Kasper

[The Doctor]

so despite hamers clean sheets he won us no points?

Sorry but kasper has been poor when he has played this season.

don't think he has made any difference in the last few games. We conceded 4 at spurs at the end of the day.

We have just been put in a position where we have had to have a go.

let's be honest West Bromwich played for what they held on sat and got punished. Probably turned my view on pulis wouldn't want to watch 45 mins of defending every time I held a lead.

 

On Hamer, the clean sheets came against Stoke (who didn't give him a shot to save until stoppage time 2nd half), Hull (who clearly thought the goal was in the stands) and Villa (who didn't cross the half-way line). I don't think you'd be able to find an easier set of clean-sheets.

[CosbehFox]

He's started coming for crosses which is a start.

[Foxhateram]

His distribution is very important to our game play, he can deliver a quick (very long) throw that starts a counter, which is proving effective atm. His long kicks are also important, his kick up to Ulloa last week nearly set up a goal when Ulloa laid it back to Nuge.

The other two are let down by their distribution, hamer' kicking was gash and Shwarzers doesn't even manage to clear the half way line half the time.

[Bayfox]

On Hamer, the clean sheets came against Stoke (who didn't give him a shot to save until stoppage time 2nd half), Hull (who clearly thought the goal was in the stands) and Villa (who didn't cross the half-way line). I don't think you'd be able to find an easier set of clean-sheets.

Stoke who battered us. He claimed plenty of crosses maybe that helped.

Hull I give you they couldn't finish a wank

villa who kasper conceded twice against.

oh yeah again if you want to twist it he was allegedly brilliant against. Apart from getting beaten at his near post by a player who hadn't scored in 2 years.

I'm not saying Hamer is great but to think kasper is the reason for our up turn in form. No not having it.

[The Doctor]

Stoke who battered us. He claimed plenty of crosses maybe that helped.

Hull I give you they couldn't finish a wank

villa who kasper conceded twice against.

oh yeah again if you want to twist it he was allegedly brilliant against. Apart from getting beaten at his near post by a player who hadn't scored in 2 years.

I'm not saying Hamer is great but to think kasper is the reason for our up turn in form. No not having it.

 

Shooting widely wide every time they got within 30 yards is not threatening the keeper.

 

Villa were far better at Villa Park though - they attacked regularly, when they came here they seemed terrified of crossing the halfway line. And Kasper was incredible against them, safe to say without him we'd have lost by 4 or 5 (not to mention that Huttons goal was entirely Jeffs fault for ball watching, letting it go over his head and making no attempt to recover).

[Jobyfox]

Well I for one am very relieved that he's back. Mainly by virtue of the fact that he wouldn't have dropped Schwarzer for Hamer.

I'm not too fussed between Schmeichel and Hamer. One is the better shot stopper and one commands his area better; but I'm convinced that both will cost us less goals and therefore points, than the Aussie.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Dunno about this distribution talk. More of his kicks went out for throw ins than stayed in play against West Ham, his kicking was beyond awful, literally abysmal.

[ScouseFox]

Dunno about this distribution talk. More of his kicks went out for throw ins than stayed in play against West Ham, his kicking was beyond awful, literally abysmal.

 

i reckon it's 50/50. some are horrible over hit or sliced, but the other half tend to start very promising attacks, usually very quickly. i'd probably take that like i said, especially comparing it with the fact that sometimes kasper will have already found vardy's run without him having to break stride and he's running at the last man 30 yards out by the time schwarzer would even have managed to get himself back to his feet. 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Yeah he can be very effective, no doubt, but against West Ham he certainly had one of his worst games in terms of distribution.

[ozleicester]

Its really more to do with Rachel... ok maybe not more, but the influence has been about the same

[Ollie93]

Hahahaha, you have been on the clever juice tonight. So explain to me what kasper did on Saturday to help us win? I'm intrigued by your thoughts on his Stella performance to make us win the game.

Kasper has and always will be a great shot stopper but In terms of commanding the area I would go as far as say he is he worst in the whole league. As someone pointed out earlier in the post. Kasper plays and we concede from set pieces. Coincidence?

 

Everyone said exactly the same about De Gea in his first season in the premier league. "Great shot stopper but thats it".

 

You can get taught how to command an area and make the decisions when to come for crosses or not, but to be a natural athletic shot stopper, you can't teach that.

[Guest MattP]

No surprise we've started leaking from balls being tossed into the box again. Brilliant shot stopper though, his performance against West Ham was very good.

[Bert]

On Facebook some bloke was criticising Pearson for picking Schwarzer against Hull despite keeping a clean sheet

I'd have kept a clean sheet against Hull though

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

I hate our set piece defending and defending when balls go high into the box. Kasper takes a lot of the blame when hes on the pitch, doesn't seem to organise hos defence or come for enough crosses.

