[Albion] RDZ on rotation.

[albionalex]

Trouble is Steele isn’t to good at the keeping bit 🫤

He's fine.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

He's fine.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

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Don't watch much/any Man Utd games but have heard various times that Onana has commited "another howler" and is an "awful keeper". Surprised to see him so high on that chart.

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

Don't watch much/any Man Utd games but have heard various times that Onana has commited "another howler" and is an "awful keeper". Surprised to see him so high on that chart.

It is almost as if there is more to a keeper than just one statistic.

 

[Algernon]

I won't hear a word said against him - great guy, performed for us, saved at least one penalty...and he still plays

I agree, he was excellent for us.
I just don't believe he was an elite cardiovascular athlete kind of goalkeeper.

 

[Justice]

He's fine.

I agree if the other team doesn’t have a shot on target

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

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Still not sure.

I'd need to know more about how they are calculating save ratio%, but my eyes tell me that the large number of goals we concede has got far more to do with the quality of chances we concede, which is normally to do with ...

a) trying to get 7 men in the box every time we attack
b) being dismal at defending set pieces
c) having no discernible defensive midfield cover since we sold Caicedo
d) taking massive risks playing out in the hope of massive rewards ...

..... rather than goalkeeping errors.

In fact, I think i'm right in saying, that in all the games Steele has played for us, I don't think the fella has let in a howler has he? Sure there's been a few where you can legitimately ask, might the lovechild of Lev Yashin and Dino Zoff kept that out? But Allison and Ederson have those too. I can't recall him dropping a cross at the feet of a striker or letting one squirm under his body, and remarkably given what he's asked to do, I don't recall him passing one straight to one of theirs who slots home. Feel free to remind me, but he seems like a reliable keeper to me. And having a reliable keeper is like having a reliable car. You don't appreciate the value of it, until you don't have it any more

 

[US Seagull]

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I wouldn't read too much into that. The save rate isn't hugely different. The prevented goals might have more to do with the style we are playing when using Steele vs Bart.

Who's the blue dot way at the bottom left?

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

For our goalkeepers it’s less about rotation because of fitness, and more to do with easing in a young goalkeeper, & also because they have slightly different attributes RDZ might select a keeper based on opposition…. I would say.

I would say it's also about RDZ not wanting to permanently relegate Steele, because he likes him.

 

[amexer]

Has anybody got a table showing most appearances by PL players this season

 

[worthingweird]

Someone tell him we are not playing three games a week. FFS.

You tell him Nobby....

 

[GingerBeerMan]

It is almost as if there is more to a keeper than just one statistic.

That graph shows two statistics

 

[Swegulls]

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I wouldn’t change Steele for Onana. Steele is just as good as Verbruggen, hence the rotation.

 

[raymondo]

I agree, he was excellent for us.
I just don't believe he was an elite cardiovascular athlete kind of goalkeeper.

It's hard to disagree with you on that ...he did seem to enjoy a pie or two!

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Our level of GAs are largely due to the style of high press, attacking football we are playing - not down to the incompetence of either player imo. We are not getting a £50m GK so we need to suck it up while they need to develop further into the keepers RDZ is needing for that role. Part of that ‘playing out from the back’ development also requires a backline that isn’t leaky - us conceding too many goals this season isn’t all about the GKs - but we can’t do that without a fully fit squad or buying in more replacements for key defensive positions.

I can’t see rotation of keepers as much as a problem some fans do - our defenders will be training with both keepers so if they are not always communicating that’s a training issue. Our match v Arsenal a case in point - a very good 3-way partnership between Dunk, Hecke and Bart who were defending better (as a trio) than they have all season imo until a communication error between Hecke and Bart led to a goal but in the context of an excellent defensive game by us - (and not something we are used to!)

As for the rest of RDZs rotation- personally I think it has been essential to sustain the level and intensity of fixtures we’ve been playing given our injury and fatigue issues in the squad as a whole. This is one of the reasons smaller clubs like ours struggle to compete in multiple competitions in one season.

I agree that the keepers are not the main reason - the main reason we’ve been leaky is because we haven’t properly replaced our midfield double pivot from last year.

That doesn’t dispute my original point that neither Steele or Bart’s statistics (beyond GA) are particularly justifying RDZ’s decision to rotate them.

 

[Badger Boy]

I completely disagree with playing Steele. Some of the other rotation is out of his hands but RDZ is choosing to weaken the team every time Steele and, to a lesser extent, Lallana are picked to start.

 

[Zeberdi]

I agree that the keepers are not the main reason - the main reason we’ve been leaky is because we haven’t properly replaced our midfield double pivot from last year.

That doesn’t dispute my original point that neither Steele or Bart’s statistics (beyond GA) are particularly justifying RDZ’s decision to rotate them.

I did say we are leaky because we need to buy in more players in key positions. Obviously that includes FBs/DMF/Wingers (3 or 4 players probably). Caceido‘s position however will be filled by Baleba hopefully once he develops- but we win an lose as a team - in RDZs system, no one player/position is the cause of us conceding goals - our attacking players don’t press hard enough, our midfield players lose possession at key times and we defend poorly at times (partly due to key positions lacking cover) as RDZ has said when discussing why Brighton are conceding goals with ‘such frequency’ :

“The pressure of our attackers is not so strong at this moment,” he said. “And we are suffering too much with defenders. It’s not a problem of one player, two players; it’s a problem of the team.”

I don’t quite understand what stats you are referring to tbh but there are several reasons IMO why RDZ is rotating GKs so much at the moment; which is mainly to bed Verbruggen in without breaking him in the process! Secondly, both Steele and Bart have different skill sets - having both up to speed and match fitness gives RDZ options when facing different opposition tactics/style. Thirdly, having a number 2 that can step in if the other is injured.

On the third point specifically - RDZ doesn’t use GKs in a typical defensive stopper role, they are key components in his complicated attacking system that plays out from the back, the third man in a triangle of passing football and a sweeper to stretch the game wide when needed etc. It’s no good having a No 2 stopper on the bench for several years who can keep a ball out of the net just in case of injury, his keepers need to grow organically with his development of the team, get to know the role - I think that is why it is important for both (at least at this time) to be playing a share of games. I believe once bedded in, Verbruggen will play more and more and Steele less if Bart reaches the potential I think he could reach - not because Steele isn’t a good enough GK for RDZ because he is, but because Verbruggen will eventually be an excellent one…

Edit sorry for long post - I meant to say some of the above in my my first post but deleted it because it was too long