Give me Schmeichel and I'll be happy. (Fabien Barthez)

Name:

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Product:	Fabien Barthez
Date:	23.10.01 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: He plays for Manchester United

Disadvantages: He doesn't play very well for Manchester United at the moment

There’s some stuff you just can’t doubt, like, umm, David Beckham only scores from free-kicks because I say ‘He won’t score from there!’ (I got a few rather horrid looks from some rather drunk men when I stood up and screamed it very loudly in the last World Cup’s England Vs Argentina match, but hey, who cares, it worked, even though we did lose (but lets blame Shearer for that). It doesn’t work for Manchester United as much as England at the moment, but then that’s another thing you can’t doubt: Manchester United ain’t on form. No sir. And ooh, what’s that about? Because there’s a lot of things to do with Manchester United’s big problems with conceding goals at the moment, and well, you know, I’m beginning (however much I love, admire and respect him) to think it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing if Sir Alex Ferguson HAD left last season. Ah. ‘Tis true, probably. We need new faces, in every part of the team: particularly the defence (either bring back the old face of Jaap Stam, get rid of Laurent Blanc (even though he’s only just arrived), put Roy Keane in the Centre (‘cept we wouldn’t get the same motivation pushing forward, but at the same time would sort out the fitting Scholes back in thing), or me, at Right back (you know, I do think that would be the best, but well, there might be a few things stopping that from happening, but oh well, I’ll get the kit-woman job soon (though our Albert does a grand job)). Ah yes, and our goalkeeper. Yes, Barthez.

I know it’s hard for you, but don’t laugh, please (Especially not if you’re a Liverpool fan, because I’m laughing at you… Phil Jevons) It’s an embarrassment, really. I used to love Barthez, when he first came to Old Trafford, because of the relief of finally finding someone half decent to sort out the goalkeeping problems we had then, but now, well, I d
on’t, really. I’ve known it for a while, but I don’t really think he’s that wonderful, and it’s not because of the last few matches (Deportivo La Coruna and Bolton Wanderers).

Y’see, it’s like this:

Unfortunately I never quite got over the loss of Peter Schmeichel, sort of like I never got over the loss of Eric Cantona, but for different reasons. It’s really got something to do with the time I started watching and playing and enjoying football, and enjoying Manchester United. At that time, Schmeichel was there: already a pretty huge name in the Manchester United team, the backbone of the squad, saving us from many a defeat. And well, I loved him. Really, I did (not as much as I love(d) Cantona, but I did love Schmikes). And that’s the problem really, seeing Peter score for Aston Villa shook me hard, it struck me that he was no longer really ours (even though he is, really, because there’s some players which you love so much they always belong to your club), and he’s now *against* us, competing for the Premiership title (probably won’t happen, but Villa are still fighting for it, nonetheless). It feels wrong, it doesn’t feel like there’s still the presence of the huge Danish red nosed blond haired Giant sitting in the back of the net.

When Big Schmikes left, there was always going to be a problem of finding a new ‘keeper, because Peter meant lots to everyone: not just the fans like me, of my age, who had grown up with his photograph on their bedroom walls and learnt to spell and pronounce his name properly, but for everyone, really, because he had made such an impression, he had proved himself and shown himself, something that any player has to do to be loved and cherished. Without Schmeichel, the Treble winning season wouldn’t have been the same, nor would any of the other matches we won whilst he was guarding the goalposts. And that’s wh
y it came as such a shock to me when he announced a season/half a season before that he was going to retire, because I knew, and was probably right, that he could go on.

Raimond Van Der Gouw was already at the club, as the second goalkeeper when Schmikes left, but however much a great goalkeeper, at the time he didn’t seem like a suitable choice for the number one shirt, although looking back that was a huge mistake made by the club, I think. He should have been played, and he should have been given a chance. However old he was, he was, and is, a damn fine ‘keeper. Oh, and Kevin Piklington just faded away.

So Massimo Taibi popped up, an Italian goalkeeper, who’s name was probably the finest we could have bought, but quite simply he didn’t fit in well. His career at Old Trafford was short, but not sweet. Ended, even though he had a game or so afterwards by the Southampton Match of that season: a rather huge Taibi miss-kick leading to an embarrassing So’ton goal from Matt Le Tissier (The ball sort of trickled through Taibi's legs, if you didn't know why it was so embarrasing). That match sort of proved everything, however brilliant his name on paper (I have an old football management game, I should know) he wasn’t right, and was rather rubbish, for us anyway.

