Keeper Watch 1/2 Sept

Onto the 2nd week of my new series, most keepers were pretty solid this week, so it took a lot of thought and throwing around of decisions before I finally came up with my top 3s!

OVERALL BEST PERFORMANCE

3rd - Tim Krul - (NEWCASTLE UTD Vs Aston Villa) Fast making a name for himself, has really become a sold keeper in the past. Newcastle Utd will do well to hold onto him, as he has another good game, making several saves from the Villa attackers.

Runner Up - Mark Schwarzer (West Ham Utd Vs FULHAM) - It may seem strange to have a keeper on the list when he conceeded 3 goals, but without this stalwart (fab word!) in goal, it would have been many more!

WINNER - Brad Friedel (SPURS Vs Noriwch City) - Last week's runner up, never put a foot (or hand) wrong! Mr dependable, defying his years! Earnt Spurs their point, just a shame that it is only going to be a matter of time before Hugo Lloris gets a game!!

BEST SAVES

3rd - Simon Mignolet (Swansea City Vs SUNDERLAND) - Got down quickly to a well struck low free kick taken by Jonathan De Guzman.

Runner Up - Kelvin Davis (SOUTHAMPTON Vs Man Utd) - Now, one or two might wonder why a penalty save such as this one has made the list, especially with it being a poor pen! The reason it is on the list, is that Davis did his homework, he knew RvP was going to hit it to his right, and more importantly he probably read it in his eyes! Also, it was such a poor pen that it almost deceived Davis, and he was under it when he made the save.

WINNER - Mark Schwarzer (West Ham Utd Vs FULHAM) - Nothing like a good reaction save, as Ricardo Vaz Te zipped down the wing, and swung the ball in for Mohamed Diame to run on to and then for Schwarzer to tip it onto the bar!

MOMENTS TO FORGET

3rd - David De Gea (Southampton Vs MAN UTD) A vote of no confidence for De Gea from Alex Ferguson! We all know De Gea needs beefing up, and is poor at crosses, and with Rickie Lambert playing up front, Ferguson decided to take De Gea out of the picture, and put him in the spotlight!

Runner Up - Kelvin Davis (SOUTHAMPTON Vs Man Utd) - More then made up for his shocking clearance which landed at Nani's feet, and then led Jos Hooived to make his rash challenge! His clearance was the 2nd poor one in a few mins!

WINNER - Pepe Reina (LIVERPOOL Vs Arsenal) Moved up one place from last week's Runner up spot! Pepe's head is not right at the moment, you can tell by the way he was muttering to himself after he let the goal in! Carzola (who is looking like a good buy) took a shot from an angle which shouldn't have caused any trouble, but Reina went down in stages and diverted the ball into the net. Pepe is beginning to let mistakes creep into his game!!

Keeper Watch 25/26 Aug

As I am a keeper myself, I have decided to start a new series, and focus on the goalkeeper's weekend performances, from brilliant saves, to shocking moments. There are 3 categories and awards, best overall performance, best save, and shocking moments.

First up are the top 3 BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCES of the day

3rd - DAVID DE GEA (Man Utd Vs Fulham) - People might question him on his ability to come out for crosses, but you can't deny his shot stopping abilities! Kept Utd in the game with several saves.

Runner Up - BRAD FRIEDEL (Tottenham Hotspur Vs WBA) - 40yo and still going strong, and probably has a few years left in him! It makes such a difference to have a keeper who the back four can trust. Pulled off a couple of one on ones in the 2nd half.

WINNER - ALI AL HABSI (Southampton Vs Wigan Athletic) - If Wigan are going to stay up again, they need to be winning games like this, and they will do that if Al Habsi keeps them out at the other end. An underrated keeper, was absolute superb yesterday saving everything thrown his way.

BEST SAVES

3rd - JOHN RUDDY (Norwich City Vs QPR) - Ruddy did what all keepers hate, saved a penalty and saw the rebound go straight to a forward who scored! To be fair, Zamora encroached, and Ruddy will be disappointed, but the penalty save in the bottom left corner was still great as he tipped it on the post.

Runner Up - ALI AL HABSI (Southampton Vs Wigan Athletic) - There was a number to choose from, but in the 1st half, Al Habsi tipped a stinging shot from Adam Lallana onto the bar, and over for a corner.

WINNER - DAVID DE GEA (Man Utd Vs Fulham) - A fantastic double save as he dived to make a save, got up to managed to divert the rebound onto the bar! Brilliant save!!

SHOCKERS

3rd - JUSSI JAAKELAINEN (Swansea Vs West Ham Utd)  - Just edged out De Gea (for his help in Vidic OG). Jussi has been a solid premiership keeper, but when down in stages yesterday as he deflected the quality named Angel Rangel's cross cum shot into the goal.

Runner Up - PEPE REINA (Liverpool Vs Man City) - Went walkabout for City's equaliser when they made it 1-1. Came out for a cross and was nowhere near.

WINNER - SHAY GIVEN (Aston Villa Vs Everton) - I almost feel guilty giving this one to Shay as he is such a quality keeper, but I have no idea what he was doing with Fellaini's header. There didn't seem to be any spin, and it never changed direction. Just have to put it down to one of those things! I doubt he will be on my list again!