Martin Dúbravka

[wormy]

57 minutes ago, alexf said:

Was it Darlow he replaced? Remember that game and it being night and day in terms of quality. He caught everything and communicated with the back 4 etc. was a great signing at the time. 

 

Yeah I think Darlow was in the nets by that point but had been rotated with Elliot a bit so far that season. Halcyon days. 

[mouldy_uk]

 

10 minutes ago, wormy said:

 

Yeah I think Darlow was in the nets by that point but had been rotated with Elliot a bit so far that season. Halcyon days. 

 

Ah, Blobby Elliot, the good old (definitely not shite) days 

[LFEE]

5 hours ago, Pilko said:

People have short memories. Remember when a returning Pope sat on the bench late last season for several games despite Dubravka looking shit, then away at Man U Dubravka was at fault for two goals that arguably cost us a European place? Then Pope plays at Burnley three days later.

 

I'm glad Dubs has been steady and not made any errors but Pope is the superior keeper by a mile and should come back in soon as he's fit.

I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two.

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by LFEE

[GideonShandy]

11 minutes ago, LFEE said:

I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two.

 

 

 

Several or seven?

[ponsaelius]

Dubravka is not as good a goalkeeper as Pope. He's aging, commands his box to an inferior level, doesn't come off his line proactively to sweep and isn't as good a shot stopper. He was massively exposed slotting into our existing team last year particularly with the defensive line and system remaining the same. We started conceding goals at literally twice the rate as we did with Pope in nets.

 

However - there is not only one way to play football and defend. Having more control in possession during games, which Dubravka's composure and ability on the ball has undoubtedly contributed to (not the only factor obvs, but it's there) has allowed us to control games to greater degree and far reduced the number of shots and chances he's faced. This is proactive defending/goalkeeping, preventing the chances from happening in the first place.

 

It's not too dissimilar to the endless tedious debates around Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. Yes he is exposable 1v1 and gets caught out of position defensively and it can be immediately obvious on those occasions when it happens. However he's an exceptional footballer on the ball and the entire shape and mentality of the team changes when he's on the pitch for Liverpool. This not only means being better going forward but by design being better defensively as they are far more proactive. 

[80]

1 hour ago, TRon said:

 

 

Tbh with you, it's perfectly understandable Howe wants to keep as many players as he can, he's got to look at short term results as his job depends on them.

 

It's Mitchell who should be making the hard nosed business decisions, and I don't see how it makes sense to give a contract extension to a 35 year old keeper if we want to free up money to buy a younger better version.

Of course, give a manager the job security of a sports director and perhaps they would be more willing to take long term views on buying and selling players.

[Pilko]

21 minutes ago, LFEE said:

I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two.

 

 

 

 

I said "several" not "seven" if you re-read my post. He was on the bench for Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Man U (a) and then came back for Brentford (a) on the final day.

 

I mistakenly said Burnley was the game he came back for, think I'm mixing it up with the season before where Burnley away was the season closer.

[LFEE]

6 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

I said "several" not "seven" if you re-read my post. He was on the bench for Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Man U (a) and then came back for Brentford (a) on the final day.

 

I mistakenly said Burnley was the game he came back for, think I'm mixing it up with the season before where Burnley away was the season closer.

So 3 games. So around a couple. Not several. Even less than half a dozen. Arguably less than a few 🙂

 

Was hardly a stretch. Pope maybe wasn’t quite sharp/fit enough to displace him. Or maybe he thought against teams like Brighton and Man Utd you’d be best off having a keeper as an 11th outfield player as previously discussed. As for Burnley we won 4-1 and played well (I was there!) not that he had loads to do apart from an early spell and late spell. In return he showed Dubs that he’d given him a fair chance with not dropping him instantly and is reaping the rewards with Dubs still giving his all this year and mulling over turning down a big contract offer and remaining professional.

 

Looks like good management to me personally.

 

 

[Lush Vlad]

Fucking hell.  I've stuumbled onto Pedants-Online by mistake. 

[thomas]

1 minute ago, Lush Vlad said:

Fucking hell.  I've stuumbled onto Pedants-Online by mistake. 

 

Stumbled*

[Lush Vlad]

Just now, thomas said:

 

Stumbled*

 

Haha  

 

 

[Kanj]

Ideal world, he signs a pre-contract with the Saudi club and joins them in the summer. Finishing up with us. 

[The College Dropout]

I get from his perspective he needs some level of security.  But we should just run it down. 

