I'd happily argue that it would have been madness to drop Shilton, after all the clean sheets in qualifying
Jonathon Wilson ruins Italia 90
- Thread starter Mikey_Fitzgerald
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He cheated like
he did, and I like maradona no more than yourself, but shilton escapes a lot of deserved blame for that goal
I was probably too young to see Shilton in his pomp, but the two that stand out are his awful attempt at knocking Maradona's head off in the hand of god incident, and his equally awful attempt at doing anything with Brehme's deflected free kick.
Dithering Dougie
Banned
It was a bizarre goal all round really. God only knows what Steve Hodge was trying to do. Even in an era when back passes were allowed, that was a crazy one to attempt. Then you have Shilton, whose attempt to get off the ground was shameful. To be out jumped by someone you're 7 inches taller than is pretty poor, especially when you see that Shilton had his arm extended for the punch, whereas Maradona had his bent to be near his head.
Not a patch on Big Nev. He would have cleaned both the ball and Diego out. Heck, in those days he could probably have done a Schumacher and no one would have batted an eyelid.
You can argue that Shilton wasn't expecting the other feller to punch the ball because it would be a disgusting and reprehensible thing to do, but nah, let's just blame the man playing the game fairly
Should have kung fu kicked the feller. Rules are for lameoids
FFS
Should have kung fu kicked the feller. Rules are for lameoids
FFS
nev would be catching the ball cleanly, realeasing the full back and leaving maradona in a tangled mess on the floor
You're not wrong.
Dithering Dougie
Banned
If he'd have done his job properly and caught the ball or punched it away at its highest point, like he should Mikey, Maradona wouldnt have got near him with a set of step ladders never mind a bit of of a leap.
Terrible goalkeeping regardless of the cheating that happened.
Don't think that's the argument they're making to be fair. It's more - If Shilton had kept his goal better, then Maradona's cheating would not have been possible.
It's not forgiving the cheating to say that the keeper should have done a better job.
nigelcoyb
Player Valuation: £25m
Disagree entirely. Maradona's hand was virtually resting on his own skull he'd have scored if he just nutted it normally. Shilton was slow getting there hence his gormless horizontal lunge rather than decisive vertical leap. Shilton in his prime was good but living on reputation at this tournament.
It's shifting the blame from the perpertrator to the victim though
It's like saying someone deserved to be attacked because they were wearing a football shirt. If they'd worn a normal shirt, they wouldn't have been attacked
That's why it annoys me. It's essentially minimilising Maradonna's cheating, even if that's not what they intend to do
The only way to view "The Hand of God" in my opinion is "Maradonna cheated to score a goal". Nothing else even comes into it for me. There is no shade of grey whatsoever
Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
There used to be a rule in defending though, man/ball or both. As a keeper it has to be ball. Nothing gets past. Shilton neither stopped the ball nor stopped the man. Maradonna didn't even out stretch his hand. It's not detracting from Maradonna cheating, the goal should obviously have not stood, but Shilton came out with his eyes closed and missed the ball completely.
Yet despite that was still first choice 4 years later when he wasn't even of the standard he was in 86. Goalkeepers have a strange relationship with some managers, as in certain managers like to stick to the same keeper throughout. Robson made a massive error in sticking with Shilton and ultimately paid the price.
I dig that, but it should still be fair game to bring up when assessing the quality of the goalkeeper. It's not the argument that Shilton caused the goal. The goal was entirely Maradona cheating.
However, the way that Shilton played that ball is fair game to be brought up when assessing whether he should have been first choice in the following World Cup. It's not shifting the blame to the victim, it's assessing the causal factors of the crime and attempting to minimize the likelihood of a repeat offense....
Ok I took the analogy too far, but I think the point sort of stands.
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