Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Clampy on July 06, 2013, 11:32:16 AM
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More good news.
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One of the best keepers in the league. His command of the penalty area is second to none (a rare quality in modern goalkeepers) and some of his saves last season were both physically impossible and game-changingly crucial.
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Great stuff, he's earned it.
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From the OS
Brad Guzan signs up.
By Brian Doogan
Brad Guzan has agreed a new four-year deal which will extend his Villa career to the end of the 2016-17 season.
The 28-year-old US international goalkeeper returned to pre-season training at the Bodymoor Heath Training Ground this morning along with fellow international players including captain Ron Vlaar, Christian Benteke, Andi Weimann, Yacouba Sylla and new singing Jores Okore.
Paul Lambert will take his squad to Germany tomorrow for a week-long training camp, boosted by the Club's player of the year in 2012-13 having committed his future long-term on top of the capture of defenders Okore and Antonio Luna, midfield players Leandro Bacuna and Aleksander Tonev, striker Nicklas Helenius as well as goalkeeper Jed Steer.
Weimann and fellow Academy graduate Nathan Baker have also agreed new deals this summer.
"This is just the start now, the start of hard work. We have to build on last year and go forward and that is very much the collective mindset at the Club," Guzan said.
"We grew together as a team last season and now it's time to kick on again. We'll welcome the new guys with open arms and allow them to join this special family that we've started to create from last season. It's an exciting time for the Club for sure.
"When you bring in new players you have fresh bodies, fresh blood, fresh excitement and you need that to prevent things from becoming stale and guys getting complacent. You want competition for places, you want guys pushing each other and helping each other. When you bring in new faces it lifts everybody.
"For me, it's an honour and a privilege to play for Aston Villa Football Club and to commit my future long-term. I'm overjoyed by it.
"To have this opportunity to commit my future, with the plans and the future being what they are going forward, it's tremendously exciting and I know that's not just for me but for everybody, including the fans. This is what Aston Villa Football Club is all about, we're a very connected and very committed group and we want to strive to be the best we can possibly be going forward. What we're building here as a Club, what the manager is building could be very special.
"From a personal standpoint, especially after last season playing consistently through virtually the entire season, hopefully now I'm coming in to some good years ahead and to be able to do that at Villa is exciting. It's going to be good times ahead.
"It's always nice when you're wanted by a club. I've had some good years here at Aston Villa and to be able to commit my future just puts a smile on my face. I'm looking forward to the future and to the challenge ahead."
Guzan joined Villa in July 2008 from Major League Soccer team Chivas USA.
As understudy to his compatriot, Brad Friedel, Guzan initially made his mark in cup competitions, most notably in the Club's march to the League Cup final in 2009-10.
His outstanding contribution last season was hailed by Villa manager Lambert as "colossal".
"Brad has been exceptional for the Club, really fantastic on and off the pitch," Lambert added.
"He's always bubbly around the place and a really solid character. He's a good guy as well which is really important. Overall, he's a credit to the Club."
Snap up the home goalkeeper jersey that Guzan will be wearing next season.
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He uses his feet to save in a style reminiscent of Pat Jennings. Most impressed, and I wasn't expecting to be if I'm honest.
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Pravda
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3229829,00.html
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Lovely stuff.
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Great news.
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One of the best keepers in the league. His command of the penalty area is second to none (a rare quality in modern goalkeepers) and some of his saves last season were both physically impossible and game-changingly crucial.
He has improved so much. I caught the blackburn 6 - 4 game where he was all over the place coming for crosses . Now he is so assured
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Clampy did he put pen to paper in Luton ? ohhh sorry wrong thread ........
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One of the best keepers in the league. His command of the penalty area is second to none (a rare quality in modern goalkeepers) and some of his saves last season were both physically impossible and game-changingly crucial.
He has improved so much. I caught the blackburn 6 - 4 game where he was all over the place coming for crosses . Now he is so assured
Think it's fair to say that disastrous performance almost ruined his career.
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One of the best keepers in the league. His command of the penalty area is second to none (a rare quality in modern goalkeepers) and some of his saves last season were both physically impossible and game-changingly crucial.