[Pilko]

2 hours ago, LFEE said:

So 3 games. So around a couple. Not several. Even less than half a dozen. Arguably less than a few 🙂

 

Was hardly a stretch. Pope maybe wasn’t quite sharp/fit enough to displace him. Or maybe he thought against teams like Brighton and Man Utd you’d be best off having a keeper as an 11th outfield player as previously discussed. As for Burnley we won 4-1 and played well (I was there!) not that he had loads to do apart from an early spell and late spell. In return he showed Dubs that he’d given him a fair chance with not dropping him instantly and is reaping the rewards with Dubs still giving his all this year and mulling over turning down a big contract offer and remaining professional.

 

Looks like good management to me personally.

 

 

 

Fuck me, I bet you're a right laugh at parties. You've dragged me into your dullard bath water now, so having Googled "several", various online dictionaries say "more than two but not many" by definition. Three, then. Much closer than fucking seven

 

Dubravka had been incredibly poor throughout his run in the side last year and as someone else said in an earlier post, the rate we conceded goals spiked pretty heavily after he came in for Pope. I can't prove or disprove your theory on why Howe chose to keep him in the side after Pope was fit for selection again. But I know it cost us at Man U where Pope is almost certainly saving the Hojlund pea roller that Dubravka let in to win them the game.

[LFEE]

7 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

Fuck me, I bet you're a right laugh at parties. You've dragged me into your dullard bath water now, so having Googled "several", various online dictionaries say "more than two but not many" by definition. Three, then. Much closer than fucking seven

 

Dubravka had been incredibly poor throughout his run in the side last year and as someone else said in an earlier post, the rate we conceded goals spiked pretty heavily after he came in for Pope. I can't prove or disprove your theory on why Howe chose to keep him in the side after Pope was fit for selection again. But I know it cost us at Man U where Pope is almost certainly saving the Hojlund pea roller that Dubravka let in to win them the game.

 

Sorry. Just having a bit of fun 

I certainly agree I would’ve had Pope in for those games if fit as Dubs form is nowhere near what it is now. End of the day one of the first calls EH made was to upgrade Dubs with Pope so all things being fair and even (sounding like Ange now!) you’d suspect Pope would get the nod as soon as 100%. We’ll never know but I’ll always fall on the side of trust in Howe. He’ll of had reasons that were best for the team and club.

[Pilko]

1 minute ago, LFEE said:

 

Sorry. Just having a bit of fun 

I certainly agree I would’ve had Pope in for those games if fit as Dubs form is nowhere near what it is now. End of the day one of the first calls EH made was to upgrade Dubs with Pope so all things being fair and even (sounding like Ange now!) you’d suspect Pope would get the nod as soon as 100%. We’ll never know but I’ll always fall on the side of trust in Howe. He’ll of had reasons that were best for the team and club.

 

 I've learned that on 9/10 occasions, Eddie tends to know best in the end. But, there's still a minor narrative of him sticking with and trusting poor players longer than he perhaps should. The fact that Dummett and Ritchie were on for another year each if City had won the cup final, for example. PSR tied or not, both had been way past their sell by dates for years. Him doing so will definitely help the whole squad ethos that serves us so well, but that little bit extra ruthlessness of getting a better player back in there is for me the 1/10 time when he doesn't get it quite right.

[LFEE]

1 minute ago, Pilko said:

 

 I've learned that on 9/10 occasions, Eddie tends to know best in the end. But, there's still a minor narrative of him sticking with and trusting poor players longer than he perhaps should. The fact that Dummett and Ritchie were on for another year each if City had won the cup final, for example. PSR tied or not, both had been way past their sell by dates for years. Him doing so will definitely help the whole squad ethos that serves us so well, but that little bit extra ruthlessness of getting a better player back in there is for me the 1/10 time when he doesn't get it quite right.

I get you. I just don’t think you get 1-2 of that 9/10 without sacrificing that 1 if that makes sense. His treatment of players from the outside is fantastic showing real emotional intelligence and treating them like humans and with that he gets a lot back from them showing why we punch above our weight constantly to the point those levels have wrongly been expected from some fans every game. He’s shown with Fraser you are demoted if not on board but still not criticised. Was in Fraser’s hands to get back on board.

 

In all the years of following NUFC I’ve never known such a well moulded group. The trick as most managers will admit is not keeping the 11 regularly playing happy but the 11 that regularly aren’t.

[andycap]

His distribution against arsenal wasn't great on Tuesday. 

A few wobbles but in all I think he done well. 

Looks like he'll probably stay.