Lawsons.

 

[PhilM]

Also who would you suggest we play in his place? Believe me I've watched Everton for some years and for every Nigel Martyn there are four David Lawsons.

As have I. In the short-term I would go for dropping him for Joel. It's not ideal, but I do think it would instil some confidence in our defenders.

It may also make Howard consider his position as right now there is no challenge for his place, as shown by Martinez automatically selecting him.

I also agree that you must defend as a team, however I also sincerely believe that a good keeper plays a huge part in a teams success.

They command, control and instil confidence in others around him. Equally, a keeper who isn't dominant creates cause and concern.

In the Summer I would then look at whether we needed to spend money on someone else. Maybe Howard or Joel will perform. If not, who?

I'm not sure who's available or how much money we'd be willing to spend, but I like Adrian or someone of his ability.

 

[toffeejack]

Time will tell,although it gets a bit confusing if you read through the thread,some say he's always been rubbish on crosses others that it's only the last few seasons,others that he's always been useless at every part of his game. I remember Hennessey being touted as someone we should buy when he was at Wolves,then not,and now he is again.I'm going to sit on the fence and say it's down to Martinez,he sees him everyday in training and picks him so......

hennessey is nowhere near good enough. i think butland's pretty good, but have doubts he's good enough for us as well. Howard's always been iffy with his all-round game. He's always been a good shot stopper, that's how most people label him.

 

[MartSlinger]

hennessey is nowhere near good enough. i think butland's pretty good, but have doubts he's good enough for us as well. Howard's always been iffy with his all-round game. He's always been a good shot stopper, that's how most people label him.

Never understood that phrase. A keeper is meant to stop shots, so surely all Keepers in the PL are 'good shot stoppers'?

 

[toffeejack]

Never understood that phrase. A keeper is meant to stop shots, so surely all Keepers in the PL are 'good shot stoppers'?

he "used to" pull off saves that not all good keepers would. That's definitely declined in the last two years as shown by muleiple one on ones going straight through his body. He's 36, he was bound to decline with decision making. He's never been good at crosses, distribution or dominating his defence though.

I think it's just labelled at keepers that have that as their main attribute tbh.

 

[davids]

As have I. In the short-term I would go for dropping him for Joel. It's not ideal, but I do think it would instil some confidence in our defenders.

It may also make Howard consider his position as right now there is no challenge for his place, as shown by Martinez automatically selecting him.

I also agree that you must defend as a team, however I also sincerely believe that a good keeper plays a huge part in a teams success.

They command, control and instil confidence in others around him. Equally, a keeper who isn't dominant creates cause and concern.

In the Summer I would then look at whether we needed to spend money on someone else. Maybe Howard or Joel will perform. If not, who?

I'm not sure who's available or how much money we'd be willing to spend, but I like Adrian or someone of his ability.

He looked good at Betis and I was surprised he went to someone like WH. Doubt he'll leave them in the near future as he's just signed a new contract with a further two year option,but you never know.

 

[PhilM]

Never understood that phrase. A keeper is meant to stop shots, so surely all Keepers in the PL are 'good shot stoppers'?

Of course that's their role, but I deem it to be the ability of an individual keeper to save shots which in the majority of cases would go in.

For example, Southall and Martyn were great shot stoppers making some exceptional saves. Most keepers wouldn't be able to do that.

Howard for a long time had a similar ability to save difficult shots with quick, reflex saves. Now he's beaten as his front post far too easily...

 

[streeky]

Simon Mignolet lined up for january

 

[Joey66]

To your first point, no it does not. However it contributes to it. For example, yesterday he threw the ball out to Stones with two players too close.

This put unnecessary pressure on Stones and we ended up losing the ball. A singular moment? No, as we had a similar situation against Palace.

It also happened against Bournemouth and others this season. It is not a one off situation, but a frequent occurrence. That causes doubt.

Then there are also far too regular moments where Howard and defenders do not communicate the simple collection of a ball becomes a farce.

If it was merely an issue of crosses as you mention then we could adapt to help alleviate this, but my point is that it is not. It's more than that.

It's a multitude of problems which his form is contributing to. As I said earlier, I was once a long time fan of Howard for his shot-stopping abilities.

He's never been the greatest communicator or distributor of the ball, but he could make great saves. Now he's declined further in all areas.

Ask yourself, if you were Stones would you be comfortable with Howard behind you? Would you be confident that he'd support you?

I, along with many others, would probably say no. That's why I'd suggest that our defenders are put under unnecessary extra pressure.

The defenders aren't blameless and are at fault as well, however you seem unwilling to accept that Howard may in some way contribute to this.

In fact you instead seem unwilling to accept that Howard is at fault at all, simply suggesting the defenders should do more to fix his deficiencies.

As of last week, he had the worst save percentage in the league this season and the second highest number of crosses not claimed.

Add to that four individual errors by himself which lead to goals and the number of free headers allowed in the six-yard box.

Six of the ten goals conceded before yesterday were from headers in the six-yard box. Shouldn't he be claiming those? It's not good reading...

Home and away you hear constant grumblings about how worried people are about Howard. I'm pretty confident Stones et al may feel the same.

A very good scenario on Tims problems with crosses!

 

[mlyons]

As of last week, he had the worst save percentage in the league this season and the second highest number of crosses not claimed.

Worst save percentage in the league last season. This season he's actually 7th. Shouldn't let facts get in the way of biases, though.

 

[PhilM]

Worst save percentage in the league last season. This season he's actually 7th. Shouldn't let facts get in the way of biases, though.

Sorry. I forgot to add that was for keepers making more than six appearances; in that category he has the worst save percentage at 59.26%.

When you remove the twelve players who've played less than that, then out of the main keepers he's clearly got the worst.

 

[ijjysmith]

I hate backing Tim Howard up.... But....

All keepers seem to be struggling a bit this season. Especially at set pieces.

 

[Toast]

I hate backing Tim Howard up.... But....

All keepers seem to be struggling a bit this season. Especially at set pieces.

Ive never heard of the Newcastle goalie, but last two games, his saves have made the difference.

 

[ijjysmith]

Ive never heard of the Newcastle goalie, but last two games, his saves have made the difference.

But yet I've seen more established 'good' keepers like Lloris and Kasper have been crap at corners and generally a bit dodge. Even De Gea had issues yesterday.