Howard improving with age

What damages a defense's confidence is goalkeeper howlers. Howard suffers fewer of them than anybody else.

**I say that, but at the same time I was delighted (and a bit horrified) to see Howard make a late-game running-jump for a ball in the middle of the box against Honduras, where he collided mid-air with two other players and landed awkwardly. Maybe he does have some new tricks.

He is a good 'keeper, no doubt about that, but those punts upfield are utterly depressing. It was noticeable, when Mucha got a chance, just how effective a decent throw can be. He looked to spring a counter attack at every opportunity.

Howard just hammers the ball in the air as high as he possibly can - a technique that massively favours the defender attacking the ball rather than a forward flicking it on.

I'll give him credit, he has started kicking off the floor much more recently which at least results in a flatter trajectory. I do like him, I just find it strange that this one aspect of his game has barely improved over all these years.

I've never thought of Howard's distribution as noticeably terrible (any long kick upfield from any goalkeeper is pretty much a lottery in terms of possession), but I would think that the actual decision to kick or throw is more based on coaching/management instructions.

How are you gonna substantiate this 'very interesting' claim of yours?

Yes you may be right. It was strange to see Mucha throwing at every opportunity though. The team orders would likely be the same so is it just Mucha doing his own thing?

I would also say that it's not so much Howard's tendency tokick that winds me up, its his style of kicking. If you look at hoe Paul Robinson kicks it, he gets almost over the ball and hits it low, flat and direct. Howard leans back and hammers it skyward. I think he has been told by this hence his recent tendency to drop the ball and kick it from the floor.

I hope this doesn't come across as 'anti-Howard'. I'm nitpicking a very good 'keeper.

From where I was sitting at the Everton-ManCity match when Mucha was in goal, the most likely explanation for Mucha throwing the ball is that Moyes gave him different instructions after watching Mucha flub 2-3 kicks early on in the match.

I recall the entire crowd just groaning when Mucha wound up and nearly missed the ball a couple of times, sending it out of bounds or high in the air well short of midfield. In other words, maybe Mucha threw the ball more because he sucks at kicking it.

Butland was only signed last couple of hours let in tranfer window, why didn't we make a move for him?

I'd rather have Howard.

Come to think of it, you're right--I do tend to notice Howard out and about more in CONCACAF play. Haven't paid historically much attention to Friedel/Keller, but you may be on to something.

An alternative explanation for Howard's varying willingness to venture forward may be his degree of confidence in his centre-backs. That is, perhaps he just has more (arguably misplaced) confidence in the likes of Jags, Heitinga, and Distin than he does in the incredibly youthful and inexperienced centrebacks for the USA.

In fact, even as I type this, I have convinced myself that that is the reason: Howard just doesn't trust the little boys playing in front of him for USA at all. I could be proved wrong by mid-2014 when Besler & co have more caps to their names.

Howard also has saved 29% of the penalties he has faced in his career, which is pretty spiffy.

None of those guys are as good as Howard, at least not yet.

a bit like every driver thinking that he drives better than the average?

Empirical evidence would be much more helpful:

http://www.sportskeeda.com/2013/02/14/top-10-goalkeepers-of-the-2012-13-epl-season/

Begovic was bought in 2010 for £3.5 million

Mignolet was bought in 2010 for £2 million

Howard was bought in 2007 for £3 million

What is their 'market value' now then? Talk about unsubstantiated arguments.

He desperately needs someone to come in and put some real pressure on him this season. Ever since he joined from Utd he's never had any real competition for his place and no real cause to rue any of the clangers he's dropped besides his own sense of disappointment at letting his team mates down. Mucha, Wessels, Hahnemann, Carlos 'cushy number' Nash were about as much threat to Tim Howard as Harry Potter was to Hermione's hymen. They were only ever at the club because they were cheap, available and owned a pair of gloves.

Empirical evidence??

Did you actually read the article you just linked? Right at the top it says "NOTE: This list reflects the author’s opinion and not necessarily that of SportsKeeda."

In other words, it's an anecdotal opinion.

And whose opinion? Try reading a little farther. The author is a fucking teenaged RS fan!

"I am another Football Freak who is a die hard fan of Liverpool!"

Great job there, Al. Good luck finding your credibility again.

1. What the seller could reasonably expect as to
2. what a potential buyer would be willing to pay.
3. The contract situation and the age of the player.
4. The history of the past bids.
5. The identity of the past bidders.

The evaluation of these factors will enable us to assign a value to any player in the Premier League. These claims are hardly unsubstantiated. We are dealing with future contingents and I can tell you now that if Vorm, Begovic, and Mignolet were to be sold tomorrow, they would cost the potential buyer at least 5 mill GBP.

http://www.bsports.com/football-index-english-premier-league

1, Opening game at Blackburn
2. Crippled donkey move at Wigan away.
3. The Crumple to the floor in the centre of the goal as Demba Ba shoots from 22 yards into the far THIRD of the goal at Goodison.
4. Star jump in the same game that was so predictable that Demba Ba headed the ball UNDER him!
5. Andy Carrolls header at Wembley. Watch Howards hands, they don't move from his side the whole time.
6. Derby, still HOLDING Dirk Kuyt as he heads the ball in the net!
7.Another derby. Ploughs through Liverpool player who has his back to goal to give a penalty away.
8. How can you forget the Kenwyn Jones header at Stoke from last season?

