Shay Given vs Brad Friedel

[kurtsimonw]

We signed Friedel for £2.5 million, he was a good all round keeper but not very good coming off his line at corners.

Given for £3 million better at shot stopping than Friedel but also worse than Friedel at coming off his line.

They're the same in ability I think, Friedel less likely to make a mistake, Given more likely to pull off an amazing save.

Sums it up for me.

[brommy]

Brad is by far a better all round keeper than Given IMO.

I disagree. I also think that many of our fans are guilty of believing the grass is greener elsewhere. If we still had Friedel and Given was playing elsewhere the answer would be the other way around! Also, Given is 5 years younger and is likely to be a his greatest for longer.

[briny_ear]

They are pretty evenly matched in my view but you do have to ask which one Redknapp chose to sign, since he is by far a better picker of talent than any manager we've had at Villa for quite a while.

[Razor]

City wouldn't sell to a rival, there was a spell when they considered us a rival and wouldn't sell us players too

[Mantis]

They are pretty evenly matched in my view but you do have to ask which one Redknapp chose to sign, since he is by far a better picker of talent than any manager we've had at Villa for quite a while.

That's a pretty flimsy argument if you ask me. Don't gorget Friedel was free where as Given was not.

Personally I think they're both about as good as each other.

[VillaHatesMe]

I'll go with Given because Brad hasn't quite figured out his accent yet.

He was on the Fox Soccer set for the CL final last week here in the States, and at various points he sounded American, English and German. If you can't quite figure out which accent is yours, then you're probably not as decisive on the pitch either.

[ml1dch]

We're paying £16m for 5 years of a world class keeper.

We're not.

We're paying a lot of money for the potential of 5 years of a very good keeper. And considering how battered his body seems to be, I'd be astonished if he's still as good as Friedel is when he is 40.

Given is probably a better keeper than we deserve in our current position. But he has far too many flaws to be considered as anything more than a very solid Premier League keeper.

[mjames333]

Both great keepers. Can't complain about having Given as our no.1

[TrentVilla]

City wouldn't sell to a rival, there was a spell when they considered us a rival and wouldn't sell us players too

A couple of points.

City have never seen us as their rival which is why they were happy to sell us Dunne.

I'm not sure they see Spurs as their rivals any more, even if they do the idea they won't sell to them because of it is rather weakened by the fact they were willing to loan them Adebayor.

[bose]

Friedel is the better keeper for me. Given is an excellent shot stopper but he's very weak on crosses.

Friedel, along with van der Sar, are probably the best keepers I've seen in the Premier League since I started following it (around '96).

[GasGasGas]

They are pretty evenly matched in my view but you do have to ask which one Redknapp chose to sign, since he is by far a better picker of talent than any manager we've had at Villa for quite a while.

The fact that he is by far a better picker of bargains than any manager we've had for quite a while had more to do with him choosing Friedel.

[tonyh29]

Never been impressed by Given so Brad for me every day of the week

I don't doubt given is a great shot stopper but he can't command his area and that is a major weekness

[briny_ear]

They are pretty evenly matched in my view but you do have to ask which one Redknapp chose to sign, since he is by far a better picker of talent than any manager we've had at Villa for quite a while.

That's a pretty flimsy argument if you ask me. Don't gorget Friedel was free where as Given was not.

F

Personally I think they're both about as good as each other.

It's also a pretty flimsy argument to assume that Redknapp would go for the cheaper option in choosing players if he didn't think the cheaper one was up to scratch. We both seem to think they are evenly matched so I will count this as you having a violent agreement with me.

[Zatman]

Never been impressed by Given so Brad for me every day of the week

I don't doubt given is a great shot stopper but he can't command his area and that is a major weekness

Freidel wasnt always a dominator of his area and for a while after Laursen retired struggled with it

[Chindie]

Never been impressed by Given so Brad for me every day of the week

I don't doubt given is a great shot stopper but he can't command his area and that is a major weekness

Pretty much. Rarely comes off his line too. Friedel is much better all round keeper IMO.

[Mantis]

They are pretty evenly matched in my view but you do have to ask which one Redknapp chose to sign, since he is by far a better picker of talent than any manager we've had at Villa for quite a while.

That's a pretty flimsy argument if you ask me. Don't gorget Friedel was free where as Given was not.

F

Personally I think they're both about as good as each other.

It's also a pretty flimsy argument to assume that Redknapp would go for the cheaper option in choosing players if he didn't think the cheaper one was up to scratch. We both seem to think they are evenly matched so I will count this as you having a violent agreement with me.

I never said Redknapp went for Friedel because he was cheap, but that was no doubt a factor. No one denies that Given and Friedel aren't both solid goalkeepers at the very least. I never claimed nor assumed that Redknapp thought Friedel wasn't up to scratch yet still got him anyway because he was free.

I agree that Friedel and Given are both very good but I do not think the fact that Redknapp bought in Friedel over Given is that relevant when it comes to determining who is better.

[KjParton]

I remember Friedel always used to go to the ground way to easily, and didn't come off his line for example with corner. The worst one being against SHA in the carling cup quarters, with Zigic's shot. If he'd had stayed on his feet he would have caught that easy

[Adamus]

I live in London and know a fair few Spurs fans, the ones whose judgement I trust were saying that Friedal was starting to show his age a bit at the tail end of this season

[brommy]

I live in London and know a fair few Spurs fans, the ones whose judgement I trust were saying that Friedal was starting to show his age a bit at the tail end of this season

Whether Friedel was as good 5 years as Given is now is definitely debatable as they were/are great keepers with slightly different weaknesses. As Friedel also had issues commanding his area, I still prefer Given's outstanding save ability over Friedel's 'steady eddy' ability.

That Given will be a better keeper than Friedel over the next 2 to 4 years is less debatable but is more relavant to us. In 2 years time I think most spuds fans would prefer a 38 year old Given to a 43 year old Friedel.

Whilst I think that this issue is clouded by many Villa fans 'grass is always greener eleswhere' attitude, I'm happy that Given is between the sticks for us.

[The_Rev]

Bit dumb getting shot of Brad really and then shelling out massive wages on a more injury prone keeper

Both top top pros though IMHO

Friedel wanted a 2 year contract, we only were willing to offer a 1 year contract, sensible from the club really.

How was it sensible? If Brad (who is a better keeper than Given in my opinion) plays 40 games for Spurs next year, will it still be sensible?