Barthez

SATA

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Do you lot rate him as a goalkeeper? I always thought he was a better goalkeeper than what he was credited for because of his antics. In fact, i would say he's world class without the 'clown' factor, shame it didn't worked out.

And it's hard not to like the bald bloke, isn't it? :D
 
What I believe is that he would have fared better with Rio and Vidic in front of him. Much much better.
I liked his style and his risk taking. His time here was in front of some strange defense at the time.
 
He was excellent in his first season, after that it went downhill.

The defence at that time certainly didn't help though.

I did enjoy a bit of this man love:
didyouknow1998_8.jpg
 
Eccentric goalkeepers, world class saves one minute, world class feck up the next.
 
Liked the bloke, btu was never convinced he was good enough. Incredibly talented, but at the end of the day too short to dominate the area - which for me was more of an issue than his tom-foolery (though the two things combined made the problem worse).

At teh end of the day goalkeeping history is littered with very talented shot stoppers who fall down on some combination of physical dominance, decision making, concentration, nerves etc. For me, Barthez, ultimately falls into that category.

To be fair, it's a very rare player who passes all these criteria... Schmeichel, VDS, Buffon, Kahn, Cech at his best (though he's dropped off)... there haven't been loads more that spring to mind in the last 20 years.
 
That's the thing isn't it? It's probably in his nature that he always wants to entertain. Could he have done away the eccentricity? Things might turn out differently then.
 
He was a very good 'keeper but a number of very high profile blunders tarnished his reputation.

Anyone remember that blatent handball against Madrid that didnt get spotted? I can only assume the ref saw it but thought he was mistaken because no professional 'keeper could be that fecking stupid :lol:
 
When Laurent Blanc kissed Barthez on top of the head without bending down, I did
wonder why we'd bought a 'keeper the size of a Subbutteo goalie...... whilst his
first season was good, thereafter he started c*cking his eccentric dribbling and
distribution up and getting found out as a keeper in general.

When the Fat Ron battered one over his head for RM in 03' - that would have hit a normal sized goalie in the chest, I think that was the end of the road for Fab....

He also looked like Donald Pleasance, which never helps !
 
misterredmist said:
When Laurent Blanc kissed Barthez on top of the head without bending down, I did
wonder why we'd bought a 'keeper the size of a Subbutteo goalie...... whilst his
first season was good, thereafter he started c*cking his eccentric dribbling and
distribution up and getting found out as a keeper in general.

When the Fat Ron battered one over his head for RM in 03' - that would have hit a normal sized goalie in the chest, I think that was the end of the road for Fab....

He also looked like Donald Pleasance, which never helps !
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Was Donald Pleasance ever shagging Linda Evangelista though?
 
Dont think he made even one feck up in his 1st season. Really thought he was outstanding. But then.....
 
At the end of the day... how the feck did he end up playing in goal? He was obvious a skilled footballer, and always fancied himself playing outfield. Just too lazy?
 
Randall Flagg said:
Dont think he made even one feck up in his 1st season. Really thought he was outstanding. But then.....
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West Ham at home. Di Canio made him look a fool. Apart from that he was brilliant in his first season.

Was too small! If you look back at those years, notice how many goals went over his head.
 
One match he'd look like Schmichael, the next match he'd look wobblier than Andy Reid.

I do think he would have been better if our back four wasn't constantly being chopped up and dropped through Silvestre and Brown brainfarts and injuries though.

He simply liked taking risks - which is sometimes fine, but I do think Barthez took it too far without considering his weaknesses.
 
SATA said:
Do you lot rate him as a goalkeeper? I always thought he was a better goalkeeper than what he was credited for because of his antics. In fact, i would say he's world class without the 'clown' factor, shame it didn't worked out.

And it's hard not to like the bald bloke, isn't it? :D
Click to expand...
He was a very good keeper. Not a great one.
 
I can't believe he won so many caps for France. Ordinary and at fault when Ronaldo bagged a hat trick at Old Trafford.

He did pull off world class saves and he was a fecking nutter but he wasn't good enough.
 
The problem with Fab was that he fancied himself an entertainer, which might be fine for outfield players, but not so much for keepers. That said, he did a fairly good job for us and was probably tarred by a few high visibility cockups - Henry at Highbury and The "Taxi Cab Fab" incident with DiCanio. The one incident that really pissed me off was Oliver Neuville's injury time goal in Leverkusen during the 2001 CL Semi. A taller keeper of VDS's stature would've surely saved that and we would've been in the finals.
 
RemiMoses said:
West Ham at home. Di Canio made him look a fool. Apart from that he was brilliant in his first season.

Was too small! If you look back at those years, notice how many goals went over his head.
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Not sure I agree with this. He knew Di Canio would most likely score so he tried to be smart and put his hand up claiming for offisde.

