Calamity Kasper

[The Blue Moon]

I understand he’s a divisive figure and there are a lot on here that rate him. But for me the main gulf between us and the rest of the Premiership isn’t our manager, its our keeper.

 

Yes he has pulled off some great reflex saves at times which earn him plaudits, but so has every other keeper in the Premier. The difference between him and the rest are the errors. Goalkeeping is about so much more than shot stopping; commanding your area, organising your defence, reading the game and making the right decisions. Kasper is weak in all these areas. Crosses have been a major problem for us this season in every game except Stoke away, where Hamer dealt with them very well.

 

He also seems to have a Teflon factor about him whereby the fans will forget errors instantly and forgive him. The best example of this is the Watford star jump that left Deeney with an open net, but there have been several other errors he hasn’t taken the blame for. Some from last season off the top of my head are the crosses for both goals at Charlton away, the same thing for Rodallega’s goal v Fulham and throwing it into his own net at Doncaster. This season any other Premier keeper would have dealt with Hazard’s effort at Chelsea, would’ve been better organised and positioned for Burnley’s late free kick, would’ve dealt with the first 2 goals yesterday by taking care of their six yard box and there was also the **** up at Swansea which Morgan had to bail him out of. These are just a handful off the top of my head. But the way he avoids the blame is reminiscent of Sol Bamba a couple of years back.

 

I could talk about his egotistical attitude, the way he treated Justin Bowley and the Academy keepers. But lets not go down that route for now, frankly I’m not bothered about whether a player is a nice bloke or not all that matters is what happens on the pitch.

 

My point is simple, if we want to stay in the Premiership we need a Premiership goalkeeper.

 

One of the best keepers in the world, Victor Valdes, is sitting around on a free waiting to show someone what he can do. Why not offer him silly wages and 6 months Prem football then if he impresses he’ll get his move to a top 4 club. John Ruddy is playing second tier football, as is David Marshall. Jack Butland is on loan in the same division, surely Stoke would rather him get Prem experience. There are top keepers we could go for in January to try to rescue the situation before it’s too late. Or we can sit back, defend Kasper relentlessly, applaud him on his customary individual laps of honour after every game, and go straight back to the Championship.

 

 

[ithuriel]

He is just not good enough at this level to be a number one with a guaranteed place but Nige obviously rates him so the point is moot.

[Beliall]

seconded. ive been a fan of kasper since he arrived, but its become clear this season he is not good enough for us. valdes is reaching for the moon though

[Guest Kopfkino]

Probably too small for this level

[KFS]

Kasper 'the starfish' Schmeichel

[E-PASS]

As I said yesterday we should sack Pearson, get in Steve Clarke and then use his Chelsea connections to take Cech on loan in January.

[Asha]

Yep, he's served us well and was absolutely brilliant at times last year, but he just hasn't made the step up yet. 

[Lionator]

It is true that his shot stopping overshadows his clear weaknesses in other areas. Time for Hamer me thinks.

[lcfc-fan]

Hamer came in vs Stoke had a solid performance 1 game 1 clean sheet if the next game was anyone but man u he wouldn't of been dropped

[Fox92]

Agreed. I mentioned this during the summer too.

[Xen]

As I said yesterday we should sack Pearson, get in Steve Clarke and then use his Chelsea connections to take Cech on loan in January.

 

If you're looking for Chelsea connections, then whats wrong with our current head scout Steve Walsh, who's worked alongside current Chelsea manager Mourinho... Doesn't get much better than that.

[MPH]

As I said yesterday we should sack Pearson, get in Steve Clarke and then use his Chelsea connections to take Cech on loan in January.

Change our manager just to get a keeper on loan?

[Al-aLondon-Foxile]

I've never been blinded by some of the fans love for our Kasper, he's always looked weak with crosses into the box. BUT, I think he's being let down by the zonal defending at corners and I think this needs to change. He's too short to command his box but he's a great shot stopper.

[jimmeh]

Great post by the guy who started thread. Would rather weale

[Guest ttfn]

I've never been blinded by some of the fans love for our Kasper, he's always looked weak with crosses into the box. BUT, I think he's being let down by the zonal defending at corners and I think this needs to change. He's too short to command his box but he's a great shot stopper.

I think the zonal defending at corners has worked far better than the more man marking approach we adopted last season.

The big problems in defending corners yesterday came when Ulloa went off: he's absolutely brilliant, almost Drogba-like on the front post.

We also give up way, way too many corners. 11 yesterday and a similar number last week. I think that on average 1 in every 35 corners results in a goal (or something like that).

[ousefox]

It's embarrassing that he can't ever come out and claim a ball. He's always stuck on his line and the only way he'll save it is if he pulls off an amazing save. Surely it's not that difficult to teach someone to come out and claim a ball.

[jimmeh]

Its no wonder morale is low in the camp when he's the second highest earner behind Cambiasso. He's not even a well liked member of the squad

[Sol thewall Bamba]

He's escaped critacism for far too long. shows a bit of pashun and he becomes a favourite and someone we daren't say anything bad about. Now people are starting to see the light. Fair play to those brave few who spoke up early and voiced their concerns, and got absolutely torn apart by the vast majority on here.

[StanSP]

We could do better but he's the best we've got at the moment. 

 

Given that we tried so hard to keep him and gave him a new contract in summer, and that he's our vice captain, I really can't see him being sold. Who would take him? 

 

Who would we realistically get in?

I also don't think he's helped out by the defence sometimes. For when a goal is conceded, people are very quick to point the finger at Kasper but in some cases could the defence have done better (please read this as not blinded love for Kasper but looking at the bigger picture).

[Guest ttfn]

It's embarrassing that he can't ever come out and claim a ball. He's always stuck on his line and the only way he'll save it is if he pulls off an amazing save. Surely it's not that difficult to teach someone to come out and claim a ball.

When the cross is made for the second goal Austin is at least 15 yards out. He heads the ball from on the six yard line. For Schmeichel not to come for that is absolutely criminal. Not only has Austin made up 10 yards in that time but Schmeichel's reach probably knocks another yard off the distance he needs to travel to clear it.

[jimmeh]

We hardly have a top goalkeeper coach either. In fact we have next to no staff. Pearson is too above himself to get some decent coaches in.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

We hardly have a top goalkeeper coach either. In fact we have next to no staff. Pearson is too above himself to get some decent coaches in.

Mike Stowell has been our goalkeeping coach for years and we've never really had this problem before, apart from Ricardo and the less said about him the better!

[jimmeh]

Yeah but there's got to be better than Mike Stowell. When are we ever going to progress to the next level being sentimental. We should aim to have the best we can get. Is kevin phillips really a top coach for example.

[Dan]

He's a very good shot stopper and occasionally distributes the ball very well, but other than that he's poor. Utterly dreadful in the air for a goalkeeper.

[cc_star]

Don't think he's a calamity, but he can't even boss his own goal line, never mind his 6 yard box and certainly not his 18 yard box!!!

He's pretty useless at most aspects of being a keeper outside of shot-stopping, which he's bloody excellent at.

I get he was No1 last season because we had no alternative & anyway he was rarely exposed with quality balls into the box & when he was it was from setpieces & he was found wanting, even in that 2nd tier.

We now have an alternative & IMO from the comparatively short time we've seen Hamer, he matches Kasper for shot-stopping & could well have more in his all round game.

C'mon NP, unleash the beard!!!