by FiNeRaIn »
06 Aug 2019 00:56
Stranded 72 bus Stranded
But because you haven't seen much of Virginia, you have decided that he is just not good enough? Could have been an off day - just as likely to happen in game 1 as game 101 - not that I think he had an off day or was indeed not up to it. What if Southwood or Andresson had played - would you be writing them off?
I guess that's fair enough to hold the view you do but on the first, I don't think he got much wrong. Ball was down his right hand side, he would have expected the defender to either win that or ensure the player could only go down the line, so positioned himself correctly in that the most likely outcome was the player only managing to get the ball in. Once the defender was beaten, he came and closed and the shot was well struck - he will undoubtedly be disappointed that he didn't get a firmer hand but not a save I would expect a keeper to make 8 times out of 10.
Could we get a better keepr that Virginia - yes we could and look like we may have possibly done so - is he a bad keeper - nothing I have seen so far even begins to suggest that he is. He is good enough for this level but needs to make a decent save or 2 to give himself more confidence and get people off his back - those opportunities weren't really there on Saturday. Unfortunately for him, I think he is at the wrong club at the wrong time - he probably needs to be at a Blackburn or a Preston who are going to be comfortably mid-table and not following a keeper rightly revered by the fans - joining a club trying to re-build may not be the right fit - that is the only mistake that has potentially been made and it is one that lies with the coaches at both Everton and us and not with Virginia himself.
The third goal would be saved by most decent goalkeepers, from the position the striker found himself the ball was always going in that corner.
The kid has never started a competitive game before coming here and it shows.
I've already said I would expect him to be disappointed with the 3rd goal but if you actually look at the shot, it goes in right at the foot of the post and dips off it's first bounce right before Virginia's dive making a lot more difficult then it originally looks. Bigger question mark on that goal is Miazga's defending and if you look at his reaction after the goal, he knows he was at fault.
I watched the goals and while I didn't think any were his fault, the first was pretty poor effort and the third was a bit meh. Certainly no errors, just really underwhelming. He was even worse against Chelsea. Second goal was a weak hand to an average shot, almost the same as the third which was really straight at him, the 4th was just a comical mistake. If he hasn't got the presence, confidence and stature to dominate everywhere else, you need to be one hell of a shot stopper to make up for it, if he can't stop average shots its safe to say he can't tick that box either. We cannot afford another dope to come in and start changing games with poor errors or letting weak shots squirm in, so far he's ticked both those boxes in the last two games.
It's just a horrible panic signing getting a 19 year old with no experience to play in one of the most physically demanding leagues in the world, likely to be in a relegation battle. How often have goalkeepers that young from any level walked into the English championship and set the world alight?
Big no from me, do whatever it takes to get a solid goalkeeper in. I don't care about him being the best shot stopper in the world, we just need to weed out the consistent mistakes and weak goals and give the defense some confidence. He is not that man.