Ben Foster has been on the receiving end of plenty of flack following our 4-3 victory over City yesterday but one of our favourite bloggers, Penguin United, is fighting his corner.
So that’s it. It’s official, apparently. If you read the papers and the blogs today, Ben Foster is not good enough for United, and never will be.
Really, can we make that sort of judgment yet? After a run of only seven games, three of which have been clean sheets, with a constantly-changing fruit machine of a defence in front of him? Not for my money.
Obviously Foster had a shocker yesterday, and was responsible for the goal we conceded against Arsenal. But he has also made some stunning saves, the like of which we rarely see from EVDS these days, for all the latter’s assured kicking and good judgment. It is a goalkeeper’s lot to have his saves forgotten and his errors remembered (the opposite of many strikers, who can gloss over missing a few sitters with a last minute goal), but surely our fans can remember six weeks worth of football.
In those six weeks, Foster has demonstrated superb reflexes, good reach when coming out for crosses and good judgment on when to punch or catch when he gets there. For the most part, his distribution has been good, keeping the ball alive well and making good choices between the easy ball to a full back and the harder ball to a more advanced player. He has also, on occasion, demonstrated very good temperament indeed, such as following up his mistake at Arsenal with a superb save which kept us in the game.
He has also shown some weaknesses. His distribution is affected by the fact that he is painfully one-footed – no co-incidence that both his kicking debacles yesterday (one unpunished, the other not so) were on his right foot. He has let in a goal which should have been a routine save, and he has sometimes looked a little hesitant in one-on-one situations. His judgment on crosses is not perfect, although it is far from disastrous and better than Kusczcak’s will ever be.
If you think that the weaknesses mean that he should be discarded despite the strengths, or if you expect him to be the finished product the first time he has a run in a the side, then you clearly don’t have much of an appreciation of the travails of keepers at the highest level.
You must have got so spoilt by watching Peter Schmeichel (one of the best and most complete keepers in the world ever, by the way) for so many years that you think such excellence should be standard. You’ve clearly forgotten that it took Fergie six years of scouring the globe to find a proper replacement for the Great Dane, and that many top European sides have keepers who are often liabilities. Think Dida of AC Milan, Dudek for years at Liverpool, Lehmann and now Almunia at Arsenal, almost every Spanish keeper except Casillas. Barthez was one of the best keepers of his time and capable of mind-boggling saves, but despite one near-perfect season found the relentless pressure of expectation too much.
Keeping at the very top level is very different to keeping for even a mid-table Premiership side. You’ll probably only have two or three saves to make all match, but all are crucial since a draw is not good enough. You probably won’t touch the ball, or even be near the ball, for prolonged periods of play, and when you do it will just be to take a goal kick or receive a backpass. You don’t get to make strings of saves, the adrenalin doesn’t pump, you’re unlikely to be the hero – this is cold-blooded, steely-eyed perfectionism.
The last time Foster played six first team games in a row was at Watford over two years ago. At Watford, he repeatedly demonstrated all those qualities I mentioned above – he was many Watford fans’ player of the season. There, he was under siege constantly, and constantly rose to the task of being the gallant last line of defence, the only thing stemming the tide. What he will have been learning over the last few weeks is how different a mentality is required of a United keeper – and he will have learned a very great deal. Even more since he hasn’t had the luxury (afforded to EVDS for so much of his United career) of playing behind a settled, world-class defence.
Yesterday, he had an absolute shocker. He made an error in the 13th minute which put his team on the back foot after a flying start – there was nowhere to hide, it was 100% his fault. And then he was made to live with it, oh and how. He didn’t have any chance to make a save of note until the 86th minute, when he tipped away Wright-Phillips’ near post shot, and even then it was fairly routine. He will have learned a lot about himself in that time, but his head will have been reeling. When Bellamy bore down on him in the 89th minute, he couldn’t decide whether to come and narrow the angle or stand tall and try to deal with the shot – both would have been fine, but he did something in the middle that made the striker’s life easier. And so his day got worse.
Rio’s contribution to the third goal and Owen’s winner will have made him feel a lot better about himself, but he knows now much better than before what he needs to do. He will welcome the break he’ll get when EVDS comes back – the spotlight can be punishing indeed on goalkeepers, especially when your own fans are nervous about how you will perform.
I, for one, think he’ll come back stronger from that. I think he has proved that whilst he is not The Answer right now, he has the potential to be The Answer at some point. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong, but nobody should be ruling him out until he has at least had a second chance later in the season.
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foster is a quality keeper, his made some world class saves this season that have helped us win games but if he makes a mistake ( which he didnt, both of them goals were rios fault) then everyone gets on his back again.
BEN FOSTER – ENGLANDS NUMBER 1!
also tevez kicked it out fosters hands when he had 2 hands on it i know your suppost to be in control of the ball but how can you be in control of the ball when someones trying to kick it out of your hands???
rio was running for that ball then stopped so then foster had 2 run out of his box and then tryed to turn to tevez to bring the ball into his box so he could pick it up…rio should of told him ” ben its yours” instead of running then stopping, that happened twice.
on bellamys 3rd goal foster did go down abit early but to be fair to the lad at that time it looked like bellamy was going to shoot but bellamy done well to take it that far
i have a video cassett years about goalkeepers biggest mistakes
the amount of times peter schmeichel appers in the video in a united shirt is crazy
silly little mistakes that are made on a split second
and schmeichel is the greatest keeper of all time
if foster isnt good enough for manchester united first team because of one mistake then rio should be fucked out on his ear in january to anyone but chelsea
united have played 3 huge premiership games on the trot all 100% records and our 2nd/3rd choice keeper played in there and we won the 3
he’s done fantastic this season and when van der sar comes back we should have 2 number 1 keepers with each been rested at some point
van der sar should play the big un’s this season but foster should play all fa cup games and some of the carling cup games with thomas kuszczak
well said ghtt…me myself think foster will be ready to be utds number 1 soon, he might make a couple of mistakes now and again but im sure he can cut that out of his game after a while.
Its the fact its the basics he got wrong yesterday. Hoof it out the park for the first and guard your near post for the 3rd goal. His footwork was slow and his positioning was all wrong. We don’t expect Schmeichel or VDS but we should be expecting the basics be done correctly. He has great potential and can pull off great saves but that counts for nothing if the basics are done wrong. PIG should play on Wednesday and if he performs well Fergie could have a problem.
Scott-be serious mate…He fucked up and really hard.When Rio made that error, have you noticed that wehn Bellamy was charging twards him, he was already falling? The one against Chelski in the Comunity Shield where Fat Frank had a shot…I bet my house that VDS would have kept that one out…trust me, if he would be more consisten than yeah, man.. but lets look from another perspective… so far where points where at stake we won every time, especially when foster goofed… against Arsenal, City.. but hey.. have you seen a more unsure keeper? He reminds me of Roy Caroll. Bring Akinfeev, Neuer or Ochoa… I don’t care, just keep the english GK as far as you can from United.
