It might be that I'm just angry about the result, but Almunia professionalism today was embarrassing. Had it been the first time he had thrown his toys out of the pram when he made a mistake i'd forgive him, but he did this last season and then went on to be injured for weeks afterwards. The man needs to take responsibility, if he was not feeling well he shouldn't of been playing, to just decided he feels sick after making a mistake is very childish.
I reckon the 'ill' thing is a lie. Similar to Cassetti going off 'injured' at HT against Brighton at home last year.
I hope Bond gets a good run in the side now. One bonus is that we won't have a captain playing in goal.
Well I think that Almunia apart from Lesta and today has been pretty good this season. Before his error today he was well clattered
You have to stand by the keeper. He's been brilliant for us since he joined, although I do admit he's made some poor mistakes recently. He even got away with one against Wigan, which squirmed through his grasp but was disallowed. He also did that against Doncaster and of course that mistake against Leicester......but I cannot think of too many other mistakes he's made. The free kick that he misjudged against Wolves at home last season and there's probably a couple of other things but not many. He's made plenty of match winning saves and is massively in credit overall. Just because he's made a few errors recently doesn't mean that he's not up to the job anymore. Look at Joe Hart....loads of mistakes, but will come through it I'm sure.....and he's the best in England.
Almunia is a great keeper. You can't say he isn't. But, I do think in recent matches it appears he is getting sloppy - Turning off at the worst time. If he is ill, then it would be worth letting Bond get a few games in, so that Almunia is fully fit before playing again.
Bond deserves his chance. Very acrobatic, his save against Blackpool at home last year was amazing, if that was Almunia he would of watched that go in or wouldn't of reached it. Great shot stopper sometimes Almunia, but not as acrobatic and as quick as Bond. I feel this should be the last season for Manu, great keeper though. 'Knockaert takes Almunia saves Knockaert follows in Almunia saves again!'
There is no doubt that Almunia is a good keeper but I strongly disagree that you HAVE to stand by him. Almunia is coming to the end of his career and if we did go up I don't think realistically he could hack it now in the Premier. Bond has to date demonstrated his ability at this level and as long as he progresses he is the FUTURE? At some stage he has to be given a chance of an extended run to see if he is Premiership material. I believe now is the time to find out. Although I appreciate that I am probably in the minority on here, I remain of the opinion that a goalkeeper should never be captain of a team however good they are. If we had a good leader on the pitch this might improve our overall organisation and performance. Who that should be I have no idea but if and when Abdi comes back then he might be the person or Deeney but that would be a big gamble. Almunia's criticism of Vydra on the training ground last season (whether or not is was justified) should have been kept in house and may well have been a contributing factor to him not coming back.
Really? In his absences from the team Bond's reputation and hype seems to grow and grow. 1 clean sheet in 8 at this level last year hardly indicates ability beyond his years. I have him chalked down as a pretty ordinary prospect although clearly with goalkeepers time is on their side. I have no problem with people being optimistic about his prospects and he may well turn out to be more than capable but for now he is a significant unknown to throw into the equation. If Almunia isn't up to it we need to source an experienced goalkeeper from elsewhere.
Yep. pretty sure that is germain to the issue. not a big fan keeper skippers though, someone else should be given the job IMO.
He's rescued us more times with fantastic saves than he's ****ed us with **** like today. (With exception from this season where the team has been so **** that he has nothing to rescue us from).
At the end of the day the experienced club captain having a breakdown has to be a sign to change the manager
Almunia should replace Zola as manager. Two birds, one stone dropped through the legs for Beckford to score.
I know Almunia has made some mistakes recently, though you can't say he hasn't pulled of some match-winning saves throughout his time here. Play-off Semi-Final Leg 2?
I wonder if its down to a lack of concentration - like the Leicester kick in the face goal. Was Alumina thinking about what to do with the ball and lost focus? It was a bit unfortunate of the 3 players around him it was Beckford who reacted faster. The Bolton goalie did the say and their defence got it away..
Almunia has always been prone to errors. He wouldn't be in the Championship playing for us if he wasn't as the rest of his game is PL quality in my opinion.
