Looking to replace him with Onana from Ajax, apparently. Onana is a good young keeper with potential to be world class. 

19 minutes ago, enigma said:

Looking to replace him with Onana from Ajax, apparently. Onana is a good young keeper with potential to be world class. 

So was Kepa

10 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

So was Kepa

Spanish press saying he broke up with his girlfriend recently hence his form slump. Surely there is a fine young lass somewhere in West London that could help him forget his troubles.

29 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Spanish press saying he broke up with his girlfriend recently hence his form slump. Surely there is a fine young lass somewhere in West London that could help him forget his troubles.

I'm ruling myself out, I stay faithful to another goalie. But I totally fit the criteria of course 

14 minutes ago, Valerie said:

I'm ruling myself out, I stay faithful to another goalie. But I totally fit the criteria of course 

*cough* *cough* "young" *cough* *cough*

3 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Spanish press saying he broke up with his girlfriend recently hence his form slump. Surely there is a fine young lass somewhere in West London that could help him forget his troubles.

I'm more shocked that footballers go into relationships while in their primes. 

13 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

So was Kepa

From what I've read, Onana is better than Kepa right now. I honestly have no idea about how good he can become. Kepa was always going to be a gamble after trying to replace Courtois. 

1 hour ago, enigma said:

From what I've read, Onana is better than Kepa right now. I honestly have no idea about how good he can become. Kepa was always going to be a gamble after trying to replace Courtois. 

Yeah Kepa wasn't Onana level when we bought him and he's declined, simply because he doesn't have any of the skills needed to be a PL keeper. 

Onana would be a very good signing. I have no confidence we sign him. We will end up with Pope which will be a huge mistake. 

19 hours ago, enigma said:

Looking to replace him with Onana from Ajax, apparently. Onana is a good young keeper with potential to be world class. 

Isn’t this just Kepa with extra steps?

8 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Spanish press saying he broke up with his girlfriend recently hence his form slump. Surely there is a fine young lass somewhere in West London that could help him forget his troubles.

Isn’t this just Courtois but with extra steps?

8 hours ago, yorkleyblue said:

*cough* *cough* "young" *cough* *cough*

At least it's not *cough* *cough* "fine" *cough* *cough*. Encouraging!

Anyway, not sure what to think if we get rid of Kepa already. A different goalkeeping coach might be something to try first before booting out a young goalie, still years away from his prime.

Yup, on the fence here.

2 minutes ago, Valerie said:

At least it's not *cough* *cough* "fine" *cough* *cough*. Encouraging!

Anyway, not sure what to think if we get rid of Kepa already. A different goalkeeping coach might be something to try first before booting out a young goalie, still years away from his prime.

Yup, on the fence here.

Well said. Having Hilario coaching Kepa while Lollichon is somewhere around in Cobham is hilarious.

6 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Well said. Having Hilario coaching Kepa while Lollichon is somewhere around in Cobham is hilarious.

Lollichon is the head goalkeeping coach. We’ve also got Carlo and Cech knocking about.  

Edited February 7, 20206 yr by Munkworth

51 minutes ago, Valerie said:

At least it's not *cough* *cough* "fine" *cough* *cough*. Encouraging!

Anyway, not sure what to think if we get rid of Kepa already. A different goalkeeping coach might be something to try first before booting out a young goalie, still years away from his prime.

Yup, on the fence here.

When is a keeper in his prime? Can you tell me of a single keeper who progressed significantly after the age of 25?

I can't think of a single one.  

9 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

When is a keeper in his prime? Can you tell me of a single keeper who progressed significantly after the age of 25?

I can't think of a single one.  

Pretty much all of them did, a keepers prime age is around 30. I'd say its more like I don't know any of the top keepers who didn't get better after 25.

24 minutes ago, dkw said:

Pretty much all of them did, a keepers prime age is around 30. I'd say its more like I don't know any of the top keepers who didn't get better after 25.

Okay let's put this to bed

Cech was in his prime at 23. Do you think he improved after 25? I don't. 
Courtois hasn't improved since he was 23/24. He's only 27 now.
De Gea won goalkeeper of the year at 27, he was regarded as one of the best in the world at 23. 
Casillas won goalkeeper of the year at 26, he was Madrid's comfortable first choice since he was 20.
Neuer goalkeeper of the year at 26, making his debut for Bayern Munich at 24.

Do you REALLY think Kepa is going to be world class when at the age of 25, he is a million miles away from any of the above 5 keepers careers at the same age.

Just because keepers can play into their 30s, does not mean they peak at that age. It's a myth that is trundled out to defend bad keepers who are in their mid 20s. 

