Coops the best keeper in the Championship?

[Joe Totale]

It’s pretty funny that based on those stats Bazunu is pretty much the worst goalkeeper in the entire division, yet he was probably one of the most expensive (£12m) and most talked about. I have never understood what all of the fuss was about with him. I remember seeing him play at Home Park for Portsmouth and thought he looked like a complete liability: constantly standing in crazy-stupid positions and getting caught out with the ball at his feet - a footballing catastrophe waiting to happen!

Coming through the Man City academy seems to add a certain lustre to players, look also at James Trafford who's had a difficult season at Burnley.

Bazunu also has 22 caps for Ireland and is their first choice keeper which raises people's expectations about him. In reality it means there aren't any good Irish keepers about!

 

[Green Flash]

Where I think Cooper is elite (and I mean top PL/international standard) is dealing with crosses, I have total confidence in him dealing with things fired into the box and claiming the ball in the box generally- we take it for granted when he is playing because it does not look as spectacular as a flying save but his consistency on this is remarkable.

 

[The Doctor]

Where I think Cooper is elite is dealing with crosses, I have total confidence in him dealing with things fired into the box and claiming the ball in the box generally- we take it for granted when he is playing because it does not look as spectacular as a flying save but his consistency on this is remarkable.

An observation that is completely supported by the data displayed in the figure in the original post. Only John Ruddy is better at dealing with crosses and both Cooper and Ruddy are significantly better than all of the other keepers in this respect.

 

[Jon with no H]

Coming through the Man City academy seems to add a certain lustre to players, look also at James Trafford who's had a difficult season at Burnley.

Bazunu also has 22 caps for Ireland and is their first choice keeper which raises people's expectations about him. In reality it means there aren't any good Irish keepers about!

I think Trafford is a genuine prospect, he has just been in a similar position to the Rotherham goalie this year, any good work he manages is ultimately covered up by two or three goals in a lot of games.

To me Bazunu looks a bit like Shaka Hislop when he was at Reading - somehow, someone saw something in him that I found was masked by the appearance he was in just way over his head, and that's when he was at Pompey, despite their manager at the time suggesting he was head and shoulders (other shampoo brands are available) ahead of anyone in the division.

 

[Sideline Sam]

If he goes for good money then fine but please please don't replace him with Hazard

 

[CarolinaGreen]

If he goes for good money then fine but please please don't replace him with Hazard

We're lucky to have Hazard as back up. I'm not sure where you think we're going to find the money to get a like for like replacement if Cooper goes.

 

[Pbennyboy]

If he goes for good money then fine but please please don't replace him with Hazard

I respect your opinion....but cant see what Hazard has done to deserve the comment in truth, apart from play under IF in a totally negative environment!

 

[JannerinCardiff]

The Stevenage goalkeeper took my eye in their recent match on Sky with Oxford Unitrd

Did you involve the police? - if not maybe us p@sotites could hunt this false eye thief down so you can return to 20/20 vision.

 

[WoodsyGreen]

Where I think Cooper is elite (and I mean top PL/international standard) is dealing with crosses, I have total confidence in him dealing with things fired into the box and claiming the ball in the box generally- we take it for granted when he is playing because it does not look as spectacular as a flying save but his consistency on this is remarkable.

Which is amazing when you think how unconvincing that area of his game was when he first came into the side. He used to get a lot of stick on here (myself included) for flapping at crosses or missing them entirely.

Over that first season it was like he had been coached to start double-punching the ball away and he began to excel from there.

If we stay up and we keep him, his progress will be one of the things I'll be most looking forward to seeing next season.

 

[Jon with no H]

Which is amazing when you think how unconvincing that area of his game was when he first came into the side. He used to get a lot of stick on here (myself included) for flapping at crosses or missing them entirely.

Over that first season it was like he had been coached to start double-punching the ball away and he began to excel from there.

If we stay up and we keep him, his progress will be one of the things I'll be most looking forward to seeing next season.

I think that's the thing a lot of keepers tend to take the longest to get comfortable with, even Peter Schmeichel had issues when he first moved to this country.

 

[Green Flash]

If he goes for good money then fine but please please don't replace him with Hazard

Hazard is nothing like as good as Cooper, but he is a perfectly respectable bottom half of table championship level keeper, he is, like or not, at our level at the moment. There are plenty of positions in the squad, even if Cooper leaves, that far more urgently require an upgrade

 

[Lobster]

Hazard is the dark blue dot to the left of Palmer. Completely average at shot stopping, and poor at stopping crosses (which for a man of his size is incredible). His distribution is also poor. We need better as a number 1. Luckily we have that right now.

 

[Green Flash]

Hazard is the dark blue dot to the left of Palmer. Completely average at shot stopping, and poor at stopping crosses (which for a man of his size is incredible). His distribution is also poor. We need better as a number 1. Luckily we have that right now.

Hazard is good shot stopper and ok at crosses (although not in Coopers league). I accept his distribution is slow and poor.

 

[Essence of Tong]

We should definitely be looking to extend Coops if we can - to my mind he's been one of the best keepers outside the Prem, and remains so.

He's streets ahead of Hazard (an equally excellent shot-stopper) in terms of coming off his line to narrow angles, decision making (as in actually making a decision rather than standing on his line and seeing what transpires), assertiveness and communication, speed of distribution, movement inside the box, and - and this is possibly where Coops has added value at Argyle vs any other club - leadership and cultural fit.

Want to sell a keeper? £1m for Hazard is better business than £5m for Cooper IMO (not sure if those valuations are realistic - GK prices relative to transfer fees for outfielders have never made sense to me)

 

[Essence of Tong]

And I think you could make an argument that we have the best first-choice championship keeper, the best second-choice one and the best third-choice one (have I seen the other 23 back-up GKs? Of course not.)