Friedel

[Andy]

Gomes is out of contract and not good enough, Carlo is hopefully going soon, Brad is old and needs replacing, he lets in far too many for the amount of shots he has against him.
we desperately need a younger better keeper.

 

[AUSpur]

There may not have been a lot of discussion about our GK this year, but there has been plenty of talk about how poorly we defend set pieces, and Friedel being cemented to his line is a big part of the problem.

His lack of even a slight movement on the deflection Sunday and his (very) delayed reaction to Taarabt's free kick were inexcusable.

 

[brasil_spur]

Friedal provides stability and re-assurance to our back four, which Gomes doesn't.

Gomes is better and stopping shots and probably better at defending against set pieces and crosses.

Ultimately neither are good enough for what we expect, a Gomes/Friedal hybrid would be awesome but those type of keepers are very rare.

 

[parklane1]

For me Friedel has made us look a lot safer, Gomes is a mistake waiting to happen.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Criticism based on comparison between this season's and last season's clean sheet stats and goals conceded is heavily flawed as we had a much more settled CB pairing then. We've also pushed the full-backs up more (Walker obviously made this a sensible move rather than the less energetic Charlie) and split the CBs more this campaign. We have deliberately made ourselves more vulnerable with the aim of hitting teams better with our pace.

Not that we would have done much worse with Gomes, imo. Just noting that it's not a like-for-like comparison.

I disagree. I reckon the thing that makes us open and vulnerable is the 4 man midfield with Bale, Lennon and Modric and I think we played it much more last season and we saw far more games that were open, end to end slug fests, which in my opinion were major factors in us not making top 4 football, add this to the fact that Dawson played 24 games last year compared to 7 this and Gomes faced much more exposure than Freidel has.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I have no doubts whatsoever that Gomes would have saved several shots that Friedel hasn't this season. He would also have come out and dealt with about 300 more crosses as well.

I appreciate Gomes was flawed, but I don't believe a geriatric, line hugging tubby was an upgrade.

And as for restoring confidence, there have been several incidents this season where I have seen defenders bollock Friedel for not coming for something. Hardly inspirational when your keeper bottles it repeatedly.

 

[ItsBoris]

I think one other thing should be pointed out about Gomes despite his flaws (btw I thought that we had to replace Gomes last summer), and that is that his distribution through his throws often set us on quick counter attacks and Friedel just can't do it like Gomes used to. Our strikers last season often fumbled the opportunity, but it was great to see Gomes throw the ball almost to the half way line and catch the other team off guard.

 

[spursandbarca]

Shea Given, Howard, either of them would be an improvement and available

 

[Strikeb4ck]

If we get top 4 and aren't relegated to Europa, go in with a bid for Lloris and put this guy on a contract that instantly puts him on terms with our highest earners.

He'll be worth it. Such a crucial position.

Yes, let's bring in Lloris to replace a guy for which our only complaint of note is that occasionally he doesn't deal well with crosses.

Have you actually watched Lyon play? Lloris is a FM/FIFA name. Makes a couple great reflex saves across a season, is young, press makes up Real Madrid speculation, and now he is the best young goalkeeper in the world apparently. He's not even the best in Ligue 1. Lloris is awful at dealing with crosses, he's a shot stopper, much like De Gea. And I'd pick Brad over De Gea any day.

Sorry if I sound harsh I just hate when people buy into these undeservingly overrated players. Would cost 25 M regardless.

Tim Howard is a very viable replacement.

 

[Armstrong_11]

i for one am not 100% sold on Friedel. but he does the simple things well, yes he does lack the heroics we have seen in the past by Gomes and Robbo. but he handles the defense well, he is calm in possession, and the comes out to claim dangerous balls in.

don't mind having him for another season if we don't bring anyone else in.

 

[Misfit]

Yes, let's bring in Lloris to replace a guy for which our only complaint of note is that occasionally he doesn't deal well with crosses.

Have you actually watched Lyon play? Lloris is a FM/FIFA name. Makes a couple great reflex saves across a season, is young, press makes up Real Madrid speculation, and now he is the best young goalkeeper in the world apparently. He's not even the best in Ligue 1. Lloris is awful at dealing with crosses, he's a shot stopper, much like De Gea. And I'd pick Brad over De Gea any day.

Sorry if I sound harsh I just hate when people buy into these undeservingly overrated players. Would cost 25 M regardless.

Tim Howard is a very viable replacement.

I'm guessing you're not a fan then. Bit odd that you'd berate Lloris over not being shit hot at dealing with crosses when that's pretty much the biggest and only weakness of Tim Howard, who you mention we should look at instead.

Besides, Lloris is captain of France. If he was that overrated, would that really be the case? Laurent Blanc doesn't strike me as someone completely ignorant as to what a keeper needs to be successful.

Either way, Brad is hardly a liability but he's nothing special either. GK and Striker remain our biggest weaknesses compared to the other 5 clubs in and around us.

 

[The Apprentice]

We desperately need a keeper. Our keepers have a combined age of about 200.

I have a horrible feeling Redknapp will try and eke another season out of Friedel as 1st choice. Horrific thought. The least agile keeper I've seen since Bosnich made a come back. Fine when it's drilled staright at him but saves little that he shouldn't.