England head coach Fabio Capello has called up veteran Bolton Wanderers striker Kevin Davies to his squad for the European Championship qualifier against Montenegro a week on Tuesday.
Thirty-three-year-old Davies has long been touted as a possible England player, but his chances of a call-up seemed to have gone after he was ignored by several managers.
However, he may now get a chance to finally earn a first full cap, being named in the squad alongside Wayne Rooney and Arsenal starlet Jack Wilshere.
Capello is wary of the threat posed by the Montenegrins, saying:“I saw these two games that they played, they played very well and are a dangerous team.
“They defend well and are really compact, they play the counter-attack really, really fast. The quality of their forwards is really good.”
Squad: Ben Foster (Birmingham City), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City).
Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).
Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa).
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Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).
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Let’s play a quick ‘where are they now’ game together. Where does Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler ply his trade? How about World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro? Hernan Crespo? If you answered India (without using Wikipedia) then you’re correct.
Premier League Soccer (PLS) launches next month, and it has attracted veritable who’s who of late 90’s, early 2000’s stars. The league is looking to follow in the tradition of many other ‘new leagues’.
From Qatar, to Australia, to China, these new leagues seek to sign up big name older stars to boost the leagues profile. Sometimes it has flourished to the firm establishment of a solid league (J-league), other times it has been nothing more than a flash in the pan, marketing driven failure (NASL). Which way the PLS goes remains to be seen, however there is one thing complicating the issue for the PLS, the I-league.
You see India already has a top flight league, one that has been running since 2007, and is itself a ‘new league’. Theoretically there should be no conflict as the PLS is a regional league for the state of West Bengal.
However there are many complicating factors. Although the PLS may theoretically not be in conflict with the I-league, it is clear it is seeking to usurp the league, in profile and entertainment, if not at the actual top of the league structure.
The I-League has few big names stars (unless you count former Rangers striker Alan Gow) and in truth its TV and attendance figures are low. It will not be hard for PLS to beat these figures. These league’s schedules also overlap, with the PLS running February to April and the I-League October to May.
It is another small sign that the PLS organisers are not scared to face the I-League directly.
However this does not mean things for the PLS will necessarily be plain sailing. The PLS is based in the state of West Bengal, India’s footballing hotbed. This state is already home to India’s ‘Big 2’ East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.
This should mean the area is prime location for a Football extravaganza, however EB and MB both have a loyal fan-base and it remains to be seen to what degree these fans will embrace the new teams, especially when the schedules clash. India is also a nation of regions, and Indians themselves proudly regionalist. Will those from outside West Bengal tune in? Probably, but these will be TV viewers, and whether they will actively support or take to heart any of these teams seems less likely.
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The PLS will certainly be a show-piece, but long term, it seems it and the I-league will struggle to live alongside each other.
Yaya Toure scored the only goal as Manchester City won their first trophy for 35 years after deservedly overcoming Stoke City at Wembley.Roberto Mancini’s side went into the game as firm favourites against Stoke, who had never reached the final before, and it appeared they would regret failing to make the most of numerous first-half chances.
But Ivorian Toure, who scored the winner in City’s semi-final victory over local rivals Manchester United, blasted home when a loose ball fell to him with just 16 minutes left to give City the win that their performance merited.
Both managers fielded their strongest line-ups as Carlos Tevez came through a late fitness test for City, as did Matthew Etherington and Robert Huth for Tony Pulis’ Stoke.
And it was the favourites who started the stronger.
Tevez took just five minutes before he tested Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal with a low drive, with Ryan Shawcross was fortunate not to score an own goal as he deflected a low Aleksander Kolarov cross into the side netting.
It was all City in the opening half-hour as Toure fired a shot inches wide from 35 yards, before Sorensen produced a sensational save, somehow pushing Mario Balotelli’s curling effort past the far post when it appeared the Italian had surely scored from just inside the area.
Yet City should have taken the lead after 35 minutes.
