Robin Olsen

[villanmac]

He's absolutely shite and has no redeeming features.

[Thug]

Not his fault.

He clearly can’t do the passing around stuff yet we continue to ask him to do it.

He can’t do it.

Stop asking him to do it.

Just smack the damn ball if you’re going to pick him.

[Marka Ragnos]

15 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

That first goal was crucial now looking  back, so another blunder by him among with a few others, but he’s a very good shot stopper. Too much of a liability though. 

And totally predicted and called out by many on Villa Talk at least a month ago. I remember one poster writing how sorry we would be after losing one of the cup runs early, and that's exactly what happened. I think he's a good bloke, a good training keeper, has an important role on the team, but starting isn't one of them!

[Rugeley Villa]

12 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

And totally predicted and called out by many on Villa Talk at least a month ago. I remember one poster writing how sorry we would be after losing one of the cup runs early, and that's exactly what happened. I think he's a good bloke, a good training keeper, has an important role on the team, but starting isn't one of them!

Yeah I kind of feel sorry for him , because he’s a brilliant shot stopper, but way to risky to rely on in any game format wether it be prem or league cup .

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Konsa/Tielmans miscommunication/mistakes for the first and Konsa/Cash unfortunate/unlucky mishap for the second.

Not sure how Olsen is getting blamed by some.

If Emi conceded the same goals ( which he has ) the emphasis would be on the glaring mistakes which lead up to them, not the keeper.

I give him a hard time when deserves as well but he is just a default slate option at this point, like a few other players.

[DJBOB]

2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Konsa/Tielmans miscommunication/mistakes for the first and Konsa/Cash unfortunate/unlucky mishap for the second.

Not sure how Olsen is getting blamed by some.

If Emi conceded the same goals ( which he has ) the emphasis would be on the glaring mistakes which lead up to them, not the keeper.

I give him a hard time when deserves as well but he is just a default slate option at this point, like a few other players.

The first one was a calamity all around but I would assign most of that blame to Dendoncker and Olsen.

Dendoncker plays an inaccurate back pass and then Olsen rockets it into Luiz and causes the scrum.

[romavillan]

Second goal not his fault, but the first one, if you're going to smack it, smack it out of play or up the pitch. Don't smash it at someone near the edge of the box. Then don't get beat on your near post.

He is really a mixed bag, awful flap second half followed by some inspired footwork and distribution. Also awful parry into a dangerous area. He isn't up to it for my money, is Marschall nowhere near?

[Risso]

12 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yeah I kind of feel sorry for him , because he’s a brilliant shot stopper, but way to risky to rely on in any game format wether it be prem or league cup .

He's no a brilliant shot stopper though, by any means. It's maybe the least bad bit of his game, but he's still not very good at it.

[Rugeley Villa]

1 minute ago, Risso said:

He's no a brilliant shot stopper though, by any means. It's maybe the least bad bit of his game, but he's still not very good at it.

He’s pulled off some great saves when I’ve seen him every time this season. I will admit some of those saves have had to be made following a mistake by him , but I think that a strong part of his game. 

[Marka Ragnos]

Is there actually a debate here? I don't think it's about blaming or not blaming. It's acknowledging that a player isn't good enough for what many of us thought we wanted. Or is this kind of more of one of those irritable post-bad-loss football forum tribal arguments about who said what when and whose feelings are hurt? I don't get it. Nice guy, Olsen. He's not good enough to start important games. And most of them are important. It's not a personal attack or global statement on his worth as a human being. Just not good enough to play at our level, or what seemed to be our ambition. 

[Risso]

The keeper playing it out to the defence, even under pressure is such an integral part of Unai's tactics, that to have a back up keeper who is horrendous at that part of the game doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.

[Powehi]

On 03/08/2023 at 15:09, Powehi said:

This is a really good point, and what is frustrating me about this situation - we'll all be in the match thread saying "Olsen ffs!!" when he drops another inevitable clanger, even after an OK 43 minutes. It's so inevitable, and it seems the club are sleepwalking towards it. Hope I'm wrong.

Yeah, pretty sure it was me @Marka Ragnos - although I was probably not alone. Just a baffling decision from the club, when we've spent so much money on bringing in top quality first team players, an elite manager and highly regarded coaching staff. 

Also baffling - people on here saying we can't get a decent option as number 2. We either get a experienced mid to late 30s keeper who doesn't need or expect to play much (Handanovic would have been my pick in the summer) or a young starlet we can groom into being number 1 for when Emi does go. Sticking with Olsen was a giant folly.

