✍️ Lukasz Fabianski signs

[funky chicken]

I think the only way Fabianski will lose his place this season is if we go on a Barron run of not picking up a lot of points, with him continuing to let in cheap goals. Or he picks up an injury that rules him out for 2-3 games, and Areola plays so well it’s impossible for Moyes to drop him when Fab is fit again. Like Johnson did with Coufal.

The latter is the likeliest, if any.

[e17]

Personally don’t think it’s a debate worth having.

Energy better spent on the fact we’ve only got Antonio and if he’s ****ed we end up with the likes of Yarmolenko getting near the pitch.

[-DL-]

You are right DL and, unfortunately for keepers, their concentration levels and reactions are what often declines first. However, the keeper is part of a defensive unit where trust is paramount and I believe that Fab still has that from his colleagues and the coaching staff. I rate Areola and believe he has the makings of a fine keeper, but wouldnt change the guard yet, particularly with the injuries piling up in defence. He will get plenty of further game time, I feel
in the cups and I do not think Fab's back will hold out for a whole season. Goalkeeper is probably one of only positions currently where we seem to have an excellent choice.

I was advocating him being dropped after his first few performances this season, as he did seem pretty flat footed and slow to react - but ultimately, he has been the keeper that has us sitting in 4th, and whilst he's not done a major turnaround with form, and and more than one occasion he has had me question whether someone else would have or could have done better, he's become solid as opposed to spectacular.

As others have stated, 'keeper is the one position where it is very difficult to drop somebody unless they've made absolute clear and obvious howlers - but don't think it's gone unnoticed by Moyes that he's not quite at the level he was a couple of seasons ago - but like the professional he is, Moyes is probably waiting for the right moment to make the switch. You don't sign a keeper with the CV of Areola if you're going to keep him on the bench forever more - and I'm pretty sure Fab knows that too.

Taking the analysis to an ever greater depth, it may be that Fab has at the back of his mind that if he gets one injury and Areola comes in, then his time as number 1 may be up - so subconsciously, he's not putting his body on the line to get down as fast to stop Mount's shot. We see it with outfield players that have just lost their slight edge for fear of injury again - I suppose it could be argued we're seeing it with Antonio the last few games where he's been a slight shadow of his former self, second half yesterday aside.

[ornchurch ammer]

I do sometimes think us mere minions, when basing opinions on themselves, seem to forget just how highly tuned and at another level sports people are when they are at the elite end of the spectrum. They can think and react in a millisecond. That's what makes the best, the best what sets them apart. It's the same in all elite sports, without a shadow of a doubt. That extra 1-2% that makes all the difference, and when you start to lose that, it becomes noticeable.

It’s not a case of basing opinions on ourselves but some having unrealistic expectations of goalkeepers without having any real understanding of the position.

[My_Sobriquet]

Personally don’t think it’s a debate worth having.

Energy better spent on the fact we’ve only got Antonio and if he’s ****ed we end up with the likes of Yarmolenko getting near the pitch.

Why come into this thread when you know from the title it’s a discussion about Fabianski, read the posts and see we are debating if Fabianski should start or Areola and then tell us all not to debate it.

If you want to debate Antonio’s back up being capable or not why not go to the Antonio thread instead of posting in this thread that we shouldn’t be talking about this? :lol:

Right I’m off to the Ben Johnson thread to tell them to stop discussing him and debate Benrahma vs Lanzini instead.

[ornchurch ammer]

Taking the analysis to an ever greater depth, it may be that Fab has at the back of his mind that if he gets one injury and Areola comes in, then his time as number 1 may be up - so subconsciously, he's not putting his body on the line to get down as fast to stop Mount's shot. We see it with outfield players that have just lost their slight edge for fear of injury again - I suppose it could be argued we're seeing it with Antonio the last few games where he's been a slight shadow of his former self, second half yesterday aside.

So what wins in this situation? Does his subconscious for self preservation override his ability to react in milliseconds?

[Aceface]

We’ve had Fab for 3 years now and he’s never done anything as self-defeating as what Mendy did yesterday for the penalty or Alisson did last month. And by that I mean, creating your own problems, via vanity in Mendy’s case and allowing yourself to be distracted for the first and third goals in Alisson’s case.

Beaten by a free shot from where the RB was missing due to injury I can live with.

[MB]

Blimey DL with overthinking like that, you'll be next line in for the Man City job!

[mumbles87]

We’ve had Fab for 3 years now and he’s never done anything as self-defeating as what Mendy did yesterday for the penalty or Alisson did last month. And by that I mean, creating your own problems, via vanity in Mendy’s case and allowing yourself to be distracted for the first and third goals in Alisson’s case.

Beaten by a free shot from where the RB was missing due to injury I can live with.

Apart from the 2 errors against Liverpool that cost us the game 2 seasons ago when Watford beat them the next week but we were on course to beat them

That said .. I love fabainski, I do think areola is a better keeper but I don't think he gets an auto place. I think only if fabainski gets injured then I don't think he will be able to get back in.