Tevez started the move, playing the ball over the top for Balotelli to chase, and when the Italian was denied by Sorensen it seemed David Silva had to score, only for the Spaniard to volley the ball into the ground and watch in horror as it bounced over the unguarded net from just seven yards out.
It was a poor miss, and City must have wondered if they were going to regret their profligacy, especially when Silva failed to even have a shot at goal when Tevez played him through on goal early in the second-half.
Stoke were much improved, though, and City were indebted to Joe Hart for saving well when Kenwyne Jones had a shot from six yards out after chasing a long ball and getting the better of Joleon Lescott.
It appeared certain that the game was going to go into extra-time as neither side was able to make any real impression going forward as full-time drew near.
But with 16 minutes left, City made the breakthrough.
It was a scrappy goal in truth – not that City will mind – as Silva looked to combine with Tevez down the left.
When the ball was played into the box Balotelli’s effort hit Marc Wilson and fell perfectly for Toure to run on and smash a left-footed effort past Sorensen from eight yards.
The goal sparked scenes of wild celebration in the City end and appeared to knock the wind out of Stoke, who never looked likely to recover as Mancini’s men hung on to claim the first trophy of the Sheikh Mansour era.
The transfer of Joe Cole was one of the most speculated and talked about transfers of the summer, with a host of clubs being linked to the player. Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United all looked to be leading the pack of suitors at various times before Liverpool snapped him up in July. Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson has since revealed that he passed up the opportunity to sign Joe Cole, stating
“We were approached by his agent at one point but we didn’t enter into discussions at all. It was maybe just complicated to get involved with that.”
Ferguson obviously did not see enough in Cole to warrant signing him, but with Man Utd seemingly struggling with creativity this season, will it prove a missed opportunity for the United manager?
After signing from West Ham, Joe Cole had a great career at Chelsea, where he won numerous titles and cemented himself as an England regular. In his last couple of seasons at the club however, Cole suffered from injury problems and as a result did not get a great deal of first team football, although he did score a crucially important goal at Old Trafford in April 2010, in a victory that sealed the league title for Chelsea that season. Perhaps the injury problems Cole experienced was what dissuaded Ferguson from entering into discussions with him, but you imagine that if United had expressed a firm interest, Joe Cole would have jumped at the chance to join the Red Devils. Instead, it turned out to be Liverpool who signed Cole, and morale amongst their supporters and players skyrocketed when it was announced.
It is true that Cole has not enjoyed the greatest of starts to his Liverpool career. In his first team debut he was sent off against Arsenal for a rash challenge on Laurent Koscielny, and four days later he missed a penalty in a Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor. Joe Cole’s quality is undoubted though, he is an excellent dribbler of the ball, he is creative, and he is capable of scoring goals. Perhaps the biggest string to his bow however, is his ability to change a game in a matter of moments, he is one of those rare players who can provide that little bit of magic that can completely turn the tide of a match.
For all Manchester United’s strengths, creativity seems to be the one area where they currently seem to be lacking a bit of quality, especially in the centre of the park. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are fantastically creative players, but Ferguson will not want to be relying on players in their mid thirties for this, and sooner or later they will retire. Darren Fletcher is an effective defensive midfielder, and is capable of the occassional great pass, but this is not his role. Michael Carrick seems to have completely lost form, whilst Darron Gibson is young and the jury is still firmly out on Anderson. It means that Scholes is the only consistently creative player of real quality who plays in the centre, and this is not a great situation to be in.
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On a free transfer, Joe Cole could have been the ideal solution to this problem area, and it would have given United a formidable midfield to feed Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. Man Utd will hope to sort out their defensive difficulties when Rio Ferdinand returns to full fitness, but the lack of creativity they seem to have could be a recurring issue for the club, and Ferguson might just regret rejecting the chance to sign Cole come the end of the season.
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Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is taking the positives out of his side’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, and feels the north London outfit can be proud of their performance.
