EVERTON PLAYER PROFILES
Jan Mucha
| Squad number | 1 |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Joined on | 1 July 2010 |
| Joined from | Legia Warsaw |
| Transfer fee | Free |
| Signed by | David Moyes |
| Full debut | v Huddersfield (H) 25 August 2010 |
| Contract duration | ? years |
| Contract expires | 201? |
| Born | Belá nad Cirochou, Czechoslovakia |
| Date of birth | 5 December 1982 |
| Height | 6' 3 " |
| Nickname(s) | |
| Honours | Slovakia international |
| STRENGTHS |
| WEAKNESSES |
Slovakian International goalkeeper Jan Mucha moved to Goodison Park in July 2010 after playing all four games in his country's World Cup run in South Africa that summer.
Everton completed a pre-contract deal back in January, allowing his five-year contract with Legia Warsaw to run down so he could be bought in for free under the Bosman ruling.
The 27-year-old began his career with Inter Bratislava, moving to Warsaw in 2005 after twice winning the Slovakian double with his second club MSK Zilina.
During five years in Warsaw, Mucha (pronounced Moo-kah) has added more domestic honours, and appeared to have been brought in to provide much sterner competition for Tim Howard, who was then 31.
Mucha's performance in the 2010 World Cup Finals was not particularly impressive, however: he gave up seven goals in four games, including an absolute howler against Paraguay and an easy one to little New Zealand. He had a good game against Italy with several fine athletic saves, but then got caught hopelessly out of position on Holland's gamewinner.
His arrival eventually signaled the end of David Moyes's prolonged preoccupation with various goalkeeping options for — particularly after Carlo Nash moved to Stoke City on a free transfer and John Ruddy made the switch to Norwich City — while rendering the continued presence of Iain Turner questionable... although the Scot did feature in the Blues' 2010-11 pre-season.
With his reliance on strong and stable defence ruling out much experimentation between the posts, Moyes went about managing the two senior 'keepers by keeping the status quo in place for the 2010-11 and 2012 seasons, despite a serious blunder within 15 minutes of the first game of the 2010-11 campaign by Howard. Dropping the ball in horrendous fashion for Kalinic to score easily for Blackburn and win the game did not lead to the American's demotion, however, and Mucha's only opportunities came in League Cup games.
And, unfortunately for the Slovakian international, an awful error of his own in a Carling Cup 4th round tie with Chelsea, where he allowed a routine catch to fall through his hands and help the Londoners through to the next round, further reduced any hope that he could displace Howard as the Blues' number one.
That, combined with Moyes's acqusition of free-agent goalie Marcus Hahnemann, led to speculation that Mucha would seek a move away from Goodison Park as early as the January 2012 transfer window.
By and Lyndon Lloyd
Last updated November 2011
| Everton Career | |||||||
| Season |
Squad Number |
League Apps (sub) |
League Goals |
Cup Apps (sub) |
Cup Goals |
Total Apps (sub) |
Total Goals |
| 2010-11 | 1 |
0 (0) |
0 |
2 (0) |
0 |
2 (0) |
0 |
| 2011-12 | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 |
| Totals | 0 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 | |
Note: Everton Career Stats on ToffeeWeb are updated after every game.
| Previous Career | |||
| Season | Team | Appearances (sub) | Goals |
| 2005-2010 | Legia Warszawa | 95 | 0 |
| 2005 | Humenné (loan) | — | — |
| 2002-2005 | MŠK Žilina | 32 | 0 |
| 2000-2002 | Inter Bratislava | 0 | 0 |
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