Martin Dúbravka

[The College Dropout]

15 minutes ago, SteV said:

Seems he’s ’only’ on £150k p/w. So large, but not prohibitively so, if there was any interest and/or chance of getting him.

£7.5m on wages before bonuses, appearance fees etc. for a GK might be prohibitive like. 

[Sibierski]

18 hours ago, KaKa said:

 

Read somewhere it's contingent on Pope returning without any setbacks before the window closes, and then it will go through, otherwise he won't leave.

 

So the £20m keeper can't be trusted at all, and we'll pass up on money for a back up GK and lose him for £0? If we do that, we deserve to be fucked over by PSR again.

[SteV]

20 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

£7.5m on wages before bonuses, appearance fees etc. for a GK might be prohibitive like. 

Perhaps. But it’s not like it’s Rashford or someone like that where it’s a waste of time even considering it.

[HawK]

This post from Conjo in the Match Thread today vs Spurs switched a lightbulb on in my head.

  

Just now, Conjo said:

It is so valuable to have the keeper as another reliable outlet in order to retain possession. We're so much more press resistant with him compared to Pope. It's difficult to quantify, but in theory we are avoiding a lot of unneccesary situations where we would either not pass to Pope and lose the ball to opposition team pressing, or Pope hoofing the ball out for a throw in and giving the opposition the ball. 

 

That being said, I still feel more confident with Pope in goal.

 

Ideally we get a keeper in the summer who is as good or not far from Pope in goal, but on par with Dubs ability on the ball.

 

Something that I've highlighted this season, especially at the start, is we're not a team that suits breaking down a low block. That's not rocket science to figure out, mind, and we've all posited this at some points in a match thread throughout the season. We've got some very pacey players in our midfield and our front line, some very good ball carriers as well. Our whole team suits breaking and playing on the transition. So when we slowly migrate up the pitch and position ourselves into attacking a low block, we aren't very good (we're better now with Tonali in there but I think my point still stands).

 

What has this got to do with Martin Dubravka? Well, he doesn't come off his line. In games of yesteryear, and especially in the Nick Pope era, it has been something that we on the forum have complained about so much - 'If only Pope was there he'd have swept that away'. With Pope, our defence pushes up and it creates a period of time when we attack a low block because we've compressed the pitch into just playing within the opponents half. It looks pretty, it looks 'good', but we can't actually capitalise on it and we sort of exist in this purgatory of not conceding but not scoring.

 

Again - what has this got to do with Martin Dubravka? Because he doesn't sweep, doesn't venture far from his box, the defence naturally positions closer to our half when we're in possession. We invite teams onto us to press, and with Tonali in the middle with Bruno, Hall on the left and to a lesser extent, Livra on the left, we can now begin to play through them. This gets us into passages of play that allows us to pass through into transitions and gets our attacking players running forward into spaces for through balls or to ball carry whilst the opponents are backtracking.

 

To be blunt, Martin Dubravka lets us play it around the back, so that we can beat the press and create opportunities where we break or attack with pace against a non-static defence. Why this now works and didn't before is 4 reasons:

 

- Hall on the left is elite with the ball at his feet - protecting the ball, finding a pass, receiving the ball. 

- Livramento instead of Trippier on the right - Trippier would always race up the line and receive the ball high up the pitch.. and then stop play. He'd wait for the whole team (and the opponents) to 'set up' before beginning to attack the low block. He's the captain, he calls the 'plays' to use an Americanism

- Tonali - not much needs to be said here, he can receive the ball, he can pass, he can break the lines with through balls and runs

- Murphy - He doesn't wait to be told to cross the ball, or to shoot, or to attack the box with a run. He does what comes naturally which is to attack space with pace. I noticed a lot with Trippier and Murphy together there is a disconnect from the patient approach Trippier wants against the more instinctive play of Murphy.

 

In short, there is a combination of factors at play here as to why I think we've suddenly become 'good' since Martin Dubravka's come into the side. 

 

 

[Ronson333]

First proper test and came through with flying colours 

[Newcastle Fan]

Superb today, was not an easy game at all and he did all he could to help us.

[David Edgar]

9 minutes ago, Ronson333 said:

First proper test and came through with flying colours 

 

Less than 1xg faced. We are defending like titans in front of him. 

[PauloGeordio]

Can save shots 👏🏻👏🏻

[Aiston]

Good game again from him!

 

Pinging accurate balls out again and some saves!

[Joelinton7]

Looks like he’s taken the criticisms on board from his last spell in the team and improved on them. 

[kenlau88210]

Hope he stays till the summer when we look for a 1st choice keeper 

[Andy]

He's been very steady but most importantly, as others have said, his footwork and distribution have made a big difference. Even with Pope fit, he's made himself first choice at the moment for me.

[Pilko]

Saves all what I'd describe as regulation today but he was throwing ones like that in on the reg last season, so it's an improvement.

 

Tidy with his feet again too. I'm still nervous having him in there after last season and we've defended well in front of him, but he's been far from the disaster I anticipated so far.

[Holloway]

Doing great, well done Dubs 

[Lush Vlad]

Still not really been tested much in the last 6 games or whatever it is. Which is due to how much better we are playing and the midfield actually helping the defence with Tonali coming in at 6. 
 

The whole team looks more balanced and in control of games (second half today not so much). 

 

Dubravka is a big part of that with how much better he is on the ball than Pope. It does highlight the need to upgrade our starting keeper. But as I’ve said countless times. I don’t think it will be particularly cheap to get a keeper with all of Pope’s qualities and also Dubravka’a ability on the ball. 

[The Prophet]

 

[buzza]

Wonder how much they are paying for him? 5M?

[wormy]

We must be confident that Pope is almost available and/or we're making a move for someone this month?

 

Feels weird for him to go when he's had his best run for us in 3 years but I get why and hope it's at least allowed for it to boost the fee for us and wages for him a bit.

 

He's been a good servant and I never held a grudge for his wanting out when Pope first took the reigns. Appears to have remained professional since he returned from his loan and if this is his final run with us I'm really pleased he can leave on such a good note.

[Sibierski]

Thought the shot they hit post, it was a questionable save from Dubs. Seemed to get there in good time, but instead of gathering it in / palming it far out, he done neither so spilled out a yard away from him where he was nearly punished from a hard angle.

 

That said, once again he was good with his feet. Allowed the defence to use him as a passing option, which then enables the switch to the full back, instead of us needing to punt it long. As a result, opposition are not setting up expecting us to use the goalkeeper so it’s an easy out, they start changing the approach it should then give Bruno / Tonali more space as something has to give (or one of wingers more available for a longer knock.

[Weznufc]

Such a shame if true, he's been playing well.  

[Nucasol]

Wish him well. He’s been the total opposite of his performances last season in this recent run, looks great with his feet. A MoTM performance before you go Dubs would be nice.

[nufc123]

We need one in if thats true. A Pope injury would ruin our season.

[STM]

We really shouldn't be fooled. Hes done well but his time is up here.

 

I'm convinced that we are signing a replacement if he goes.

 

This might be a load of shite but even if we get 3m and his wages off the books that's probably enough to allow us to get Trafford for 15m, purely from a PSR perspective.

 

 

[Sibierski]

Scenes when we go for Ramsdale. 

[Skeletor]

1 minute ago, Sibierski said:

Scenes when we go for Ramsdale. 

 

:yaooffacliff:

 

 

Edited yesterday at 18:43 by Skeletor