Smith's penalty save

[Neil 24]

mr ickle give credit were due. that save was better than good it was great.

 

[Taunton_Shrimper]

that is what you call a great save.

 

[Jai]

Christ on a bike that's one of the best saves I've ever seen. Right up there with Royce v Edinho

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Christ on a bike that's one of the best saves I've ever seen. Right up there with Royce v Edinho

It was truly a great save to go along with at least 5 or 6 other great saves he pulled off last night. Best performance I've ever seen from a Southend keeper.

 

[londonblue]

Not saying all shots should be caught. But some should - Like the ball never moved around or swerved in the old days - Duh. Smith catches almost nothing and your comment gives him license to continue. I wonder what goalkeepers of old would make of the some of today's keepers who rarely catch the ball - wimps comes to mind. At least sometimes catch the ball smith. And how spectacular a parry looks compared to a catch.

You may well be right. Personally I think seeing a goalkeeper catch the ball mid flight is one of the best sights in football, and I'd love that to become the norm again, but I can't see it happening. No goalkeeper seems to want to catch the ball anymore...and Smith is no different.

Balls do move around far more now than they did in the past. That is mostly to do with the ball, I suspect, but some is probably down to improved footwear that allows players to put more spin on the ball (I have no evidence of this, I'm just guessing). Either way, trying to catch a ball that moves around in the air is far more dangerous than palming it away. Goalkeepers have to play the percentages...doesn't mean I like it though...

 

[David Icke]

Nope. A good save. He moved before the kick was taken into the precise trajectory of the shot and with his height and reach a good save. Now Gordon Banks - that was a great save. Too much hyperbole turns good into great. Some of Smiths saves were very good - none great. The amazing thing last night was how many really good saves he made and thats where the great comes in. Perspective peoples. Collectively great, individually there wasnt a great one amongst them.

 

[londonblue]

Nope. A good save. He moved before the kick was taken into the precise trajectory of the shot and with his height and reach a good save. Now Gordon Banks - that was a great save. Too much hyperbole turns good into great. Some of Smiths saves were very good - none great. The amazing thing last night was how many really good saves he made and thats where the great comes in. Perspective peoples. Collectively great, individually there wasnt a great one amongst them.

In your opinion. Personally I disagree with that.

 

[SS3_SUFC]

Unbelievable save. I couldn't believe it when it stayed out!

 

[Jam_Man]

Not saying all shots should be caught. But some should - Like the ball never moved around or swerved in the old days - Duh. Smith catches almost nothing and your comment gives him license to continue. I wonder what goalkeepers of old would make of the some of today's keepers who rarely catch the ball - wimps comes to mind. At least sometimes catch the ball smith. And how spectacular a parry looks compared to a catch.

Todays balls move massively different compared to the old heavy balls. Older balls would swerve but todays balls can swerve in muiltiple directions. They are almost like those plastic balls you got in petrol stations in 1978 :smile:

As I said in my other post, Id expect a keeper to catch as many crosses as possible, but I wouldnt expect many shots not hit at any keeper to be caught, unless a keeper can get his body behind the ball he will normally take the safe option.

As for perspective, when the opposition fans are raving about him and he gets MOM from their sponsors he must have done better than just good...

 

[southchurch]

It was a good save but not as good as people are saying.

It was not right in the corner. It was more to the centre and a good height. It also was not a blaster, just placed .
He dives to his right and is able to save it with his left hand which shows he guessed the right way but did not have to go far. Again good save but not great.

 

[Grayson]

It was a good save but not as good as people are saying.

It was not right in the corner. It was more to the centre and a good height. It also was not a blaster, just placed .
He dives to his right and is able to save it with his left hand which shows he guessed the right way but did not have to go far. Again good save but not great.

A good height? Are you joking? It was only a foot short of the cross-bar.