They’re fair points Scott, he definitely deserves his chance to impress and there’s only one man who’s opinion counts in the end of the day. I wrote at the start of the season that I hadn’t seen Foster play for Watford so wasn’t in a very good position to make any judgment on him. Limited appearances last season gave an indication of his talents but no real insight.
I wasn’t particularly impressed with him over the first couple of games but it’s understandable that nerves will play their part in any keepers’ first few games. Foster had a couple good games in a row, some great reflex saves & a couple of strong collects from crosses. Yesterday was a disaster but no reason to write him off. He’s probably got another 3 weeks to re-build his reputation to the degree that he’ll deserve another run but I personally have doubts about him.
don’t think it helps that he’s constantly being billed as the next England keeper & the most talented young keeper in the country, apart from a few dramatic looking saves he hasn’t lived up to the hype and that’s definitely going against him. Lets get behind him in the coming weeks and give him every opportunity to own the position, then he only has himself to look at should things not work out.
For fucks sake he has waited years to play for us so give him a chance, granted he has made a couple of mistakes but its how keepers make up for them that counts.
He is a United boy so fucking support him.
All these other goalkeepers are shit anyway, a few good games and suddelny they are amazing, its not the case.
Long live Ben Foster and Long live KIing Fergie.
Maybe the article misses the point. It’s not that Foster makes mistakes. It’s the type of mistakes he makes. Schoolboy errors that show he doesn’t have a great football brain. Most fans in the pub, nevermind professional keepers, would have dealt with that clearance better than Foster (for City’s first). He reminds me too much of Barthez – lots of skill but always trying to be too clever when all it really needs is a boot through it. You realise quite how good VDS is when he’s not in the team.
I want to believe in Foster, I do. But sadly, I think if we look back at this article in a year it will prove to be more hopeful than realistic. VDS may not be able to make incredible saves anymore but he never makes a fool of himself. He has a footballing brain. Perhaps Foster just came into the game too late to really understand the fundamentals. Instinctively, as a shot stopper, he’s great but when he has to think about a situation he flaps. He’s cost us at least two goals in 6 games this season. How many has VDS cost us in the last 3 years? Roll on the return of Edwin and another year seemless defensive displays
+ terrible positioning for Bellamy’s second. He might as well have politely ushered the Welsh scally through. Foster is NOT the long term answer
i agree with me
even the best keepers make mistakes…newcastle last season anyone? van der sar fucked up and it cost us our defence record….everyone does it
hopefully he’ll make up for it against the rent boys and bin dippers
VDS is one of the best keepers in the world.
Foster is one of the best shot-stoppers in the world.
There is a difference.
I’d prefer VDS in goal anyday,although I do want PIG to be given a shot at staking his claim.
The one opinion I trust is Sir Alex’s and he’s usually not wrong.
I don’t know how many times we need to keep making excuses for this guy.
He’s not young anymore. He’s played a pile of football.
He just doesn’t have the quality that we need.
I understand that playing for United puts a lot of pressure on you. But he can’t handle it. He’s 26. By now he should be able to figure out how to manage the pressure.
I don’t think pressure has had anything to do with his terrible mistakes. Indecision is the worst attribute a keeper can have. And he has plenty of it. All of his howlers have come as a result of him not knowing what to do or being too timid to do the right thing. I think it’s time we start looking for a serious replacement for VDS…maybe a crazy German to back our line??
foster will be class…
hes not even 30 yet…
PATIENT and BELIEVE please…
I think maybe Rio being out and Fosters lack of playing time with Rio didn’t help. Communication!
Sure, the mistakes were schoolboy, but keepers’ howlers always look that way. There isn’t a keeper in the world who hasn’t made mistakes that make you wonder whether they’ve ever played the game before, doesn’t mean you can write them off.
He was in two minds about whether to hoof the ball or try to do something more productive with it, and ended up doing neither. He’ll decide early next time. He was in two minds whether to come out or stay on his line – he’ll decide early next time.
He hasn’t had to deal with pressure like this – pressure where one mistake is curtains. He needs to get used to it – maybe he won’t be able to, maybe he will.
Anyone betting their house on EVDS saving anything at this time last season was a brave man – remember when he took himself off at Chelsea after possibly the most nervous 20 minutes of keeping ever seen? No, thought not.
When someone screws up, it’s tempting to say “play anyone but him, I don’t care who” – but it’s usually the wrong approach. Sure, sign some random foreigners, maybe you’ll get lucky and find the next Cech or Schmeichel. Maybe I’ll win the lottery this weekend (although it felt like I’d won it yesterday!). More likely they’ll be the next Taibi. People should try to resist the snap judgment and the knee-jerk reaction.
RedDeviledEgg – “A pile of Football”? What about twelve United games in total? Give him a break. Agree entirely with Scott, ghtt and Alex etc.
and Penguin.
and jack
Recent history shows that once a keeper starts making cock ups like that, he loses confidence and never really gets chance to recover. Happenned to Bosnich and Taibi and Barthez also..
I want Foster to be successful ,it would save the club a ton of money if he is. But this game was a long time coming. And issues with him is not for this game only as Rio was just as guilty for the two goals, and O Shea and Rio guilty for not closing Bellamy down for the second. Last year he played well in the FA Cup games and Carling final, but let in a terrible goal at Celtic (UCL) and Sunderland (only one of two EPL appearances) The issue is not his reflexes which are excellent, but his decision making. He is very tentative for the time being in crosses and coming out of his goal and positioning which is the bulk of your work when you are a keeper for ManUtd.This will only come with experience and you get that by playing. There are lots of excellent goalies around the world but not everyone is cut out for ManUtd. The question would be is he ? I don’t blame him for the Arsenal goal but Edwin most likely would have reached that ball because his starting angle would have been better. VDS was not great beginning of 08/09 season either (remember Anfield) but I can’t wait for him to be in goal.
He had a bad day at the office. Who here hasn’t ? It is not fair to judge him having only played 7 games. I would have hated to have been evaluated after my first 7 days on a new job. He made some mistakes, but our defensive line (and midfield) are the first line of defense, not our goalkeeper.
Thats how English keepers are. They’re great goalkeepers but they make STUPID mistakes! They always have always will!
They’re great shot-stopper, but not good enough decision-makers.
