Match preview from Football 365: http://www.football365.com/matches_stats/match_previews/story_135900.shtml Looks like while there is an outside chance of both Yank keepers playing, it will probably be neither. ... Goalkeeper Tim Howard is also pushing for a first team recall after recording a clean sheet against Arsenal. However Ferguson looks likely to keep faith with Roy Carroll when Southampton visit Old Trafford as United chase their fourth straight league victory. Howard told MUTV: "There is no malice involved. I don't wish harm on anyone. But of course I want to get back in the team as quickly as I can. You look around and we are fortunate to have such a deep squad. "Other teams are spending so much money, which is fair, but we have something like 25 internationals. It is a difficult to crack but it makes for healthy competition." ... Niemi is in contention to replace on-loan Tottenham goalkeeper Kasey Keller while James Beattie is fit after a calf strain and defender Claus Lundekvam has overcome a virus.
Re: 12/4 Man Utd v Southampton I get the feeling from thi report: http://skysports.planetfootball.com...ID=1&lid=&title=Man+Utd+v+Southampton+preview that Kasey's going to lose out. Back to the pine with ye! Too bad, Old Trafford is a nice platform to sell yourself from!!
Re: 12/4 Man Utd v Southampton On SkySports last night they had interviews with Niemi (sp?) and Wigley. Both of them seemed to give the impression that Keller would sit, although both claimed that the decision had not been made. Really, why would the Saints start Keller if there isn't that big a difference between him and Niemi? Keller is gone in a few weeks. OTOH, Manchester United is not a team you want to face with a rusty keeper.
Re: 12/4 Man Utd v Southampton On the bottom left of that page, there's a "popularity contest" of who the fans think is the best #2 GK in the EPL. Among the twelve mentioned names are the two Yanks: Howard and Keller, along with Cudicini, Wright, Crossley, Enckelmann, et al. And a good #2 can still make pretty good money there.
Re: 12/4 Man Utd v Southampton Yeah, I saw that this morning and was bit surprised that Keller wasn't getting many votes...also surprised to see Howard getting a lot of votes.
Re: 12/4 Man Utd v Southampton Howard is #2 with 12% after the runaway leader Cudicini (56%) as of the time of this post. I am surprised Crossley hadn't done better but both Tim and Carlo are last year's starters. I myself voted for Keller.
Saints fans website also leaning towards Keller starting "Antti Niemi is close to full fitness and might even make the starting line up, although its more likely he'll be on the bench and Keller will play in what should be his last game for Saints as his loan spell is up next week." http://www.saintsforever.com/latest.html
Keller does start, Howard on the pine. Man Utd: Carroll, G, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Smith Subs: Howard, Brown, Bellion, Miller, Fletcher Southampton: Keller, Nilsson, Jakobsson, Lundekvam, Le Saux, Telfer, Delap, A, Svensson, Higginbotham, Beattie, Phillips
looks like Spector doesn't even make the bench again, I guess none of us are surprised or upset anymore. The poor kid seems stuck in limbo between the reserves and the bench, God knows he's got to endure this another 2 or 3 seasons? It's retarding his further development. Hope the loan to WBA goes thru, or better still he gets sold to a non top 5 EPL side where he may have a more realistic chance of getting meaningful & competitive PT As for this match, Kasey, we are all behind you, keep a clean sheet & may Carroll and the MU defence let in as many shots as you save!
" Thunderbolt from Rooney saved well by Kellar ". That from a manu chat room. Still 0-0 late in the 1st half.
The first 35 minutes were pretty quiet and routine for Kasey but ManUtd has started to break down the Saints defense with some good combinations. Kasey's had a few bright spots in the first half. 1. a punch on a dangerous corner 2. a good job of coming off his line to cut off a cross when Ronaldo and Smith were both lurking at the back post. 3. Held a hard shot by Heinze from distance with several Reds knocking at the door 4. Excellent diving save to parry a screamer from Rooney. On the camera angle behind the goal, it was clear Keller was screened but his reflexes were fast enough to still make the save. Good first half in the shop window. Unless the Saints defense returns to early game form, expect more opportunities for Keller to shine in the second half. And for those waiting on another Roy Carroll blunder, he has looked very sharp on the few occassions when Southampton has gotten forward and seems to be communicating very well with Ferdinand and the rest of the backline.
The BBC matchtracker commentary jibes with this. Man U dominating possession but not creating as many scoring chances as they'd like to. Keep them out of the net, Kasey! You're halfway to earning a shutout at Old Trafford. Any one have any free audio links for this? The BBC ones don't seem to be working for me.
Goal to ManUtd. Horrible defending by Southampton leads to 4 or 5 touches for ManUtd in the area before finally getting a header from Scholes for the goal. Keller couldn't have done much with the ManUtd attackers playing "who wants to shoot" in front of his net.
Paul Scholes makes it 1-0 on a header.. 52 mins into the second half. Audio: 1054centuryfm.com (you will have to sign up but its free.) LB... Edit: Goal was scored in the 53rd min.
Crud. So much for the shutout. Don't know about the odds for a Southampton equalizer. Thanks for the link LB. I actually found the Century FM thru socceraudio.com and didn't need to sign in, but didn't get on until after the goal. As I type, 2-0 Rooney scores into the roof of the net over Keller in a 1-v-1.
2-0 ManUtd Rooney gets in 1 v 1 with Keller who races off the line to cut the angle down but Rooney smashes the ball into the top of the net. Excellent finishing.
Great save from Keller keeps the scoreline 2-0. "As good a save as you'll see anywhere. Terrific bit of goalkeeping" says the commentator. Edit: More details on the save. Ronaldo was setup for a free kick 20 yards out at the top right corner of Keller's area. He hit a sharply bending, bouncing shot through a couple of screens. Heinze made a great dummy off the bounce but Keller wasn't fooled by it and his dive to the left allowed just enough of a touch to steer the ball wide.
Scholes cheekily tries to chip Keller who is off his line but Kasey backpedals and pushes the ball over the crossbar.
If anyone wants to see Kellers heroic saves or the Man United goals, FSW will show this game on Tuesday at 8:00 pm ET, Wednesday at 2:00 am ET and Thursday at 3:00 pm ET. Scholes almost makes it 3-0 on a chip...Keller knocks it over for a corner. LB...
Keller sounds like a beast today.................seems like he knows he needs to show what he can do. I've always thought Kasey was one of the better keepers around, as do many of us here at BS, but many in Europe don't think so. For a guy who has done well in both England and Spain, you would think more clubs, and even some of the big ones, would have been interested in him, but they weren't. It's obvious he can still play at the top level. It's a shame he has to go back to the pine at Tottenham. I hope something works out for him. He would be great for MLS, but the guy still can play at the top level in England and I think he wants to prove that. It always seems like Kasey is trying to prove himself, does it, and then nobody that counts notices it.
Keller stops a sharp shot which falls to Ronaldo 6 yards out. Keller scrambles to his feet and tries to make himself "big" as Ronaldo skies the shot over. This following a 2 v. 1 where Giggs hits the crossbar.