Guzan v Given

[tomd2103]

I wouldn't be surprised if Given retires at the end of this season
He's finished at this level, and he knows it

Why would he do that and wave goodbye to £2.5m that we'd have to pay him for the year?

Yep, as posted elsewhere, the more likely scenario if a new keeper comes in this summer is that Guzan moved on with Given seeing at the final year of his contract. 

[john e]

I wouldn't be surprised if Given retires at the end of this season
He's finished at this level, and he knows it

Why would he do that and wave goodbye to £2.5m that we'd have to pay him for the year?

True, didn't think of that

[PeterWithesShin]

Depends if he feels he isn't up to another year. He's hardly going to be desperate for the money. May even come to a mutual agreement and give him part of that as a pay off if he did want to retire.

[Toronto Villa]

It will be a nice way to go out as an FA Cup winner

[Malandro]

I'd be gutted if guzan left.

He's been just as heroic as benteke in my eyes over the last few seasons.
I hope he doesn't suffer for what was just a small run of bad games

[peter w]

Thing with Given is that he's just afraction slow now in getting to that dive. A reaction reflex save a la Leicester is one thing but getting from a standing position to get a leap in is something completely different. The Everton penalty, their third yesterday, the West Ham non-goal...all examples of a slow dive. Also, when was the last time anyone who plays football enjoyed a one on one with a keeper when they are going to use their feet? Its why players bottle it. they're mental bastards who will get the ball, the man, the pitch, and the first 5 rows as they clear it. Yesterday, Given's powder puff challenges were more of an offering that shows he shouldn't be anywhere near the team now. A keeper should never lose a 50/50. Guzan for Burnley AND Arsenal.

[old man villa fan]

Sherwood has to make the decision on which of the two is mentally right for the game.  It does not matter what they have done before.  You need to go into a big game 100% confident and be able to talk your inexperienced defenders through the game.

I think Guzan is suffering from too many beatings over the last three seasons and it has started to affect his game.  He still makes great saves and is generally good at coming for the high ball but there is hesitancy that has crept into his game.  Also, his distribution of the ball is very poor.  If Sherwood believes that Guzan has his confidence back and they can work on some set plays for clearing the ball, I would play him.  If not, it would be Given for me. 

[Legion]

I'd go for Guzan.

[Ron Manager]

Guzan without any doubt.

[villan from luton]

I would play Guzan on Sunday and see how he gets on. I like him but I do think he has under performed, maybe he realises the manager is unsure about him

[john e]

We have all seen Guzan save our skins quite a few times over the last few years, Sherwood hasn't, he wasn't there when it was just Guzan standing in the way of a deafeat,
He knows about Given far more, probably trusts him more

Apart from a few numpties on here we all know just how good Guzan is, a top class keeper as good as any in the prem
But Sherwood doesn't, he just sees the last 3 months, so he's swapped and changed the keeper and now faces a dilemma, play the best keeper at the club and hope he returns to form or stick with the keeper he's turned to hope he doesn't let him down

Whatever he does Given won't be the first team keeper next season as he isn't good enough on a continual basis as we are now seeing, a good back up keeper but that's it

[supertom]

Signing that Brentford fella could be ideal. He's one for the future but probably good enough to step up quickly if Brad has an injury or drop in form. I think Brad will come back strongly though. I'm all for buying a new keeper to think of the long term because Given has one year and Steer may not be good enough. But for me, Brad should still be number 1. He just needs someone who will keep him on his toes.

If we're looking to find a keeper who is guaranteed to be better than Guzan right off the bat, we'll probably have to spend about 10 million (short of some exceptional scouting). I think left back and midfield are far more pressing concerns.

[supertom]

One thing I would ensure Guzan does on the pitch is always play safety first when dealing with back passes. Just punt the fucking thing up the field. No nonsense.
By the same token our defenders have to be a bit more composed on the ball and not retreat to the keeper so much. Against City they persistently played it back to Guzan and put him under pressure. He did fuck up and it was monumental but there was a moment a little later in the game when Okore thundered a back-pass to Guzan, who understandably was panicked in controlling and clearing it, but if you can see your keeper is struggling with his kicking, why keep passing it back to him??

Some of our defenders have made life very difficult for both our keepers to be fair. And it's purely sloppiness and poor mistakes. Even Given was given the ball in situations he didn't appreciate yesterday.

[ozzjim]

RE a new keeper it depends. In reality apart from a dip in form the last few months, Guzan has been on a par with any keeper outside the top 4 and maybe Loris. Certainly better than Mingolet for example at Liverpool who you would think would have a solid keeper. So he has been solid, consistent, decent on crosses but I don't think ever capable of those incredible stops the top keepers make. To replace him, you need to get one of them, or a young one with potential. The german lad we have been linked with looks a right beast for example, and at 22 is clearly one for the future. Begovic from Stoke would be great but must be a shoe in for United or Arsenal, who both have keeper issues. But it is going to cost big money to get something significantly better. A top centre half with pace and positional sense to replace Vlaar would be much more important for me.

[PeterWithesShin]

Apart from this incredible stop which is one of the best saves i've seen any Villa keeper make.



Second save here isn't shoddy either, Given got beaten a couple of weeks earlier by a near identical shot against Everton before he was dropped for Guzan.



Also lacking in the shoddy department