I promise you there are a lot more errors, I have watched him closely ever since the Blackburn error. He looks to have Paul Robinson syndrome.

And one more thing, the amount of times somebody says 'we need to push Tim Howard' is unbelievable, it's actually become a coined phrase, it might end up in an Everton miscellany at some point. Seriously, that is only something you could say if he was the best goalkeeper in the world and he' hit a bad run of form. Otherwise it doesn't make sense.

Anyway, Go Tim and USA, USA.

All goalkeepers make mistakes but Howard can sometimes defy comprehension.

I say Howard gives up fewer soft goals than any other keeper in the EPL. And over the years he's saved us far more points with blinders than he has cost us with howlers. Especially on PKs and shots in close.

Plus we only made the FA Cup final because Howard stoned two ManU PKs.

As this video proves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnZbxzGPHlc&list=PLD6BEB70BFE0229A5

Crosses - controlling box - distribution

As equally vital as catching Timmy. oh and .......

Those throws, those kicks ,,,,,,,

We don't need cover we need someone to step in straight away

By the way, Butland our Xmas pick - some at any rate - now???

But we need a top-6 goalie.

These fall away with age, also too much weight training takes the ' twitch ' factor out of muscles.

Howard is now 34 and experience will only help him so much for so long, he's not the worlds best decision maker now.

At 34 Martinez, if he can find one for the price can say to the Southall, sign for us in 18mths you WILL be the man and Howard will be your cover *hopes*

I never ever said he has never made any great saves... he has. I actually like Tim Howard as a person, and I do believe he trains hard etc, but he makes far to many errors. Alex Ferguson used to say Peter Schmeichel was worth 15 points a season – that, my friend, was worth the title.

If you think back to Nigel Martyn, how many mistakes did he make? Not many... and we finished 4th with a far weaker side than we have now. I think there's a real lack of first-class keepers now but I have thought he needed replacing for a while.

Answer this: why does he not command his area? That was basics when I was in the school team, when I was 9... command your area. He got beat from the halfway line for God's sake! What I would give for a young Southall or Martyn.

I would give him the benefit of doubt, keep him as no 1, but buy a good goalkeeper to provide him competition. Don't know why people keep saying Butland, overrated. That Joel who played for Wigan looked pretty handy and was in the Spanish u21 squad, good distribution and shot stopping.

There is no doubt, despite this interview, Howard needs competition to up his game at all times, so a good keeper is a start, and good goalkeepers tend to be relatively cheap nowadays, so hopefully Martinez can trump that one.

These days being good, not necessarily great, is about what's necessary to be one of the better keepers in the league; it's not a golden age for that position. I'm pretty confident that on balance Howard wins us a lot more points than he loses.

@Ben (312) - Main problem with "buy a good goalkeeper to provide him competition" is that the position doesn't lend itself very well to competition. Teams that rotate goalkeepers tend to be ones with goalkeeping issues, whereas most teams with a solid first choice tend to have competent-at-best backups. It's a tough balance to find.

The problem with Moyes and goal keepers is since Howard has been at the club, he has never bought a keeper that has even been close to competing him for the no 1 spot. He probably did buy these keepers as back up to Howard, and creates an assumption he is number 1.

That's what needs to change. Bring in a new keeper, tell them both that they're both competing for the no 1 spot, and let them fight for it. Brings the best out of both of them. I just didnt see that at all since Howard has been at the club.

Explain his dithering when Norwich scored late on.

Explain how he refused to straighten his arms to save the Fulham freekick when the ball was only six inches away from his head.

Explain why he allowed Kone to score for Wigan. Howard was standing next to the near post when the ball was crossed from their left wing. It came over at shoulder height and a couple of feet in from the goal-line. An easy catch for anyone. Kone was the only one up for Wigan but the ball was Howard's. Or was it?

What happened next defies comprehension. Instead of leaning out and catching the ball he suddenly leapt behind Kone, did a forward roll before sitting up with his mouth open in shock. Kone said, "Thank you very much"and nodded the ball into the net via the space vacated by Super Tim.

Explain the Johnson goal for Sunderland. Actually I think even God would have trouble with this one. It also requires viewing from behind the goal.

In brief, we are pushing up after repelling an attack when a high ball is suddenly and unexpectedly crossed from their left side. Our defenders are all asleep. The first player to react is Johnson. Howard is on his goal line surveying the action. The ball is dropping towards the penalty spot and Johnson turns and goes to meet it Here we go again. What happens next defies comprehension:

Instead of coming out in a straight line to block things off, Howard rushes out at a 45 degree angle away from the action.

After 3 or 4 strides he realises his miscalculation, changes direction but gets there all too late. Johnson says, "Thank you very much" and taps the ball into the net via the space vacated by Super Tim.

I could go on and on.

These are not normal errors. Something has to be wrong.
Thankfully he ended the season well so we'll just have to wait and see.

As for being in the top six keepers? There or thereabouts. He is a part of the 6th best teams defence! For all the examples of his mistakes there will be plenty of contrasting ones for point winning saves; the thing is, we remember the mistakes.

We do need a new keeper, I reckon Tim will be good enough for this season, but probably time for a change next year.