A last minute Mario Balotelli penalty decided the game in the hosts’ favour, but the England international feels Roberto Mancini’s men had a bit of luck on their side.
“I still think we can look up,” Defoe told The Guardian.
“There are a lot of positives we can take out of the game. In the second half we were the better side. They are a great team and to come to places like this is difficult – not many teams come here and get points. And we were really unlucky. If you look at their second goal, for example, Scott Parker blocked it against Joleon [Lescott], who didn’t even know where the ball was, and it went in. That’s the luck they got, as well as a last-minute penalty.
“I am feeling gutted but we were the better side after half-time, creating more chances and keeping the ball to hit them on the counterattack. We were unfortunate not to get a point or even win the game. We showed a lot of character to come back from 2-0 down. It was unbelievable.
“When I got the goal it came at a good time for us and then Gareth Bale’s strike was unbelievable. We started to believe we were going to win the game. We put them under pressure, pressed them high up the pitch – there was great energy from the boys and it was just unfortunate we didn’t win,” he stated.
Defoe had the chance to steal victory for Tottenham in the dying minutes but agonisingly couldn’t quite convert a Gareth Bale cross.
“I just couldn’t reach it,” he continued.
“Those ones can be difficult sometimes because, when Gareth made the cross, he had to play it in front of me rather than straight and I just couldn’t reach it. It is not going to play on my mind. If I had longer legs then I would have scored, that’s all.
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“Overall we deserved a point. Now there are still a lot of games left to play – big games for us – and those are the ones you want to play in; the pressure you want as a footballer. Every game we play from now on is a cup final,” he finished.
The game against Real Madrid last Wednesday evening for Tottenham Hotspur was a strange one. Although they were 4-0 down from the 1st leg which would’ve had a major disadvantage on their mental preparation, the Spurs players seemed to give the Madrid players too much respect. But the Spurs crowd were incredible, making White Hart Lane a boombox of momentum that seemed to give the Tottenham players a kick up the backside in order to at least try and score a few goals.
Perhaps there was too much damage done from the previous leg, 4 goals down against superior opposition meant that a 5-0 victory was too much to ask for and it looked like most of the Tottenham players believed this. Now their Champions League honeymoon is officially over, the questions are starting to be asked if they will date Europe’s premier competition again next season?
Currently 5th in the Premier League, 3 points behind 4th placed Manchester City, there are a few anxieties over whether this Tottenham team can qualify for the Champions League, especially if they want to progress into Europe’s elite competitors.
Having the weekend off should do the Spurs players some good, giving them time to rest and reflect on the Madrid games whilst also giving them more time to prepare for the North London derby against Arsenal on Wednesday evening. A victory would see them level on 56 points with City, but despite keeping them 5th on goal difference, the fixture against the Manchester club in May should see the 4th place decided much like last season.
However, a defeat to their rivals on Wednesday would see Spurs’ Champions League ambitions take a huge blow and more people will be wondering where the future lies if the club fail to finish in the top four come the end of the season.
Chairman, Daniel Levy, made comments about streamlining the Tottenham squad in last year’s half-year accounts that went up to the 31st December 2010. His main concern was that the club have had one of the largest squads in the Premier League and it had contributed to the club making a substantial growth in costs. Will the squad be depleted if they finish 5th after game 38 this season?
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With Gareth Bale’s impressive performances, especially the hat-trick at the San Siro against Inter Milan, he has now made a name for himself on the world stage. Despite signing a new contract until 2015, even manager Harry Redknapp said that a record breaking transfer bid would make the club consider selling him, but keeping Bale would be essential to the club progressing.
Although the streamlining relates to squad size, rather than the need to sell their best players, could the players themselves want to leave if there is no Champions League football next season? Despite the likes of Bale, and other impressive stars like Luka Modric gaining their first real experience of the competition, they do possess the personality types that would want to leave at the first sign of failure.
