Sadly this week
hasn’t done my ‘Clean Sheet’ blog too much justice, as leaking goals was the
order of the day. In the A-League, clean sheets were as scarce as recent Tasmanian
Tiger sightings. The Central Coast Mariners proved inconclusively that they are
again one of the teams to watch this season after netting a club record seven
goals on the back of a hat-trick by Daniel McBreen. The Swiss cheese like defence of Sydney FC
compounded a horrible night for Ivan Necevski who spent more time fishing the
ball from the back of the net than directing traffic from the six yard box.
Despite the pain of the huge defeat, a healthy group of faithful Sydney FC fans
who made their way up the F3, remained upbeat and positive by cheering and dancing
well into the final minutes of added time. Keeper Matt Ryan had a seemingly
more enjoyable night than Necevski, despite not adding to his healthy clean sheet
tally. Apart from the obvious defensive lapses, the A-League continues to
entertain the healthy crowds who welcome the theatrics that come with post goal
celebrations. Thankfully the clash between the Brisbane Roar and Adelaide
United finally delivered a clean sheet for the round. Eugene Galekovic’s
performance was nothing short of outstanding. His confidence in the box
continues to grow and the save from a crisp header by Erik Paartalu in the 53rd
minute earned plenty of praise from his manager John Kosmina. Rarely do the
stats lie, but in this case it displays the huge importance on converting
chances, and not simply dominating possession, field position and scoring
opportunities.
Brisbane managed
to dominate all measures across the park at Suncorp Stadium except for the one
that really matters....Goals
Here’s a quick wrap:
Goal Attempts:
(Brisbane 26 Adelaide 4)
Time in
Possession: (Brisbane 68% Adelaide 32%)
Corner Kicks:
(Brisbane 13 Adelaide 1)
Brisbane travel
to AAMI Park for Friday night’s game against Melbourne Heart and both teams
will be desperate to get back into some winning form and stay within reach of
the top four.
Melbourne
Victory’s keeper Nathan Coe looked for all money to have secured his team’s
first clean sheet of the season until a few defensive lapses and two late magic
strikes late by Jeremy Brockie, put a dampener on an otherwise successful
return to form for the club. Many pundits believe Brockie’s first effort is an
early contender for goal of the year.
The A-League’s
decision to schedule the match on Melbourne Cup eve also proved to be a
masterstroke with a very committed 20,683 fans passing through the turnstiles
at Etihad Stadium.
Round 10 of the
Barclays Premier League also delivered some ‘exciting’ Clean Sheet action.
Norwich City, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and a scoreless draw between West Ham
and title holders Manchester City proved that defence isn’t dead yet. The
Monday night game at the Hawthorns also handed West Bromwich Albion their fourth
clean sheet of the season over bottom dwellers Southampton.
As many of us
tune in to follow our team’s position on the ladder, their tilt for the title, or
simply avoiding the relegation zone, I find it rewarding to measure the success
of the often forgotten glove-men. However, the statistical success of a keeper
doesn’t always correlate with that of their team’s ultimate premiership
position. As it is always paramount to have a powerful and confident oozing
striker on your books, a hardened keeper signing can mean the difference
between staying up and fighting the slippery slope down to the Championship or
beyond.
Sadly Reading’s Adam
Federicci looks destined for an extended stint warming the bench over the
winter after an impressive display by Alex McCarthy. Aston Villa’s Brad Guzan’s
courage can never be questioned after a mighty save and subsequent kick to the
hand from Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher helped keep Villa narrowly above the
relegation zone. Guzan has been a shining light for Villa this season and
restored the faith that Paul Lambert has shown in re-signing the US keeper this
year. In coming weeks I will try and provide some detailed analysis on what
stats increase the value of the keepers in the top flight.
The keepers who
have played in all 10 fixtures this season, it’s not surprising to see the
likes of Petr Cech (Chelsea), Joe Hart (Manchester City), and Ben Foster (West
Bromwich Albion) dominating the table with the most recorded wins. Czech stands
on top of the league with Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham) and Asmir Begovic
(Stoke City) also recording an impressive four clean sheet tally for their
respective clubs.
This brings me to
the all important “Keeper-Clanger” of the week. In a forgettable night for
Sydney FC’s Ivan Necevski, his unfortunate effort in the 29th minute
secured the prize. After looking like he snared a crisp shot from Tomas Rogic, he
coughed up the ball up only to watch on and witness a rather comical own goal
by teammate Sebastian Ryall. Hopefully Ivan has a change of fortune this
weekend as they host Melbourne Victory on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium.
My Goalkeeper
quote of the week and one that EVERY Keeper can sympathise with:
“Every goal at that level is like a knife in the ribs.”
(The great England keeper Gordon Banks)
For now it’s neck
and neck in the battle for the A-League ‘Clean Sheet’ title, with Eugene
Galekovic joining Matt Ryan on three clean sheets after five rounds.
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