Good interview with Ben Foster in the Telegraph today: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/08/08/ben-foster-excited-psychology-wattbikes-3pm-buzz/ Talks about his motivations, trying to beat Deeney on the bike in the gym and why he left West Brom.
"Well I was relegated last time I played for this shower of ***** so I expected nothing less. Anyway I can re-sign for WBA now given they have bounced back up. Though i believe Gino is asking for £25m for me"
It’s hard to dislike Foster. Similar to Troy in that he comes across as very open and honest but without that sort of cocky, ‘big man’ swagger Troy exudes - whether intentionally or not.
So glad Big ben is back as I have always been a big fan of his. HG has been a great servant for our club but alas he is now in the twilight of his career whereas Ben has probably got 2 or 3 years left at the top of his game, which should be just enough time to bring Dahlberg through as his eventual long term replacement.
Thought he brought a calmness to the defence, some accurate kicking and like simple bowling of the ball out to the free defender, good to have him back.
Yep never looked unduly flustered on Saturday, but then I think we could have stuck a lamppost in goal on Saturday and there is a decent chance it would have kept a clean sheet. His kicking is much improved on what Gomes offers, and we appear to be much happier to play the ball long from Foster than we have done from Gomes in recent years. His kicks should allow us to develop counter attacking opportunities more easily.
It was a breath of fresh air to have a keeper that didn't roll the ball out to an under-pressure defender who didn't really want it. With Deeney up top its actually more likely we'll keep the ball!
Deeeney will benefit from him immensely. A flatter goal kick means Troy has to outmuscle rather than outjump his marker The ball to Gray in the first half as well was obviously something they worked on.
That Foster kick to Gray in the first half was straight out of the Aidy Boothroyd tactic book. All that was missing was the goal, Andre Gray tapping his temple at the fans and then going on to be arrested for attacking a woman in a nightclub. One third of the way there already.
Not hugely impressed with his performances in either of the first two games I have to say, although he's not been hugely called upon. Failed to come for a cross that ought to have been his, leading to conceding today. Also dropped one at the end of the 1st half, but got away with it. Some poor distribution too - including straight out into touch, which always annoys me. Competent enough in catching quite a few ballooned crosses in both games, but there's not a keeper in the top four divisions who couldn't have dealt comfortably with those. I'd like to see H back between the sticks for a while personally, but I don't want to damage Foster's confidence by dropping him.
I'm not convinced he'd have got to the corner to stop Tarkowski scoring today, even if he hadn't have been blocked by the tussle in front of him. It was hardly a gimme. And he performed perfectly well against Brighton, including very useful distribution time and time again. His compass was off today for sure but keepers are like that sometimes.
Clive, whilst you are a prominent, popular & distinctive member of our forum community, I am surprised that your remit extends to picking the team. Unless of course...
Nothing wrong with Gomes, but niether is there anything wrong with Foster. Just be thankful we have two good GK's with a third coming them behind them, in young Dahlberg (spelling?)
as As much as Foster hasn't been at his best, I think this is incredibly short sited. Gomes is notorious for coming and flapping at corners and crosses. Fosters distribution is far better than what Gomes has to offer and is part of the reason we have looked so impressive on the counter attack in both games. The only thing Gomes excels in is his ability to pull of saves that are in the top corners, Foster is a good enough shot stopper and far outweighs Gomes ability in all other areas. Also Foster isn't notorious for his shocking errors that we have all witnessed Gomes have.
I'm not crystal clear what's going on here but I have a vivid imagination & find this quite upsetting.
Even with his distribution being a little off yesterday in terms of its accuracy, the fact that he can launch it such a long way is huge for us. If we don’t win the ball, we have the opportunity to win the ball back much higher up the pitch than if Gomes was playing. Several times yesterday we didn’t win the ball, but our pressing forced them to go long and try to hit Barnes, who was quickly pressured/isolated because the ball came from deep.
I have seen my typo, but to late because of the new time limit on editing a post, so I was unable to correct it.
If this is reported correctly, I'm not sure Ben was making the wisest comments. Tempting fate & a tad disrespectful. I know we play a long ball game but I didn't realise it was 80m! More insight into a happy dressing room. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45402149
He was asked a question and gave a straight answer. Nothing disrespectful about it that I can see. They're from the same generation of goalkeepers too, so Foster can legitimately reflect on how things have changed.
Should Ben be getting a recall by Southgate after recent displays? Surely a better choice then Pickford at the moment.