[Zatman]

3 hours ago, Powehi said:

Yeah, pretty sure it was me @Marka Ragnos - although I was probably not alone. Just a baffling decision from the club, when we've spent so much money on bringing in top quality first team players, an elite manager and highly regarded coaching staff. 

Also baffling - people on here saying we can't get a decent option as number 2. We either get a experienced mid to late 30s keeper who doesn't need or expect to play much (Handanovic would have been my pick in the summer) or a young starlet we can groom into being number 1 for when Emi does go. Sticking with Olsen was a giant folly.

Olsen is a mid to late 30s experienced keeper that you described. Played in World Cups, Champions League, Euros etc

Handanovic also just retired as he wanted to be a No.1 for his last years

Emi is undisputed number 1 and we cant attract a big name to play Conference League with no chance of consistent league minutes

Edited September 29, 2023 by Zatman

[Enda]

I don’t like this idea that we have to name a replacement before we can criticize Olsen. Or that if we can’t name exactly who it should be, he doesn’t exist.

I don’t know who’s the best 23 year old goalkeeper in the Championship. I’d never heard of Moreno before we signed him. Scouting networks exist for a reason.

Olsen is clearly a good pro but for whatever reason it’s not working here. There is a keeper available on the continent who would be better for us than Olsen, I’m sure of it.

[NeilS]

I wonder if the only reason we didn't move Olsen on this summer is because we see Viljami Sinisalo coming back from his loan next summer and taking the back up keeper role next season. Hopefully we don't pay for that decision too much this season, and manage to qualify again for Europe next season so we have the same volume of matches to play so we can give Sinisalo more minutes on the pitch next season.

[Tom13]

9 hours ago, Enda said:

I don’t like this idea that we have to name a replacement before we can criticize Olsen. Or that if we can’t name exactly who it should be, he doesn’t exist.

I don’t know who’s the best 23 year old goalkeeper in the Championship. I’d never heard of Moreno before we signed him. Scouting networks exist for a reason.

Olsen is clearly a good pro but for whatever reason it’s not working here. There is a keeper available on the continent who would be better for us than Olsen, I’m sure of it.

But who in their right mind would want to be a backup keeper? It's not as if keepers are commonly rotated. Even Man City struggle with this, they had that Zak Steffen who cost them in a cup game or two (IIRC) and who's their sub keeper now, Scott Carson!?

[tomav84]

7 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

But who in their right mind would want to be a backup keeper? It's not as if keepers are commonly rotated. Even Man City struggle with this, they had that Zak Steffen who cost them in a cup game or two (IIRC) and who's their sub keeper now, Scott Carson!?

ordinarily this would be an entirely fair question. but this could easily be worded as "who wants to play understudy and learn from the best goalkeeper in the world?"

taking money out of the equation, think a young striker would hesitate at signing for city and working with haaland every week despite knowing they've zero chance of starting any games?

there simply has to be a decent young up and coming keeper out there that we can teach emery ball to

[Tom13]

2 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

ordinarily this would be an entirely fair question. but this could easily be worded as "who wants to play understudy and learn from the best goalkeeper in the world?"

taking money out of the equation, think a young striker would hesitate at signing for city and working with haaland every week despite knowing they've zero chance of starting any games?

there simply has to be a decent young up and coming keeper out there that we can teach emery ball to

That's different though. They signed Alvarez, who can not only come on as sub but can also play different positions, supporting Haaland. You're never gonna bring a sub keeper on for 20 mins here and there.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Tom13

[Tomaszk]

9 hours ago, Enda said:

I don’t like this idea that we have to name a replacement before we can criticize Olsen. Or that if we can’t name exactly who it should be, he doesn’t exist.

I don’t know who’s the best 23 year old goalkeeper in the Championship. I’d never heard of Moreno before we signed him. Scouting networks exist for a reason.

Olsen is clearly a good pro but for whatever reason it’s not working here. There is a keeper available on the continent who would be better for us than Olsen, I’m sure of it.

Agree. That's always a pretty silly thing to say.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Tomaszk

[tomav84]

1 minute ago, Tom13 said:

That's different though. They signed Alvarez, who can not only come on as sub but can also play different positions, supporting Haaland. You're never gonna bring a sub keeper on for 20 mins here and there.

it was the only position i could think of remotely comparible because teams tend to play 1 up top these days

martinez is no spring chicken, he's in his 30s now. a young keeper should jump at the chance to work with him for a couple of years before making a crack at our number 1 spot

besides, we don't qualify for CL in the next 2 years he's probably off anyway so said backup keeper would get his chance