Who Should be England’s Next Goalkeeper?
Paul Robinson’s crucifixation has started again, and combined with ‘that goal’ in the Croatia game as well as the short term memory of the press hacks calling for the recall of David James - these people seem to have forgotten that they hounded David James out the same way and for the same reasons that they’re chasing Robinson out right now.
I’ve said for some time that Robinson does not command his box as well as other top keepers and his decision-making is lacking at times - so I’m not surprised to see him under pressure. What I am surprised to see is the fact that McClaren is thinking of recalling David James (as he gave him 45 minutes against Germany - which would otherwise have gone to Carson). Sure, he’s experienced but then isn’t Steve McClaren supposed to experienced as well? Has he forgotten why James got the boot in the first place?
I like David James as a person but he’s not the smartest bloke on the field and when you’re the keeper this can cost your team quite a bit.
Who can replace Paul Robinson then? I’ve already talked about David James but we also have four more names available to us: Robert Green, Scott Carson, Ben Foster and Chris Kirkland.
At this point Ben Foster is injured and out till December, but he’s the most likely of the four to be the long-term successor for Paul Robinson. Chris Kirkland has been out of favour for a while because of his injury problems and for my money it should be Green, Kirkland and Carson duking it out for the England #1 shirt, not David James. He’s had his time, he somewhat blew it and now if we’re going to recall him it will cut out the opportunities of younger and possibly better keepers.
The thing working against Kirkland and Carson at this point is their lack of international experience (which makes Jamo’s case stronger and might just keep Robinson in his place). Green has had more time to play in the league and could be a safer bet but I doubt that McClaren looks at Green as a long term option.
As an England fan, I’d prefer giving a fresh player a shot at the jersey - and it might be a good idea to give Green, Carson or Kirkland the jersey and let them have a run with it during the qualifiers. The hard reality is that despite his experience James has been underwhelming as England keeper and Robinson has clear flaws in his game that haven’t improved in the last two years.
If McClaren isn’t going to pick Green / Carson / Kirkland, then it makes absolutely no sense to drop Robinson based on ‘that’ goal - it was a culmination of defensive errors and Robinson got caught out when he could have been better protected by his midfielders and defenders. Like Wenger said, you don’t banish keepers on one or two mistakes, and Robinson overall has been reliable and has suffered some criticism because of the mistakes of the players in front of him.
It’s hard for me to say much against James but Robinson hasn’t done enough to deserve being sacked (unless McClaren thinks he sucks, which I doubt he does) and in any case, there are more players who are both deserving AND potentially more reliable than David James.
I also think that the main reason McClaren would hesitate to pick anyone other than Robinson or James at this point is because he sees Ben Foster as the future England #1 and because he’s gone with the ‘experience’ theme because in his view it’s the best bet to qualify for Euro 2008 (and save his own job). If his initial experiments had gone well with England we might have seen a more adventurous Steve McClaren but the one we have now is conservative and fearful of trying out new things. Which could be good, in some cases (3-5-2 in Croatia) but bad in others (moving Richards to center-back at half-time against Germany and not adapting to the match situation which warranted that Richards continue playing at right-back).
What do you guys think? Should Robinson be replaced? And if so, with whom?
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Robinson is honestly the case of the keeper that ate one to many pies, a horrid horrid keeper. Take a look at Green..in the ending of the season he more than sealed his place as first team keeper during that extremely exciting match between West Ham vs Spurs, If I Mclown I would be calling up Green/James/Carson in that order. Either that or buy an american keeper I cant count how many quality keepers we have:)
Robinson has to be replaced..!! there is no way we could win anything with him in goal (sorry paul) James is the only other keeper who has any experience and McClaren needs to address this, if James or Nobinson got injured we have no tested back up, personally I think Kirkland isn’t worth the risk because he’ll just get injured again, Rob Green is purely just average only gets mentioned because he is English, Foster out injured and but should figure as a 3rd goalkeeper in the squad when he is back so one day we actually have to reasonable cover with a bit of experience, Scot Carson looks like the best option to me to replace Nobinson and start gaining experience also been managed by O’Niel he learn alot this season
foster, but he’s injured so between carson and green.
