Winter warmers (part 1): inner gloves

Staying warm in winter
Tip 1: inner gloves

If you're managing to get a game in the windswept, waterlogged areas of the UK, then there might be a few options to keep your hands from getting chilly and freezing over themselves! A pair of cold hands is no good for getting a good grip or catching shape and even though you might not be expecting to get frostbite, so it's a good idea to work out a quick and easy way of keeping them warm! One easy way to keep your hands and fingers warm, is to wear inner gloves. Just like those outfielders wearing them in the nippy weather, you should be able to get hold of a pair of them quite easily.

With your hands warm, you should be able to make a strong catch when the ball does come your way, as you won't be struggling to move a pair of cold hands in the ball's direction or have trouble getting a grip on the ball. A good idea for making sure you keep your hands warm (for preventing injury/stopping an injury being worse than needed! And for making strong catches as mentioned), you could either get a pair of tight fitting gloves that shouldn't interfere with your goalie gloves or try and find a slightly larger size of goalie gloves that will fit when worn over the inner gloves. Worn under your goalkeeping gloves (i.e. put on before you put your goalie gloves on!) they should be useful for keeping the cold away from your fingers and help you get a good catch; more important than anything in slippy and windy playing conditions!!

Speroni still Pulis' first choice

Even with the signing of Hennessey and the talk over a goalkeeper change-up at Palace, Pulis seems to be sticking with veteran Speroni for now, with the decision paying dividends as Palace move up the table with a win against West Brom this weekend. Pulis will be concentrating on a defence heavy, defence-first approach, as seems to be his 'style', with this disciplined focus central to his successes at Stoke. This can often favour a goalkeeper as they are less exposed, in constant communication with their defensive line (helping with staying alert themselves), and know what is expected of their role in this system. Making the most of Speroni's experience and wise head on strong shoulders, Palace should be able to continue onwards and upwards and maintain their Premiership place as other teams slide down back to the league from whence they came! 

Long left on bench in cup game

Considering that George Long was the main reason Sheffield were able to take the game back to Fulham in the FA Cup round (link), it was a little strange to see him get dropped for the second game where the team were able to come away winners this time thanks to an overtime goal. Fulham seemed to be playing their 2nd XI anyway, a reflection of coaching decisions match wise and commitments, not wanting to injure/wear out players for what is now going to be an all-out approach to point getting considering Fulham are on their way to relegation right now.

But aside from that, George's play has been raising eyebrows over the course of the last two seasons having taken over as first choice at the age of 19. Enough to get England scouts interested, with him getting his chance to show his mettle with England U21's. Not mind blowing to the extent of Ter Stegen, it still confirms that there is talent in goal in England (there's hope thank God!) and the age barrier is starting to prove itself breakable with talent, confidence and a wise head on strong shoulders (i.e. dealing with adversity, the ups and downs of goalkeeping life etc.). And in Sheffield's own relegation his performances have not exactly been able to do anything to impact a downward slide of a team effort.

I don't think Long is suffering from "sophomore slump" as young goalies do, it's just that the team ahead of him are struggling, more mind over matter. But to see him dropped was quite something considering how well he was been playing for them to get this far in the FA cup run (who knows where it could end up?!). So hopefully it's just to keep him fresh for the weekend; considering how little his replacement had to do I can't see why it was an issue, although the responsibility and pressure zone could have meant his coach wanted to go with a more experienced goalkeeper, and if there were any calamities, George wouldn't have to be held up for them.

Pulis sticking with Speroni for now

So as it turns out, making assumptions makes an ... out of me, especially when it comes to sports writing. Going by the info for projected starters available, Hennessey was supposed to be going straight into action for Palace. But for now Speroni is still top dog between the sticks at Selhurst Park. Palace managed to hold Arsenal for the first half, keeping things scoreless until the second half, showing strong discipline in maintaining defense. Proving that Palace need more scoring opportunities created rather than worrying over their defense, given Arsenal's tallies against teams so far this season. Over the longer short term it will be interesting to see if Hennessey gets the chance to fight for playing opportunities, is simply given them, or if Pulis continues with Speroni.

