The Brad Guzan Depreciation thread.

[ozzjim]

He was massively at fault. I also thought he was in no man's land on the first too. Both goals were abhorrently defended.

[Dave]

Amavi was massively at fault.

Yet not a single post about the goal has been added to his thread since the match. Funny that.

[RussellC]

As I and others have said, the error on Saturday was unarguable Amavi's. In isolation Guzan's part was negligible at best. But therein lies the problem, this isn't an isolated incident and his form, in my opinion, has been on a downward trajectory for some considerable time now. We're talking about a keeper with 119 first-team games and 79 International caps. To simply say suggest that him being encouraged to play out from the back is an excuse for playing Amavi into trouble like that isn't good enough.

The number of games and caps is irrelevent. Even if he'd played 500 hundred games he will still have his instructions whether to pass it short to the defence or send it long to the front men, based on the tactics we're using at the time. It's not an excuse - he's clearly being encouraged to go short at the moment, he did so and the person that he passed to (who was in plenty of space at the time) took a couple of touches and lost the ball.

As for the bit in bold, was his part negligible at best or did he play Amavi into trouble? Because surely it can't be both?

Edit: just to add the caveat, that doesn't mean that there isn't an issue - his distribution is clearly his weak point. It's that Palace's winner on Saturday isn't further evidence of it.

You don't honestly think that any side instructs their goalkeeper to ALWAYS play short from the back do you? There's a huge difference between being encouraged to do so whenever possible, and then choosing to do so in the closing stages of a match with the majority of the opposition players around your own area. And of course Guzan's experience comes into it and is the very reason that we're focusing on his part in the goal rather than Amavi's.

Edit - I note that you've also omitted to highlight "In isolation", which is fairly important in context. 

[old man villa fan]

Amavi was massively at fault.

Yet not a single post about the goal has been added to his thread since the match. Funny that.

People know that Amavi made a mistake.  The point people are raising is that this is a common occurrence with Guzan.  Sometimes it leads to goals at worst, other times it leads to panic or us going nowhere at best.

Amavi could have played the ball straight back to Guzan but we have seen many times that Guzan panics and slashes at the ball wildly with no direction to the kick.  That is at best, at worst we get the Man City situation.

What I want from a goalkeeper is control and I am sorry but I do not see it from Guzan.

[brian green]

He has not always been as bad as he is now. Brad desperately needs the services of a sports psychologist either that or a good mate who will tell him to act before he thinks. It is the indecision in his head that has undermined his confidence. If you think you'll kick it kick it, if you think you'll roll it roll it, just don't fall down the gap in the middle.

[silhillvilla]

He's strolling down Enckleman Avenue , let's hope he can quickly get his bearings and sort himself out.

[PaulWinch again]

Amavi was massively at fault.

Yet not a single post about the goal has been added to his thread since the match. Funny that.

Speaking as someone who did blame Amavi, I think he clearly gets more slack because he's new. But he's also young and new to the league, if he consistently makes these errors over time we have a problem. On Guzan I think the issue is that over a period of time there has seemed to be a gradual decline in his level of performance, which is highlighted by his distribution. He needs proper competition.

[ChicagoLion]

He has not always been as bad as he is now. Brad desperately needs the services of a sports psychologist either that or a good mate who will tell him to act before he thinks. It is the indecision in his head that has undermined his confidence. If you think you'll kick it kick it, if you think you'll roll it roll it, just don't fall down the gap in the middle.

I agree with the Sports Psychologist idea. It is obvious it has got to him now as he does that little trot thing when the ball is coming towards him. With keepers when one aspect starts to go wrong others seem to follow.

[Nastylee]

They were both to blame. Guzan should have been calmer and Amavi, given the situation he received the ball in, should have taken less risk.

[usav]

They were both to blame. Guzan should have been calmer and Amavi, given the situation he received the ball in, should have taken less risk.

Agreed.

[Risso]

Very poor positioning for the goal yesterday.

[john e]

Very poor positioning for the goal yesterday.

Really, you don't say

[Risso]

Very poor positioning for the goal yesterday.

Really, you don't say

I do say.  Is that a problem?

[john e]

Very poor positioning for the goal yesterday.

Really, you don't say

I do say.  Is that a problem?

Just my poor attempt at sarcasm mate,
 I love you really you know that

[LTA]

He has not always been as bad as he is now. Brad desperately needs the services of a sports psychologist either that or a good mate who will tell him to act before he thinks. It is the indecision in his head that has undermined his confidence. If you think you'll kick it kick it, if you think you'll roll it roll it, just don't fall down the gap in the middle.

I agree with the Sports Psychologist idea. It is obvious it has got to him now as he does that little trot thing when the ball is coming towards him. With keepers when one aspect starts to go wrong others seem to follow.

His confidence is too brittle.  Sadly rather like Gabby,  he's living on past seasons.  He needs replacing sooner rather than later,