It's much more difficult for Keepers to play in those kindof situations (stand around 95% of the time) where you're expected to win each week and may only be called on to make a few saves versus a weaker team where you're consantly involved and the pressure isn't as great for the result. That being said you will rarely hear a keeper coined as "world class" from a team that is a mid-table team. Every year there is a keeper like Robert Greene or Dean Keily that makes lots of great saves but isn't really an int'l level keeper. The keepers that deal w/ the intense pressures of the big clubs and high expectations make for better international keepers (although Friedel may have been an exception to this rule - although I wonder how he would have fared on a big club during his prime).
Dudek has had more than his fair share of cock-ups to last him a life time, most of them in games against Man United (Diego Forlan for one will never forget him)
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/...why-blues--future-looks-bright-name_page.html Nice article quoting Nigel Martyn (Everton keeper that Howard essentially replaced, Martyn out of football because of severe ankle problems) gushing about Tim's performance against Liverpool.
Nice article. Thanks for the link. Two observations: 1. It's interesting that Martyn complimented Tim's decision-making, command of the box and organization of the defense as opposed to his shot stopping ability, since it was his shot stopping ability that was (is?) his strong-point with the "intangibles" being his supposed weak points. 2. As we all know, Tim got off to a great start at ManU and had a stellar first season (keeper of the year in the P-ship), and we all know that eventually he was replaced by VDS. Hopefully, in light of observation #1 (if it remains true), we won't see a repeat.
the great thing about Tim's play is that he has now put the onus and pressure on the attacker. They know now they have to do something special to beat Timmy, and that just makes things harder.
Couple minor things (and I don't say these to denigrate Tim) Tim had a stellar first 2/3rd of a season. By the end of the first season he was showing signs of problems. Ferguson publicly stated these were due to fatigue, but he wasn't playing nearly as well at the end of the season as at the beginning. The only other thing is that Tim really got replaced by Carroll. Then both were sat in favor of Van der Saar. But you're right, I hope we wont see a repeat. I personaly think this is a great spot for Tim. Much less will be made of any errors he makes, and he will still get the praises for good saves. I also think Tim will do better when he has to remain involved throughout rather than have long periods where he can take a nap and is then called to action. I am so happy for him that this season started out well. I really think Tim can be a top keeper in the EPL, but it's hard to start out with ManU right off the bat.
I'm sure Wigan are scared sh*tless and shaking in their boots about Tim Howard being in goal this saturday.....