http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/3998413.stm Didn't see this on the page. If I missed a thread, delete. If not, discuss.
My take, for what it's worth, is that he's right. the keeper is always blamed. Nothing new there, however. Nice to see that he'll be getting the carling cup start. Maybe long trip back is gathering steam.
They lifted part of the quotes from this SI article - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/lang_whitaker/11/08/the.links/index.html They conveniently leave out the full quote the "scapegoat" comment: He's talking about owning up to his own mistakes, but the Beeb says he thinks he's being made out as a scapegoat...
Exactly. WHen I read the entire article yesterday, I just knew that the Britith press would take the "scapegoat" line out of context. I urge everyone to read the entire article from SI. It puts the "scapegoat" sentence into context.
He did own up to them, but he also made it very clear that he isn't the only one to blame, so if he feels he isn't the only one to blame, and yet he's the only one being blamed, then yes he is being made a scapegoat.
How is he talking about owning up to his mistakes if he thinks he didn't lose them any games? Now admittedly his mistakes against Bolton and Lyon (?) cost them wins as opposed to caused them defeats, but that's disingenuous at best.
He acknowledges that he contributed to losses, but I agree with him that one player doesn't win or lose a game on their own.
And you can even extend that to not just talk about keepers, but any player who becomes a fall guy when a team loses. But yeah I do see that keepers tend to take a disproportionate amount of the blame, which I suppose is understandable given the high profile of their position. Still doesn't make it right.
Surprised they didn't say I've Been Made the F***ing Scapegoat as they liked to use his condition to spice up their headlines when United first signed him.
Here, let me educate you a little bit about soccer. Re: the Bolton match...if that defender (Silvestre?) hadn't knocked the ball away from him, they don't lose. I'm sure at some point in the match, some ManU player didn't convert an easy chance. I know you're basically an amateur ************** around here, but what's offensive is that you're so bad at it.
If TH stays on at MUFC, great. But if those blue-nosed a-holes don't like him, there are plenty of places where he can be appreciated. Friedel makes one giant boo-boo at Liverpool, is booted, and goes on to do better than Liverpool's keeper. No sense of loss if he goes, at least from my perspective. I'm a YA fan, but our reputation as a soccer nation isn't going to be made or broken on whether one of our keepers plays at a famous club, but the performance of our field players over time. 5 years ago Aussie had Kewell and Viduka, and now they have...an older and less effective Kewell and Viduka. We have made big strides in that time abroad. [PG ducks in anticipation of an Aussie Flame ] Timmy will do well at MU or he'll do well elsewhere.
As is evidenced by the final quote in the piece: "Sitting on the bench, and being one play away from being a starter again, there's a lot worse things going on in the world right now," he added. I thought he did a nice job of putting his "predicament" into a global perspective.
True, but it's pretty clear from that paragraph that Howard thinks he himself has been made a scapegoat.
And here was my thinking that Silverstre might have had a reasonable expectation that Howard might have actually jumped for that ball he dropped. But then I'm just an amateur, so what do I know.
Jumped for a ball that's on the ground? Wow, I think you're graduating up to professional a-hole. Seriously, I have enough respect for you that I know you're intentionally writing stupid stuff because you enjoy being a big jerk. But you need to be less obvious about it. It's boring.
So then by they are both at fault for thinking instead of just taking care of the loose ball, thus proving that Howard's not solely to blame. This is a team sport, with equal blame to go around on many occasions. If anyone says that Howard didn't screw up they are kidding themselves. So are the individuals that claim only he is to blame. Just as they are to the right, M, you are to the left.
Howard went for the ball over a defender but inexplicably failed to jump for it. He then spilled the ball causing the resulting comical confusion with Silvestre. Poor Superdave. So quick to insult; so lacking in facts.
M-- That wasn't a shining moment for Howard. But if you're suggesting that incident with a high ball that was a classic "tweener" between the defender and the keeper is an important factor in why TH shouldn't be considered a good keeper, you're one harda$$ dude. It was a clear mistake, but not an epic one. The keeper on the opposing team made a much clearer mistake a few minutes later. The mistake he made in the next game was absolutely horrible, and seemed all the worse being back to back from the error in the last game. In today's game I think they would have dropped him down another notch or two with even one mistake of any type. Didn't happen, and rarely will w/ TH.
Question for M: if a team loses a match by one goal, do you spend as much effort criticizing their attackers for not scoring another? Or does it depend on the nationality of the players in question?
and re: the Lyon game. Lyon had 17 fricking shots on goal in the first half, yet Howard, and Howard alone cost ManU a win? No one is saying that Howard's blunder in that game wasn't horrible, but to say that one play in the first half cost the team a win is just plain stupid. Lyon DOMINATED that first half in every way imaginable, should have scored twice more and I still can't figure out why (I know how, they're French) they came out and played so horribly in the second half.
The problem here is that a lot of UK folks see the beeb, very, very few ever check out SI. And the beeb is the source of news, so when they put the story on the top of their football page, and report it during sports breaks, it carries a ton more weight than the original.
Given this is a Yanks Abroad forum, I would presume I'd be discussing the performances of um the Yank(s) playing for that team.