With regard to your assessment of Bond's ability I would suggest that you let the England set up know. Your expert knowledge would be valuable and save them wasting their time calling up such an average prospect. Your criticism of Bond's lack of clean sheets is strange bearing in mind that Almunia has had only two in fifteen games this season.
It's a personal opinion based on what I've seen of him so far - however if you look through a list of England U21 goalkeepers in say the last 10 years I wouldn't say that's necessarily a guarantee of future promise.
Almunia has been excellent for us and in our current form we need his experience. Each time I've seen Bond his shot stopping is good but if it wasn't he wouldn't be a keeper! His command of the penalty area is not so good but will get better hopefully with experience. Almunia made a horrific error today but it's not his fault we did diddly squat after that
The question is does being guaranteed a starting spot every match breed a degree of complacency ? Even if it is not a conscious action on the part of the player ? Hart does not have any real competition although Pantilimon is a pretty decent keeper and having watched Argentina Romero from being a fine prospect makes calamitous errors all the time but keeps on getting picked. Almunia has made great saves this season and last and a keeper is always under the microscope. His mistakes are magnified and examined far more than any other player on a pitch but I don't think there would be any harm in letting Bond have a go although his distribution skills need work.
This is my concern. While Bond's shot stopping skills are unquestionable, a goalkeeper's responsibilities don't end there.
We say that Bond's distribution skills are lacking, but so are Manny's at the moment. Kicking the ball into Chris Wood's stupid face, for example. We also say that Bond doesn't command his area very well. The lack of communication between Manny and Angella this season has been incredible. Almost every game there has been some sort of mix up between them. I think Almunia's a great keeper at this level but Bond has waited patiently, taken his chances when he's been given them and I think he deserves another go now. How is he supposed to improve on his weak points if he's not getting game time?
Look - you have no more idea (other than a typical over reliance in statistics) than anyone else as to whether Bond is the answer or not. However some things can be said with some certainty - Almunia won't be with us next year - Bond has a zillion year long contract so he will be - We will never know if Bond is over hyped, average or brilliant all the time he sits on the bench - Almunia has form when it comes to mega f uck ups and in my mind makes no more than his fair share of point saving saves - We have no one else and right now. I wonder what Almunia has to do to get dropped - and what Bond has to do to get a chance If we ever do go up - I would not want Almunia between the sticks so why is he good enough now?
If we go up he won't be good enough but currently we are in the championship and he is good enough for this level. Strange question
Yup - both not perfect but am happy with either. Almunia has saved us many points but prone to the odd f..k up. Team not playing well highlights his mistakes. Bond is young and still learning. Both are average with distribution imo and needs more work. But overall am happy with either. BUT, if keeper not 100%, play the other and don't take risks. A mistake by Zola to let Manny play?
A few weeks ago Zola said players would start being dropped if they continued to make individual mistakes. Alumina has now gifted the opposition goals in the last two home games - but Zola says he will play next week if fit. Ludicrous.
The game on Saturday was probably his worst 45 minutes he's played since he's been at the club, and if that form continued for several games, then of course you'd have to look at changing the keeper. I'm very impressed with Bond and he is Watford's future number one. I very much doubt Almunia will be with us next season, so Bond will get his chance sooner rather than later. But Almunia does other things so well that it's taken for granted. His decision making is first class as is his one-on-one shot saving ratio and taking of high crosses. Because he does this so well it's not even thought about. It's unfortunate yesterday's fumble was the only goal of the game and was costly. The team should have bailed him out with a couple of goals at the other end but didn't, so it makes the error seem even worse. For me, Almunia has to have quite a few more bad games, before I would even consider dropping him.
If Zola says Almunia wasn't well yesterday I'm willing to take that at face value. I think he has been largely excellent for us for the last season and a bit.
The main reason I'd drop Manuel is so's we don't have the captain in goal. We need a proper Eustace type, but I can't think who that would be of our current squad. Nozza maybe? But if Zola keeps chopping and changing not just the back 3 but just about the whole team, how can a captain get established? edit One-size would also be good if he could manage more than 2 games in a row.
