Once again, England's Number 666 cost us victory with a terrible, elementary error. Once again Rob Green was found wanting on a cross, handing, literally, a goal on a plate to the opposition.
Watch Green's flap again. He actually took the ball off the head of Gabbidon. There wasn't a Wolves player within five yards of them and, had Green not panicked, Gabbidon would have headed the ball behind for a corner.
And look at the flap! He went at that cross like a girl! He didn't punch the ball, he pushed it, flapped at it, waved at it! You can almost hear the girly squeal as you watch him! Anybody would think the ball was covered in dog ordure or was an unexploded ordinance!
Some will come back and say, "But what about his saves?" and "Everybody makes a mistake sometimes" but keepers can't afford to make those sorts of mistakes, and when they do, it is invariably costly in terms of points. Look at Van der Saar yesterday! As for the saves, well again they looked pretty routine to me - I would expect every Premiership keeper to make those saves 99 times out of 100.
How many times has Rob cost us already this season? He was at fault for Villa's first goal, for Chelsea's second and arguably for their first and third too, and now for this one. I don't think we can afford to replace him because Boffin and Stech are both so raw in terms of experience, but the guy is a liability and has been for more than 12 months now. He is in the England squad only by default - Robinson won't play and the others are crap - look at Carson yesterday!
Yesterday the whole of the press box should have stood as a man, and made a choreographed salute back to Green. I warned at the time of his "Up yours" gesture that it was an unwise thing for Green to do and yesterday showed why. Green has technical flaws in his keeping and, until they are resolved, he will continue to cost us crucial points.
disagree with you the saves were not routine saves if u look 9/10 players can score them chaces if not for the keeper rob green moved from his front post to the other side of the goal and clawed the ball around the post and why ddint gabbidon call it because from i was looking its seemed like gabbidon didnt have a clue what was goin on at tht point and greee nonly looks shaky when the defence does and green as bette then are whole defence yesterday apart from abbidon
ReplyDeleteHammersfan, when you write an inflamatory piece like this, you really need to get the facts right, otherwise it softens the rest of your arguement. It was Da Costa who was about to head the ball away, not Gabs. However, over Rob Green remains a top 10 Prem keeper. Yes he makes a gaff or two and is argtuably in his worst form since arriving at UP, but look at his defence yesterday! Schoolboys!
ReplyDeleteIf Wolves weren't so shockingly poor, we'd have now't from yesterday!
You use the term 'us' fanny-o, as if you belong. You don't.
ReplyDeleteIt was Gabbidon when I watched it! Check again, I will!
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree that Green made a gaffe yesterday but there are two ways of looking at the misunderstanding with Gabbidon. I would turn it around and ask you what the hell was Gabbidon doing jumping in front of his goalie to head the ball when there was no Wolves player within sight? Green was put under pressure to clear the ball from his own defender. That was parctically on the goal line so Danny should have been cool and clever enough to let his goalie catch the ball. Gabbidon was not marking anyone he wass just running back to the goaline from nowhere. I don't want Stani to start shouting at me because I have offended his favourite defender, but I think that one must put things in the right perspective. You make it sound as if it was entirely Green's fault. It ws equally and more Gabbidon's fault.
ReplyDeleteChange the record pal. You don't like Green. We get it ok??? Some of us see the good he does. You wait for the error and then write a bible on it.
ReplyDeleteBut avram grant still picks him
ReplyDeleteHave to disagree with you Sav. Firstly, Gabbidon could not see Green. He had his eyes on the ball and it was his ball to clear. Green had the "complete picture" ahead of him. He could have shouted to Gabbidon to leave it or get out of the way and clearly didn't. He panicked, pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteSo it was Gabbidon wasn't it, and not Da Costa as 1224 claimed?
ReplyDeleteI don't blame Green for his efforts to clear the ball. The ball came into his 5 yard box so he chose to punch it away. There were many players in the 16 yard box so it's not a bad choice to clear. After watching the replay over and over again it's easy to say how it should have been done. The fact is Green had less than a second to decide, tried to interrupt the flank at full stretch, succeeded but couldn't get the ball further away. Apart from that his performance was prety good and he seemed fully concentrated.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand what was Gabbidon doing standing in front of his goalkeeper practically on the goal line and why he was not marking anyone. If you play the video of the goal you will see that Gabbidon was running from outside the box straight on Green! There were so many Wolves players he could have marked but he chose to run in front of his goalie and then jumped in his face! This is exactly why I don't think Gabby is such a good defender as people make out him to be. Apart from the fact that he is prone to make mistakes, he falls over himself often and most of all when he is playing we are in sixes and sevens at the back. I still remember vividly the game at Reading a few years back when we conceded 6! Gabbidon (and Ferdinand) gave a recital of panic defending! There was no shape to that defence. Prior to the goal yesterday, it reminded me of that. Upson and Illunga should replace Ben Haim and Gabbidon. This will give our defence some shape. It is imperative if we want to win a few games.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right HF!
