Having played in goal at a half decent standard for 20 years I would say I definitely have an idea how goalkeepers should position themselves. His starting position was about 5 1/2 yards from goal, which was perfect for where that free kick was taken from, however despite clearly being favourite for the ball if he is proactive, he even watches the trajectory of the ball & stands still on the edge of his 6 yard box until the ball is comfortably inside the penalty area at which point he drops back. From his starting position, he was a maximum of three steps away from taking a relatively simple catch at above head height (or a very simple punch as he tends to prefer).
First, no I am absolutely not "talking bollocks" and anyone who knows the first thing about goalkeeping or has ever played the position would doubtless back me on this.
I have at no point absolved either Shaw or Lindelof of blame, their defending for the free kick was appalling. HOWEVER they, like the rest of our defence rightly or wrongly, are so much more comfortable in front of a goalkeeper who attacks the ball. He is 3 steps away from dealing with the ball but instead freezes and then drops back to his goal-line. I find it remarkable you don't think he could take 3 steps forward in a couple of seconds but the attackers could make up considerably more distance in the same time. The striker makes contact with the ball 7 yards out and the contact is literally made on the ground - the ball actually bounces up as he flicks it on.
In that instance a goalkeeper comes or stays, DDG did neither and it cost us badly because due to him freezing, by the time Moreno makes contact with the ball it is far too late for the keeper to set himself. Genuinely if I'd let that in in a semi-pro game my defence would've hammered me and rightly so.
1 minute 33 into the video, watch the free kick and just watch the goalkeeper - it is a dreadful piece of goalkeeping regardless of where you are an offensive keeper such as Henderson or even Romero frankly etc, or whether you are a goal-line keeper like De Gea, because everything is wrong from him.
Agree 100% JB7, in fact, I have been trying, for 10 years, to point this out to people and how much of a problem this is for the team overall when De Gea plays, it's a massive issue. On so many occasions, a cross comes into our box, that against most other keepers, would be considered a poor cross because it's too close to the keeper, whereas against De Gea, it causes absolute chaos because he just stands there like a statue.
It's not just about the actual claim, it's about possession too, if your keeper comes to claim the ball then you also have possession/control of the ball, or even better, are ready for a counter attack with a quick throw (as Peter Schmeical used to do so often). In this team that could be such a useful asset as we are so good on the counter. We've seen already, the difference when Deano plays, he's actually set up a few goals by being pro-active and alert, this is why I think it affects the whole team and not even just the defence.
If you leave it to your defenders every time, then even if they happen to win the header then the ball could still fall to an opposition player and you're instantly under pressure again, this is exactly what happens with De Gea pretty much every time a cross comes near him. You can't expect your centre backs to win every single header against powerful forwards who are also expected to win their fair share of headers or they wouldn't be in the team, and when you are giving them a chance of scoring a header from that close in, then most of the time they are going to score.
Yes, sometimes your keeper can get lucky and they hit it straight at him, or they do actually pull of an amazing point blank save but surely it would make more sense to just come out and use your reach advantage to actually catch, or punch away, the ball.
I honestly think some of these point blank saves that De Gea has 'had' to make over the years has been a massive factor in why he's been so overrated, because for most other keepers, it would just be a simple catch/punch that you would barely even notice, but De Gea is having to make these point blank saves because he hasn't bothered preventing the chance in the first place, like most other keepers would. People just see the reflex/point blank save over and over again on YouTube now though and think it's amazing goalkeeping, it's not.
What's even more infuriating is, a lot of the time, he doesn't even bother trying to save the attempts anyway, and just stands there watching the ball go past him and looking at the defence as if it's all their fault.
As I said, I've been trying to point this out for ten years now and never rated the guy from day one for this exact reason, goalkeeping is not just about shot-stopping, especially in the premier League (it's nothing personal I'm just calling it as I see it), but I just gave up in the end and watched on in horror as people were convinced he was the greatest keeper in the world, to the point where he is now the highest paid player in the league (also tried to warn at the time that that new contract should never have been given to him but again got told I hadn't a clue or I had an agenda against the lad).
If our coaching staff haven't noticed the difference in our overall play and results when Deano plays then I really just give up.
I'm not even totally convinced by Deano yet to be honest, I just think any goalkeeper that's even the slightest bit proactive would be an upgrade on De Gea, and the performances this year are showing that, it was the same when Romero played.
dare we dine with the devil again.