He has improved so much. I caught the blackburn 6 - 4 game where he was all over the place coming for crosses . Now he is so assured
Think it's fair to say that disastrous performance almost ruined his career.
Think him being American has made a huge difference. By that, I mean there attitude to application and to improve ability and performance. Guzan has earned this deal
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"For me, it's an honour and a privilege to play for Aston Villa Football Club "
Good man Brad.
Well deserved after his performances last season.
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This is excellent news.
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That Blackburn game was just part of the learning curve. He's taken his latest chance with real authority. Excellent keeper and seems a likeable bloke to boot.
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Well deserved:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/382511_670442899649938_1696981290_n.jpg)
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Express and Star (http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/aston-villa-fc/2013/07/06/aston-villa-keeper-brad-guzan-tipped-for-the-top/)
Aston Villa keeper Brad Guzan tipped for the top
Villa keeper Brad Guzan was today backed to be one of the best keepers in the Premier League for years to come.
The 28-year-old shotstopper was a hugely impressive figure for Paul Lambert’s side last season, playing in all but two of the 38 Premier League games to win the club’s Player of the Year award after being released then offered a new deal.
And his mentor Brad Friedel, who kept Guzan out of the Villa team but is now at Tottenham, believes his fellow American will be one of the best in the top flight in the coming seasons.
“Brad can be as good as anyone in the Premier League,” said the evergreen 42-year-old, who made 114 league appearances for Villa.
“He has a phenomenal work ethic, he’s a big, strong boy and he is six foot two inches tall.
“And let’s not forget he had the season he did after Shay Given, who has been one of the best Premier League keepers, was dislodged by Brad.”
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That Blackburn game was just part of the learning curve. He's taken his latest chance with real authority. Excellent keeper and seems a likeable bloke to boot.
Totally - point me to a keeper who has not had a t least a few dodgy games... it is not possible. Every keeper has them, even those meant to be brilliant have weaknesses. Cech can't save penalties for toffee, Reina looked like butter fingers last season, Hart had some bad days last season too. It is how they bounce back and learn. Scott Carson (shudders) went completely to pot after his screw ups. Brad Guzan grew and got stronger.
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Good news - big fan of Big Brad's
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And to think we almost let him go!
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We did.
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Excellent news. If he was an outfield player he would be captain.
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Humble pie all round for me as I really didn't think he would make it and was slagging him off something rotten at the time of the Blackburn game. It's easy to forget footballers have to learn their trade like the rest of us and mostly improve as a result of doing so. With the obvious exceptions though - Reo Coker, Cattermole, Ireland...
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According to Sky he,s a tad confused as to who he has signed the contract with ...............Godzvilla ! .
Here's more on the news that American goalkeeper Brad Guzan has signed a new four-year contract at Aston Villa.
" For me, it's an honour and a privilege to play for Aston Villa Football Club and to commit my future long-term. I'm overjoyed by it. To have this opportunity to commit my future, with the plans and the future being what they are going forward, it's tremendously exciting and I know that's not just for me but for everybody, including the fans.I am very happy and excited to have joined Spurs. It's a huge pleasure for my career to be at a club as big as Tottenham "
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That site seems to have Tottingham transfers on the brain.
Well done Baby Brad. Hope we have him between the sticks for the best part of a decade.
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Quality player. One of the few old school keepers around who likes to catch the ball and come for crosses.
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Well deserved:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/382511_670442899649938_1696981290_n.jpg)
To be fair, those stars are heavily weighted in Brad's favour.
Total saves and saves in the box were helped by the fact that our defence was shit last season so he faced more shots than most keepers.
And the goal kick completion stat is helped by the fact he almost always just kicks it to someone on the edge of our box.
The stats wouldn't look quite so rosy if they included goals conceded and clean sheets - two standard measures of goalkeeper performance.
That said, Brad had a great season last year. It would be interesting to see how he performs behind a solid defence where he's tested only rarely but where the impact of him ballsing up is so much greater.