Robinson, James, Seaman, Carson, all have made their fair share of mistakes
King Eric. He’s played for other teams than United. Someone on here discussed his ‘brilliant’ season at Watford. Games are games man. Just because you weren’t playing for us doesn’t mean you weren’t playing. I’m willing to give him a chance but I can’t stand everyone constantly rationalizing his fuck ups. If VDS was doing this we’d be hearing the “he’s too old” or “he’s lost it” remarks. Give me a break. If you play bad you dserve the criticism. I’ve had bad days at work and made bad decisions. And I heard about them. Foster ought to as well.
The criticism adds to the pressure I know. But he’s playing for United. If you can’t handle the heat get out of the kitchen!!
Owen has handled the pressure quite nicely. Look at that goal yesterday !!
And he has played like 7 games? And only at 26. Are we supposed to keep buying players like how Man City and Real Madrid are? Come on…cut the boy some slack. To step up in the Great Dane and the Dutchman’s shoes ain’t an easy thing to do.
Foster for no.1. If the best manager says so, then I say so. Heck, even Tim Howard turned out alright. So trust the manager.
RDE – games are games…did you even read the article? Or do you disagree that there are different pressures on a keeper playing for potential champions and a keeper playing for relegation fodder? Maybe games for the reserves count to? What about the local pub side? It’s all football, right?
Owen is a bad comparison because he has played for Liverpool, Real, and England at big tournaments. He has rarely played other than for a top club with big expectations, so the pressure is nothing new to him.
He fucked up. I agree, and nobody will know it more than him. What I’m objecting to is the idea that his performance over the last seven games means he should be banished forever.
Hey Scot,
Foster is one class of a player. The way he got back to his feet in our game against Arsenal speaks for itself. He was beaten by a brilliant effort by Arshavin and then got his head to save another great effort by Persie.
Now that is the sign of a great keeper.
Given that no one is perfect and that more playing time is needed for keepers to gain confidence,foster had not delivered enough to be consodered our no 1,yes maybe no1 in the absense of vds but if he is to hold tight to that shirt,there is no better time for him to do that than now.
I know a lot of united fans are trying to sell it, but I’m not buying. Foster while being a good keeper is not world class, nor does he show the nerve required to become one. The age and experience also doesn’t factor into the equation. Top class keepers like Casillas, Cech, Reine were younger then Foster is now when they were playing for top teams and didn’t exhibit the type of nervousness that Foster has in the last month. He has proven that having the shot stopping ability is not enough to make it as a keeper for a world class team. You also need the cool, and the consistency. Foster doesn’t have this.
How many people watch him start and think…”God, I hope he doesn’t have one of his moments?” I know i’m not alone that’s for sure. On his day he’s clearly a brilliant prospect, but then so are half a dozen others i can think off. But with United a keeper will go through 90 minutes and only have to make 4-5 saves, but he has to make them. Foster as far as i’ve seen will fluff it up at least once every few games and that’s simply not good enough at this level.
I know people will defend him for a variety of reasons and I’m not saying he’s a bad keeper, but good enough for United? Good enough to keep the #1 for the foreseeable future? You must be havin a laugh…
Foster has the job till EVS comes back, but you can bet your bottom dollar once EVS is fit, he will get the gloves back. I shudder to thinkwhat calamity awaits us when we face the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool or Madrid with Foster between the sticks.
To be honest, I’d rather not think about it. Rather have the lad on the bench where you can’t effect the game.
In the same way many fans slated Fletcher… Foster WILL make it, no question!
Well in comparison to writing someone off quickly I would give example of Kuszczak. Who has been written off by many really quickly.
I think many fans going for Foster also take in consideration that he is English so he is their main choice for MU #1.
I am Polsih and I am from far of saying that Kuszczak should be picked ahead of VDS or Ben. He has great reflexes which he showed in couple exceptional saves but he also lacks something to be true #1 in any major club.
I see people saying about Ben he is young and he needs to learn.
Sorry mates but this argument is not good enough.
Having in front of you defense composed of Rio, Vidic, Evra, Brown, O’Shea, Evans. The opposition shall have only couple if not less chances to score against us. And from our keeper I demand to be fully concentrated, to have goalkeeping sense of incredible positioning (this is hard to learn when other team is not too much at our goal).
What Foster did was shit. Big shit. I am willing to forgive if keeper punches the ball after shot the wrong way, if the ball slips from his hands because he is being pushed. Foster just played plain STUPID. Explanations like “foster had ball in his hands and it was kicked” is not enough. I know TEvez is cunt and has poor goalscoring record, but one you can’t take from him he runs to every ball with all his heart. and being at fosters place I would freaking kick that ball to Mars knowing Tevez is close, and would not try to show the world how bad at dribbling i am. Foster had the ball barely in his hands and he was out of the 5m zone so Tevez could have a go at that ball.
Third goal well not much fault by Foster, but also I would see some mind blowing saves in crucial moments like this.
MC apart from 3 goals had two chances. 1. Tevez hitting the post, Ben didn’t even react. 2. Nice save by Ben o SWP shot (although I think it was going off the goal).
Every one are easy on Foster cause we had the luck of champions. I can only imagine how many people were pissed after loosing such a stupid goal knowing that this game might be hard. and it was hard cause we made it hard for ourselves really little credit to MC.
I can imagine how many people at 3-3 were “Fucking shit, we are close to loosing two points because of two shitty mistakes”
I am far from being comfort with Foster, but I am far from saying he is not good enough.
But for me he used his limit of stupid mistakes another one like this and it means he doesn’t fit for serious game play.
I think Foster is at the crossroads either he will come big from this mistake or he will not deliver.
I wrote before that I don’t think that there is out there goalkeeper good for us for years to come. Buffon is proven but would play 4-5 years and would cost tons.
Other young guns didn’t try their game in Premiership and this is other universe comparing to other leagues. So fingers crossed that Foster will come big from that mistake.
id be far more worried if he was getting the ‘basics’ right but his reflexes, shot stopping etc were poor. reason being the basics can be put right, its the other stuff that cant be taught. and knowing he only has X amount of games to prove himself, having waited quietly for years for his chance… thats hardly going to help with his desicion making
I’m not even sure he was 100% at fault for the first. By the time he got the ball the option to kick it out had gone. The backpass was under hit which with both Tevez and Bellemy is a risk. You need to put more zip on it. And then rio confused things (much like vidic did earlier) which I’m guessing is a lack of match sharpness and the fact with so few games together the understanding still a work in progress. I suspect it wouldn’t have happened if the back 4 was more stable this season and an understanding had been built up
obvious foster could have done better with it but I’m not sure it completly fosters fault
He didn’t look good aginst City.
When is Van der Sar fit again? Does anybody know?
Lets have this chat again when Foster has played about 20 games, and take it from there. I think the jury is out on him yet.
ps. Whats the meaning of calling Kusczak PIG?