Take a look at this graphic which shows a study of penalties, and a zone which is supposedly impossible to save. Last night's penalty was, if not in this zone, very close to it.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2004/06/23/thespot.pdf

More info on it here: http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/pro-tips/penalty-perfection

Including this quote: “Fortune favours those aiming higher, because the gap between the goalie’s reach and the post, close to the ground, is rather narrow,” says Bray, whose studies show that on-target shots placed at the keeper’s shoulder height succeed 100 per cent of the time.

Fair to say last night's shot was at least shoulder height. Unbelievable save.

 

[Neil 24]

respect your opinion. but dont agree with it.

 

[Neil 24]

...... Great save

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Nope. A good save. He moved before the kick was taken into the precise trajectory of the shot and with his height and reach a good save. Now Gordon Banks - that was a great save. Too much hyperbole turns good into great. Some of Smiths saves were very good - none great. The amazing thing last night was how many really good saves he made and thats where the great comes in. Perspective peoples. Collectively great, individually there wasnt a great one amongst them.

How about giving some credit for his height and reach? On at least four of his saves a Belford, Morris or Flahavan wouldn't have got anywhere near, even if they'd Smith's anticipation, positioning, footwork and reaction. That's why you want a decent sized keeper.

Whilst a lot of his saves were of the Flahavan v Man U variety, he had a couple of excellent saves diving away to his right where I thought he had no chance only for him to somehow push it away which were more of the Mildenhall v Chelsea quality. They are saves you don't expect your keeper to make. That's also the best penalty save I've seen live or on TV. To claw it away at that height was something you just don't see. If he moved before the kick was taken, well done on anticipation. Either way it was a great penalty save and he produced one further great save and another very good save plus a whole load of stops you'd hope your keeper would make and a lot of saves you'd expect your keeper to make.

 

[fbm]

Nope. A good save. He moved before the kick was taken into the precise trajectory of the shot and with his height and reach a good save. Now Gordon Banks - that was a great save. Too much hyperbole turns good into great. Some of Smiths saves were very good - none great. The amazing thing last night was how many really good saves he made and thats where the great comes in. Perspective peoples. Collectively great, individually there wasnt a great one amongst them.

I was directly behind the one in the first half where he dived full length to tip the ball just over the bar... if that wasn't great then I don't know what is.

 

[Blues 'n twos]

Unbelievable save and unbelievable negative comments still from some!!

Read the Brentford forum listen to 5 live why is it that others can see what our own fans still refuse to believe? :nope:

Some have millionaire dreams on a league 2 budget.

 

[southendkid]

Don't a lot of goalkeeper coaches tell their keepers to never catch the ball unless it's a cross? I'm struggling to think of any current premier league keeper who doesn't punch anything that isn't shot straight at them.

 

[southchurch]

A good height? Are you joking? It was only a foot short of the cross-bar.

Take a look at this graphic which shows a study of penalties, and a zone which is supposedly impossible to save. Last night's penalty was, if not in this zone, very close to it.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2004/06/23/thespot.pdf

More info on it here: http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/pro-tips/penalty-perfection

Including this quote: “Fortune favours those aiming higher, because the gap between the goalie’s reach and the post, close to the ground, is rather narrow,” says Bray, whose studies show that on-target shots placed at the keeper’s shoulder height succeed 100 per cent of the time.

Fair to say last night's shot was at least shoulder height. Unbelievable save.

Freeze the video clip at frame 25. Your see he saves the ball with his left hand and has hardly left the ground. The ball is is not going in any where near your 'perfect penalty zone'. Like I say I am not knocking smith and feel he never should have been subed for the pens last week. That was a PS mistake in my opinion.

 

[The General]

As i just put on FB, it was a truly remarkable save. You wont see many better. Ive always thought Smith was an OK kee[per, i certainly didn't/dont think he is great but certainly have never slated him (like so many of the vocal minority do) but last night he was first class and had a few people at work talking to me about him as Sky Sports were going crazy over him last night by the sounds of it. Hopefully people can now show him a bit more respect and .... abuse Streaker instead! :unsure:

 

[ldnfatso]

Unbelievable save but tbh was one of many on Tuesday night. I've never known so many people in our section to be so sure the penalty would be saved.