"Shay Given is Not a Good Goalkeeper"

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Andouble

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Ask 100 football fans to name their top 3 Premier League goalkeepers and chances are, at least 95% of those fans will include Manchester City keeper Shay Given in their top 3.

One man who certainly wouldn’t include Given in his top 3 is the Guardian’s Barry Glendenning. Anyone who listens to the Guardian Football Podcast will know exactly what Glendenning thinks of Given.

His theory is that it’s no longer a coincidence that every team Given has played for has a poor defence. Glendenning also feels that if Given was any good, a bigger club like Arsenal would have signed him by now. I must admit, I am starting to agree with Glendenning.

If you take a look at Manchester City’s goals against column this season, you will see that in 23 Premier League games, Given has conceded 32 goals. Compare that to the likes of Mark Schwarzer at Fulham who has conceded 28 goals in 24 Premier League games this season, whilst Joe Hart has conceded just 23 goals in 23 games at Birmingham.

The one thing you have to give Given is that he is a terrific shot stopper, however his lack of organisation and some of his decision making, which is quite poor at times, lead me to believe that Given is not an all-round good goalkeeper. Whenever the likes of Jamie Redknapp or Mark Lawrenson say something like : “Without Given, City could have conceded 4 or 5 today” it always annoys me. I always think the opposite : “Without Given, City may not have conceded 2 or 3 goals today.”

You may think I am being a bit harsh on Given, however, as an Irishman, who has been following Manchester City for years now, I strongly believe Given is not a good goalkeeper.
Click to expand...
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.football-corner.org/2010/02/07/shay-given-is-not-a-good-goalkeeper/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.football-corner.org/2010/02/ ... oalkeeper/</a>

agree? disagree?
 
Andouble said:
Ask 100 football fans to name their top 3 Premier League goalkeepers and chances are, at least 95% of those fans will include Manchester City keeper Shay Given in their top 3.

One man who certainly wouldn’t include Given in his top 3 is the Guardian’s Barry Glendenning. Anyone who listens to the Guardian Football Podcast will know exactly what Glendenning thinks of Given.

His theory is that it’s no longer a coincidence that every team Given has played for has a poor defence. Glendenning also feels that if Given was any good, a bigger club like Arsenal would have signed him by now. I must admit, I am starting to agree with Glendenning.

If you take a look at Manchester City’s goals against column this season, you will see that in 23 Premier League games, Given has conceded 32 goals. Compare that to the likes of Mark Schwarzer at Fulham who has conceded 28 goals in 24 Premier League games this season, whilst Joe Hart has conceded just 23 goals in 23 games at Birmingham.

The one thing you have to give Given is that he is a terrific shot stopper, however his lack of organisation and some of his decision making, which is quite poor at times, lead me to believe that Given is not an all-round good goalkeeper. Whenever the likes of Jamie Redknapp or Mark Lawrenson say something like : “Without Given, City could have conceded 4 or 5 today” it always annoys me. I always think the opposite : “Without Given, City may not have conceded 2 or 3 goals today.”

You may think I am being a bit harsh on Given, however, as an Irishman, who has been following Manchester City for years now, I strongly believe Given is not a good goalkeeper.
Click to expand...
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.football-corner.org/2010/02/07/shay-given-is-not-a-good-goalkeeper/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.football-corner.org/2010/02/ ... oalkeeper/</a>

agree? disagree?
Click to expand...

He certainly has weaknesses at set pieces and crosses and struggles to command the area and he needs to improve on these things if he is to be classed as an excellent keeper.

In saying that the defensive lapses we continue to make doesn't make his job any easier.
 
I tend to think that these types of articles come from people who spend more time looking at their statistic books, than actually watching the games on the pitch.

Statistics can sometimes be misleading, if taken out of context, and that's exactly what is happening here.
 
As a shot stopper and for reaction saves given is deffo one of the best in the world, but his distribution, and inability to come out and catch a ball let him down, and whenever there is a set piece near our box our defence crumble because they know Given will not be out to catch it and they have to deal with it.
 
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