Id still like to see a bit of Akinveef in our side
pole in goal
The thing that bothers me most is that prior to City’s equalizer, he made the same mistake where he was blocked by Tevez.
That should have been a food for thought, for for some odd reasons he made the same mistake again that proved to be very costly.
I’ve been defending him and still think he has something to offer, so I hope he could deal with his nervousness issue really soon.
Looking fwd to Stoke City game
SuperHans – PIG – Pole in Goal.
Edwin back training now.
I think it’s more to Rio’s fault for the 1st goal’s howler. Someone made a back pass (which I really hated because of the errors that might resulted from it) and then Rio looked like he getting to it but then just stopped short causing the confusion to Foster. And I don’t think he even saw Tevez coming with Rio’s blocking the view.
I do admit i’m angry with foster on yesterday match and i bet all of united fans are too. If it was a good goal score by opponent i will have said nothing but basic is done on all occasion with ease. I know i’m being strict with him but i know he is a good keeper and i have set a high standard for him and that’s why my expectation is so high.
His basic mistake which could cost us the points is bad. It’s like a outfield player can’t hold can’t control the ball when it’s passed to him. That is very bad. I do agree he need more time and i will give him a second chance for it. Yesterday match he make 2 mistakes which is basic for a goalkeeper like decision making. However, i think with more experience he will get better. The only thing he need to train is his right foot. He seriously need more training as it could do him a hell lot.
Rios fault for the first one!!!?????? jesus you folks are deluded.
It would’ve been a simple punt out and the situation would’ve been taken care of. Who the fuck tries to handle it like that with a guy with Tevez’s pace coming at you???????? terrible. Stop taking the blame off this guy. his performance was shit. I want Kuszcack to get a chance. He’s had a few howlers himself…but I’m sure he can’t make any much worse than foster…..at least he’s willing to come out and make a challenge on a 1v1.
Stop protect him because he´s english!
he sucks ,united is the best team in the world and the best players should be here!Kuscazk is better than him and he also sucks!
luckliy we have such a god bunch of players that won us the game!
Foster is maybe the best in england but then english keepers suck!
Foster had a bad game. No one can argue that. But unfortunate for him Rio probably had one of his worst games ever under the red shirt.If Rio has an average game, I bet nobody talks about Foster because the score will more likely be 3 – 1 for the good guys. We would talk about how we dodged a bullet despite our keeper being terrible and move on to Wolves game coming up. Foster isn’t going anywhere and I am sure SAF will give him every chance to work this out until one day he won’t ( see Howard, Barthez, Carroll) He is English and with the homegrown quota around the corner we really want him in the team. And with all due respect to comments about Kuszczak being better, he is a penalty waiting to happen ; we ll see him on wednesday anyway.
What you have to understand is that Foster is playing in goal, it is a position where you cannot make a mistake – it is unique – so he just does not have the time to learn on the job, he should have already done that previously. That’s why keepers go on loan to learn the ropes.
He can have the best attributes in the world but if he is not confident enough he will continue to make these silly errors – and they will cost points. Mark Bosnich was not a bad keeper by any means but he lost his confidence and never recovered.
Anyway time will tell, Foster will get more games until VDS comes back (wonder when that will be!)… But I bet Kuszcak plays in the carling cup – although maybe Foster should continue so that he can get confidence (a contradiction there by me!)
Scott, as much as I admire your support and confidence in Foster, he has made his mistakes within a short period of time. I am not in the habit of slating our own players, but when a goalkeeper starts to make bad mistakes it starts to cost us valuable points. I have had the same high hopes for him, but I’m starting to think of him as a Barthez. If he keeps making these sorts of error then he is only increasing the pressure on himself (hence an article of this nature).
He will be under the microscope until Edwin is back, and unless he puts in some solid performances, then we’re going to have to start thinking about a replacement for him come next summer.
By the way, does anyone know when van der Saar is back? If so, does anyone know how many more of Fosters mistakes/points lost we can expect?
all keepers make mistakes
its just that the great keepers make less
If VDS would have made the mistakes on sunday you would accept it that it probably wouldn’t happen again this season
You can’t be that sure of Foster
But he is only young for a keeper and will improve is decision making with more experience the problem for him is your only judged on the mistakes you make not the saves
I’m not jumping to any conclusions regarding Ben’s ability just yet, but I do have a pertinent question-
If it was Kuszack in place of Ben, would you stick up for him like you’re doing now?
Also, do you ever recall Kuszack making such elementary errors?
Ben Foster looks the part all day long, he also has proved this season that he can become the number 1 keeper, for united and england. His mistakes are there because everyone makes mistakes and in football you cant miss them, its just good that the team plays together and we came out on top. He is a good keeper and can get better, its like half the managers in the league that have come and gone without having the time to prove their place. People are expecting too much too soon
I think Kuszczak would be slaughtered here and PIG would be the least said about him.
I would even say Kuszczak has more incredible saves than Foster, but that is not what i need. the overall is that counts.
But I think they both have different weaknesses and it would be nice to combine both players into one.
@kinkyp I think many would start asking questions if VDS is not to old
same was with Giggs in the past and not far away with scholes.
Ginger, spot on mate. Ben is on a pedestal where many don’t think he should be questioned. Kuszack would’ve been run out of town
Kuszczak is much better than Foster. Everyone saw how good Kuszczak was when given a run of games with West brom. Foster can only dream about being that good. Fosters a clown
Stop saying Foster’s save against RVP was some sort of amazing, world class save. RVP could only hit it in that spot and Foster was practically standing there. If he was right footed, he wouldn’t save that, simple. He’s not good enough
if kuszack was better than foster he’d be playing and not foster, fergie knows more than anyone else and 2ndly who gets to see them in training all day?
fosters quality, fergie knows it and thats what matters..end of
Sir Alex gave Foster enough chances and i think he will give him another one. I dream of english players and english goalkeeper in the team but even my hopes and confidence is starting to vanish.
Thomas takes all of this like a Man and he should get his chance.
Lads,
For me what we have to remember the following
1 – Ben Foster is Still Learning his Game. Young Players make Mistakes & unfortunite for Goal Keepers they GEneraly end up in Goals Conceeded!
2 – Goal Keepers Mature Later, but they do need Games & The do need Mistakes to Learn from!
3 – We have not seen the best from Ben Foster but from what i have seen he certainly is better than the Inbetweens we had from Big Pete to VDS
Lads, this for sure will not happen again! Its lesson learnt foster lad!
Lads just a couple of additional Comments!
I know these 2 have not been world class, but there can be no arguments that they havent turned out half decent!
