Season review: De Vries replaces Darlow at season end

With Karl Darlow struggling at the end of the season after some great performances putting him on the radar of scouts and England coaching staff, the move to have Dorus de Vries back in between the posts, seemed sensible rather than a point of negativity towards Darlow. Too many times have young talents been burnt out and managing their development can be pretty tricky. Just as John Gibson was pulled in favour of Jonas Hiller in the final game of their playoff series against LA, it allowed Darlow to get some headspace to recover from this major losses. A goalie tandem between mature veteran and upcoming youngster is seeming often missing in British football, and helped Darlow from imploding; confidence issues are major for a goalkeeper as success in goalkeeping comes from the core of self confidence. He can use the break to rest, re-tune and be back at his best in September.

Hamer takes over from Thuram

With Charlton, managing to climb off the bottom of the Championship league table, a lot can be said of the change 'between the sticks'. Ben Hamer has been given his chance, playing with a lot more desire, energy and urgency in his play than the Frenchman who came in to replace him at the January transfer window.

After Hamer impressed in Charlton's cup run and forcing his way back into league play, the question still remains why Thuram was brought over in the first place. Obviously Charlton's new owners had a vested interest in getting him game time as they hoped to see him takeover as first choice for his main side across the sea, in Belgium in the next new season in September, allowing Thuram to get more games under his belt and develop. But he has really struggled with the rigors of British football.

Noted for being a lot more physical in corners and on attacks, Thuram struggled with crosses and the language barrier could also have been an issue (maybe?!! Especially with communicating what he wanted from his defence anyway). This, and his constant approach to palming away the ball than catching, not so skilfully as Cesar (in his time at QPR last season) is capable of.

And he has also struggled with the back-pass ruling and the involvement of the goalkeeper in passing play and as a passing option, scuffing up a back pass from a defender, allowing a scoring chance that nearly had coaching staff and fans diving to cover their embarrassed faces in their hands. These things combined meant that Thuram was costing his team rather than offering them a chance to fight back in games and up the table, again leaving critics scratching their heads over why he was given playing time when it was actually more of a disadvantage than an advantage for his team mates and his new club.

So with Hamer reasserting himself, will Charlton fans actually miss Thuram (in the expected return abroad over the summer), especially considering Hamer is doing a better job as their first choice goalkeeper right now?

Hammers phasing out Jussi

Going into this season, there were going to be question marks surrounding Jussi Jaaskelainen and his ability to "come up with the goods" each game having reached the ripe age of 38. And playing a more reactive goalkeeping style that sees him sit deeper in his area, closer to the line, and use his reaction speeds and athleticism to deal with shots, a sure sign of beginning to lose his capabilities. And without developing or adapting his approach to make up for these difference makers, such as attacking shots through an active depth stepping out to compensate etc. things were going to come to a head in terms of goalkeeper selection. And with Adrian now taking over, it looks like Jussi's days in the limelight will soon be over, relegated to cup games, although he could still play on somewhere, just potentially not in the Premier League, especially with so many teams locked up in their goalkeeping departments.

Adrian signed in the summer window from La Liga side Real Betis, on a free, saving the East LANDAN side a bit of goalkeeping depth and cover, with more upside if things didn't work out, unlike United's failed deals which cost them financially and in game points (early on after Schmeichel's retirement as well as recent ones). The deal itself was a bit of a surprise, so he must have done something to catch the scouts' attention, with Adrian only making his debut with the Andalusians last season at the age of 25, having only truly represented the B team before then. With Big Sam's wheeler dealing win the vein of Harry Redknapp (though he's not normally as good at it as Arry, although it looks like he hasn't signed a Gomes, although the Brazilian's problems were more down to psychology than talent, with the ability to be truly world class at times, but alas!), West Ham may have actually done themselves a big favour signing a future starter on such a small fee.

Jussi is a curious case in terms of playing career, a lot like Shay Given, a goalkeeper who in his prime was one of the best goalkeepers in the EPL with his play in possibly the top three goalies at the time, a real elite goalkeeper, but was let down by club loyalty and not moving at the right time in his career, which would otherwise have seen him potentially earn silverware and more credibility. As you can see here:

And both played internationally and stole points for their teams in their eras of ability. Jussi has said he wants to carry on playing into his 40's but in what capacity this will be, is a bit of guesswork.

But he has bucket loads of experience whereas Adrian just plain and simple doesn't: a huge indicator in goalkeeping often: in relation to confidence, dealing with losses and pressure, and being consistent for every game in a season. And this showed tremendously just weeks ago. The more aware a goalkeeper is of expected shots thanks to learning from previous mistakes and years playing in a league with pace and ability, Jussi was able to keep the score line down more so than his competitor Adrian against Chelsea in the cup. Halving the deficit allowed in the first game from six to three in his own game is a reflection of this. And you could argue that Big Sam is better sticking with this level of ability for now.

But his new choice is starting to get comfortable with being the "go to guy" for his new team. And Adrian has been sharp off his line, confidently coming out to intercept and collect on through balls at the top of the box, which is needed to shut down scoring chances and attributed to his clean sheet today. His shot stopping is also getting properly worked, making some key stops of late, and for now is proving himself to a be a steal.