Steffen

Flapped all night.
and it was never a foul to disallow gayles 'goal'
Can't find a clip of it, but Dwight Gayle's elbow connected with Steffens face just before he tried to catch the ball. It was 100% a foul and Dwight Gayle's reaction told the story. He went over to check on Steffen and apologise rather than complain to the ref.

I was also 10 foot from the foul at QPR, if an attacking player puts his hands on the GK to impede him then it's a foul, it's a truism as old as football.

I'm not saying Zack hasn't made any mistakes, he has, I'm not saying that he isn't being targeted, he is, but he isn't being given the level of referee protection he should for some strange reason.

On a positive note, he's a good shot stopper and great at distribution which is important to the way we play.
 
Worn gegs since i was 8.
That wasnt a foul - he flapped and landed on Gayle.
watch it again, clear as day, Gayle's elbow is in Steffens face. Get yourself booked in for an eye test you shouldn't be wearing the same glasses you were when you were 8
 
Following QPR it was clear teams would target him on crosses, this is a worry. He's a big lad but almost doesn't seem to know how to use his physicality (if that makes sense?)

Shot stopping looks good and his distribution second half was exceptional.

Not sure he's a great communicator though either?
 
Definitely a foul last night, Gayle's arm went right across his face. but I'm afraid the QPR incident was powder puff. He needs to Champo up and quick, this isn't a Prem game at the etihad. He also needs to learn how to turn a ball around the post rather than serve it up for a tap in.
 
Definitely a foul last night, Gayle's arm went right across his face. but I'm afraid the QPR incident was powder puff.
But hasn't it always been a case of you can't put hands on the keeper? The player that grabbed his shoulder wasn't challenging for the ball and if it wasn't a foul then why did he grab him? It might be soft, but by the rules, standards and ethics of the game it was a foul. It takes very little contact to make a keeper drop the ball, or miss it completely, bit with enormous consequences to the result. That is why fouls on the keeper are held to a totally different standard to everyone else.
 
A foul in today's game by Gayle, but still soft from Steffen to still not catch it. I think he's incredibly weak on anything pumped high into the box. Made a great save on Sunday and at QPR, negated by being weak from the subsequent corner. Seems to be in the side for his ability to play out from the back - an upgrade on Lumley (not much from what I have seen so far and we must be contributing a fair wage to him), haven't seen Roberts play yet - wonder if he might be a better bet!
 
But hasn't it always been a case of you can't put hands on the keeper? The player that grabbed his shoulder wasn't challenging for the ball and if it wasn't a foul then why did he grab him? It might be soft, but by the rules, standards and ethics of the game it was a foul. It takes very little contact to make a keeper drop the ball, or miss it completely, bit with enormous consequences to the result. That is why fouls on the keeper are held to a totally different standard to everyone else.
My point is 9/10 keepers in this division would not have fallen over, and therefore not have conceded that goal. It's not like this is the only incident, teams are clearly targeting him. That tells us there is a reason to do so. He needs to toughen up imo.
 
We need another Dimi. How hard can it be to find a decent keeper somewhere in the English football pyramid?

I am not at all convinced by Steffan, but hopefully he comes good. Our whole defense look shaky.
Another Dimi wouldn't be the answer. He was perfect in Karanka's brick-wall setup as the stats will testify. Keep the formation rigid from the DMs back and Dimi executed his part in that brilliantly for most games.
However, under Wilder we tend to play much more of a fast-paced open game and Dimi would be completely unsuited for that?

A younger keeper with instinct and great distribution for rapid counters is your answer for that style of playing which will be what CW wants from Steffen. Granted he's got some rustiness to iron out and some getting up to speed to do from his lack of competitive games but the raw ingredients are there if he can.
 
My point is 9/10 keepers in this division would not have fallen over, and therefore not have conceded that goal. It's not like this is the only incident, teams are clearly targeting him. That tells us there is a reason to do so. He needs to toughen up imo.
I'm not sure, taller keepers might have still been able to reach it I suppose, it's not really a strength thing, he was impeded from jumping.
 
I'm not sure, taller keepers might have still been able to reach it I suppose, it's not really a strength thing, he was impeded from jumping.
It wasn't really clear from the replays that he was impeded from jumping, so if you were there I'll have to take your word for it! I hope, and think he will come good, he is at Man City after all. His distribution is top drawer, and he's very calm on the ball. Shot stopping looks good (apart from that abberation last night). Fingers crossed.
 
