Fulham face keeper tug of war

With less than a week left of the transfer window, Mark Hughes will be hoping to do a little last minute shopping while holding on to his own players.

The biggest issue facing Hughes is the uncertainty surrounding keeper Mark Schwarzer’s future. The big Aussie is still being courted by Arsenal and has made his desire to join the Gunners quite clear.

However, a massive bonus for Hughes has been the form of Schwarzer’s understudy, David Stockdale, in the Fulham goal.

Whether he is able to do the business on a regular basis remains to be seen and it seems highly unlikely that Hughes would want to gamble on Stockdale staying fit and in form for the whole season.

The Schwarzer saga seems to highlight an increasing shortage of quality goalkeepers in the Premier League, with many sides being forced to pay massive amounts of cash in order to prise their targets away from their current clubs. It will be interesting to see if Arsenal get their way on this one. The latest Andy Gray podcast will no doubt have something to say about it if the deal does come off.

In front of the keeper, Hughes has been looking to strengthen his squad. He managed to make his first signing recently, bringing in Algerian defender Rafik Halliche. The club have also agreed a fee to sign PSV’s Mexican left-back Carlos Salcido who has been signed to cover the seemingly Liverpool bound Paul Konchesky. The left-back is in talks to join his former manager on Merseyside. A reported fee of £3.5million for the 29-year-old Konchesky who is entering the final year of his contract is probably as good a deal as the club could expect.

With Phillipe Senderos out for a large chunk of the season with injury, Halliche will prove valuable back-up to current first choice defensive pairing of Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes. Halliche has joined Fulham on a three year deal after failing to break into the Benfica first team. The versatile defender played in all three of his country’s games at the World Cup this summer in South Africa. Some people made Fulham betting tips for relegation before the start of the season, but these signings should help them stay up.

A lot of Fulham’s success this season will depend on their keeper and his back four, so the next few weeks could be very interesting for fans of the club.

Top 5 Goalkeepers of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

1). Gianluigi Buffon: Despite suffering through a miserable Juventus campaign, you certainly cannot fault Gigi. The 9-time Serie A Goalkeeper of the year had strong showings this year against the toughest in the league, including Inter and Roma. Expect the Italian international to shine brightly this summer, especially with a relatively easy Group F (New Zealand, Paraguay, and Slovakia) and a likely winnable game in the Round of 16 versus Cameroon or Denmark.

2). Hugo Lloris: If you haven’t heard of him by now, you definitely will be hearing his name praised in a month. Already becoming a star at 23, the French international has been in incredible form for both club (Lyon) and country. He helped guide Lyon to a Champions League semi-final and a 2nd place finish in the league for automatic Champions League qualification next season. He also (arguably) single-handedly qualified France for the World Cup finals with an incredible performance against Ireland (in one of the most controversial games in recent memory). With an extremely favorable group draw in South Africa (Uraguay, South Africa, and Mexico), one can expect a few clean sheets a potentially long run in the World Cup.

3). Iker Casillas: Sure, he plays on two of the most talented teams in the world (Real Madrid and Spain). Hoever, the 28 year-old Spanish international has been voted in UEFA’s team of the year three years in a row now and he deserves all the accolades he receives. Having made over 350 appearances for Real Madrid and earning 100 caps for the Spanish squad is a tremendous accomplishment and he will keep earning more appearances with his best football years potentially ahead of him. Playing around the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Torres, Villa, and Puyol should help make his job a bit easier, but take nothing away from Casillas. His smaller size as a goalie has never stopped him from being part of an elite group of players and he will be certainly be earning a couple clean sheets in South Africa.

4). Júlio César: One of two goalkeepers receiving votes in the 2009 Ballon d’Or (the other, Casillas), Brazil’s first choice goalkeeper sat in the shadows of Dida for a long time. However, he has emerged as one of the top goalkeepers in the game, helping to guide Inter Milan to a possible treble this season (behind fellow countrymen, Lúcio and Maicon). Inter have won Serie A each year he has been the posts and that is no coincidence. He plays behind a terrific and powerful backline, which will help him pad his already great reputation as a top goalkeeper.