ReplyDeleteGreen should have left it for Gabndion to head the ball out of play (or at least head it out of the box)
And if Green is so confident to come for that cross he should have punched it out rather than just "touch" the ballw ithout any power.
very poor goalkeeping!
Look at the time when the cross went in towords the penalty spot
Green had his eyes only on the ball.
instead of looking around him (gabbidon and Jarvis on the penalty spot)
If he did just that he COULD have stayed on his goalline waiting for gabbidon to clear the cross.
Even if he didn,t clear it he could have stopped the shot from Jarvis and it would have been 0-0
This has cost us two points!
Just watched again, Gabbidon took up a good position defending the near post to cut out the cross. Green was 100% at fault.
ReplyDeleteAnd 1224, I await your apology. It was Gabbidon!
What I can't understand is why Green's fault with crosses and balls into the box can't be corrected. The club pays for a specialist goalkeeping coach. They have virtually as much time as they want to practice. Why can't they get it right?
ReplyDeleteGood question. The trouble is, when you have a psychological weakness, it is hard to address isn't it? Green seems not to know what to do, it is almost as if he tosses a coin in his head and, if it comes down heads he comes, if it comes down tails, he sticks. He has been coming for more recently and "punching" more. That is trained I think. But he is now making the wrong choice the opposite way around from before, when he either stayed on his line or tried to catch everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me is that he still has his hands around the wrong way when "ground fielding" the ball, aka that terrible error against the USA. Why are his hands out in front of him and away from his body? That is a basic flaw that invites the ball to spin away from him. Hart takes everything into his middrift, body firmly behind the ball; Green's body position is all wrong and so is his hands position. Why hasn't that been sorted?
I have said frequently that Green is an excellent shot stopper when his body reacts ahead of his brain. It's when he has time to think that he hits problems. It is like watching an out of form batsman in cricket. The more the batsman thinks about his feet, his position, the way the bat addresses the ball, the worse the problem becomes. So "training" may not be the solution. Instinct has to take over!
Yes perhaps he does think too much he is supposed to be a very intelligent guy. In view of what you have said the coaching should be when to punch or when to stay on the line look at videos and learn and practice until the right movement comes automatically or is that asking too much for 20/30 grand a week? If he can't sort these matters out then he should be replaced. There must be plenty of keepers in the lower divisions that can shot stop, catch properly and come out and punch a ball away.
ReplyDeleteI think visitors to this blg should all start to realise that you're a one trick pony, a wind up merchant. There's no depth to you and you're just a dullard. He made two "world class" (as widely reported across the internet and in the press) saves, and one error.
ReplyDeleteIt's goal keeping it's what they do, they make errors. Strikers miss and midfielders play bad balls and defenders get turned.
26 goals scored this weekend - does that make all the keepers have technical flaws?
The Defending was much much worse than anything Green did.
ReplyDeleteI have looked again and at best would classify Green's saves as "good" but not "world class" Personally I think he could become a world class keeper if he sorted out his obvious weak points.
ReplyDeleteHF I'm confused why are you now called John?
ReplyDeleteNo 1713, because the keepers stood no chance with the majority of the goals. But Carson, Van der Saar and Green were all at fault this weekend. It is rare for Van der Saar. But for Carson and Green, it is the same old story!
ReplyDeletejohn watch the one from stearmen again and analyse it very carefully right down to the last little thing it was a world class save as wasd the other one and everybody across the internet on the radios an everything sed so
ReplyDeleteWorld class is chucked around like confetti by the media Fred. World class saves that i have seen would include the Banks save from Pele and the Jim Montgomery double save in the FA Cup Final for Sunderland against Leeds. There have been others, I am sure, but those two took the breath away. Green made two GOOD saves, nothing more. And you would expect top keepers to make those saves.
ReplyDelete"Yesterday the whole of the press box should have stood as a man, and made a choreographed salute back to Green."
ReplyDeletebut they didn't did they?
They did the opposite in fact with most papers (I saw three) including the Sun where you get most of your stuff from, calling two saves "world class"
The Sun is still the staple reading material of night watchmen I see. What did The Sport say?
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, I trust my own eyes rather than rely on what the papers tell me. I know a World Class save when I see one. Will either of Green's saves make it onto a "Save of the Season" short list? Nope. Or even "Save of the Month"? Nope. I saw the Blackpool keeper make a fantastic save in the last minute against Liverpool - far better than either of Green's - but that doesn't make him a great keeper does it?
What you refuse to understand is that good keepers infuse the defence with confidence by controlling their six yard box, gobbling up crosses and by not making mistakes. Green is weak in all three of these critical areas. In consequence, his uncertainty spreads through the defence.