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Brad Guzan


R.Bear

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nobody has said he isnt. Its just some people blaming him for the Bradford debacle when was goals were not his fault

Given lacks, and has always lacked, any presence or command of his area. Given that Bradford murdered us with crosses, I'd say he's as much at fault as anyone

All of Bradford's goals came directly from set-pieces or from our inability to defend them, therefore Given's lack of command of his area was a key reaosn why they were able to score so many goals like that.

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It's lazy to blame Given for the Bradford defeat.

 

He couldn't do anything about any of the goals. In fact, ironically, I think the first goal was the only one he couldn't have done better on, and that's the one that didn't come (directly) from a set piece.

 

FWIW I agree that Given lacks a command of his area, and Guzan is by far the better option.

But he wasn't at fault for Bradford.

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Who's solely blaming Given for the Bradford defeat?

 

Of course he's to blame. Certainly not the only player to blame (all who played in those games are, along with the manager) but he's still to blame.

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I didn't say anyone was solely blaming him.

 

But I'm not sure what more he could have done on any of their goals to be honest. As I said, if you want to be picky you could say the first one, but it would still have been an excellent save if he'd kept it out.

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If he commanded his area a bit more and wasn't rooted to his line all the time we may not have conceded as many goals. He was definitely to blame for the first goal and he certainly played a part in all of the other goals along with our inept defence.

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If you had Guzan in goal instead of Given then those situations would probably not have occurred.

 

I did not want Given in the first place.  He is a excellent shot stopper which makes him look better than he is.

 

Something to think about - Newcastle, Man City and then Villa.  Everywhere he has gone he has looked good but the defense fell to pieces and started to leak goals.  He goals and the same defense looks better.  A bit like Spinky he doesnt comand the defense well enough but is a good goalkeeper.

 

At Villa we sold the defense off and kept Given!

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Put it this way, if you stuck Guzan in goal instead of Given for all of our goals against Bradford I don't think it would have made a difference.

 

I think it would have. The stats speak for themselves. IIRC Given's played 4 games for us this calendar year (all cup games). In those 4 games we conceded 5 goals from corners. Guzan's played 7 games and conceded 3/4 goals from corners (I think). Also don't forget Given played against Championship/League 2 teams in those 4 games whereas Guzan has been playing against Premier League teams.

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I'm checking the higlights as I write this.

First leg

First goal - initial corner outswinging, comes down level with the penalty spot. WOuld be crazy for the keeper to be claiming it out there. Cleared, defelcted back in and they score. I think Given could have spread himself the other way, btu it would have been a great stop if he'd saved it.

 

Second goal - Low hard cross, header is made on the corner of the 6 yard box at the near post side. Again, no chance any keeper is claiming that

 

Third Goal - Another outswining corner. Header is made on the penalty spot. Perhaps Given could have dived and saved the header, but he had a man on the line who you'd think would cover it and didn't. Point is he couldn't have claimed the cross.

Second Leg

Only goal - Vlaar loses his man, free header, again level with the penalty spot, more or less. Not claimable

 



I'm sorry but Guzan wouldn't be coming and claiming any of those crosses.

Ok, you could say Guzan would influence the game and those situations would neevr arise, but that, imo, is a huge assumption to be making.

Edited by Stevo985
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Guzan is much better at commanding his area.

 

That doesn't mean he's coming and claiming whipped in corners 12 yards from goal.

 

You're having a go at Given for the sake of it. There's plenty of stuff to criticise him about without making stuff up.

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I'm having a go at Given based on what I saw in the Bradford and Millwall games. Guzan isn't perfect but there can be no doubt that we would've stood a better chance of progressing in those fixtures had Guzan been in goal (I blame Lambert for not switching goalkeepers after the shameful debacle in the first leg).

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I'm checking the higlights as I write this.

First leg

First goal - initial corner outswinging, comes down level with the penalty spot. WOuld be crazy for the keeper to be claiming it out there. Cleared, defelcted back in and they score. I think Given could have spread himself the other way, btu it would have been a great stop if he'd saved it.

 

Second goal - Low hard cross, header is made on the corner of the 6 yard box at the near post side. Again, no chance any keeper is claiming that

 

Third Goal - Another outswining corner. Header is made on the penalty spot. Perhaps Given could have dived and saved the header, but he had a man on the line who you'd think would cover it and didn't. Point is he couldn't have claimed the cross.

Second Leg

Only goal - Vlaar loses his man, free header, again level with the penalty spot, more or less. Not claimable

 

I'm sorry but Guzan wouldn't be coming and claiming any of those crosses.

Ok, you could say Guzan would influence the game and those situations would neevr arise, but that, imo, is a huge assumption to be making.

Command of area doesn't just boil down to coming off your line to claim crosses. It's about bossing the area first and foremost. Also you need to look at all the crosses in the matches, not just the ones for goals. How much encouragement did they get to keep crossing the ball in throughout the tie? How much of an influence would a more physical, more vocal keeper better on crosses have had to negate that? Of course the overall defeat wasn't given's fault at all, but having Guzan in there would definitely have meant the plan A, B and C for bradford consisted of getting the ball in the box so much

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Which goalkeeper was in goal for the previous rounds in both competitions? Didn't see his performance being questioned then.

I don't blame Lambert for playing Given in the first leg but I do blame him for not switching them in the second leg. Even before the game I was saying they should be changed as it was obvious to all that Bradford would come to VP and exploit Given's weakness at defending corners.

 

Of course we're always weak defending corners regardless of who's in goal, but we're more vulnerable with Given than we are with Guzan.

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The goal Bradford scored had nothing to do with Given, it was a simple fact Vlaar did not mark his man, if you give players free headers in the box from 5 yards, they are most likely to score. It's like saying Guzan should have commanded his box in the WBA, where in fact he let the ball roll out, he should have come and commanded it when Fellaini scored at Everton. It is all if's and buts. Simple fact is even with Bradford scoring 4 past us, we should have scored a shedload against them.

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