Brad Fridal – Made Shed Loads of Mistakes for Liverpool. But how many times did we see him Keep Blackburn in games? Would Blackburn still be in the prem without him? I dont think so!!…
David James – I know this fella still makes the odd mistakes, but for the last 4 years he has been very very consistant for Portsmouth! Getting on i know!
Point i am making is that Replacing a goal keeper is the hardest position to fill!….. You have to accept that you need to give them Time, If they are still learning the game some games they cost you points…….. If you have a new player anywhere else on the pitch they will give the ball away cheaply from time to time but this dont result in goals conceeded!
I dont think foster is as bad as what the doom critics make out!
foster is young , foster has future…BLAH BLAH!!, nw temme wht wrong has kuzczack done in his career tht he doesnt merit a place??? have u seen kuzczack doin howlers like the way foster did during the match??
FFS remove ur english glasses and then judge, nor is foster a great deal and same with kuzczack, two very ordinary keepers , not one better than the other!
Trevor going by your example Kuszczak saved WBA from going down, which started with great display against MU.
Mistakes are made always, but the stupid mistakes are those that have no explanation.
Fosters dribbling was bad decision. Hope he will not repeat it. If that would have happened in KO stage of champions league that could be tragic. Thankfully we are not here to think about could, would.
I am just against this talk “has to learn”. What is to learn in “striker is coming at me. ahh well I will out dribble him.” Every person with common sense should spot on danger in that situation. This is not about lerning but about not making stupid mistakes.
Still I think VDS is #1, Foster has real potential and is our #2, Kuszczak is not far behind.
Additionally I think SAF is playing this smart. If Kuszczak would be at the goal he would be slaughtered by the press on every single possible occasion. This is the season of World Cup and English media pressure for place for Foster.
This would be bad for Man Utd. to have Kuszczak in the goal who is all the time pointed by the media.
SAF is always doing his way not the press way, but in this situation I think this is for the better of the team.
But this is just mind games talk.
@n667
Agree. For me our keeper maybe as well from Mars, but he has to be exceptional. United > Universe.
Think twice about slagging off a player SAF shows faith in. After having a 2 season long running commentary about how shit Fletcher is I now eat my words.
In a team like wba and watford , shot keeping is of the utmost priority , due to lack of a proper defence and the number of shots aimed at a keeper is gonna be higher in those teams, in a team like utd, u gotta be alert always as ure not gonna be in the game always , but when tht one chance comes by, u gotta make the right call and use ur brain , which barthez lacked and hate to say it foster lacks too…
go through some videos and see how calm and collected vds is in the box dealing with the ball
“Keeping at the very top level is very different to keeping for even a mid-table Premiership side. You’ll probably only have two or three saves to make all match, but all are crucial since a draw is not good enough. You probably won’t touch the ball, or even be near the ball, for prolonged periods of play, and when you do it will just be to take a goal kick or receive a backpass. You don’t get to make strings of saves, the adrenalin doesn’t pump, you’re unlikely to be the hero – this is cold-blooded, steely-eyed perfectionism.”
great line which sums it all up. we can say whatever we want but no one will answer the question why Kuschak doesn’t deserve HIS chance.
I called Foster a complete cunt ( and Rio) after their shit brained mistakes nearly cost us the win, but on reflection, and hearing SAF bollocking them from here realise that Foster is still learning and Rio ain’t quite match fit…..
but Rio’s pace needs a watch ful eye as if he has lost it better to fuck him off to Spain while he is worth something …. hee hee no fucking mercy me ….
Ghtt hows the windypipe….?
tonybee
sore
but after yesterdays win life could be worse
@corea
exactly my point mate?? i have asked everyone in here the same question twice!
foster is young , foster has future…BLAH BLAH!!, nw temme wht wrong has kuzczack done in his career tht he doesnt merit a place??? have u seen kuzczack doin howlers like the way foster did during the match??
FFS remove ur english glasses and then judge, nor is foster a great deal and same with kuzczack, two very ordinary keepers , not one better than the oth
Good article Scott, level-headed and reasonable.
Yes Foster has good reflexes and he will inevitably make the odd spectacular save given the time out on the pitch. However, when he has time to think and assess the situation thats when panic sets in and he makes these howlers. The defenders in front of him also become of two minds and it undermines the defences confidence.
Whether he can overcome this trait I’m not sure -25years old and alot of games played. We desperatley need a stable goal keeper.
Foster makes great saves but makes too many mistakes, he needs to sort out his decision making.
At 25 he is not a kid, he either needs to stamp out these mistakes or it will cost us points.
The jury is still out
once Peter Schmeichel said
to be good keeper is not about jumping,everybody can jump.
it’s about concentration throughout the whole game.
so ben foster can jump but his decision making is terrible.
and it’s not even about those two harsh mistakes it’s about how untimely he went down when Ballamy scored his second
1. Young Keeper who needs time to adjust – not really, he’s 26 – and he should be nearing his prime physical & footballing years. The difference between him and VDS is that Van der Sar is better at organizing a defense and gives his defenders more reason to have faith in him and trust him. Thus he doesn’t often need to pull off spectacular saves.Not to mention VDS is huge – he can often just spread his body and stop the ball from going in – while Foster needs to rely on his athleticism more is therefore unlikely to have as long a career – not to mention he’ll be more prone to letting in goals if he’s not spot on positionally on shots and crosses.
2. VDS’s distribution is superior – not least because he’s far more comfortable and composed with the ball at his feet.
3. Foster’s made as many mistakes in his first few real games for Utd as VDS’s made in the majority of his Utd career. With VDS, when he makes an error it’s met with genuine surprise – with Foster it’s almost becoming an expected event.
It’s all well and good that ppl feel he needs time to adjust – it’s just not exactly ideal to have a keeper being put through his paces during live in game action.
4. To say that Ferguson’s taken a long time to find a replacement is like saying he didn’t know about VDS all along. He could have purchased him from Juventus before Fulham did – he just chose not too. Not only would we have avoided the debacles that were Taibi, Bosnich, Barthez & Ricardo – but Ferguson’s apparent inherent inability to find the right GK would not have been so cruelly exposed.
We’ve been lucky so far that Foster hasn’t cost us any points – but I don’t expect that trend to continue at this rate. I don’t exactly rate Kuzczack either – but I’d be partial to giving him a shot at this point – hasn’t he earned it, just as much as Foster?
We can’t be expecting our outfield guys to be continuously bailing out Foster over the next few weeks after all – and I can’t imagine that Vidic & Rio can look any more shaky with Tomas behind them than Ben honestly.
Scott – level-headed and reasonable AND WRONG ! Foster’s athletic and flexible, and a great shot-stopper but his play on the ball is just terrible. He seems like a mistake-waiting-to-happen whenever the ball is passed back to him.