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Well deserved:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/382511_670442899649938_1696981290_n.jpg)
To be fair, those stars are heavily weighted in Brad's favour.
Total saves and saves in the box were helped by the fact that our defence was shit last season so he faced more shots than most keepers.
And the goal kick completion stat is helped by the fact he almost always just kicks it to someone on the edge of our box.
The stats wouldn't look quite so rosy if they included goals conceded and clean sheets - two standard measures of goalkeeper performance.
That said, Brad had a great season last year. It would be interesting to see how he performs behind a solid defence where he's tested only rarely but where the impact of him ballsing up is so much greater.
At the start of the season perhaps. Towards the end though most of his goal kicks were long. I would say the stat is skewed more because of Bentekes ability to win bloody everything in the air.
Also I note Brad Friedel saying nice things about Villa again. That is how you behave as an ex Villa player. What a top bloke.
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Good news for us Brad really is a top keeper.
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Great news and thoroughly deserved
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Well deserved:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p480x480/382511_670442899649938_1696981290_n.jpg)
To be fair, those stars are heavily weighted in Brad's favour.
Total saves and saves in the box were helped by the fact that our defence was shit last season so he faced more shots than most keepers.
And the goal kick completion stat is helped by the fact he almost always just kicks it to someone on the edge of our box.
The stats wouldn't look quite so rosy if they included goals conceded and clean sheets - two standard measures of goalkeeper performance.
That said, Brad had a great season last year. It would be interesting to see how he performs behind a solid defence where he's tested only rarely but where the impact of him ballsing up is so much greater.
At the start of the season perhaps. Towards the end though most of his goal kicks were long. I would say the stat is skewed more because of Bentekes ability to win bloody everything in the air.
Also I note Brad Friedel saying nice things about Villa again. That is how you behave as an ex Villa player. What a top bloke.
Of course, the percentage of saves in the box, in which he finished first, has nothing at all to do with our shit defence, as it's a percentage.
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Love him. Proper Villa man.
Deserves a new deal for his form last season.
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Excellent news.
Here's an interesting comment on the storyI've lifted from the Heil Mail, it's by someone called Niseach, Cheshire:
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The best goalkeepers are NOT the shot stoppers (like Given) who have to make lots of spectacular saves.
The best are the ones that communicate and organise their defence efficiently,
and get their positioning right meaning that they make less saves, and often saves that look routine.
The Americans are exceptional at this, and demonstrate exceptional athleticism and movement.
The reason is that the goalkeeper in America is the position where the best athlete in the team generally plays.
In UK grassroots football, the amount of teams that have a large, often overweight kid in goal is scary.
When I coached at a professional club, these kids used to be brought in by the scouts citing how fantastic they were.
The reality was that they could not do the basics at all, and couldn't move. In their club games they filled the goals, and the ball hit off of them.
Our most athletic kids find goalkeepng boring, and we miss out - this is manifested in the Premiership where very few are British.
"
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Well done Villa
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Love him. Proper Villa man.
Deserves a new deal for his form last season.
I love him more
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Excellent news.
Here's an interesting comment on the storyI've lifted from the Heil Mail, it's by someone called Niseach, Cheshire:
"
The best goalkeepers are NOT the shot stoppers (like Given) who have to make lots of spectacular saves.
The best are the ones that communicate and organise their defence efficiently,
and get their positioning right meaning that they make less saves, and often saves that look routine.
The Americans are exceptional at this, and demonstrate exceptional athleticism and movement.
The reason is that the goalkeeper in America is the position where the best athlete in the team generally plays.
In UK grassroots football, the amount of teams that have a large, often overweight kid in goal is scary.
When I coached at a professional club, these kids used to be brought in by the scouts citing how fantastic they were.
The reality was that they could not do the basics at all, and couldn't move. In their club games they filled the goals, and the ball hit off of them.
Our most athletic kids find goalkeepng boring, and we miss out - this is manifested in the Premiership where very few are British.
"
Same point minus the slight dig at Shay who was fantastic until around about 2007. Oakes was a tremendous shot stopper but was otherwise limited.