However, despite Spurs finishing 4th last season and their impressive performances in Europe this season, whilst also staying in the fight for a top four spot this year, it’s been made clear that the side need to improve the squad. Manager Harry Redknapp has stressed that the squad needs more depth but failed to make any signings in January other than Steven Pienaar from Everton.
But with the comments made by Levy in last year’s accounts, would Harry be given a chance to improve the squad with no Champions League income next season? He may have to do it on the cheap and make the shrewd signings like the one that took William Gallas to White Hart Lane on a free transfer.
A more extreme option would be to cash in on the likes of Gareth Bale or Luka Modric and use the transfer money to increase the squad depth, however this option sounds improbable given the current climate of the transfer market in world football. Finding a bargain buy is harder than ever, even Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger have commented on how over valued players are in football today.
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If Spurs do finish 4th then the talks of streamlining the squad will be thrown by the wayside, with the income the illustrious competition brings in, Harry Redknapp will be allowed to sell any deadwood in the squad and make additions that will make them stronger for the likes of Real Madrid next year.
However, if they don’t make it into the top four then Harry will have a tough time ahead. Especially if Manchester City qualify in their place and are likely to improve their squad in the summer, along with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, finishing in the top four in years to come will harder than it ever has been.
Back Spurs in the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham…
Few players will go from the Premier League to the United Counties League, with a whole nine divisions separating the two. Former West Ham defender Calum Davenport had his contract terminated by mutual consent in March this year and has dropped to non-league football in order to regain match fitness. Playing for his local side which contains old friends conveys his unrelenting love for football. Should he recapture his form, he may be able to restart his professional career which was so cruelly taken away from him.
Following a family disagreement the former Tottenham central defender was violently stabbed by his sister’s boyfriend. Davenport had been accused of attacking his older sister but has since been cleared of all charges. The shocking incident saw the footballer repeatedly stabbed in both legs, loosing half the blood in his body. The severity of the assault meant there were substantial doubts over whether Davenport would ever play football again after undergoing emergency surgery.
It has been a sad turn of events for a player who was once considered an England prospect. At an imposing 6ft 5in, the defender who began his career at Coventry City earned eight caps for England under-21s. His evident promise saw him transfer to White Hart Lane in 2004 for a fee of over £1 million. Due to the burgeoning defensive partnership between Ledley King and Michael Dawson, loan periods at West Ham, Southampton and Norwich followed. Having impressed during his spell at the Boleyn Ground, he sealed a permanent switch there in January 2007. Injuries have unfortunately plagued his career as shortly after this £3 million transfer, the centre-back was forced to have a hernia operation. After regaining match fitness he was loaned to Watford for one month. Davenport must have felt cursed as he fractured a bone in his neck on his debut for the Hornets, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.
He returned in pre-season and scored with an excellent headed goal in Alan Curbishley’s last game as West Ham manager, defeating Paul Ince’s Blackburn. A change of manager was yet another disruption in the career of this towering defender. With Sunderland looking to bolster their defensive options, he joined the Wearside club for the latter half of the 2008/09 season. Starting opportunities were not as forthcoming as he would have wished but he impressed Ricky Sbragia by keeping opposition attackers at bay particularly with his aerial strength. He played eight of their last nine games, helping them to stave off the threat of relegation.
After a managerial change at Sunderland and concerns over his injury record, Davenport returned to Upton Park and the horrific stabbing soon followed. He now faces the immense challenge of rebuilding his career from scratch. His new manager has said, “He is on a very long road and if we can help him one per cent of the way back to fitness it will have been worthwhile.” Fitness is critical for the stopper who purportedly attracted the attention of Leeds and Nottingham Forest this summer. A permanent deal may have been deemed too big a risk given his turbulent, injury ravaged past. Being used to adversity, hard work will eventually rouse the awareness of a Football League club who will hopefully offer him the stability he has long been deprived of.
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Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he is not looking to strengthen his Manchester United squad in the January transfer window, and that he is happy with the depth at his disposal.