The comparison with EdwinVDS – who Dennis Bergkamp said was the best ball-player on the CL-winning team in the 90s – makes this deficiency painfully obvious. Moreover – and much more importantly – for a keeper on a trophy-team, these “mistakes” are deadly. These “mistakes” cost games and trophies.
I don’t think that Foster’s “problems” can be sorted out in short order. They are intrinsic – built into his game, as it were. I’d like to be wrong about this but the evidence is pretty obvious that “Foster” is a six-letter word unlike “keeper”. The guy has had chances and I don’t think he has had a game in which he has not made one or two or three “oopsies”. So far, his “mistakes” haven’t cost points – maybe you could argue that he let the RentBoyz get ahead in the Community Shield but that’s not of much consequence.
But unless there is an amazing turnaround Foster is not going to be the #1 when Edwin returns and some of that CR-money in the bank will be used to purchase Neuer of Schalke/04 or Akinfeev of CSKA Moscow – and SAF will have to use Edwin in the CL games. There’s too much at stake to let Foster grow into the job !
Ben Foster is still unproven – what even made Fergie buy him in the first place? He was a ‘nobody’ until united came ringing.
VDS is a goalie that focused, alert and has his concentration up at high levels during match days. Even though he’s aging, we can still rely on him as he’s wise and very clever in the sense he makes the right decisions on the pitch…
This is in contrast to Foster who seems to make the wrong decision more times than right. Sure, he ‘may’ and ‘will’ have time to learn, why why should we let him learn at the expense of United title race?
Foster is not a bad shot stopper – but if you put any goalie in a United shirt and their bound to make atleast one save that looks good for the camera’s. (For example, even the ‘infamous’ Massimo Taibi & Bosnich made some saves at United to be proud of – but any1 will tell you they are crap, which they are, like Foster at the moment)
I’ve been one of Foster’s biggest supporters. and i understand that from being a number 2 and only playing in cup games then becoming the number one is more of a mental mind shift than a change in football technique. but let’s get things clear:
1 – at united you’ll only be called upon to make 3 to 4 crucial saves in a 90 min match.
2 – concentration is king for a goal keeper
3 – you need to be decisive and keep risk down to a minimum
4 – priority is always safety first.
5 – command & organize your back line and give them confidence
6 – you need to intimate the oppositions forwards
7 – work on kicking with your weaker foot.
learn from Peter Schmeichel and EVDS they were and are the best in the business.
8 – show no fear – even if you are scared. don’t show it!!!!
9 – Foster – you have to remind yourself that this is your audition for the number 1 spot both for United and England. ask yourself the question do you want to become another Richard Wright or do you want to be talked in the same breath as Shilton, Banks, Schmeichel and Cech?
10 – i’m sure all goalkeepers are nervous from time to time, especially in big games etc. but the best ones don’t transmit that fear to their players. sometimes it’s like an act. you cannot show that kind of emotion to your defenders.
football is very much a psychological and mental battle than anything else.
this is what http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRBv3kMB4c
Quite a few people have responded to me on this – please do read the top of the article. I didn’t write it.
cmon scott! lets be objective here – in one of the biggest game so far this season, he has not shown quality mentality. he really bottled it!
he’s good enough for england but definitely not good enough for us! we were really, really lucky to get the win! how many of us sighed and cheered like crazy when owen struck – but more importantly how many of us were cursing and swearing when citeh kept equalising because of his incompetency!
first thing that annoys me is few ‘fans’ on here who seem to think the first city goal was as a result from a backpass. What worries me more than these plebs though is the fact foster looked so uncomfortable when ball is played to his right foot. All he needs to learn to do wi that foot is leather it down the field, not go all higuita on us and start attempting to dribble. I’m undecided whether he needs to be dropped, and can understand tomasz deserves a chance, but either way think they’re keeping seat warm for ed to come back. Would like to think one really bad game isn’t enough to be dropped. But there’s been few mistakes, but remember times when ed and the great dane made mistakes
The boy was at fault for # 1, but hang some culpability on Rio who did not block the run of Tevez. Ji Sung Park was at fault for # 2 as he dropped back and did not cover the run of Bellamy. Rio was at fault for # 3 and even if Foster had covered the near post a pull back from Bellamy would have still likely resulted in a goal.
He has made some decent saves over the past number of weeks and is improving with every game – his skill is not at question but his confidence needs to increase. Several more games and he will be the next “Great Dane”.
We have knocked off City, Spurs and Arsenal – 3 of the so called contenders and he has been more than decent in every game and has made one or two excellent stops.
For all posters who think Tomasz is actually better please watch the videos of last years Aalborg and Sporting Lisbon the year before in our champion league group games both at home. You guys have short memories.
As for Foster, this guy played only 10 games for ManUtd until this year. Lets cut him some slack How many goals did Ronaldo score for us in his first 10 games? (if you said one it is correct)
If VDS is fit naturally he will play, but he is not fit yet so this is the guy who will be between the sticks for a while until SAF says he is not. He will get better by default as our defence is usually much better than this. If Sir Alex did not think he would get better, he would not put him out there.
I think foster is a good goal keeper and if you want good not great thats ok. However this is united.
The problem for a keeper is when they start making mistakes they start to see the ball coming at them as a potential career-ending fuck-up in the making and it makes them nervous. Imagine being a player and knowing that every single back pass, every single cross, is a potential career ender. How would you handle it, if your entire career hinged on every single contact with the ball. When somebody rolls a pass back to him for the couple of seconds between the pass being played and him getting rid of the ball, his very career is on the line. Even a striker never has pressure like that because a striker can buy off his mistakes with goals, a goalkeeper can’t. A goalie carries his howlers with him and only after a long time and great games can he begin to shed their weight.
So with that in mind I have a lot of sympathy for Foster and I truly want him to become a great keeper, but for that to happen he needs to be allowed to be comfortable with the ball and not treat it like it’s going to explode. This is what supporters are for, this is where we do our bit, and get behind the boy, make him feel like the fans are behind him not waiting to see him fuck up.
my concern is he made two similar errors of judgement in the opening minutes. The first one was when his clearance hit Tevez, and the second one was when Tevez STOLE the ball from him for Citeh’s first goal. I am concerned because he didnt seem to learn from the first, to make the second error. And it’s only like 10minutes between these incidents.
I remember watching the match against Real Madrid, Beckham scored a freekick. Casillas was nowhere near the ball. But for another freekick with almost similar trajectory a few minutes later, Casillas saved it. Casillas learned from the first one fast. Those were wickedly in-swinging freekicks, you just have to blindly dive to save it because you can never read the flight of the ball.
Foster’s mistakes are easier to learn from, but he didnt.
