Criticism of Shay Given - what are they like ??

Stinkah

Well I know it's been a couple of days now, but I feel compelled to write this.

I watched the Premiership on Network 2 for the first time this season and I have to say I was bemused by the analysis of Chelsea's first against Newcastle on Saturday.

For those fortunate enough to have not seen it, it was laughable. They basically said that Shay Given was very much at fault for the first goal ( Gudjohnson's header ) and worse still, the three of the feckin muppets were all in agreement.

Was I the only one that thought that that was a superb header, well placed back across goal which angled in off the post nicely ?? And that, more to the point, there was nothing Shay Given could have done, apart from having an extension of 3 foot on his arm, to save it.

They described the header as "a lasy looping header", and explained that Shay Given was far too slow to get across to it.

COP ON !!!

Bateman

That may have been a bit harsh, but Given's pass for the third was nothing short of a hospital ball, and its fair to say that Given is going through a terrible time, and it will be a big test for him to see if he can come out of this bad spell for the better.

I still think that he's one of the better keepers playing in England, but he has to take the criticism with the praise. He had a poor game against Chelsea and also against Russia, completely seperate from the matter of how bad either defence was in either game.

Xterminator

The defender could easily have cleared the ball. instead he kept the ball and tried to be overly clever.

I would say Shays pass was poor, but the defender was at fault for the goal, as he should have put it out for a throw.

X

Stinkah

Well I'd tend to agree with Bateman, in that Given _was_ at fault for the third goal, and also that he is going through something of a bad spell at the moment. But to say that he was at fault for the first is just ludicrous on the parts of Giles, Dunphy and O' Hearlihy.

Bateman

I don't think conceding a throw is expected as the result of a simple pass from the goalkeeper. It was a ridiculous pass to play. Overly clever on the part of the goalkeeper I would say.

BKtje

The first goal i didn't think there was much he could do.
The pass was woeful. Very bad decesion on his part.
Mistakes are a part of football, he'll hopefulyl become a better player on the otherside.

Pigman

I've always thought Given wasn't as great as everyone says.

Granted he does have the occasional blinder. The home game v Iran comes to mind. But in general he is just adequate in my opinion and certainly doesn't instill a belief in me that he has the ability to 'decide' matches the way Oliver Kahn or Peter Schmiechel did for example.

The peno shootout in wc2002 revealed a lot about him too. Not because he didn't manage to save anything but moreso because (to my memory) he didn't judge the direction of any of the Spanish penalities correctly. Compare this even with Bonner in Wc90 who only saved one peno but went the right way for 5 out of 5!

denhamd2

Shay's kicking has been suspect many times in the past couple of weeks. First against Russia he put his defence in trouble, then away to Liverpool and then at Chelsea. Where will it all end? In tears most likely. He needs to be woken up from his World Cup hangover.

BKtje

well going the right way might just mean waiting till they kick it and then testing ur reflexes. Guess Bonner was nice an agile