If id had of been a less experienced forward it may have worked and it would have been hailed as a stroke of genius
 
Always liked him. He'll probably play a lot better in La Liga though. But he did well for us in his first season anyway.
 
Raoul said:
The problem with Fab was that he fancied himself an entertainer, which might be fine for outfield players, but not so much for keepers. That said, he did a fairly good job for us and was probably tarred by a few high visibility cockups - Henry at Highbury and The "Taxi Cab Fab" incident with DiCanio. The one incident that really pissed me off was Oliver Neuville's injury time goal in Leverkusen during the 2001 CL Semi. A taller keeper of VDS's stature would've surely saved that and we would've been in the finals.
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1:46

Yeah, his frame was very small for a keeper.

Hardly an imposing figure like Schmeichel or VDS.

Maybe a bigger keeper might have tipped over Neuville's goal in the second leg.
 
Aboutreika18 said:


1:46

Yeah, his frame was very small for a keeper.

Hardly an imposing figure like Schmeichel or VDS.

Maybe a bigger keeper might have tipped over Neuville's goal in the second leg.
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Actually the goal i was referring to starts at around 2:49 of the video.
 
i couldnt stand him. He was such a useless tosser.

why oh why didnt we get VDS. Even i saw he was the one to get.
 
World class shot stopper, but there's far more to keeping that stopping shots. Shit distribution, kicked like a clown at times, and flapped at crosses. Total liability but on his day he could win matches almost by himself (assuming the attack gave him a lead ;)).
 
Sunny Jim said:
never rated him tbh, i rember that when we went for him Toldo and Buffon were avaiable. We choose the worst option.
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I believe Toldo chose to remain in Italy and Buffon was being priced at over 20m and ultimately was sold for 32m. No way the PLC was paying more than 10m for a keeper. I believe even Toldo was being priced at like 15m. I have no idea how Buffon commanded that high a fee although he has been well worth it.
 
Talking Vulture said:
I can't believe he won so many caps for France. Ordinary and at fault when Ronaldo bagged a hat trick at Old Trafford.

He did pull off world class saves and he was a fecking nutter but he wasn't good enough.
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He was too far out of goal for two of Ronaldo's goals but you also have to lay some blame on the comical defending.
 
he always had me nervous everytime the ball came near him

so no i didnt really rate the man...
 
MrMarcello said:
I believe Toldo chose to remain in Italy and Buffon was being priced at over 20m and ultimately was sold for 32m. No way the PLC was paying more than 10m for a keeper. I believe even Toldo was being priced at like 15m. I have no idea how Buffon commanded that high a fee although he has been well worth it.
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looking from today's perspective we were penny wise pound stupid. We should've singed either of these Italian keepers or opt for VdS who went to Fulham (no disrespect to the Cottagers) :rolleyes:
 
Raoul said:
Actually the goal i was referring to starts at around 2:49 of the video.
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Hard to believe Schmikes or VDS would have saved that one... top finish from the german on that one

SATA said:
The Hamann save, one of the best i've ever seen

Here it is

YouTube - Barthez Save Vs Liverpool
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This sums up the point below... world class save to preserve 3 points at the home of our most hated rivals

MrMarcello said:
World class shot stopper, but there's far more to keeping that stopping shots. Shit distribution, kicked like a clown at times, and flapped at crosses. Total liability but on his day he could win matches almost by himself (assuming the attack gave him a lead ;)).
Click to expand...

Indeed a Jeckel and Hyde character... combine the Arsenal highlights and the Liverpool one and you sum up the man perfectly. Was arguably the top keeper in the world when we signed him... he certainly didn't leave that way.
 
Whilst he did the occasion cock-up (or cock out as that picture above proves), Barthez was an excellent keeper. However, coming so soon after Schmiechel didn't help, the level of expectation was huge and more so after the first replacement Bosnic had failed.

Barthez's first season was excellent, and whilst some say he fancied himself as an entertainer as such, with his forays out of the area and his party trick of nutmeging forwards, which he did at least 3 or 4 times in that season, was more self confidence which all good keepers need. However, once he made the mistakes with Henry and Fergie told him to cut out the fancy stuff and the press got on his case, his self confidence failed him, and he became a shadow of what we had seen in that first season. I think a culmination of events contributed to his downfall with United, not one thing.

Perhaps in another era he'd be the pefect keeper for United, whilst he may have been small, he had an incredible spring and was able to make some exceptional saves. However, the press will always focus on his mistakes during the time with us rather than the positives.
 
Of course he was an excellent keeper but he was way to eccentric to be relied on constantly. And if a goalkeeper has to be one thing its reliable.
 
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