Everton Banter Archive October 28 2014

28 Oct 2014 20:10:43
youve got to laugh at the reds. Colin Pascoe says we are not frightened to play our youngsters tonight . and in come Jones, Johnson and Lambert. Ha Ha

Alan BallBoy

28 Oct 2014 21:35:26
Does it matter? Least they reached this stage, unlike us

28 Oct 2014 23:45:56
Well this is awkward mate, isn't it

Who cares about what they do?
We should be concentrating on us winning against Swansea City on Saturday.

Nice one! A bit of light hearted banter on a football banter site. And yes, I know it's an Everton banter site, but if we can't have a laugh at the reds now and again, what's the point? We could always ask the ed for a deadly serious page.

{Ed025's Note - im with you lee, nothing wrong with a bit of banter mate, life is serious enough without letting it affect our footy...and i dont do deadly serious fella, some of the pages are full of moaners and i dont intend this one to end up like that..

28 Oct 2014 02:04:13
Considering the fans' generally perceived poor form of Tim Howard this season - and the fans' lack of confidence in Robles as a yet-to-be-proven reliable deputy - I wonder if the first team's goalkeeping coach, Inaki Bergera, should be doing more with them? Maybe these players' preference for punching the ball rather than cleanly catching crosses and other higher balls is indicative of a continental goalkeeping style that we've adopted. Goodness help us if our young goalkeepers - like Griffiths, Stanek, Hunt, etc. - are being coached to do the same, as that doesn't bode well imho. Being a very good shot-stopper is great, but dealing with crosses and other high balls in a way that gives confidence to the rest of the team is just as important surely, and commanding the penalty area in an assured and calm manner (that is no rushes of blood to the head and no poor decisions!) are part of what great goalkeepers do. There was only one Neville Southall - oh for some of his greatness to manifest itself in Howard, Robles, etc. - what a prospect that'd be ;-)

Hi Cowpat, think the goalkeeping coach has done a great job with Howard. Probably his best season last year with us. Think Timmy suffering from World Cup like many others. Still one of the best in the Premiership, although would be nice if Roberto offered Valdes a deal till the end of the season.

Agree totally with Cowpat Sid. Its punch punch punch regardless of whether its easier to catch or grab it. I prided myself when in School as a Keeper in getting all the Keepers manuals, West, Banks, Shilton, none of them talked about how often to punch, yes how to punch but it was mainly how to hold onto a ball, on one knee, knee up for the cross and eyes on the ball not the defender or attacker, how to create the protective basket with your arms keep it in the chest not the tummy, Palming the ball away from your goal not straight out. You are the KEEPER not the GETRIDDER of the ball. Tim is a great keeper in all but his command of his space ohh and his distribution at times is suspect but only since the Martinez era of getting the ball to the CB or WB's, he's not a natural footballer so struggles at times with this. Sadly its difficult to name a Keeper that could replace him really as it seems the way with all Keepers these days.

Good posts there from Howie and Sid. Think I read some goalkeeper manuals too. Played there twice. First time used the down on one knee technique, broken glass on pitch off to hospital for stitches. Second time tried the command your box technique, got clattered, off to hospital to get a broken thumb fixed.

Thing is in modern day football the slightest touch on the keeper and its a free kick and therefore the oppositions attack has broke down, yet our keeper never attempts any crosses in and aroound his six yard box, the Giroud header at Goodison being a prime example, these sort of things shouldn't need coaching to a keeper of Tims age it should come naturally

29 Oct 2014 08:03:46
This idea that "things come naturally" has never been for me. I accept that every individual has attributes - physical size, speed, strength, mental toughness, intelligence, determination, etc. - that should make them adept at certain activities, but the idea that someone can be a goalkeeper - or any kind of top-level sportsman - without coaching or guidance seems unlikely to me. In my opinion, it's only time spent being coached and practising goalkeeping techniques that makes these techniques part of a goalkeeper's armoury. Maybe it's a lack of confidence or a fear of injury that's making him punch rather than catch crosses and high balls. Whatever it is, I still reckon that the goalkeeping coach needs to be doing something more effective in order to improve our goalkeepers' performances.

29 Oct 2014 09:08:51
I think the tendency to punch balls, rather than catch them, is rifle throughout the league. It used to be foreign keepers that resorted to this practice, all over europe and not just the ones in the English top flight, but now the majority seem to do this. Maybe it has more to do with the actual footballs used. Balls back in the 80's did not move as much as they do today, the flight now moves from left to right and back again in the blink of an eye. Is it possible that the modern keeper is conscious of this and takes the easy option to punch rather than catch?

29 Oct 2014 10:06:36
spudv: good point about modern balls - maybe that's why many modern goalkeepers aren't confident enough to catch the ball and prefer to punch it. Nevertheless, I still say that it's up to the goalkeeping coach to work with the goalkeepers to improve their performance - that's surely why we have specialist goalkeeping coaches these days. Did Southall or West or Sagar or any of our championship side goalkeepers have - or need - specialist goalkeeping coaches back in the day? They had specific training routines to improve their agility, speed of recovery, handling, etc., but it was the regular coaches who worked with them - wasn't it?