Pepe Reina, Victor Valdes, David Ospina, Willy Caballero, Marc-André van ter Stegen, Keylor Navas, Bogdan Lobont and arguably even Jan Oblak all beg to differ!

 

I wouldn't consider any of them top drawer keepers, but change it to anyone good enough to be first choice with Winston Bogarde's level of ambition.

I wouldn't consider any of them top drawer keepers, but change it to anyone good enough to be first choice with Winston Bogarde's level of ambition.

 

Not world class perhaps but still continental standard and all comfortably better than Green.

 

You could equally say that they have the ambition and the conviction in their abilities to fight for a place at a top club rather than compromising and setting their sights lower and playing for a club which has a far lower chance of actually competing for trophies (a.k.a. 'pulling a Lukaku'). When Bogarde played for us we had played one season in the Champions League in our entire history. Hardly parallel situations.

I'm disappointed but unsurprised to hear Hilario's sterling contribution to Chelsea being unappreciated, as it was throughout his time at the club. I assume it was down to a combination of his name and his infrequent appearances rather than the quality he actually showed on the pitch. Quite possibly the best third-choice goalkeeper I have ever witnessed and certainly superior to Green.

 

I've never encountered another player who could spend so long out of the first team (bear in mind he was third choice for the majority of his time here) and step onto the pitch like he'd never been away. He played some absolutely massive games for us and played badly maybe twice (the 4-2 against Man City when we were down to 9 men and that game against Blackburn in the League Cup when we had Paulo Ferreira at centre back and lost on penalties). He looked a bit uncertain in the couple of games he got under AVB... then again who didn't? He did all of this without once complaining and while in fact doing everything he could to help Cech out. That is a backup keeper - solid, reliable, humble and pure class.

 

Anyway all of that is besides the point (not that anybody has really addressed any of them).

 

Well said that man.. 

Not world class perhaps but still continental standard and all comfortably better than Green.

 

 

And all foreign. By my count we'll have 15 non-homegrown players next year and that's with Cech leaving and Zouma no longer counting as under-21. 

 

This issue will be a factor although there is obviously room for manoeuvre elsewhere with players who could be sacrificed like Mikel, Ramires, Drogba, Mikel, Remy or Mikel.

And all foreign. By my count we'll have 15 non-homegrown players next year and that's with Cech leaving and Zouma no longer counting as under-21. 

 

This issue will be a factor although there is obviously room for manoeuvre elsewhere with players who could be sacrificed like Mikel, Ramires, Drogba, Mikel, Remy or Mikel.

 

Foreign but more importantly, actually good enough to play for us.

 

We currently have 15 non-homegrown players in our 25-man squad, alongside Terry, Cahill and Fabregas, who are homegrown and Zouma and Loftus-Cheek (plus others who haven't made an appearance) who are under 21. We aren't using two of our permitted non-homegrown slots, even with a foreign backup keeper now.

 

So, as it stands we are still two players short of the maximum (17) non-homegrown players, as we lost Salah, Schurrle and Schwarzer in January and signed Cuadrado. Next season we will lose Cech and Zouma will turn 21, so in terms of what we definitely know we will remain steady at 15, leaving us two empty 'foreign' spots to fill.

 

In terms of our loanees, I think the non-homegrown over-21 propsects who are most likely to return would be van Ginkel and one of Kalas and Omeruo (although I'm not 100% sure what Omeruo's status would be), however this is far from a certainty as we have under-21 players who can fill in at centre back and we aren't really crying out for a midfielder like van Ginkel (without even considering his proneness to injury) while we still have Mikel.

 

While personally I'd be looking to move Drogba to the coaching staff, the noises he's been making, while far from conclusive, suggest that he'll be staying on for another season. I would also be looking at the Ramires-Milner switcheroo I mentioned earlier (leaving us 3 spaces), and also at bringing Victor Moses back to serve as a backup winger.

 

Obviously this is all speculation (as is this entire thread I suppose), but we could theoretically move on Cech, Ramires and Drogba; sign Cabaye (for example), Milner and one of the foreign keepers I mentioned and we'd still have two foreign spots left. In short, it really isn't beyond the realms of possibility, or even particularly difficult, to factor in one extra non-homegrown player as a worthy backup goalkeeper.

I can't see Drogba staying tbh.

He's looked pretty poor in the last few months.