The best defenders are not positional impotences like Terry who throws himself as a last gasp 'lion' rather people who respond to the game in front of them in front of them like (so I have been advised Moore/Beckhenbeur/Blanchflower) e.g. McGrath, Baresi, Maldini, Jurgen Kohler, De Boer, Blanc (at his best) and Carvalho who used to carry said Terry much of the time.
And yes we have to continue to improve the defence and that is not just the defenders!
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In top 3 of best GKs in prem for me. Glad he re signed last summer and this!!
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Great news and goalkeeper, let hope he will get more than his fair shares of clean sheet in upcoming seasons.
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Goalkeeper Brad Guzan is relishing getting to know Villa's summer recruits during the training camp in Germany - and says they are entering an exciting dressing room.
Guzan joined up with the squad on Saturday before flying out to their training base the following day.
He was joined by Jores Okore, Leandro Bacuna, Aleksandar Tonev, Niklas Helenius, Antonio Luna and Jed Steer.
Guzan can't wait to bond with the newboys during the week-long camp.
Villa's ace stopper thinks the six lads will settle quickly due to the already-amazing atmosphere in the squad.
He said: "It will be good out in Germany. I am really looking forward to it.
"I can't wait to spend some time with the newboys and help them get integrated into the squad and also for us to get to know them too. That will be good.
"We will work really hard in training and play three games. That will be a good start to the pre-season.
"The training camp is vital for both bonding and fitness. It gives you a chance to see the guys all the time.
"You eat your meals together - breakfast, lunch and dinner - you train and you play games.
"It's important that we spend that time getting to know each other on and off the pitch.
"The newboys are coming into an exciting dressing room.
"Off the pitch, we have good banter and good laughs. We are a really tight knit group of players who enjoy the company of each other.
"On the field, it's about working hard, being committed, helping each other and doing our utmost for this great football club.
"We are very much about picking up the guy next to you if he's down, offering encouragement and sticking together and getting after it.
"We feel like a special family - we have that family feel in the dressing room.
"That's big for us because there will be times during the season when things aren't going our way.
"You'll have people doubting you and you're then going to look around the dressing room and you're going to need every single one of them in there to pull together and stay strong for each other.
"We have that camaraderie and that bond. The newboys will feel that and become part of it very quickly. That helps us massively as a squad of players."
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Goalkeeper Brad Guzan is relishing getting to know Villa's summer recruits during the training camp in Germany - and says they are entering an exciting dressing room.
Guzan joined up with the squad on Saturday before flying out to their training base the following day.
He was joined by Jores Okore, Leandro Bacuna, Aleksandar Tonev, Niklas Helenius, Antonio Luna and Jed Steer.
Guzan can't wait to bond with the newboys during the week-long camp.
Villa's ace stopper thinks the six lads will settle quickly due to the already-amazing atmosphere in the squad.
He said: "It will be good out in Germany. I am really looking forward to it.
"I can't wait to spend some time with the newboys and help them get integrated into the squad and also for us to get to know them too. That will be good.
"We will work really hard in training and play three games. That will be a good start to the pre-season.
"The training camp is vital for both bonding and fitness. It gives you a chance to see the guys all the time.
"You eat your meals together - breakfast, lunch and dinner - you train and you play games.
"It's important that we spend that time getting to know each other on and off the pitch.
"The newboys are coming into an exciting dressing room.
"Off the pitch, we have good banter and good laughs. We are a really tight knit group of players who enjoy the company of each other.
"On the field, it's about working hard, being committed, helping each other and doing our utmost for this great football club.
"We are very much about picking up the guy next to you if he's down, offering encouragement and sticking together and getting after it.
"We feel like a special family - we have that family feel in the dressing room.
"That's big for us because there will be times during the season when things aren't going our way.
"You'll have people doubting you and you're then going to look around the dressing room and you're going to need every single one of them in there to pull together and stay strong for each other.
"We have that camaraderie and that bond. The newboys will feel that and become part of it very quickly. That helps us massively as a squad of players."
Encouraging words to say the least.