Foster needs to be given time, particularly given that he came late to Football. This porbably means his natural talent was instantly recognised and honed over a very short period. However, his flaws as a keeper so far are glaringly obvious.
Decisiveness is key. Some of this comes with instinct, some of this comes with experience. I dont think he deals will crosses or clearances well and I dont think he made the right decision in coming to Bellamy. People forget Bellamy had to cover 40 odd yards to get a shot off. In this time Foster should have been aware that Bellamy, whilst getting marginally past Rio who did his best to drag him wide, had no support and there were a mass of united players trailing back which prevents Bellamy’s abaility to cut back inside. It was a near post goal of the narrowest angle and everyone who knows goalkeeping knows that its a cardinal sin to let those in.
So the key question is whether his indecision is down to a lack of experience or instinct or both. Despite what I said about his ability on crosses, he has improved in this area. He has the physical attributes – height, reach, mobility and reflex. Anyone with the natural gift he has deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt. Other players get it despite making mistakes, its just the keeper mistakes tend to be more costly. There is no reasons for not giving him more time. I do think that when VDS comes back Foster needs to be given game time – perhaps for the reserves – as it is playing more which will help him the most.
yeah on second thought, we ought to give him more time.
I am not concerned with the crosses, i think he has improved a lot there. The concern is with his indecisiveness on simpler situations for eg backpasses. Just imagine if that was not Tevez, but Drogba or Torres.
to all foster haters
u cant become a great player by just playing 10 games . yeah he did a horrific job against city but the lad isnt that much experienced.
and pls stop comparing foster with vds.vds is a proven keeper and to compare him with foster is wrong.
I loved what he did at Watford and I really believed he is the kind of guy at goal that we would loved to have.
With him its a pretty simple case of awful decision making in big matches ( Community Shield game, another case in point) that
is resulting in horrors like these.
I am not buying the fact that he has had 7 matches this season with 3 clean sheets and stuff.. it’s not like he has been playing “Football” for the last 7 games. Come on man.. Kick it out.
I loved what Fergie said at the end of the game.. “If I had to choose between a 6-0 or a classic derby, Well I’d choose a 6-0″
Absolutely and indisputably well said.
Foster does not have a goalkeeper’s presence, and makes it easy for strikers to want to exploit him. He looks far from confident, and his right foot handicap means that strikers would always charge towards his weak side.
Stop padding the goalposts for Ben Foster.
Sure every keeper is allowed his quota of howlers but let’s face it, with Ben those come more often and closer together than they should.
Another thing to note is that by making truly stupid mistakes as he often does he is undermining the self-confidence in defence, imagine being a defender knowing you have a reliable keeper to back you up is different from defending knowing the guy guarding goal has an even chance of punting the ball off the back of your head and into his goal.
He’s 26 and has been in the squad for awhile. If you are not coming off the bench into the first team ready as all fuck to play your balls out on the pitch with the confidence that you should have from being a Red Devil then seriously, get on the express bus to “Fuck Off”. This tentative bullshit will slaughter us when you play a team as brutal and dirty as the Pensioners.
nothing against foster.. to make mistakes is natural.. but… how about gettin D. Benaglio from Wolfsburg? maybe in two – three years? he’s brilliant! ..and he’s swiss
Ben foster has all the attributes to be a great goalkeeper but he also has the ability to make a mess of it in a derby,league title match,semi final champions league. Yeh ok it’s his first run in the team since he has been here since watford but does anyone remember paul robinson scoring against him from 85 yards????? I do hope he can keep his confidence and stop making poor decisions. should have kicked the ball out for city 1st goal. because we dont want kusczak in goals.
Foster is not United material.
After Schmeichel we were nowhere with Barthez,Howard,Carrol…but with Van der Sar we won everything.
Foster is ‘glued’ on goal line and unable to cope with crosses 2 m from him,and when he come out from goal line he looks like clown.
Keepers makes mistakes,Van der Sar did make mistakes but I dont remember any of them.
At the other hand I will never forget Barthez display vs Real Madrid(4:3),and Howard mistake vs Porto(1:1).
Capello,as Italian and top coach,for sure knows what is top keeper made of and Foster is not his first choice.
Manchuchu @ 7:32 – excellent post. You’re absolutely right that the nervousness that Foster creates can – and will – act like a cancer, undermining the defenders’ confidence.
And, you’re also right that EdwinVDS’s greatest strength has been his ability to calmly infuse his defenders with confidence, knowing that howlers, accidents, mistakes, confusion and the ensuing loss-of-confidence would not seep forwards from the back.
It’s not a matter of being “for or against” Foster but, rather, seeing that he has continued to make the same kinds of mistakes.
I’m not sure why people are defending him so much and keep going on about his age and lack of football.
He’s 26 which is considered quite young for a keeper but still this can’t be used as an excuse for his indecisiveness, that’s absolute bullshit if you think it can. Look at some of the top keepers of today, Cech, Buffon, Given, Reina.. all have performed at the top level in there early 20′s. Nerves may have gotten the better of him in the first few games but he’s onto his 7th game (of which a few have been big ones) in a row now, fair enough I understand he may make the odd error but silly errors seem to be happening on a consistent basis.
I hope he does make it, his shot stopping has been great, he just needs to work on his kicking (with his right foot and knowing when to just get rid of it) and judgement and then hopefully, just hopefully we may have found a successor to VDS.
@Jack – I do believe you are wrong about the VDS mistake? The goal which led to the clean sheet streak demise came at Blackburn unless I am mistaken?
Altonian – It was indeed against Blackburn and it was Santa Cruz!
there is no point of defending foster as it’s no point of attacking him..the sooner we all accept that he’s always gonna be an understudy for the GK of VDS’s quality the better for him and for us
he’s not a world class, never gonna be and we need someone in VDS’s, casillas’s, buffon’s league to be our no. 1….foster’s an OK GK but we need THE BEST – it’s enough gambling on that position – everytime it leads us to selling mediocre GK’s and buying world class…
foster’s poor at crosses ( dreadfull actually), always sticks to his line, blunder prone and poor at clearances – if he hasn’t learned it by now,with few EPL full seasons on his back, he’s never gonna
Altonian – Pig conceeded against Blackburn
What do people really expect, SEVEN games in. Seven games is fuck all.
CROoney – Shit you are right it was PIG!
Leave him be! So he has made a couple of mistakes, so what? Even great goalkeepers make silly mistakes. All that matters is that he learns from the mistakes and becomes a better all-round goalkeeper.
I’ve been a big fan of Foster’s for years Scott and I agree that keeper’s have it hard when they make mistakes but Barry’s goal wasn’t a mistake it was massively cocky to think that he could take the ball away from a striker. He should have booted it out first time, he trained with Tevez and watched him chase down everything. The other point is that whilst Rio gifted them the chance for the 3rd, Bellamy’s last touch was shit but Foster went down to early and gift wrapped it for him. Before this week I thought EVDS might struggle to get back in but not now. Foster is a good keeper but not as good as he thinks!