I don't think he's got much left in his tank, he will get the EPL winners medal and move over to the coaching staff IMO.

Foreign but more importantly, actually good enough to play for us.

 

We currently have 15 non-homegrown players in our 25-man squad, alongside Terry, Cahill and Fabregas, who are homegrown and Zouma and Loftus-Cheek (plus others who haven't made an appearance) who are under 21. We aren't using two of our permitted non-homegrown slots, even with a foreign backup keeper now.

 

So, as it stands we are still two players short of the maximum (17) non-homegrown players, as we lost Salah, Schurrle and Schwarzer in January and signed Cuadrado. Next season we will lose Cech and Zouma will turn 21, so in terms of what we definitely know we will remain steady at 15, leaving us two empty 'foreign' spots to fill.

 

In terms of our loanees, I think the non-homegrown over-21 propsects who are most likely to return would be van Ginkel and one of Kalas and Omeruo (although I'm not 100% sure what Omeruo's status would be), however this is far from a certainty as we have under-21 players who can fill in at centre back and we aren't really crying out for a midfielder like van Ginkel (without even considering his proneness to injury) while we still have Mikel.

 

While personally I'd be looking to move Drogba to the coaching staff, the noises he's been making, while far from conclusive, suggest that he'll be staying on for another season. I would also be looking at the Ramires-Milner switcheroo I mentioned earlier (leaving us 3 spaces), and also at bringing Victor Moses back to serve as a backup winger.

 

Obviously this is all speculation (as is this entire thread I suppose), but we could theoretically move on Cech, Ramires and Drogba; sign Cabaye (for example), Milner and one of the foreign keepers I mentioned and we'd still have two foreign spots left. In short, it really isn't beyond the realms of possibility, or even particularly difficult, to factor in one extra non-homegrown player as a worthy backup goalkeeper.

 

It's all a possibility (although I'm not sure why you haven't factored Mikel into the list of players who could move on) but I think you might end up disappointed....in the short term. I think you're going to be surprised by how competent a keeper Rob Green actually is. He fits the profile that we established when signing Schwarzer and he's been in fantastic form this season.

 

So all's good going into next season.   

(although I'm not sure why you haven't factored Mikel into the list of players who could move on)

 

Haha nice try, but this argument has gone on long enough already!

 

It's all a possibility but I think you might end up disappointed....in the short term. I think you're going to be surprised by how competent a keeper Rob Green actually is. He fits the profile that we established when signing Schwarzer and he's been in fantastic form this season.

 

Well if it does happen (I can't find any odds for it) obviously I hope he does well. I think your last sentence is a large stretch on both counts though.

 

I don't have high hopes and think we could do far better with a non-homegrown keeper without having to make any sacrifices to the quality of our squad elsewhere.

Haha nice try, but this argument has gone on long enough already!

 

 

Well if it does happen (I can't find any odds for it) obviously I hope he does well. I think your last sentence is a large stretch on both counts though.

 

I don't have high hopes and think we could do far better with a non-homegrown keeper without having to make any sacrifices to the quality of our squad elsewhere.

 

He's been in fantastic form for QPR from what I've heard from a few supporters and I think you're underrating him and overrating some foreign keepers. I think he has that experience you need in the league, but obviously not the Champions League experience that you'd desire which is why you might look elsewhere to the keepers you've suggested (Neto and Jaaskelainen have more experience?).

Not world class perhaps but still continental standard and all comfortably better than Green.

 

You could equally say that they have the ambition and the conviction in their abilities to fight for a place at a top club rather than compromising and setting their sights lower and playing for a club which has a far lower chance of actually competing for trophies (a.k.a. 'pulling a Lukaku'). When Bogarde played for us we had played one season in the Champions League in our entire history. Hardly parallel situations.

 

Depends who the first choice is. Obviously if the first choice isn't that great then they have a chance. But Reina's chances of dislodging Neuer at Bayern are somewhere between slim and non-existent, which is about the same chance whoever we sign would have of dislodging Courtois or Cech. So yes I'd say it's pretty unambitious on Reina's part to be happy to spend the next couple of seasons watching Neuer play in goal when he's still fairly young for a keeper. It's something a lot of keepers good enough to play for us wouldn't accept.

 

Which IMO limits us to an older keeper happy to count the days to retirement on our bench or a middle ranking keeper who doesn't mind playing second fiddle.