With senior players such as Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher likely to be sidelined until the end of the campaign, the Premier League champions have been touted as potential buyers in the new year, despite Ferguson’s usual reluctance to spend mid-season.
However the Scottish coach has told United fans that new faces in January are unlikely.
“All things being equal I am perfectly happy with the strength of our squad in terms of depth, quality and age range,” Ferguson stated.
“I will not be swayed by the endless tweets and blogs urging the club to get busy in the transfer market next month.
“As far as I am concerned I am marching perfectly in step, true to my beliefs and principles.
“While recruiting some of the world’s leading players can lift you into contention for honours, it doesn’t necessarily take you all the way, as I hope we will be able to demonstrate before the end of the season as other factors come into play.
“You can never say never in football, of course, because fortunes can fluctuate wildly – that’s the football world.
“If a really top-class player became available, then we would go for him, or if we picked up any further serious injuries, it might be important to add to our squad,” he concluded.
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The Red Devils go into Boxing Day’s clash with Wigan at Old Trafford two points behind cross-town rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City’s bid for Champions League football took a major hit as they were beaten 3-0 by a resurgent Liverpool at Anfield.Andy Carroll scored his first goals for Liverpool since his 35 million pound transfer from Newcastle in January, and Dutchman Dirk Kuyt added another as the Reds racked up a three-goal lead by half-time.
And although they did not add to the scoreline in the second half, Liverpool were comfortable enough to show that they could yet be contenders for the top four, if not this season, then certainly next season.
The Reds are unbeaten at home since Dalglish took over, and now only five points behind Tottenham in fifth place.
But Spurs are only three points behind City with a game in hand, and the way Roberto Mancini’s men caved in during the opening half must be a real concern to the Italian manager.
Even worse, they lost inspirational striker Carlos Tevez with a hamstring injury that will rule him out of their FA Cup semi-final against bitter rivals Manchester United on Saturday, and could even put him out of the run-in as they battle for fourth spot.
On an unlucky night for City, it was fitting they fell behind in the 13th minute.
Luis Suarez had already seen a shot pushed on to the post by City keeper Joe Hart when the ball dropped to Carroll after Raul Meireles’ shot was half-blocked by Vincent Kompany.
Carroll did not hesitate before smashing his shot past Hart from 25 yards.
Disaster followed for City soon afterwards when Tevez pulled up clutching his hamstring, and had to leave the pitch.
Kuyt then made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. City failed to clear their lines, and the Dutchman was alert when the ball went right across the penalty area unchallenged, drilling it into the far corner of goal from 18 yards.
And to cap a miserable half, Carroll scored again a minute later, getting a glancing header on an in-swinging cross from Mereiles as Liverpool threatened to run riot.
Shellshocked City tried to reorganise after the break, and did not concede any more goals, but rarely threatened Pepe Reina’s goal, and Carroll almost completed a hat-trick in the closing stages with a header that went just over the bar.
With the Premiership finally back underway, and after a World Cup of quite frankly tiresome and boring debates about the movement of the Jabulani ball, the Premierships’ goalkeepers got off to an extremely patchy start this weekend.
Tim Howards’ calamitous error off of a routine long ball against Blackburn turned out to be extremely costly as his side crashed to a lacklustre 1-0 defeat away to Blackburn. Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic pounced superbly after Howard spilled an easy catch and the American will be having sleepless nights after this gaffe.
Chris Kirkland was poor against Blackpool, letting a Rocky Baptiste cross in at his near post, a cardinal sin for any goalkeeper, and he should have done better in the lead up to the other three Blackpool goals as his side slumped to a humbling opening day defeat to the newly promoted side.
Over at Stamford Bridge, Scott Carson confirmed every fans preconceptions of his ability between the sticks and lived up to the shockingly low expectations we’ve all come to expect from him. In all honesty, Chelsea didn’t even have to get out of second gear to see off a lightweight West Brom side, and Carson wasn’t helped by his team’s wall parting like the Red Sea on two occasions as he let in successive free kicks, but the £1.5m spent on Hull’s Boaz Myhill looks like money well spent on manager Di Matteo’s part now.
