There's an interesting letter in the new 442 (drunkenly left at the pub last night, so I can't reference to much from it) from a reader discussing Liverpool's keepers since David James. The writer discusses how all have been dramatically dropped due to whatever reason and gone on to much better things. David James- Still not world class, but much better now. Brad Friedel-I don't think I have to explain this one, but clearly he's one of the top keepers in this league, possibly top ten in the world. Westerveld-Starter for the La Liga's #1 team. This really is interesting and wierd how few people talk about it. The writer squarely places the blame on Joe Corrigan and his coaching system. He then goes on to say the LFC need to sack him before he blows the confidence of Dudek and England's possible future #1. Any comments??
James - I don't really see that much improvement, other than that which should normally come with a few years of experience. He has a better defense in front of him than we had in those days. He's still way to prone to flapping. Friedel - Always a great keeper, but buying him was the wrong solution to the problem. Phil Babb was the best central defender we had (just wait until Jones and Wright get healthy, they kept saying) and who does Evans buy to improve the squad? Friedel and Oyvind Leonhardsen. I think maybe Heggem arrived at the same time. Westerveld - Not seeing nearly as many crosses in La Liga, and still hasn't worked on his biggest problem - vulnerability at the near post. That's a sore spot for every keeper I've ever seen whose greatest asset is their height. Dudek's loss of form coincides with the decline in performance of the defense. Though we're playing better defense in the past few weeks, there are still plenty of moments where balls are bouncing in the box (not a dirty joke, thank you) and we're running a Chinese fire drill. I don't think Corrigan is the problem.
I think the guy's main point, one that I didn't clearly put across, is that all three mentioned came in with high expectations, did well, then had a huge dip in form and, more importantly, confidence, were dropped and then moved on to fulfill what they should have done for us.
I don't think we've done ourselves any favours with the way we've handled our keepers in recent times, especially Dudek. Dudek should have been given a short holiday to clear his head and regain his confidence with the promise that when he returned to Anfield, he would have been straight back in to the first team.... problem solved.
As bad as I fell for Jerzy Dudek being dropped, I think Kirkland deserved a chance. And from what I've seen, he hasn't disappointed.
No, I know that. I read the letter when I got the issue. But let's not overlook a few things: A) Any player, at any position, signed by Liverpool comes to the club with high exectations by everybody. Even if he is bought as cover, as, say, Diao was, when it's his turn to step out on the field, he is expected to do the legacy of the red shirt proud. B) For a keeper, confidence is everything. That confidence cannot be achieved without the mutual confidence of defenders in front of him. James and Friedel were only able to show how good they can be (and James still hasn't shown me - at least not consistently) when put behind an organized, resourceful defense, which they did not have here. C) One clue that tells me that it's not Corrigan is free kicks. Example: In 2000 DC United had a horrible stretch in which nearly every goal came off a free kick. There was one game against New England where the Revolution scored three times on free kicks from three different players. The GK coach, Alan Kelly, clearly wasn't showing the keeper how to set up a wall properly. Without checking, I can only think of one goal given up on a free kick - against Newcastle. And that was a deflection off the breakdown of the wall. Not Kirkland's fault.
I don't disagree that Kirkland deserved an opportunity at some stage, I just think the situation with Dudek could have been handled a lot better in a way which would have restored his confidence a lot sooner.
I think the Dudek situation was handled expertly well. I don't know if you can get the LFC magazine downunder, but if you can, check this week's interview with Dudek about it all.
The press were calling for Kirkland to start after the first mistake against Middlesborough, for no other reason than the fact that he's English. GH refused to listen to that and waited until it was clear that Dudek was going through a loss in form and had no other choice but to start Kirkland. The fact that Kirkland has been a bit injury-prone was something that also had to be looked at when making that decision. You may also remember that, in the midweek following the Man Utd loss, there was a Worthington Cup tie, which everyone expected Kirkland to start. GH put in Dudek and he had a great match. Dudek also played in the reserves against Bradford last night and, by the reports, made some great saves. As for the holiday, if we sent away everybody who had been playing poorly for us recently, we'd be fielding the U-19's!
As far as I know, I don't think we can get that magazine down here in Australia mate. What was the interview about and what did Dudek have to say?? Any info would be much appreciated.
lanky...to say that a pro. goalkeeper whether it be nick rimando or whoever was in goal for dc and chris kirkland can't set up a wall properly w/out the help of a gk coach is ridiculous. you can't base a coaches ability on whether the other team makes free kicks or not..i don't know if your a gk or not but if you are you should realize all the other things that go in to a training session. if at that level a gk can't set up a wall properly then they shouldn't be there..they shouldn't even be a high school goalkeeper
You just proved my point with your last sentence. If a keeper is having problems on free kicks, then isn't it the responsibility of the GK coach to work with the keeper on correcting the problem? And if the problem doesn't get fixed, then the fault is clearly the coach's inability to correct the problem. These were not unstoppable kicks a la Roberto Carlos or John Arne Riise, by the way. Welcome to the boards!
Crap. Crap. Crap. Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The 21-year-old suffered a tear to the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a collision with Crystal Palace striker Dele Adebola during Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Selhurst Park. An MRI scan revealed the torn ligament and the club must now decide how best to treat the injury. No date has yet been set for Kirkland's return, but the injury will definitely keep him out for the remainder of the current campaign.
If you're a pro keeper and can't set up a wall properly, then you don't deserve your proffesional status.