And Bossie came back, another buy that I thought would be rather good. Ten years before he had been on the United team sheet, the Australian National Goalkeeper coming from Aston Villa along with Dwight Yorke (one of Ferguson’s rather fine buys, though not so fine right now). He started off well, something a lot of Manchester United goalkeepers do, but again he wasn’t right. He was then shunted into third goalkeeping position (possibly forth, if you think about it, with Paul Rachubka breaking through) behind Van Der Gouw when the man I’m supposed to be talking about arrived for a rather well spent few million, and away to Ch
elsea went Mr. Bosnich, only just reappearing now, the other day, against Leeds United.

So, I’ll talk about him, as this opinion’s for him: Fabien Barthez, the rather wild, daring, risky, possibly dangerous current number one goalkeeper, and I suppose what we (as Manchester United supporters, though I suppose some other team’s supporters might be asking it as well) have to ask ourselves, is what is going on? Obviously something isn’t right: Fab’s a great goalkeeper, he’s got great ability, but he isn’t playing how he should be. Well, my reckoning is pretty simple really, and yeh, it’s got something to do with his rather wild, daring, risky, possibly dangerous play, that I loved to love when we were on form. I do think, like many, that he has got to ‘calm down’ a bit. When the whole team isn’t performing, particularly the defence, I don’t think it’s really the time to be daring. Obviously, playing Wes Brown out of position isn’t going to help the situation, but I do think, that at the moment, he is too relaxed. He’s consistent: but consistently bad, and I’m certain that Sir Alex Ferguson should have dropped him on Saturday, and given Roy Carroll another chance to show himself. He’s a bit more stable, and a bit more reliable, he’ll sort of, I suppose the best way to say it is play buy the rules, and by that I mean play how a goalkeeper should play when his club’s in the situation that Manchester United are in currently.

Obviously there’s a lot behind Barthez: he’s been around, he’s played for many a top club, starting off his professional career (he played amateur football at Lavalanet FC) with Toulouse in 1990, then going to Marseille in 1992 and from then onto Monaco in 1997, and what mattered to me: Manchester United in 2000. He’s been the French National Goalkeeper for a while now, and yes, that’s a big
achievement for a footballer, especially in the goalkeeper’s position (though in no way am I denying that it’s not such an achievement to play for your country in other positions), because as a goalkeeper there’s often a few players competing for just the ONE place. And you know, currently they’re the holders of both the World Cup (though, ahem, I think that might change with England’s current form ;)) and the Euro2000 competition. But, even though that does mean a lot, does it really mean a lot. Would I rather have the Northern Ireland goalkeeper playing more regularly, or even if it was possible (though I doubt he’d ever come back again) the Aston Villa ‘Keeper. Hey, even the Manchester United U19 goalie would do at the moment, providing he was on form.

The thing about Barthez is, comparing him again to Schmeichel, which perhaps I shouldn’t do considering there were other goalkeepers between Barthez and Schmikes, is that he does not demand the respect that Peter Schmeichel did from the defence, which perhaps is one of the reasons why I do not feel as safe. It might also be something to do with the relaxed attitude of his job, but even though Barthez is a very confident player himself, something which you can tell when he does make all his risky, daring moves, he does not bring confidence, and I do not believe that with Barthez in goal the team is confident, especially not the defence. We do need confidence, perhaps the main thing that is stopping us winning at moment (you know, I have great confidence with the attacking side of things, with Ruud Van Nistlerooy and everything – though the Ruud stranded up front on his own in the 1 position of the 4-4-1-1 does make me feel a bit iffy about everything).

And that’s it, I suppose. This would probably be better situated in a section about the current Manchester United goalkeeping situation rather than Barthez, but well, it is about Barthez, b
ecause he needs to change. Something needs to happen, whatever it is, otherwise the rather mellowed Alex Ferguson (who’s old version probably would have dropped Barthez on Saturday) is going to have a pretty dire and hard last season, and I’m going to have to hold my head up high, and keep teasing Liverpool about their ‘plastic’ treble compared to the real one we might have been able to win with a decent defence and goalkeeper. Yeh. That’s it, ain’t it: it’s time to stop relying on the glories of the past, and start focusing on the future.

[Oh, and yeh, one more thing before you go: if you want to know a bit more about Fabien Barthez (journals, what he thinks of his Manchester United team mates etc) then go to http://www.fabienbarthez.com].

Summary: