|
Post by 61666 on Jul 27, 2023 7:47:15 GMT
Interview with Harley Earle in the KM today which hints he may be first choice to start the season. Tries to answer critics about his height and says positive things about George. The height thing I can live with, because as he says, his arms take his hands above the heads of most strikers. More important are: - can he catch? - can he kick the ball well into the other half? - does he read the game well? - is his general positioning good? - does he communicate well with his defenders? - can he command the penalty area? - can he distribute well?
Making great saves not on my list, because anyone who is fit and agile should be able to throw themselves about, but it is the basics that make all the difference. If he meets all the other criteria, then for me he is worth a go, especially as a local lad. However, we still wouldn't have a spare keeper... Talking to a couple of people recently who seem to know a bit about what goes on in the club and at the golf day, one of the prizes, a signed club shirt, wasn't presented, because there weren't enough players to sign it! Also, George is a real gym bunny and probably fitter than anyone else in the club, though whether that actually means anything is not for me to say.
|
|
|
Post by grovergreenstone on Jul 27, 2023 8:20:38 GMT
Now Im wondering if I even want to go to the first game of the season next weekend.
I pay to be entertained and I just dont feel I will be entertained watching us struggle in the NS.
Earle will be a No.2 after we sign hopefully a solid keeper on loan from the football league. If we had a 6ft 4 keeper, that would be 6 inches taller, plus his arms will be longer, so potentially have an 8 inch reach advantage when the ball comes floating in to the box.
|
|
|
Post by 1018 on Jul 27, 2023 8:23:18 GMT
He says that he is 5'11" so not too small really. Gordon Banks was only 6'0". I think he has looked confident in the pre-season games although he hasn't had too many shots to save nor been put under too much pressure by the opposition.
|
|
|
Post by grovergreenstone on Jul 27, 2023 8:29:03 GMT
He says that he is 5'11" so not too small really. Gordon Banks was only 6'0". I think he has looked confident in the pre-season games although he hasn't had too many shots to save nor been put under too much pressure by the opposition. under 5ft 11 wasnt it. As for Banks, he wasn't up against 6ft plus strikers every week. If we line up with the likes of Fowler, Hoyte, Bone etc in fenece, when defending crosses and long balls in to the box, our keeper would be the smallest guy in the box !
|
|
|
Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 27, 2023 8:34:26 GMT
Interview with Harley Earle in the KM today which hints he may be first choice to start the season. Tries to answer critics about his height and says positive things about George. The height thing I can live with, because as he says, his arms take his hands above the heads of most strikers. More important are: - can he catch? - can he kick the ball well into the other half? - does he read the game well? - is his general positioning good? - does he communicate well with his defenders? - can he command the penalty area? - can he distribute well? Making great saves not on my list, because anyone who is fit and agile should be able to throw themselves about, but it is the basics that make all the difference. If he meets all the other criteria, then for me he is worth a go, especially as a local lad. However, we still wouldn't have a spare keeper... Talking to a couple of people recently who seem to know a bit about what goes on in the club and at the golf day, one of the prizes, a signed club shirt, wasn't presented, because there weren't enough players to sign it! Also, George is a real gym bunny and probably fitter than anyone else in the club, though whether that actually means anything is not for me to say. My only concern with Harley would be him commanding his area. I have no doubt about his distribution, shot stopping, kicking, etc. He's young but a very competent, intelligent keeper from what I've seen. He was man of the match (from what I remember) in the KSC game vs Tonbridge a few seasons ago, he was fantastic. Any goalkeeper at this level will have holes, and my presumption for Harley would be we'd be more likely to concede from set pieces / corners / balls into the box. I could be completely wrong. Personally, I'm surprised we didn't look at the trialist at Bromley who I thought was almost a guaranteed signing, but maybe it was him who turned us down. I actually thought George's post Folkestone interview was one of his best / most insightful, and he addresses the goalkeeper situation at the end and stresses that 'we have the budget'. Interesting.
|
|
|
Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 27, 2023 8:37:01 GMT
Now Im wondering if I even want to go to the first game of the season next weekend. I pay to be entertained and I just dont feel I will be entertained watching us struggle in the NS. Earle will be a No.2 after we sign hopefully a solid keeper on loan from the football league. If we had a 6ft 4 keeper, that would be 6 inches taller, plus his arms will be longer, so potentially have an 8 inch reach advantage when the ball comes floating in to the box. 6 inches further to get down to the ground for a stop and a lot more weight to shift around when coming off your line. Height is far from the be all end all in a modern, athletic keeper. I hope those first two lines are tongue in cheek...?
|
|
|
Post by 1018 on Jul 27, 2023 8:42:22 GMT
I saw almost all of Banks' home appearances for Leicester in the 60s. Plenty of big brutes up front in those days which is why keepers suffered a lot of physical injuries as they had little protection from referees. Jeff Astle, Bobby Smith, Andy Lochhead, Jo Jordan etc etc.
Peter Shilton was also only 6'0" and Peter Bonetti was 5'10".
Reiss Greenidge is 6'6" & will be partnering Fowler. Bone will be playing in midfield as he did on Tuesday before going off.
|
|
|
Post by grovergreenstone on Jul 27, 2023 8:49:39 GMT
Now Im wondering if I even want to go to the first game of the season next weekend. I pay to be entertained and I just dont feel I will be entertained watching us struggle in the NS. Earle will be a No.2 after we sign hopefully a solid keeper on loan from the football league. If we had a 6ft 4 keeper, that would be 6 inches taller, plus his arms will be longer, so potentially have an 8 inch reach advantage when the ball comes floating in to the box. 6 inches further to get down to the ground for a stop and a lot more weight to shift around when coming off your line. Height is far from the be all end all in a modern, athletic keeper. I hope those first two lines are tongue in cheek...? Height is essential for a modern keeper. A keepers starting position is generally low, so getting down isn't a problem. having the reach is a huge advantage. Look at the one from the folkestone game for example, Earle flapped at it and just got a hand to it and it needed Fowler to clear off the line. Haddler punches that out the box or better still gets up and catches it. I was probably Mersin's biggest critic, but I would take him over Earle for this season.
|
|
|
Post by grovergreenstone on Jul 27, 2023 8:51:07 GMT
I saw almost all of Banks' home appearances for Leicester in the 60s. Plenty of big brutes up front in those days which is why keepers suffered a lot of physical injuries as they had little protection from referees. Jeff Astle, Bobby Smith, Andy Lochhead, Jo Jordan etc etc. Peter Shilton was also only 6'0" and Peter Bonetti was 5'10". Reiss Greenidge is 6'6" & will be partnering Fowler. Bone will be playing in midfield as he did on Tuesday before going off. The thing is, for every 2 goalkeepers you can name that were good and under 6ft, I could name 200 equally as good and over 6ft.
|
|
|
Post by jdl on Jul 27, 2023 9:13:28 GMT
I saw almost all of Banks' home appearances for Leicester in the 60s. Plenty of big brutes up front in those days which is why keepers suffered a lot of physical injuries as they had little protection from referees. Jeff Astle, Bobby Smith, Andy Lochhead, Jo Jordan etc etc. Peter Shilton was also only 6'0" and Peter Bonetti was 5'10". Reiss Greenidge is 6'6" & will be partnering Fowler. Bone will be playing in midfield as he did on Tuesday before going off. The thing is, for every 2 goalkeepers you can name that were good and under 6ft, I could name 200 equally as good and over 6ft. Go on then. 200 keepers over 6', equally as good, off the top of your head - no cheating.
|
|
|
Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 27, 2023 9:22:19 GMT
6 inches further to get down to the ground for a stop and a lot more weight to shift around when coming off your line. Height is far from the be all end all in a modern, athletic keeper. I hope those first two lines are tongue in cheek...? Height is essential for a modern keeper. A keepers starting position is generally low, so getting down isn't a problem. having the reach is a huge advantage. Look at the one from the folkestone game for example, Earle flapped at it and just got a hand to it and it needed Fowler to clear off the line. Haddler punches that out the box or better still gets up and catches it. I was probably Mersin's biggest critic, but I would take him over Earle for this season. Complete fallacy. There was a complete crisis when Hadler let in every free kick that was struck on target at him in the NS winning season. By your logic, him being a tall keeper with long arms, he should have saved those. Likewise, we've had two years of keeper changing as both of our tall keepers were unreliable. I'm not arguing being tall doesn't have benefits as a keeper (see my initial reply) but it certainly isn't the complete defining factor in a keeper that some people believe it to be.
|
|
|
Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 27, 2023 9:25:38 GMT
The thing is, for every 2 goalkeepers you can name that were good and under 6ft, I could name 200 equally as good and over 6ft. Go on then. 200 keepers over 6', equally as good, off the top of your head - no cheating. Don't make it too easy, JDL - you're forgetting that anyone over 6ft is a good goalkeeper.
|
|
|
Post by Nick on Jul 27, 2023 9:29:44 GMT
Height is an essential attribute for a keeper imo. Ideally 6 2" to 6'4". Lots of other qualities required too but dont lets kid ourselves, being north of 6' is a must. As the misses tells me "size matters".
|
|
|
Post by pwoodstone on Jul 27, 2023 9:42:15 GMT
Ultimately he is either good enough or not. His height doesn’t define this but is a contributing factor.
|
|
|
Post by holysmokes66 on Jul 27, 2023 10:01:46 GMT
Ultimately he is either good enough or not. His height doesn’t define this but is a contributing factor. Exactly this. Being 2" shorter than the completely presumed 'perfect height' for a goalkeeper is neither here nor there if you aren't very good...
|
|