Hennessey signs with Palace but was Pulis right?

With the January transfer window now closed, the main goalkeeper transfer to discuss is that of Wayne Hennessey signing with Crystal Palace. With Pulis taking over the helm at the South London club, there were hints that a goalkeeper would be on the way. Added to when Hennessey refused to play, which would have affected his playing chances (cup games etc.) otherwise; a clear indication of him wanting to push through a transfer request. Pulis is said to want a younger, taller goalkeeper: Hennessey is 6 foot 6, fitting the bill of the current English agents wish list (which is not a true indicator of ability, but I'll take the time to bitch about that some other time). Which makes him 5 feet taller than Speroni. And Hennessey has the advantage of international experience and playing time, which Speroni doesn't, although why he never got much consideration from Argentinian selectors is beyond me.

Ironically why Butland wasn't an option, is unknown, with Pulis' Stoke connections and availability. Butland's need for first team football (which is better than benching if he honestly want to improve) is crucial if he wants to go places at this point in his career, and if he wants to get on that plane to , but that's moving away from this write-up! He also has great upside; he is young, up for it, wants to prove himself and plays with an intensity unmatched in the Prem atm, with his desire on show in his athleticism and triple save making attempts when handed the chance to play for Stoke.

So Pulis is left with this: a steady, consistent goalkeeper who he can trust, and a goalkeeper of international quality, but incredibly rusty and questions over his ability. Not to say that it is impossible (I think impossible's nothing, although will probably get laughed at for saying so!), but this is season defining for Palace, and career defining for the players in question. If Hennessey messes up Palace are affected and Pulis has messed up in choosing him over Speroni without even "bedding him in" so that Hennessey gets comfortable, which is incredibly important for confidence; the essential part to goalkeeping.

It's a harsh blow on Speroni who has shown loyalty and dedication to help Palace climb back into the Premiership, as well the ability shown in his performances this season, where other than pulling off some cracking saves such as against Tottenham in the first few minutes in his first game of the season when it really mattered as they could have taken the crucial lead so early, he has not been at fault in his displays so far this season. So Hennessey going straight in for the match against Arsenal today and in fairness is not the way AVB handled Lloris and is unfair on Speroni because he has no reason to do so playing wise. Pulis is being cut throat, he wants results straight away: Palace need points to stay up, but can he be certain he'll get them? Hennessey has recovered from major surgery and not seen playing time behind Ikeme, whilst being out of the speed and power of the Premier league for quite a while, versus Speroni being "up to speed" with everything.

Pulis wants immediate results and also needs to balance planning for the future. And if they do, he needs a Premier League standard goalkeeper that can be more than consistent at this level, but one of the best in the league, so they can progress up the table: see Krul and Vorm as examples. With this in mind, it's easy to see how the deal was made at a crucial time like this. Speroni will soon be a free agent and going the other side of 30 at 34, so it's easy to deal with this now than wait and see and get someone in over the summer.

But take this into consideration: has Hennessey still got it? If he cannot produce the results Pulis wants, then he'll be out the door as well. If Palace want to go up the table, then yes, then need a star in goal, but for now they need to focus on continuing their good run of form. 

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.

A fresh start

Giving that I have had a bit more practise in the arena of sports writing, and have started offering analysis and punditry on the elite goalkeepers in the beloved game, I'm going to restart the blog and make more of an effort to provide thoughts, analysis, tips and ideas on my favourite position: the goalie! Seeing as there is so little out there focused on the specialist position of goalkeeper even in one of the most mainstream sports of football, and if there is, it is not as frequent as the fast paced world of online sports journalism we have come to know, I may as well see what I can do to fill that gap and tap the market that so many are looking for, from the goalie's perspective, to learn and share ideas about one of the hardest, pressure point positions within all sport. Onwards and upwards!