VDS last competitive game at OT

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

Hadn't he had rather a torrid time there, and the pundit consensus was that he was all washed up??

Instead, going to Fulham re-sparked his career

Yes. It's been argued here before but I'm of the opinion that we picked him up at just the right time.

As for him staying another year; I think his perfomances in the latter part of the season have been partly because he knows he's retiring. It has given him an extra focus. I have a feeling if he was persuaded to stay, that focus would not be there. Pure speculation of course.
Either way, I'm certain he will retire this May.

He's not staying another year. His glove guy at adidas, the same guy for over 7 years, has been reassigned to other projects, right when he would normally be developing something new for the next season. It's over.

He's going to be very, very hard to replace, impossible in the short term, but if it's De Gea I'm optimistic he will be a top-drawer keeper for a long, long time.

best keeper we've ever had, perfect for the team and the club. cheers edwin

Originally Posted by borsuk

best keeper we've ever had, perfect for the team and the club. cheers edwin

yep, just a shame we couldn't persuade him to hang on another year

still this season has been the perfect way for him to go and if we win next Saturday it will cement his status as our greatest ever keeper

Originally Posted by £#%&! KFC

still this season has been the perfect way for him to go and if we win next Saturday it will cement his status as our greatest ever keeper

yep, it'll cement it in the public consciousness

as far as watching him every other week for the last 6 years there's no question he's a better goalkeeper than schmeichel though. think schmeichel probably only beats him on one v ones tbh. vds is just as good if not better in all other departments and pisses all over him on temperament

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

yep, it'll cement it in the public consciousness

as far as watching him every other week for the last 6 years there's no question he's a better goalkeeper than schmeichel though. think schmeichel probably only beats him on one v ones tbh. vds is just as good if not better in all other departments and pisses all over him on temperament

and also Schmeichel is a @#%&!faced @#%&! which Edwin clearly isn't

if only we had signed VDS instead of Barthez we could be looking at 19 plus 5 next Saturday

Originally Posted by £#%&! KFC

and also Schmeichel is a @#%&!faced @#%&! which Edwin clearly isn't

if only we had signed VDS instead of Barthez we could be looking at 19 plus 5 next Saturday

@#%&!face @#%&!


I'm not sure where I stand on if we would have signed him straight from Juve. As has been said was a bit of a transition for him at Fulham. Although I do remember him being very good in his first prem season.. I'm sure grimson will be able to correct me

gutted that steady eddie is retiring.

Our Greatest keeper.

Originally Posted by I_Am_Paul_Parker

@#%&!face @#%&!


I'm not sure where I stand on if we would have signed him straight from Juve. As has been said was a bit of a transition for him at Fulham. Although I do remember him being very good in his first prem season.. I'm sure grimson will be able to correct me

A few clangers for Fulham in that first year. Patience was thin at OT at the time too, could have been quite ugly if they'd been made for us.

Edwin may have had a dodgy transitional period, and that's the problem we have with buying the likes of De Gea.

Thinking about that Real goalie, wasn't he the dog's %@#$&!s when he was 19 but ended up a bit shit, now he's top hole again? I dunno.

Point is that a lot of keepers are great when they're young and thick and great when they're old and wise (maybe that's true of all players). The in between bits are a concern.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

yep, it'll cement it in the public consciousness

as far as watching him every other week for the last 6 years there's no question he's a better goalkeeper than schmeichel though. think schmeichel probably only beats him on one v ones tbh. vds is just as good if not better in all other departments and pisses all over him on temperament

Better shot-stopper? Better reflexes? Better with the aerial ball? I'm not so sure.

schmeichel's kicking was very erratic at times as well.

2 of the qualities that have made vds such a great keeper (particularly for our style of football) are a)his ability to go long periods with nothing to do and stay focused and b)his footwork - i'm convinced he could do a job outfield - the back four look much more composed with him in nets because they know he is always an outlet ball for them.

i think the 2nd one in particular is going to be hard to replace - seems to strange to think a keeper leaving might actually affect the way we play football next season.

