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Perfection - My yardstick for judging goalies?
Posted on Thursday, May 03 @ 16:52:11 BST by adminbabe |
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No, not perfection. It's just that I'm not prepared, yet again, to toe the party line and say how wonderful Scott Carson is without pointing out obvious (well to me anyway) flaws to his game...
...I think this season he has been made to look good simply because I can't think of another goalkeeper who has played behind such an inconsistent back four as we have had at Charlton this year. He's had many many saves to make and I firmly believe that shot stopping is his finest technique. He reads shots very early and has incredible athleticism to get across his goal and make saves a lot of other keepers can't and wouldn't make.
But goalkeeping is not all about making saves - that is the main point I am trying to stress when you evaluate how good a goalkeeper is. To put Carson underneath the banner of 'world class' is laughable, he's decent but nothing more.
When in goal it is just as important to organise your back four, know your area, distribute the ball effectively from hand and foot, and knowing when to come off your line or not and when to punch or catch the ball than it is making saves. Even the way he has made some saves this season have confused me a little ie I am not a big fan of a keeper rushing off his line and saving the ball with his feet, ffs that's why goalkeepers can use their hands!
Carson has some flaws to his game: for me he doesn't control the back four like other keepers do. He strikes me as a very quiet keeper and certainly from where I sit in the ground I used to be able to hear the likes of Deano or Myhre, with Carson you cannot. A few times this season he has bundled into the back of defenders or defenders have dwelled on the ball often waiting for Carson to come off his line, when he does not the defender panics (in fact this has led to a couple of goals conceded). Verdict: in time hopefully his confidence will grow and he will become more assured, certainly if he had a consistent back four in front of him ie like he has done recently, then inevitably performances will improve.
Another problem I have with Carson is his inconsistent distribution. At times it's sound, accurate but it has never been quick. A few times players have bust a gut to get into space and he's been a little slow to get the ball to them, ie against Sheff Utd the other week Rommedahl got right up the pitch and unmarked over near the dugout, by the time Carson saw him Rommedahl had got offside and therefore stopped running and Carson punted the ball safely to a Sheff Utd defender. Verdict: his distribution is naive, a hallmark of his youth and inexperience, in time this will improve.
A further problem I have, and for me this is incurable, is his fondness for staying on his line or should I say his fear of coming off his line? For me it's the latter, if there is one thing you can't teach a young goalkeeper to do then that is coming off his line, and knowing when to do it. It is, along with shot-stopping, one of the most instinctive aspects to being a top level goalkeeper and I'm afraid Carson just hasn't got it. If he's one-on-one he'll be too late off his line, if it's a corner 9/10 he punches a ball he should catch, or attempts (and has failed) to catch a ball he should punch, if it's a shot at the far post or similar then 99/100 he comes out feet first and to me that is not very brave. Verdict: I seriously cannot see him ever improving on coming off his line and knowing when to.
Overall though, he is - and I have said this before - a decent keeper but IMO far from top top level. Yes, he is worthy enough of player of the year but IMO his skills at this stage in his career are no different now to those I have seen in Dean Kiely.
Note: Article by East_Grinstead_Addick
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