 

And being home grown is a consideration. We're limited to 17 overage, overseas players, so it does make sense not to use up a foreign squad berth on a player who will typically be needed for less than ten games a year. In the last five years, our back-up keepers have averaged nine games a season, and a lot of those would have been early round cup games.

 

I think you're underselling Green a bit too. He's a decent PL standard keeper. I'd be fine with him as back up.

Fair point regarding Reina, although it's hard to tell what a keeper's ambitions genuinely are when they join a club with an first team fixture like Neuer or Buffon. Either they are remarkably low because they know they'll never be first choice (when everyone is fit) or they are remarkably high because they believe that they have the ability to leapfrog the best in the business. I don't think that really applies to any of the other keepers I listed, all of whose competitors are prone to slumps in form.

 

The homegrown factor isn't necessarily an issue as I have already explained - we already have two empty foreign slots in our squad and that is with a foreign second choice goalkeeper in Petr Cech. Clearly we are not limited to an old husk or an average goalkeeper (which covers quite a large range of quality if we're being honest) seeing as none of the other top teams seem to be!

 

 

The crux of the matter is this question: Would you be happy seeing Robert Green start in the latter stages of the Champions League?

 

To those who say 'the backup will rarely play', last season we had our backup playing for us in both legs of a Champions League semi-final (we lost), in 2009-10 we had our backup playing for us in both legs of a Champions League last 16 (we lost). This is not an inconsequential position. And as I've repeatedly explained, it's not a position where we'd have to make any sacrifices elsewhere in the squad in order to accommodate the signing of someone better than Robert Green.

 

Regardless of our different ratings of Green (yours - average, mine - poor), I don't think the answer to that question is yes.

He's a solid keeper and worse ones have played CL football with us than Green that's for sure.

I'd be comfortable with him in goal for any of our matched if need be.

We've had worse (Ambrosio anyone?) Don't see how he is any better than Schwarzer though.

We've had worse (Ambrosio anyone?) Don't see how he is any better than Schwarzer though.

Don't see how he is any worse either.

He's a proven keeper in England and is more than good enough to play second fiddle to Tibo.

Yes he has had some shakey moments but just about every keeper does...apart from Petr of course!

Don't see how he is any worse either.

He's a proven keeper in England and is more than good enough to play second fiddle to Tibo.

Yes he has had some shakey moments but just about every keeper does...apart from Petr of course!

 

Exactly, even Courtois has made some mistakes this season, the most recent one was against Hull.

Im all for having a back up keeper Id be happy to start in a CL semifinal. I havent seen anyone available who we could realistically get that wont have a problem being second fiddle though. Out of the names in this thread, Green is probably the best option to me. Certainly better then Jaäskelainen or Pep Reina. With tjat said I think its unlikely he wants to come here to sit on the bench

Bring back Turnbull, that's all I'm saying...

 

Christ, he was dreadful.

Edited April 3, 201511 yr by Charles Ryder

I would prefer a reliable back up. As we've seen this season, Courtois is going to miss matches (Cech almost never did) and we wouldn't want Rob Green to play 3 or 4 important matches every season. Maybe having a foreign back up will also force us to promote youngsters! I would prefer someone in the Diego Lopez mould.

I would prefer a reliable back up. As we've seen this season, Courtois is going to miss matches (Cech almost never did) and we wouldn't want Rob Green to play 3 or 4 important matches every season. Maybe having a foreign back up will also force us to promote youngsters! I would prefer someone in the Diego Lopez mould.

What? Cech had played every game in the premiership once. Cech missed on average just about the same amount of games Courtois has been out for this year

Cech only played 20 league games the season he broke his skull, and only 26 the season after. Roughly 34/35 on average though (not counting those two) - it just shows that you never know what's going to happen and need a backup who is actually good enough to meet any eventuality.

Edited April 4, 201511 yr by PloKoon13

Is keeping Cech out of the question?

Is keeping Cech out of the question?

 

I think so. He said himself that he won't be having another season like this one.

Is keeping Cech out of the question?

 

Yep he deserves so much better than sitting on the bench every week.

Yep he deserves so much better than sitting on the bench every week.

^^^ this

As for green I think be better trying to keep Chec as a club the size of CHELSEA should have 2 top keepers