5). Tim Howard: Surprised? Let’s look at the facts of the US international. Howard was named the Confederations Cup golden glove winner (ahead of the likes of Casillas, Júlio César, and Buffon). He is 6 foot, 3 inches, so he has a ridiculously long wingspan. The US is paired with Algeria and Slovenia, two of the weaker sides of this year’s cup with not much attacking prowess. His performances for Everton have them on an 11 game unbeaten streak, recording 5 clean sheets in that span (11 total on the season). Why couldn’t he shine brightly this summer? England may prove tough to deal with, but expect Howard to be a monster between the frames for the US.

By Chris Behrens, writer and media manager for SoccerPro.com. Besides being a soccer fanatic, Chris owns a large collection of goalkeeper gloves and soccer jerseys.

Emergency Fulop to City’s rescue

Manchester City will enter the final few weeks of the season with an emergency loan ‘keeper between the posts.

After Shay Given was ruled out for the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder, City had to use the emergency loan system to draft in a replacement and Sunderland ‘keeper Marton Fulop is the man they have signed until the end of the season. Read more

Young Goalkeepers making waves

A keeper often has to be patient to get his chance, experience is key in this crucial role and often a young goalkeeper will have to wait a few years as a second choice before getting his chance.  There are occasionally shot-stoppers who get their chance early, and here are two of the finest.

Read more

United still tracking Neuer

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is still on the lookout for a long-term replacement for Edwin van der Sar and German international keeper Manuel Neuer is at the top of his wanted list. Read more

Goalscoring Goalkeeper Greats

We all know the goalkeeping position is a unique one in football.  You don’t expect a goalkeeper to score anymore than you would expect an outfield player to save a penalty but it does happen, and here is my run-through of great individual moments and keepers who consistently hit the target.

Read more

Turnbull to face Inter?

Young Chelsea keeper Ross Turnbull looks destined to keep goal against Inter Milan this week.

The 25-year-old made his league debut for the Blues against Chelsea at the weekend and also appeared in the 4-0 Carling Cup win over Bolton and Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with APOEL in this season’s Champions League group stage.

The injuries to first-choice stopper Petr Cech and back-up Hilario mean Turnbull, who joined on a free transfer from Middlesbrough last summer, also looks set to face Jose Mourinho’s men. It will undoubtedly be the biggest night of Turnbull’s career.

However, despite Turnbull’s obvious lack of big-match experience boss Carlo Ancelotti is sure Turnbull will not let the Londoners down.

“I’m not worried. The performance of the team does not rely upon the goalkeeper. I don’t want to say we can play without a goalkeeper, because that’s an important player for the team, but I have confidence in Turnbull,” Ancelotti said.

“He has not played a lot of games this season but, with the work with our goalkeeping coach, he has improved very well.”

Czech international keeper Cech has a calf strain and is unlikely to make the Champions League last-16 second leg against Inter, while Hilario has a groin problem and he is also set for a few weeks on the sidelines.

It all points to a Turnbull appearance against Inter, while 19-year-old Rhys Taylor could be on the bench at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, the debate over who should wear the number one shirt for England during this year’s World Cup continues.

Robert Green appears to be the man in possession but there have been calls for Joe Hart to get the nod.

England’s World Cup 2010 odds make them third favourites for the competition and they will need their ‘keeper to be in top form if they are to win the tournament.

In other sports news, this year’s Cheltenham Festival races get underway tomorrow and the highlight of the meeting will be the Gold Cup clash between Kauto Star and Denman.

Top Five World Cup Keepers

The World Cup is getting closer and closer now and I for one can’t wait. Here is my rundown of the top five keepers, in no particular order, to watch at the tournament in South Africa.

Read more

Pearce: Joe has Hart for England job

Joe Hart has got the right temperament to be huge success as an England international, according to Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce.

When he was in charge at Manchester City Pearce bought the ‘keeper from Shrewsbury for £1.5million and his confidence in Hart’s ability is clearly undiminished. Read more

Vital keepers at the wrong end of the table

We all hear about players who represent the best sides in world football, but what about those struggling at the other end of the table?  Sometimes, when a team is struggling in front of goal they need to rely on their goalkeepers to ensure they come away with a point or defend a vital lead.  With that in mind, I’ve had a look through a few of the goalkeepers involved the Premier League relegation battle, to decide who could be vital for their respective clubs.
Read more

Next Page »