red4ever 79
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Nah Andy Goram takes that crownAlways thought Carroll was out worst "regular" keeper... And by a distance too.
Nah Andy Goram takes that crownAlways thought Carroll was out worst "regular" keeper... And by a distance too.
I never trusted Barthez when he played for us. Always seemed like he could make a mistake or do something stupid at any moment.We muddled around for years until VDS. Never rated Barthez personally
He played twice for United.Nah Andy Goram takes that crown
yeah totally agree. howard was clearly not a elite level talented keeper, but after barthez and the chance that absolutely anything could happen, i remember really liking howard ! and then vds I remember being a teenager and thinking... oh this is what a goalkeeper should be...I never trusted Barthez when he played for us. Always seemed like he could make a mistake or do something stupid at any moment.
I liked Tim Howard more than him, but it's a similar sort of story there, too. Promising in lots of ways, but have the ability to make mistakes and that makes the rest of the team nervous. When you don't fully trust a goalkeeper, that lack of confidence then drips into other areas of the team. It has a ripple effect.
VDS was such a brilliant keeper post-Schmeichel. Exactly what we needed and he just looked mentally strong and solid. When he came in, you just knew that the position had finally been sorted and nailed down. Top class keeper. Wish we had got him years earlier.
We rarely did under Fergie which was one of our main problems.Yeah, that's probably why it goes more unnoticed. Remember reading Keane's book and he was gutted that we didn't improve the squad from a position of strength after winning the treble.
He only played twice for us...Wouldn't call that regular, same with Taibi.Nah Andy Goram takes that crown
He only played twice for us...Wouldn't call that regular, same with Taibi.
Carroll played for us 72 times... Which is roughly 72 times too many
I forgot all about Taibi. What a debut he had.He only played twice for us...Wouldn't call that regular, same with Taibi.
Carroll played for us 72 times... Which is roughly 72 times too many
I seem to remember him and silvestre having the games of their lives at AnfieldI forgot all about Taibi. What a debut he had.
And STILL cost us a goal.I forgot all about Taibi. What a debut he had.
I can see that I should have worded my originalmpost more clearly: I was meaning to refer to one aspect of our game - playing on the break - not our whole game. I was also trying to pinpoint the type of games were we met a good, tight organized defence. I clearly remember noticing this in several tight games. You may of course see those games and disagree, even if it’s 20 years ago, but looking up goal stats is not really relevant to the point I am trying to make. I did not mean to say we struggled generally, which we certainly didn’t, only that there were types of game situations were we struggled as a team when we previously had a very important tool in those situations.Your original post said "Our attack literally struggled to get into space with the ball" and "our team play struggled". That's simply not true in any way or form. We scored more goals, got more points, won more games than in 1998/99 - saying that our . We lost our heads against Real Madrid at Old Trafford even though that was a team that we really should have beaten. But it certainly wasn't because we missed Schmeichel's goalkicks.
Yeah, Bosnich on the look of it was a lot more natural choice to than Schmeichel had been, one coming from Brøndby in the semi-professional Danish league and the other being one of the PL’s most touted goalkeepers, even on surface seeming like he had the confidence needed to play for United. Sir Alex was always a sucker for a good deal, and Bozzo seemed as good a deal as Big Pete, or better. Difference was one exploded and the other imploded.
One crucial element was, though, I think even the gaffer underestimated how central Schmeichels goal kicks and throws were for our aggressive and fast football playing on the break. Our attack literally struggled to get into space with the ball because they were used to Schmeichel distributing precisely to well within their half in half a second. As a result, the team play struggled, and I think Bosnich must have noticed that frustration more than even Taibi were affected by his blunders.
It was a question of not doing enough homework, taking a Cantona-like punt, but it didn’t fly.
I just remember him wearing pants. I was never a fan of keepers wearing jogging bottoms.And STILL cost us a goal.
It wasn't extraordinary back then Edwards was at it all the time. In 1998 Ferguson wanted Kluivert and Yorke, Edwards dilly dallied on moves for both because he on the advice of Brian Kidd wanted to sign John Hartson instead.I think everyone in the world would at that point in time have said VDS is the sure bet, whereas Bosnich wasn't. But I can't remember if we were linked to others.
That's extraordinary. So a cost-saving exercise in effect, behind the manager's back, after delivering 3 trophies. Criminal.
We got Yorke in 98 though?It wasn't extraordinary back then Edwards was at it all the time. In 1998 Ferguson wanted Kluivert and Yorke, Edwards dilly dallied on moves for both because he on the advice of Brian Kidd wanted to sign John Hartson instead.
Yeah because Ferguson pushed for him and wouldn't even consider Hartson. I think that episode also lead to the breakdown in Ferguson and Kidds relationship.We got Yorke in 98 though?
«We’ve shaken his hand» ffsEdwards has a different version though:
Yeah, you're right about 15m not being a paltry sum. Still, it was quite ridiculous for a big club like United to be able to sign a player (Stam) for a world record fee for a defender, add a winger for not a huge sum and not have anything at all for another player. And to think Fergie wanted two strikers rather than one.Bearing in mind 15m was a world record fee only two years before, 15million wasn't exactly buttons back then.
Add in Yorke like you mention and almost 30m in one summer in 98 was huge
Yep, I was in 6th form around the time, and the figure quoted for Stam was utterly spellbinding for that time.Yeah, you're right about 15m not being a paltry sum. Still, it was quite ridiculous for a big club like United to be able to sign a player (Stam) for a world record fee for a defender, add a winger for not a huge sum and not have anything at all for another player. And to think Fergie wanted two strikers rather than one.
And people think Ole's got it rough beacuse he could only sign three players for huge money in the last two transfer windows.
Yeah, a decent keeper overrated, I assume partly because he may have had a good season or two elsewhere (too young to know) and partly because he was somewhat extravagant.We muddled around for years until VDS. Never rated Barthez personally
I think that would have been the same again. I mean, apart from his professionalism, or lack thereof. We needed to be looking at elite players. Went through so many goalkeepers in the following years. Howard, for instance, was a good keeper, but not close to elite.I seem to recall we were either linked with Antti Niemi and Kasey Keller from Leicester, both would of made excellent replacements than Bosnich
It's all in Fergie's book... he claims he didn't wanted him and had changed his mind on Bosnich (wanted Van der Sar) but a deal was already done/too late to back out.Couldn't understand it then and now, looking back, it seems to be on a similar level of consciousness to think Moyes could take over from SAF. What on earth were we thinking having just won the treble and getting in Mark Bosnich on a free from Villa?
It took us 6 years to find a suitable GK following that catastrophe...
Who recommended him? Were we not linked with actual top class keepers at the time? Must have been a downer in the dressing room, high on winning the treble and you see your club replace Schmeichel with the Villa keeper. Who then turned out to have a career mired in personal issues and was labelled a terrible professional by SAF. And also, a shite keeper.