Robert Green looked shaky against Aston Villa, repeatedly flapping at balls into the box, a key weapon in Aston Villa’s armoury, and it was his tame punch that led to the opening goal by Stewart Downing.
Pepe Reina and Manuel Almunia also proved to be the defining factors in the Liverpool vs. Arsenal game in Sky Sports first Super Sunday extravaganza of the season. Almunia, as anyone will tell you, is surely one of the worst goalkeepers ever to grace the top flight of English football. Only Burnley’s Brian Jensen stopped him from being the worst in the league last season with some comical displays.
Arsene Wenger seemed to put to bed any rumours of a move for either the recently transfer listed Mark Schwarzer or Shay Given ahead of the end of the summer transfer window with a defiant answer to a post-match question on Sky Sports when asked about any potential move for a keeper’ before the deadline with a simple “no”.
It’s clear for all to see that Almunia is Arsenal’s Achilles heel, with debutant Laurent Koscielny performing admirably before his soft dismissal, and the rest of the Arsenal back four dealing with everything that came their way with consummate ease. Liverpool striker David N’Gog’s goal was a powerful effort, but to be beaten with the ease that Almunia was at his near post should only further enforce the idea that he’s simply not up to the task of playing for a top four club.
Pepe Reina had a fine game, and after he acrobatically tipped over a fine effort from Tomas Rosicky late on in the game, three points looked all but secure. His enviable handling skills were also on display throughout as he dealt with a series of deep crosses into the box easily. But that was all but set to change in the 89th minute, when a floated delivery from the left hand flank caused no end of problems.
Liverpool’s rearguard performed admirably throughout the game after they were reduced to 10-men following a clumsy challenge by Joe Cole in the dying moments of the first half, but Reina was unable to see the cross due to the sunlight that impaired his vision of the flight of the ball, but after getting away with his initial error, with the on-rushing Mourane Chamakh, who was otherwise disappointing, hitting the post, Reina proceeded to flap at the rebound and ushered the ball into his own net with some truly slapstick goalkeeping.
The goalkeeping fraternity was dealt a helping hand so to speak, by an outstanding display by Joe Hart away at Spurs for Man City, seemingly keeping his side in the game all by himself at times with a string of world-class saves which will leave the watching Shay Given wondering quite how he’ll break back into the side. Fulham’s David Stockdale also put in a tremendous show against Bolton and went someway to showing to Fulham fans at least that there may be life after Mark Schwarzer.
It is indeed rare that so many top flight goalkeepers should make such high profile, game defining gaffes in one weekend, and some of it may be allotted to a degree of ring-rustiness as it was only the league’s opening weekend after all, but with the debate of the balls that top flight matches use nowadays dying down to a degree after a series of reactionary statements prior to this summer’s World Cup, it does beg the question whether this current batch of goalkeepers are as good as season’s gone past?
Chelsea’s stuttering pre-season campaign has attracted criticism, but a lot of the panic will be put to bed as soon as Petr Cech is back between the sticks, with replacements Hilario and Ross Turnball more than at fault for a string of poor results, with their decision-making, handling and positioning off crosses all coming under question.
The mistakes attributed to Reina, Howard and Kirkland can obviously be labelled as uncharacteristic, but with the performance level of goalkeeping at this summer’s World Cup put seriously under the spotlight, with the all too convenient excuse of the ball offered up as reasoning for poor displays, it would appear that it’s harder now than ever before to find a consistent goalkeeper.
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Errors are common place in top flight football, and keeper’s mistakes are obviously magnified tenfold due to the nature of their position, but even so, this weekend’s displays were poor across the board and it will be interesting to see whether this trend continues throughout the campaign.
So what does everyone else think? Was this weekend’s string of horror shows down to first day nerves or a lack of match practice? Or should it be considered part of a wider issue and is the art of goalkeeping falling in standards?