Schmeichel's throw was as good as anything I've seen from a goalkeeper in terms of distribution. He could pin-point a throw to the £#%&!ing halfway line getting Giggs or Kanchelskis into an instant counter-attack.

I also think Schmeichel was better at one v ones; I think he probably would have saved that shot from Eto'o in Rome where Barca took the lead. He was the best I've ever seen at making himself 'big'.

On everything else Van Der Sar is just as good, if not better. We're lucky to have had two of the all time greats in goal for us during the prime of their careers. Its gonna be a huge job for whoever we get as a replacement this summer.

Originally Posted by Neo

Schmeichel's throw was as good as anything I've seen from a goalkeeper in terms of distribution. He could pin-point a throw to the £#%&!ing halfway line getting Giggs or Kanchelskis into an instant counter-attack.

I also think Schmeichel was better at one v ones; I think he probably would have saved that shot from Eto'o in Rome where Barca took the lead. He was the best I've ever seen at making himself 'big'.

On everything else Van Der Sar is just as good, if not better. We're lucky to have had two of the all time greats in goal for us during the prime of their careers. Its gonna be a huge job for whoever we get as a replacement this summer.

Better with crosses? For me, it's very difficult to make a case for van Der Sar being better with the aerial ball than Schmeichel.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Better with crosses? For me, it's very difficult to make a case for van Der Sar being better with the aerial ball than Schmeichel.

schmeichel was undoubtedly a more spectacular goalkeeper, but his catalogue of howlers is extraordinary when you revisit some of the old tapes, even if most of them weren't punished by a goal.

van der sar is at least as good on crosses for me as well and rarely if ever comes out underneath one, something schmeichel did pretty regularly. vds' distribution is as good with his feet as schmeichel's was from his hands. look at the hernandez goal at blackpool or rooney's opener at home to villa this season and compare them with say the kanchelskis goal at qpr

he's been a star. different keeper to schmeichel and not as strong as him in some ways, but superior i think in other areas that matter, and just carries himself with a bit more class. he's probably the consummate modern goalkeeper, operating virtually as a defender at times whilst retaining the ability to compose the back line and thus holding influence over the final third. he also seems wholly immune to the disastrous rushes of blood to the head that afflicted schmeichel and plenty of other keepers - he's always grounded and assured, which helps the defence immeasurably. you can't help but think how much benefit the likes of vidic, rio and smalling have gained from playing in front of him.

plus he's one of the best i've seen with the ball at his feet, and at times his kicking has been what schmeichel's throwing was to us. his awareness of the passage of play across the entire pitch is unparalleled for me, which is a valuable quality for a goalkeeper in this day and age. it really is admirable how so many of our players have harnessed their experience to reinvent themselves in response to the progression of the game, and how their quality still shines through in their twilight years.

good luck fella

REALITY KICKS IN FOR EDWIN

Edwin van der Sar admits the reality of retiring from football is finally starting to dawn on him.

The popular keeper will play the final matches of a glittering career against Blackpool on Sunday and in next weekend's Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley. After making the decision earlier in the campaign, the 40-year-old is starting to come to terms with the fact that his time at the top is very nearly over.

"It's started to sink in now, yeah," he told United Review. "Maybe three or four games ago, I wasn't too bothered about it - maybe I was in denial! But now it's definitely closing down quickly.

"I'll try to keep some spare time, maybe do some coaching badges and some commercial stuff - maybe stuff for the club. I'll watch some games, spend some time with the family, play some golf, go for weekends away. Hopefully plenty! Of course I'll miss it, but you have to go at some point."

The Dutch giant is aiming to go out on a massive high by clinching a remarkable double next Saturday.

"It's only a great way to go if you win it!" he insisted. "But it's a good opportunity to go out in a good way. You might go out in the quarter-final or not win the league, so to win the league is an amazing feeling - especially because it was a special one for the club, being number 19 - and hopefully we can take another step towards the five European Cups Liverpool have as well."