Man. Utd vs. Fulham: Howard's performance?[R]

Just one thing: Juan Carlos Osorio is the fitness coach at Man City, not Man U. Otherwise, a good assessment.

I think having EU status a year from now was a major factor in their decision. They're obviously signing him as their long-term keeper, and he can play for them for over a decade without taking up a non-EU spot.

And, of course, he's much cheaper than Robinson. Although he hadn't been tested in the Premiership at the time they signed him, they had watched him not only in MLS but also in most of his national team appearances. His performance in the Confederations Cup only confirmed what they'd suspected for a fairly long time.

Finally, being American was certainly a plus, but NOT because of the "huge American market". The majority of MLS fans already follow European soccer. The reason, instead, may be that the US already had several successful goalkeepers in England, including both of the keepers ahead of Howard in the national team order. Friedel was voted the best keeper in the Premiership last season, and Keller looked about as good as any keeper can behind a very porous Spurs defense. The best keeper in Division 1 last season was Marcus Hahnemann... another American. See a pattern here? The United States can obviously produce goalkeepers. (And incidentally, some clubs apparently even think Americans know how to train goalkeepers well - no less of a club than Benfica has an American goalkeeper coach, namely Dan Gaspar.)

 

Good point Elninho, America are almost certainly up there with Italy as the best for producing Goalies. I mean, christ, how do they do it, England could do with some of them.

Dont agree with you saying that Robinson would of cost more, as Aston Villa had a £3million offer excepted by Leeds before the transfer fell threw due to Robinson not wanting to go there.

Thats why i wondered why Utd would bring in a young, untested, american, albeit, a player who has turned out fantastic, when there was other players seemingly better than Howard at the time, who had already done it at the highest level i.e. Robinson, Rustu, Frey.

But anyway, in the end, what a player they have ended up with! A lot of top teams will be cursing Man Utds luck at unearthing such a quality player.

 

I like your points, but this can go both ways. My Son and I are big fans of Tim (we've been season ticketholders for the MetroStars for years and our own team is named after them and my Son's nickname on his high school team this year was "Young Tim"), especially because he was a local kid from the next town here in New Jersey who got a big break when he joined the MLS. But as much as we and many others were happy to see this fine young man get a chance to show his skills to the world, we follow other teams in the EPL more closely than we do ManU and the heated debates at MetroStars matches (and at the local pubs after the games) are a testament to that. I would say that the casual fan whose sole exposure to soccer is through the MLS would be more likely to focus on ManU more than other sides.

Oh, as for people being aware that the ManU / Juventus match was Tim's first start with his new squad, I would politely beg to differ with the sentiment that they didn't know. It was big news in here, and there were many, many fans who were hoping that this match would have been his debut. We got our wish and he did fine.

As for those fans who doubt Tim, please give him a chance. He's got the moves and the heart. Over here he's far more of an inspiration to a lot of kids who guard the goalmouth than Friedel has been or ever will be.

Go Tim (and go Arsenal ;-)

 

ManU got Howard for £2.3million. That's less than 3 million.

 

The offer for Robinson from Villa was 3.5 million, but Leeds would have charged ManYoo more or refused an offer outright- their supporters would not take selling one of their "crown jewels" as they call them to the Manc enemy. Better to sell him for a bit less to someone like Villa and be spared some of the supporter backlash, regardless of the need for as much money as possible.

Then there is Robinson's Ridsdale-era salary - I heard it was at least 38K a week, maybe more. Howard is on a lot less, even with his bonus for getting playing time.

Don't get me wrong, I think Howard has done reasonably well for ManYoo, better than they would have hoped although I'm sure they checked him out to have at least a decent level of ability. But I wouldn't say that they signed him because they were convinced he would be number 1, they signed him because the cost and US connection made it an acceptable risk. If he turned out well - then great - but his marketing/publicity factor made him more worthwhile than spending millions on another Taibi/Ricardo etc.. I still wouldn't get too comfortable with Howard though, it seems Ferguson is still looking for a new Great Dane and if Howard slips in form between now and January, it could get complicated.

Howard has been solid and very smart in shotstopping but he has not looked World Class. Maybe he'll improve with time, but he looks like he lacks a bit of presence and awareness of the play in front of him. I'm also not sure about his concentration in the long term once he feels settled, that can become a problem for a keeper. He screams a lot, which is encouraged at ManYoo, but it doesn't always seem to have much of an effect or be clear directions.

 

No, it just means I was bored listing reasons.

 

In English club football, there's no such thing as a non-EU spot. If ManU can find 16 non-EUs who can get WPs, that can be their matchday 16. I have no more knowledge of the inner workings of the WP committee than anyone else, but Tim was so far from meeting the criteria, that it begs for an explanation. I strongly believe it was a combination of ManU clout and the fact that he'd automatically get one next season anyway. Worst case scenario is that an unworthy player pollutes English club football for one year, at which point he has EU citizenship and is exempt from the WP process. So there was no real purpose to turning it down except for that one year.

 

Well, the prices change according to which newspaper you read, i was just trying to say, that there prices where similar, if it was around the £2.3mill mark, £700,000 is absoluetly nothing to Man Utd.

 

Quick wee post just to comment on a couple of the points being (ahem) discussed on here.

1. Good points made earlier - It is very unlikely Howard was signed as a way of marketing towards Americans... lets face it, football/soccer is apparently the #1 sport in every country except the US and Canada (although I have my doubts about Australia) so why tap into the 'market' when it's practically non-existent.

2. It's all well and good saying that Howard is not as good at Barthez at his peak... but when was Barthez's peak? He certainly wasn't at it while at United - i think Barthez's peak may well have been the late 90's. On recent form, Howard is probably Utd's best goalie.

 

Hay everybody, guess what? Man U are close to bringing in an 18 yr old chinese forward. Hurray! We all get to argue over him now! Ha ha. Just kidding, im staying clear of that one.

 

a chinese in the english leage interesting.... i heard the guy on the tv while the match was going on sayin "theese were the first 3 goals on howard this season"