[e-20]

So what wins in this situation? Does his subconscious for self preservation override his ability to react in milliseconds?

As in so much of life experiences the moment you start debating that in your own mind is very often the moment it’s difficult to draw it back from progressive decline, instinct is so important. I really do feel for centre forwards and goalkeepers in that respect as it’s more critical and more likely moments of self doubt can have a debilitating effect on their play. I’m sure that’s not lost on Kane at the moment even if the events that initiated it were overtly from the outside, off the pitch and out of his control.

[e17]

Why come into this thread when you know from the title it’s a discussion about Fabianski, read the posts and see we are debating if Fabianski should start or Areola and then tell us all not to debate it.

If you want to debate Antonio’s back up being capable or not why not go to the Antonio thread instead of posting in this thread that we shouldn’t be talking about this? :lol:

Right I’m off to the Ben Johnson thread to tell them to stop discussing him and debate Benrahma vs Lanzini instead.

Where am I telling you not to debate it? I said I don’t think it’s an area to worry about compared to others of urgency.

[-DL-]

It’s not a case of basing opinions on ourselves but some having unrealistic expectations of goalkeepers without having any real understanding of the position.

Speak for yourself...

[-DL-]

So what wins in this situation? Does his subconscious for self preservation override his ability to react in milliseconds?

Yes, it possibly could, without a doubt. As a youth and younger adult, I was a sprinter at elite level for my age groups. My performance dropped after a bad injury that occurred when I was in in full flow around the bend in a 200m race.

For a little while after, my times off the start and around the bend were marginally slower than they used to be, but strangely enough, because I never used as much energy around the bend as I normally would, most likely due to my subconsciousness holding me back due to the previous injury and not wanting to do it again, I was finding extra time on the straights. There was only 100ths of a second in it, but it only takes a 100th of a second to break a PB or set a record.

Once I'd learned to to go full flow on the bend again, I kept that extra 100ths and 10ths of a second I found on the straights, but also found extra time on the bend, beating my PB plenty of times in the process. Sports psychology back in the early 90s wasn't anything what it is now - but there was some - and strangely enough, it was as a result of that injury and my slight drop in performance that made me do the best running of my life once it was noticed on the timings - to the extent I ended up moving from 200m to 400m.

[e-20]

I was quite critical of Fabianski last season; especially saving low down he looked like the injuries had taken their

For the second, you have to question how Mount is left in enough space to hit such a sweet volley. The play is switched quickly, but still. As others have said it always looks bad when a keeper is beaten at their near post but I don’t see any keeper saving that.

You are right the first was fundamentally Antonio’s fault he simply didn’t mark his man in a schoolboy error. However while you can’t say either were bad errors both were stoppable by a goalkeeper towards the top of his game and one would certainly hope that you stop one of the two. As discussed on the match thread Fabs feet were off the ground as the connection occurred so was a little slow reacting to the first (discussed the pros cons and reasons for that there so won’t repeat it here) and though the second was sweetly hit I have seen that sort of shot from that angle and distance saved as often as not probably more the former, again Fab isn’t quite as responsive to such efforts as he once was it’s a simple fact of life. To be fair young agile keepers will tend to save those much easier than most 30 somethings for obvious reasons. Of course you have to balance that against all other aspects of a keepers game and that is Fabs strength and experience against those young guns even if most of the latter will look better in springing to the right or left to make wider saves, it’s a factor of youth and it being one of the natural attributes of a young keeper that gets them noticed.

Out of interest Joe Hart seemed to lose all capacity to do anything other than fall left or right when diving once he hit the buffers. Same too Begović when he was at Bournemouth a once excellent keeper seemed to dive in slow motion and I was not a little scared when there was reported interest from us a few years back. Thankfully nothing came or it.

[e17]

I’d be scared to get on one of your buses having read that, Dyers.

[-DL-]

I’d be scared to get on one of your buses having read that, Dyers.

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but I'm struggling to find the correlation here...

[Aceface]

Apart from the 2 errors against Liverpool that cost us the game 2 seasons ago when Watford beat them the next week but we were on course to beat them

I’m not sure you understood what I was saying. I’m not saying he doesn’t make errors, I’m saying he doesn’t make errors related to ego.

Mendy could easily have cleared that ball yesterday but his ego wouldn’t allow him to hoof it, just like Alisson allowed a transparently obvious ploy to distract him for two of the goals last month because his personality wouldn’t allow him to just ignore it.

[e17]

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but I'm struggling to find the correlation here...

Just picturing you being a Medway mix of Usain Bolt and Lewis Hamilton mate!

[HammerAl]

Outside or the top three, I can't think of a keeper I would definitely swap him for

Lloris? Not much in it
Ramsdale? No, regardless of the OTT plaudits he is getting
Schmeichel? - probably tbf
Pickford? No
Martinez? No
De Gea? Probably not at the moment

Lloris - no way.

Schmeichel - no f*cking way. One of the most overrated keepers around.

[-DL-]

Just picturing you being a Medway mix of Usain Bolt and Lewis Hamilton mate!

More a case of Rusty Bolt and Neil Hamilton tbf.