One man Ahmed, Ben Foster! Next United and England number 1
Well for a change i have to agree with you Ahmed, its too soon to drop Robinson with important qualifiers coming up as you need familiarity between your defenders and goalkeepers more than any in any other part of the team and its stupid to resort to another error prone goalkeeper in David James as a second option.
The problem England has is that the two best alternatives imo are Carson and Foster, their both good keepers who need more experience but the sooner they are playing in the team the better it will be in the long run for England. I can’t understand why Carson wasn’t given the second half against Germany, its one thing to not play him because of a lack in experience but it was a friendly, how are players going to get experience when they are ignored for the so called safety of playing keepers who have already been there and failed to make the grade.
The sooner England get a manager who is willing to blood up and coming players rather than fall back on the easy option the better it will be for England. Yes they’ll make a few mistakes but they will at least have time on their hands to learn from them.
Having first seen Chris Kirkland playing for the Coventry City youth team, I’ve no doubt that whilst he is fit he should be England’s first choice shot-stopper. The guy is an all round natural, and commands the box better than most keepers I’ve seen. Sure, you take a risk with him picking up an injury sometime down the line, but you could say the same of Rooney, Owen, Woodgate, Bridges - and when fit they are all considered likely picks.
I really don’t think now is the time to be switching keepers though. Robinson might not be the most inspiring choice, but he is the current incumbant and I think it would be an unsettling influence on the team as a whole to replace an established member of the team with someone who was either A - previously regarded to be not good enough or B - A (relative) youngster lacking much international experience.
I don’t think Green has anymore to his game than Robinson, and you could hardly argue that he is a more athletic specimen than Robinson. Foster could well be the most likely prospect, but that will depend mostly on how he features in SAF’s plans.
Great to see that two kids from Coventry (Kirkland and Foster) are in consideration though!
Foster or Carson, both are good, developing keepers.
Not sure which one should be the no.1, but at least England aren’t stuck for choice.
It is time Chris Kirkland step up to the fore, he is as a good a choice as any for England right now.
What has McClaren got to lose anyway, he is not as if he is winning games, so if it is still going to end up in defeat, why not let another guy have a shot?
Ben Foster or Green, There currently better than Robinson in my opinion, Foster considiring he played for Watford did extremely well, even though they finished bottom of the EPL last season.
Defintly, Foster will be England No.1 and United’s too in a few seasons…I think Foster is the only thing that England should be looking forward to, There current and Under-21 sides are both shit, considiring the players they have.
No Offence England, But 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups should be telling times for the Three-Lions.
ben foster drop nobinson was never good ……..
robby green or kasper schimcel.
schimcel aint english.
he hasn’t decided which country he’ll play for yet, and he can pick England if he wants to.
The height could be an issue, but he looks reliable as it is.
personally ive seen robinson from the day he left Leeds to Spurs and always thought he was a good keeper, maybe some mistakes however you name a keeper that dosn’t make a mistake? no point bringing James in as it will just ruin everything for the younger players, we get him in why not bring back David Seaman and Nigel Martin? About the younger keepers Foster is the future, but lets try another younger keeper thats reliable = Carson, kirkland’s injuries are too frequent so whats the point if he played in the qualifieres, we get through and he’s injured for the main comp? Never rated or seen Green so no comment on him:
Stick with Robo or bring in Carson
its gotta be james robinson is crap he shouldnt he even be sub keeper
Drop robonson; he is an average keeper at best and will never ever be world-class; which Foster, on the other hand, has definitely got the potential to be. Kirkland should be given a chance some time, and Green and Carson are pretty decent backups. And even though i know the british public are xenophobic on the whole, there is no harm in looking at potential naturalised english players, as the likes of Almunia and Carlo Cudicini (remember him?!) could well be eligible to turn out for the Three Lions in the not too distant future.
robbo green cause hes beeen doin mint this season for da mighty hammers all them shots he saves but he has not had enough experience but u should give him a chane to see how he goes but if he dunt do any good u should put david james cause hes a mint keeper so its out of them 2 but greens better so try green carsons crap be fosers crap so robbo green or james
robbo green cause hes beeen doin mint this season for da mighty hammers all them shots he saves but he has not had enough experience but u should give him a chane to see how he goes but if he dunt do any good u should put david james cause hes a mint keeper so its out of them 2 but greens better so try green carsons crap be fosers crap so robbo green or james lol lmaoo