Blues Again Pursuing Spanish Gk, Iker Casillas

[Jock]

Dodgy keeper!

Seriously though, he has got a lot worse in his older years. Probably still an upgrade on Saunders who, while he did make a lot of saves (because he had to because we had such a porous defence), is pretty limited in ability.

I've seen some shocking keepers in football and Saunders is nowhere near the bottom. He seems like the kind of player who will make a bunch of saves (again because of his defence) but won't often play a blinder and keep a clean sheet.

 

[Paul]

I'll admit my bias (Casillas is my 2nd all-time favorite player behind only Zidane) but if, and only if, we can get Iker under DP salary we should do it. I don't think his skills have actually diminished that much at all. His real problem has been his confidence. A keeper has to be able to command the box and his defense. Ever since Arbeloa kicked and broke Iker's hand when he was going for a save in a match for Real Madrid a couple of seasons ago (Arbeloa was attempting a clearance), Iker has been tentative and not as confident coming off of his line. It's almost like he's a bit afraid of contact now. I've watched most of his matches, even those with Porto, and he's been doing better with that issue actually and his reflexes are still quite good. The thing is that his mistakes, rather than his great saves, get all the focus around the world now because he was one of the world's best keepers and he's fallen from grace in a lot of people's eyes. He's still a very good GK for sure but I believe the problem is mostly in his head.

 

[gbservis]

You speak as if you know how much money it would cost to bring him in. Ashley Cole is making 300k a year after rumors that he wanted $2 million. And it was Real Madrid that moved on from him - not Aston Villa.

Goalies in general have much longer careers. And I tbink Casillas is still better than Buffon.

And this is just talking about what they do in goal. This guy captained Real Madrid and set their defense. Something we could sorely use.

I agree we have no idea what he will cost but if it came down to it would you be happy if they used all of our TAM to get him?

 

[Jock]

I agree we have no idea what he will cost but if it came down to it would you be happy if they used all of our TAM to get him?

I'd be happy to go for it, just for the spectacle of getting to watch all these world class players play for our team.

Sure, it might only be for a season and they're at the end of their careers, but how cool to say that we got to see Casillas, Lampard, Villa and Pirlo play together in one of our formative seasons. That's pretty impressive and going along with some of the younger players we've got (TOMMY!) i'd look forward to getting to watch some good football.

 

[FredMertz]

Pass completion rate? Number of spilled saves? I don't know the stats myself but I'm willing to bet Saunders was rough on both counts. Most overrated player on the team and it's not even close.

Saunders is one of those rare goalies who is excellent at the hard saves and terrible at the easy ones.

And like most of his kind, the easier the shot he let in, the more he yelled at his defense.

I sat literally 10 feet away from him for half of 8 home games last year and he let in a LOT of crap.

 

[LionNYC]

How about before we chalk up non-DP money (I don't even know how we could get him under the DP level), how about GIVE THE NORDIC GIANT A SHOT!?!?

JOHANSEN!

 

[LionNYC]

Casillas is number eight in FIFA rankings. That being said he's even above Joe Hart. If we can get him below DP payment without the use of GAM or TAM and there isn't a better way to spend the money on the field, it makes sense from a sporting decision.

https://www.easports.com/fifa/news/2015/fifa-16-ratings-top-20-goalkeepers

 

[Fantazma]

he is starting to get exposed at porto and his last RM years were not that great. sure i guess you can take him for under DP money if available but is Johansen that bad that he doesnt get a look?

 

[LionNYC]

he is starting to get exposed at porto and his last RM years were not that great. sure i guess you can take him for under DP money if available but is Johansen that bad that he doesnt get a look?

We've only seen Johansen against the Cosmos were he gave up 2 goals and lost a PK shootout. Then again, we didn't play our first team / best players for that match. Johansen can be the Poku of goalkeepers.

 

[BxLio91]

Paging Midas Mulligan for some commentary on Johansen or Lurch as he calls him.

 

[SlimShadyRus]

Can't understand why people don't like Saunders that it seems normal and logically to them that Josh can/should be replaced.... He's a beast! He's on a low salary! He doesn't requre an intl slot! He signed of rus in 2014!

And Johansen, although he requires one, is also a very good and talented keeper.

On the top of all that, Iker himself, besides being a foreigner who's likely to not know english (remember about interacting with CDs) and require a high salary, and not being very tall for a keepee (185cm), is not consistent and solid anymore.

Why do so many people on here and maybe even among the board, love those signings, I don't know. Probably because they are famous or some guys say that they're cool? But what about building a team... And building a team for years to come?

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Paging Midas Mulligan for some commentary on Johansen or Lurch as he calls him.

Lurch is probably here to serve as coach to Saunders, who has some of the worst gk technique ever. He sure as hell isn't here to start in MLS ever.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

New video of Lurch getting home to his NY apartment.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Saunders is one of those rare goalies who is excellent at the hard saves and terrible at the easy ones.

And like most of his kind, the easier the shot he let in, the more he yelled at his defense.

I sat literally 10 feet away from him for half of 8 home games last year and he let in a LOT of crap.

I prefer to state it this way: MLS has a lot of strikers, who like Villa, kick it right at keeper on 1v1s.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

We've only seen Johansen against the Cosmos ... Johansen can be the Poku of goalkeepers.

 

[LIexpat]

I,d like to see them hold off on any keeper moves and see if Everton and Tim Howard part ways this year, think he has a few more years in him

 

[Ulrich]

I,d like to see them hold off on any keeper moves and see if Everton and Tim Howard part ways this year, think he has a few more years in him

Howard won't be coming to NYCFC. Colorado holds the top Allocation spot and there's already discussions/negotiations taking place between the parties.

 

[gbservis]

I,d like to see them hold off on any keeper moves and see if Everton and Tim Howard part ways this year, think he has a few more years in him

Howard is going to command way more money than he's worth in the MLS. A team like Colorado won't pay 6 mil for Villa but they will pay 3-5mil for Howard because he will drive ticket sales. Let the small market teams fight over Howard, no reason for us to get involved.

 

[Kjbert]

If Josh Saunders and Eirik Johansen were so good, they would be playing for Porto right now.

Let me tbrow out a thought:

If there was a rumor that the #1 Keeper for Sporting Lisbon was headed to NYCFC, everyone here would be ecstatic. Because he has moved down a tier and because he is 34, some people here hate this opportunity.

 

[LionNYC]

Casillas or Zlatan?