In part, both Foster and Rio are at fault in MC’s first and third equalisers. In the first case, Foster must have felt that he could outsmart Tevez and Rio took for granted that Foster would be able to gather the ball little realising Tevez. But Tevez made them look like fools when he dragged the ball from Foster’s hands and fed Barry to slot in the ball. In the second case, Bellamy took full advantage of Rio’s sloppiness and Foster’s poor positioning for MC’s third equaliser. In my opinion, Rio was not match fit and Foster was quite nervous throughout in his first MU-MC derby. MU should get Manuel Neuer of Schalke 04 or Benaglio of Wolfsburg as replacements. As for Rio, he has been hampered with injuries of late and SAF should look into this as well and get a suitable defender to partner Vidic.
king Eric – haven’t you learned by now that i’m always right ?
I’m not making a judgement on this season only – at watford he conceeded against Robinson – robinson ffs ! – then after he came here, i saw him, he looked shaky and i thought to myself : Ok, he’s young, new, it will go away – then he started matches for us and I always noticed the same problem; clearances and crosses – it’s not even him being blunder prone that is much of a problem – cos sometimes you make blunders but most of the times you’re solid – but it’s his consistancy to fuck up crosses, to punches the shots what makes me nervous – and that’s a huuuuge gap in his abilities – you can have problem with crosses anywhere else but you can’t have them in england – even reina has it to an extent and that’s why i rate VDS over him – reina’s maybe even better shot stopper but he regularly fucks up a corner or a cross etc
it’s like foster’s never secure, solid,confident –
and it doesn’t make you fell confident having him there – you’re always on the edge of your chair – and that’s worse than making an occasional blunder – same goes for Brown at the CB spot – i’m always nervous seeing him near our area
you know what i like with VDS ? is that people are not even aware how good he is untill he’s missing – we don’t even remember all the thunderbolts he caught with ease, all the crosses he picked up easily like drinking the glass of water, all the tight clearancess he made untill you see foster doing it – he does it with grace ( VDS ) – of course he can make mistake too but most of the time you feel CONFIDENT having him there – that’s the main difference between the 2 – and i don’t think i’ll always feel confident having foster there
i don’t hold anything against the boy but I’m pissed because of all the people who’re trying to prove that he can be what we need – I dont’ think so …because we’re not barcelona to have the luxury to keep valdez as the GK – they can conceed 3 but they know that they will score 4 or 5 –
it’s not just foster.. it’s not that he’s crap i just think we need world class on that position more than we need on any other position if you know what i mean
we can’t wait for him to mature
two situation in 3 matches(i’m talking about crosses – Arsenal and Besiktas ) – add that Chelsea fuck up and at least one punch against City that I remember , that could have been easily caught, and ask yourself has he improved ?- it’s a pretty big ratio of mistakes in a small number of matches – remember who was to blame for that Sunderland equalizer last season ( when Macheda scored ) – who failed to deal with the cross that allowed jones to score ? i think that was maybe the last match he played for us before charity shield – so basically it proves that he hasn’t improved on that problem – maybe he’s improved on his positioning or something else, i dunno i havent’ noticed – but he hasn’t done anything to sort out or to improve on his biggest flaw
he IS an EPL quality ,no one denies that but that’s not to say he’s UTD quality
being solid for watford doesn’t mean you’re perfect for UTD
again people – please don’t say that VDS makes mistake coz VDS has already made a name for himself and had he been so shaky and unrelaible when being 26 he wouldnt be the VDS of today..besides everyone makes mistakes but it’s the least numbers of them that makes you a special goalie – and foster’s ratio is pretty big so far
he’s in howard league and that’s not enough
@CRooney i like your last line. He is in Howard’s league and if Howard was not enough, then Foster is too. Howard is only 30, he was sold to Everton when he was 27 if i’m not mistaken. And Foster is 26 now. This is last season for him to prove his credentials.
btw – i didn’t even want to read the entire article..as soon as i saw “good judgement when to punch and when to get a cross ” i stopped…ffs it’s his greatest flaw – he always punches it and when he doesn’t he drops it ( besiktas, arsenal ) – how about staying at his line against crouch – harry knew that i think, that’s why he played peter
Raj – What is up with Evans?
what ? he is due to play tomorrow —-with wes brown partnering him – grrrrrrrr
CROoney – No mate I meant to Raj, how come he doesn’t rate Evans as he said we need to buy someone to partner Vida!
I think everything what was to be said about Foster was said, and only time will tell us what will happen.
At the end of the day I went currently to page 2 of the blog played goal of Owen.
Incredible goal, watching it again made me think about the excitement it brought me during the game and that huge smile on my face seeing owen running in our shirt with number seven.
That moment was out of universe. Awsome.
Good night, and till next debate.
oh – i’d play evans anytime before wes ! let’s just wait and see in what he tunrs up – wes was highly rated CB too
*what he turns up into
Well put Scott. He has the talent. The key now is how he responds to – and learns from – mistakes. And the only way he will learn is by palying 1st team games.
come on djbcantona – teaching foster to deal with crosses is like teaching park to cross or to go past players – they are not young anymore in terms of teaching new stuff – sure he can gain confidence and stuff but it will always stay a massive hole in his abilities
king Eric – didn’t i tell you about Wes ! crappy blunder prone CB
i said on another article how i think wes is blunder prone crappy CB and a great RB
I think Ben was inexperience on first team football….
Hope Ben to work hards and gain more confidence.
Ben Foster is not good enough for Man U. Kuszczak is more reliable &consistent.For those saves Foster has made,others could do that as well.Just look at the stats,Foster is not even top 10 in the EPL..and for those mistakes he made..he’s among the worst keeper..stats wont lie..that always remind me the terrible mistake he made against Malaysia in the pre-season http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEgCM59JOqM (3:48)..really terrible..worse than the 1 against Man City.We need a world class goalie ASAP!
Sell him..we cannot take any more risk to “give him more time”…we are not Wigan or Fulham..we can’t afford to lose titles…his lacking of confidence will affect the the entire team’s spirit..also, he is slow (let’s be honest!)…even Howard was much better..I don’t know why Sir Alex still played him..I think Capello has seen enough..I know, he’s English…and I, as a United fan for many years since Gary Bailey was our goalkeeper, I always wanted Foster to do well and play for England in the World Cup 2010..but let’s be honest..he is just not good enough for Man United..what CROoney Said was right..and after I saw how he dealt with the Sunderland’s 2nd goal…that’s it…sell him!