12 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Okay let's put this to bed

Cech was in his prime at 23. Do you think he improved after 25? I don't. 
Courtois hasn't improved since he was 23/24. He's only 27 now.
De Gea won goalkeeper of the year at 27, he was regarded as one of the best in the world at 23. 
Casillas won goalkeeper of the year at 26, he was Madrid's comfortable first choice since he was 20.
Neuer goalkeeper of the year at 26, making his debut for Bayern Munich at 24.

Do you REALLY think Kepa is going to be world class when at the age of 25, he is a million miles away from any of the above 5 keepers careers at the same age.

Just because keepers can play into their 30s, does not mean they peak at that age. It's a myth that is trundled out to defend bad keepers who are in their mid 20s. 

Cech. Yes, he got better and better, he was behind the best defence the English league has ever seen when he first came here. Later when the defence wasn't as good he played better, his best season in my opinion was 2012 when he was 30.

And the fact your pointing out these keepers winng things at 27 goes completely against your argument, you see that right. You ask any keeper when they think they were at there best and its always around 30, it's when they peak with positional knowledge, timing, decision making etc and are still agile and quick. 

There's a reason the average age of keepers in the top leagues in Europe is 27+.

https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr22/en/phone/index.html

I never mentioned Kepa, so keep your panties on pal. 

Edited February 7, 20206 yr by dkw

13 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Okay let's put this to bed

Cech was in his prime at 23. Do you think he improved after 25? I don't. 
Courtois hasn't improved since he was 23/24. He's only 27 now.
De Gea won goalkeeper of the year at 27, he was regarded as one of the best in the world at 23. 
Casillas won goalkeeper of the year at 26, he was Madrid's comfortable first choice since he was 20.
Neuer goalkeeper of the year at 26, making his debut for Bayern Munich at 24.

Do you REALLY think Kepa is going to be world class when at the age of 25, he is a million miles away from any of the above 5 keepers careers at the same age.

Just because keepers can play into their 30s, does not mean they peak at that age. It's a myth that is trundled out to defend bad keepers who are in their mid 20s. 

Keepers in general get in their prime between their 28 year and all up to when they are 32 years old.

This is in general but obviously a good keeper will get himself known to the world before he gets to be 29 years old. There is a dip in the performance after being 33 years of age in general.

Our examples of the general rule are actually Cudicini that was at his best when he was mentally the strongest, around 29-32 years of age (maybe it's also due to the fact that men such as myself reach the real maturity level after they are 30 years old, while women are in general more mature earlier lol).

The other example is Cech he was always a good keeper but keep in mind that when he got to be older than 25 he was at his best and even if he did win individual awards throughout his career he was at his prime after 2010, which would make him older than 28.

Edited February 7, 20206 yr by Gol15

11 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Spanish press saying he broke up with his girlfriend recently hence his form slump. Surely there is a fine young lass somewhere in West London that could help him forget his troubles.

I'm going Amsterdam end of this month, if we all chip in i'll bring him someone back from the Red Light District. Could have prime Neuer on our hands in no time.

2 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Isn’t this just Courtois but with extra steps?

And without the ability to catch crosses...

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

And without the ability to catch crosses...

Tibo was terrible with his feet though, if I were Eden I’d have been megging his every training session. Stay clever, keep them together. 

4 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Lollichon is the head goalkeeping coach. We’ve also got Carlo and Cech knocking about.  

It is Hilario though; well that is what it says on our official page.

29 minutes ago, ducavis said:

It is Hilario though; well that is what it says on our official page.

Yes, Hilario works with the first team keepers. Lollichon oversees all the Goalkeeping coaches. Minimal googling required. 

Edited February 7, 20206 yr by Munkworth

6 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Stay clever, keep them together. 

Sounds like the advice they give out at Catholic schools.

I don't think we could afford another top GK even if we decide Kepa's Chelsea career is over. We aren't going to recoup half of what we paid if we let him rot on the bench, and any proven GK would cost 60M plus. I mean Pope is being mentioned, but he's playing for Burnley, hardly a great GK either, and probably cost cost around that 50M. I don't think we could afford to just give up on Kepa yet, especially with only 150M to play with, and 4-5 spots need to be filled

11 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

I don't think we could afford another top GK even if we decide Kepa's Chelsea career is over. We aren't going to recoup half of what we paid if we let him rot on the bench, and any proven GK would cost 60M plus. I mean Pope is being mentioned, but he's playing for Burnley, hardly a great GK either, and probably cost cost around that 50M. I don't think we could afford to just give up on Kepa yet, especially with only 150M to play with, and 4-5 spots need to be filled

Plenty of good keepers out there. Our problem recently seems to be we only catch on to a player when their are 10 other clubs after them too. 

Long way from when we signed De Bruyne, Courtois and Oscar when no one seemed to know who they were. We desperately need to find our new Piet De Visser.