Ninja Elephant
Doctor Elephant
- Feb 16, 2009
- 18,855
I think that come next summer, Walton is going to be absolutely banging on the door to be the first choice.
Maty is very reliable. He never lets a weak shot squirm past him, he never spills a bouncing ball, he never gets tackled mucking around with it, he never passes it straight to the oppo, he’s never caught in no mans land. And his decision making and concentration are consistently good.
Probably there isn’t another keeper we’ve had who you could say all that about.
However, it’s a fair point, made by a few on this thread, that it’s been a good while since he made a save you thought he’d never get to. His distribution is competent, if not spectacular, he never comes for crosses, (which is ok as our centre back battery know it’s always their job to clear crosses, but it wouldn’t half take the pressure off sometimes if we had someone who could do this).
All in all, he’s about right for our level, I would say. I don’t think any keeper would have saved Hendrick’s shot. But I do think it’s a shame that Walton and Sanchez are at least a year off offering him genuine competition. Button and Steele are never going to seriously challenge him for a place.
Agree. Some people seem to expect him to be perfect but even De Gea makes mistakes!
Well someone must have said something to him during the week. What a difference today, commanded his area, came out and caught crosses when needed, and stopped a couple of well hit shots.
Had a good game, made a decent reflex save, handled the ball well from shots without spills, came for the ball, good feet in distribution.
Best game for a long long time
I'd have been surprised if Newcastle had scored from any of the attempts they had, as it should be, and has been so far this season.
None of this 'should have saved' bollox concerning shots most keepers would struggle to save in slow motion.
Good keepers make saves they have no right to. Maty is a good player but I don’t remember his last “had no right to save that” save. Did make one very good save yesterday in the first half. We have had no breaks in scoring “lucky goals” either though
He's made more than his fair share of 'wow' reflex and double saves, he just ain't the man for an Exocet from 20 yards, inch perfect, into the bottom/top corner.
No prizes for guessing what he's mainly been beaten with, this season.
Can’t argue, he can’t be blamed for any of the recent goals, frustrating