A foul in today's game by Gayle, but still soft from Steffen to still not catch it.
It's been a foul for 45 years that one. If you freeze frame it, you can see exactly why Steffen didn't catch it, he couldn't see it because all he could see was Gayle's elbow. Look at the position of Steffens head and gayles' arm, of course he isn't going to catch it, not many keepers would. It's not 'soft', it's as clear a foul as you will get. Well except for the foul on Jones.

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Im unconvinced by him so far, thought he could have done better on some of the 8 in 4 games he's conceded.

He seems to be expecting the ref to blow when an attacker goes in the same postcode as him, that may happen in the Prem but not in the Champo - maybe thats the problem
 
Im unconvinced by him so far, thought he could have done better on some of the 8 in 4 games he's conceded.

He seems to be expecting the ref to blow when an attacker goes in the same postcode as him, that may happen in the Prem but not in the Champo - maybe thats the problem
Which of the 8 should he have done better? QPR possibly, but then you have to ask when has an attacking player been allowed to touch a keeper from a corner? It's always a foul, the ref can't have seen it because he was impeded. All keepers expect the ref to blow if there is contact on them, and the two key ones, he was right, it should have been blown.

Other than that, I haven't seen soft ones going in. He's been exposed through poor marking, and bad decision making from CBs, oh and a rocket of a finish from Giles.....in the wrong net.

People just need a scapegoat, and it's a lazy assumption to select him.
 
I'm fairly confident he'll come good. Comparisons to Lumley are ridiculous.

He needs to work on dealing with crosses, absolutely. But Wilder knows what he's doing with keepers, they'll work it out I'm sure.

You can tell his reflexes and agility are top notch, along with how good he is with his feet, he's perfect for the way Wilder wants to play.

We're trying to play a style that is light years from what we've seen from Pulis or Warnock, or even Karanka really. If we've had an "identity" over the last decade it's been defensive solidity and being hard to beat.

It's going to take some getting used to this modern progressive approach, starting with a keeper who is more proactive. Wilder doesn't care about defensive qualities if a player can't fit into the style in possession that he wants to play.

That's not to say he doesn't think defenders don't need to defend or keepers don't need to not make mistakes. But in his mind a defender or keeper who can't play the system in possession, is just as much of a problem as one who can't defend properly.

Calls for a keeper "like Dimi" or for Fry back in based on his defensive qualities alone are completely missing the point of what Wilder is trying to do.
 
It's been a foul for 45 years that one. If you freeze frame it, you can see exactly why Steffen didn't catch it, he couldn't see it because all he could see was Gayle's elbow. Look at the position of Steffens head and gayles' arm, of course he isn't going to catch it, not many keepers would. It's not 'soft', it's as clear a foul as you will get. Well except for the foul on Jones.

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Will have to agree to disagree on this one, the freeze frame suggests to me he's been bullied/intimidated by Dwight Gayle (even though fouled), who is hardly a physical presence.
 
His attempts to save the goals seem laboured and look like he’s given up half way through his dive. Even that second goal last night annoys me, it was headed towards the centre of the goal
 
Early days but the jury is very much out. Distribution is good but not convincing on crosses/corners. I actually thought he was poor for both goals last night as well.

The first, he should have anticipated that Gayle was going to square it to Brown and got across the goal-line quicker. He should have been in a more central position. Lenihan had gotten across to Gayle so there was no chance he was going to take on the shot.

The 2nd goal, he should have sorted his feet out quicker so that he was in a standing position and able to make the save. The ball was hanging in the air a good while before Wright-Phillips got his head on it.
 
Will have to agree to disagree on this one, the freeze frame suggests to me he's been bullied/intimidated by Dwight Gayle (even though fouled), who is hardly a physical presence.
The arm was across his face it was planted there with energy, if a Ref doesn't give that as a foul he' s going to invite possibly very dangerous play to a goalie. When he was on the floor you could see he had been bashed on the nose the way he was checking to see if it was still attached.
 
Will have to agree to disagree on this one, the freeze frame suggests to me he's been bullied/intimidated by Dwight Gayle (even though fouled), who is hardly a physical presence.
I'm sure he can learn the Schmeichel technique of jumping with your studs showing to defend yourself. I wouldn't say he was bullied though, it's just a foul.
 
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