[Ric Flair]

I think Kasper has looked dog muck since returning, in fact i've been fairly unimpressed with him all season.

[4ever and ever]

Tbf he didn't do anything on Saturday to help us win. But he didn't do anything wrong. I don't buy the set pieces argument too much. The number of times we have left players free, as we did once again on Saturday for Fletcher's goal is shocking. We are probably one of the worst teams at defending set pieces. I do agree with the fact that he could command the area better but what we lose if we have the other two keepers in, is the ability to shot stop. That has to be the paramount priority of a keeper. He is there to stop the ball going into the net directly. Distribution, Commanding the area....etc are of secondary importance, but are still obviously factors to consider. I would say Kasper is the best shot stopper and also the best in one on one situations. He does have frailties as do the others, but see his performance against West Ham. There is a case to say he kept us in the game against West Ham with some magnificent saves. I'm not sure Hamer or Schwazer could have pulled them saves off tbh. 

If you could morph all our keepers into one that would be one damn good keeper. Kasper is by far the best shot stopper out of the 3 but I honestly think in this league when we are under considerably more pressure with more balls into the box and spending longer in our final third that commanding the area and organising the defence is as important if not more important (as the other two arent bad shot stoppers). Kasper unfortunately doesnt do that and I feel that creates confusion for the defenders, of course they should be picking up markers better but I think a commanding presence organising you as a defender is vital. It really hit home for me when we played QPR away and as an away end you are pretty much on top of the keeper, he was pretty much silent throughout. A shame as I think it is an area he can improve on easier than the natural instinct of shot stopping. 

 

They all have their plus points and their negatives and I think the fact that we dont IMO have a stand out Number 1 keeper has been a big problem for us this season.

[4ever and ever]

Everyone said exactly the same about De Gea in his first season in the premier league. "Great shot stopper but thats it".

 

You can get taught how to command an area and make the decisions when to come for crosses or not, but to be a natural athletic shot stopper, you can't teach that.

I completely agree having the shot stopping skills is far harder to come by as it is a natural ability. My problem is that will he learn, he is already 28 (not old for a keeper I know but already 4 years older than De Gea in that comparison) is  he already too set in the way he deals with crosses and lack of talking to his defenc. Will he get better at that side of the game better. I sure do hope so because at the minute that is preventing him from being the top class keeper he could be.

[Ollie93]

I completely agree having the shot stopping skills is far harder to come by as it is a natural ability. My problem is that will he learn, he is already 28 (not old for a keeper I know but already 4 years older than De Gea in that comparison) is  he already too set in the way he deals with crosses and lack of talking to his defenc. Will he get better at that side of the game better. I sure do hope so because at the minute that is preventing him from being the top class keeper he could be.

 

Yeah valid point tbh. I reckon with a quality coach he could. Maybe it's a lack of confidence thing, like we lose 4-3 to spurs, I'm pretty sure letting 4 goals in doesn't do you the world of good whether he was at fault or not.

 

Or maybe he's come out for crosses in the past and not claimed them and is wary doing it again. I'm sure though that every team we play has analysed this weakness and is why we concede so many goals from set pieces.

[Lcfclad2013]

Don't we zonal mark for corners etc? That could also be a problem

[blue army 1988]

And how many times does it need to be pointed out that he wasn't at fault for any of them?

Could argue he was at fault for the first goal

[The Doctor]

Seems to have got a bt more willing to come out for crosses - there was one occasion Saturday where he came out to the edge of the box to punch a cross: utterly stupid to come that far when the WBA player would have had to contest with De Laet for the header and Huth/Morgan and Albrighton, but hopefully he's starting to resolve that part of his game.

[filbertway]

Seems to have got a bt more willing to come out for crosses - there was one occasion Saturday where he came out to the edge of the box to punch a cross: utterly stupid to come that far when the WBA player would have had to contest with De Laet for the header and Huth/Morgan and Albrighton, but hopefully he's starting to resolve that part of his game.

 

I know what you mean, but that made me laugh! haha

[Foxymcoxy]

I think he's been really good. He may have flapped at a few crosses but those haven't cost us. On the other hand he has made some phenomenal saves and his distribution has been very good overall. He obviously isn't the reason we've started winning but he's certainly contributed to the wins.

[Guest]

Any notice that our recent good form has coincided with Schmeichel's return?

 

Coincidence or not?

 

I put it down to attacking again.

 

I'd sell Kasper in the off-season.

[4ever and ever]

http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1427482096093/worst_saves.svg

 

Discuss. Are strikers really that good against us? Are we just giving away easy chances? is he not as good at saving as we perceive him to be?