Actually think both keepers are pretty raw. They do some great stuff but can make a few of silly mistakes. Reckon we have some A-league keepers who are better than both-Covic, Galekovic.

Franjic starting in the cup against CSKA

Great stuff.

and for those unaware, he's now a left-back.

Which keeper in the world would have saved the Napoli one? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Two keepers who are quite raw, only one of them playing regularly and improving. advantage Ryan

Wasn't a reply to what tfozz was saying

CSKA won 2-0, did Franjic play the 90? Anyone watch?

Ordinarily, that would be the case. But other factors need to be considered. Firstly, mental toughness. If a player, especially a keeper, isn't mentally tough enough, then he doesn't have an advantage, no matter how much he plays for his club. I'm not saying Ryan won't develop the mental toughness needed, but I think he lacks it at the moment. In the World Cup, his errors piled up, rather than him simply dusting himself off and putting it behind him. Hopefully he'll get over this.

Whereas Langerak has played in some massive club fixtures, which suggests he is mentally tough enough to keep in the World Cup.

The other thing is that sometimes one player is simply better than another, even if the inferior player is getting far more game time. Obviously Langerak is playing at one of the best clubs in the world, so that has to be considered. Even if he isn't getting much game time (and I'd advocate he seeks a transfer to a lesser club in the Bundesliga where he can be a starter), he's training with the best in the world. That's pretty meaningful. Especially if the argument for Ryan is that he's getting real game while Langerak is not. That argument is powerful because real game time should give a mental edge, more than anything. But if that mental edge isn't there, then...

For instance, even with Rogic getting no game time whatsoever at Celtic, I'd much rather a fit Rogic played than Bozanic or Vidosic. He's just vastly more talented and has looked far more threatening than those guys. And that's with those two playing week in, week out and him not playing at all. It was evident when we played Costa Rica.

I'm not saying Langerak is necessarily a better goalkeeper than Ryan. I don't know which is better. Time will tell. I'm not saying that Ryan won't develop that mental toughness. I'm merely saying that at this stage Langerak's mentally more ready than Ryan.

Langerak is better,

Mat Ryan is Memphis Depay's favourite keeper

Played the full 90. Made some nice passes. Defensively I didn't see much wrong and their LW did a good job of covering him, but couldn't stop the cross that led to the second goal. Forward runs are still a work in progress, but should improve with more game time.

Disagree about Ryan being mentally weak. Club Brugge isn't as big as Borussia Dortmund but its still a big club. They have their own big fixtures and he's shown more than enough at the club to suggest he can handle high pressure and expectations. He made some mistakes at the WC but it was always going to be a steep learning curve after being thrown into the deep end so soon and I haven't seen anything from Langerak in the green and gold to suggest he would've done any better.

Kruse on bench in cup.

Leverkusen lead after 2mins. Hope they get a 3:0 half time lead and Kruse can get a full half.

Robbie is on for the second half currently 1:1!

Son got a red for kicking out at an opponent. 1:1 with 8 left regular time. Extra time likely. Good extra match time for Kruse and Son suspended for the next tie shall Leverkusen get through.

only watched 8 minutes coz of work
how is kruse going?

Extra time it is.

He's doing well. He's taking on defenders and getting his knees dirty. I worry about his knees :D every time he goes down I hope he gets back up. He mis-hit a cross which was a good chance for his team but generally very involved.

AZ played a cup game this morning. Anyone know if Babalj got any game time?

Magdeburg have taken the lead with 10 left. 2:1. Kruse will be involved in the chase now.

2-2 and into pens

kruse gets his pen

Pens it is and Kruse takes penalty 2 for Leverkusen and slots it perfectly. Good pen. I see the AZ twitter. No Babalj. Leverkusen through on pens.

Edited by johnszasz: 30/10/2014 07:44:41 AM

leverkusen through

phwoar leverkusen was down 2-3 and the keeper makes 2 huge saves to take it to sudden death pens.

Did Sainsbury play for Zwolle?

Looks like he got 90mins and they won 6-1.

Ikonomidis played, scored again and was MOTM in the Primavera against Roma.

That's six goals in seven games.

How does the Primvera or whatever its called that Ikmon plays in compare the A league in Quality ?