Seriously? Arnold is not any faster than Clyne was/is, who also happens to be better defensively while Arnold is still prone to some growing pains. Lovren was here already when we were giving up 40-50 goals a season and Van Dijk is hardly known for his speed. At LB Robertson is certainly not faster than Moreno. Speed is a factor, but not the factor for our defense being as good as it was the 2nd half.
I am talking about high lines, it doesn't matter if Moreno or Clyne is quicker or not, the fact is, we have a quick back 4 that's capable of playing a high line. And as for VVD, he is quick, perhaps quicker than Lovren over 10+ yards.
Oh, and VVD is the biggest factor for our defensive being as good as it was 2nd half.
Instead of looking just at saves, look at the entire skillset and how it helps our overall defensive performances while also contributing to our offense through quick distribution and transition.
Look at the punching/catching the ball piece and see the huge difference between what Karius does in those plays vs. what Migs often used to do coming up and just flapping the ball. He came out confidently and either punched or caught the ball. We just saw a 60-80M rated Allison planted at his line in the first game of the World Cup giving up a tying goal. Also, at the 1-minute mark, we see Karius grab the ball and throw a dart out to midfield to start a counterattack.
His long passing is also pretty good and often hits his target or at the very least gives our player a 50/50 chance to get the ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLKb4TTsHo4
Ignoring the distribution part and of runs outside the box, everything else is what a standard keeper should be doing. I am almost certain Migs with the back 4 we had in the 2nd half would have given him confidence to be more assertive in catching and punching.
As for the off the line runs, how often were we troubled by them? From what I remember, we didn't have too much trouble (as shown on the yt vid), and could still get away with that more traditional keeper in our goal.
Allison is a sweeper keeper, I am talking about the not so sweeper keepers and how they could still work out in our team, so I don't know why you bought Alisson up
« Last Edit: Jun 20, 2018 02:27:09 am by PurpleMonkey »
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