"He did have a slight rush of blood to the head with that header mid way in our half" - Must be Lloris influence on him On a serious note he does seem much better at the near post than Lloris(Touch wood)

even when he has moments like that header though it isn't because he's lost his nerve like lloris would do, it's because he has so much confidence and always wants to try and play

perfect mentality for Ange

Loved Lloris. When he first signed we played that high line and he was so quick off his line. As we evolved his game was expected to adapt also. He had the best reflexes in the world at one point. But he had obvious flaws also.

Vicario I have been really impressed with. Also like you say he has the highest save percentage. Two of his saves this season have been top drawer.

On Neville I disagree. He just gets a hankering for certain GKs. All GKs make mistakes it just certain GKs mistakes are sugar coated. For example Ederson’s mistake against us caused a goal and the commentary was all, ‘mistakes like this happen when you play the way Ederson does’. Yet we are already seeing the opposite happen with Raya, all because he has displaced their beloved Ramsdale.

comment by BelfastSpur (U15068)
posted 9 minutes ago
Loved Lloris. When he first signed we played that high line and he was so quick off his line. As we evolved his game was expected to adapt also. He had the best reflexes in the world at one point. But he had obvious flaws also.

Vicario I have been really impressed with. Also like you say he has the highest save percentage. Two of his saves this season have been top drawer.

On Neville I disagree. He just gets a hankering for certain GKs. All GKs make mistakes it just certain GKs mistakes are sugar coated. For example Ederson’s mistake against us caused a goal and the commentary was all, ‘mistakes like this happen when you play the way Ederson does’. Yet we are already seeing the opposite happen with Raya, all because he has displaced their beloved Ramsdale.
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That is certainly true. You get the same with players like TAA, even from Neville. Because he pings wonderful cross field passes his defensive cockups are largely not questioned, where as Porro for example has been torn to shreds by some pundits (last season in particular) for his defensive qualities despite making some very impressive offensive contributions.

taa hasnt been critisized for his defending, thats a hilarious one

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Neville just makes his mind up very quickly and then keeps repeating himself and doesn't back down.

see Porro v United or Destiny v Arsenal - picks a narrative in the first 10 minutes and runs with it

I can't remember one summer signing having an instant impact let alone 4 (including Udogie as he'd never played for us before this season).

I think Ange must take a lot of credit for this. I'm sure Vicario, VDV and Udogie wouldn't look so assured if we were camped on the edge of our penalty area all game.

On Vicario, it's noticeable how much better than Raya he has been. I was one of those who wanted us to get Raya but looks like we've done the better business there.

Personally I wanted Lloris gone 3 years ago and thought that he was an outright liability over the last 3 years.

The new gk has done ok but it still worried me that he is a bit "hollywood" at times with the way he exagerates his saves but I feel a lot more confident with him between the sticks than I ever did with Lloris.

Last year I got slaughtered because I regularly commented that we had playes on the pitch that should never be out there, in the likes of Lloris, Royal, Dier, Sanchez, PEH and Skipp.

Well our new manager obviously agrees and we dont see that lot at all now. Strange how our worst performance this season, and it was particularly 2nd half, coincided with the likes of PEH returning.

So far we are having a great time of it and the fans are enjoying every game all due to the fact that we have players on the field that can pass and dont give the ball away. All we need to do now is get rid of Richarlison and avoid injuries to have a really good season.

COYS and Big Ange of course

I love Lloris and it's shame how his career has just fizzled out with us and that I guess we'll never see him again. I hope the club does something to thank him for his service when he does formally leave. I'm not sure he was the leader and captain we needed hi to be though.

Delighted with Vicario. He came with great plaudits so I'm not sure why some of our fans were so dismissive when he signed. Thank god the club sensibly didn't overpay for Raya (although I suspect he will come good soon enough)

Great Gk. had a summer long argument with bales as he wanted Raya and a prem proven player and it clouded his judgement.

Hopefully he’s changed his mind now

comment by Hengy (U9129)
posted 11 minutes ago
Great Gk. had a summer long argument with bales as he wanted Raya and a prem proven player and it clouded his judgement.

Hopefully he’s changed his mind now
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Yeah Bales was really stubborn about that, think he realised he got it wrong now

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Thank you grandspurs for facilitating the big improvement in the side

Vic has been great, I was a little worried about him v Brentford, but since then he's been fantastic - making at least one very good save per game.

His insta is hilarious... 'Sorry I didn't thank you for wishing me a happy birthday, I was busy getting 3 points'

My slight problem and worry with our new keeper is all about the first couple of games. 4 or 5 times he pushed the ball out for a corner when it was going wide anyway and that concerned me a bit.

Having said that I will admit with some of his saves over the last 3 games I am impressed.

Hopefully he has settled down and we will see what a good signing we have made.

comment by Edinspur (U1109)
posted 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
comment by Hengy (U9129)
posted 11 minutes ago
Great Gk. had a summer long argument with bales as he wanted Raya and a prem proven player and it clouded his judgement.

Hopefully he’s changed his mind now
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Yeah Bales was really stubborn about that, think he realised he got it wrong now
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Pair of caants

Dunno which comments you've been reading that would suggest you were slaughtered for the same opinion that 99.9999% of our fan base had about those players
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I wanted Conte gone after about 5 games last season most on here disagreed.

Oh there were a lot on here telling me Conte was a winner. I wanted him sacked.

Royal had turned a corner, yeah right. PEH always gave a 100% and was an important part of our team.

Lloris was a world cup winner

The list of excuses were endless for what were at the end of the day CRAP players and a CRAP manager.

comment by grandspurs (U3810)
posted 6 minutes ago
Dunno which comments you've been reading that would suggest you were slaughtered for the same opinion that 99.9999% of our fan base had about those players
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I wanted Conte gone after about 5 games last season most on here disagreed.

Oh there were a lot on here telling me Conte was a winner. I wanted him sacked.

Royal had turned a corner, yeah right. PEH always gave a 100% and was an important part of our team.

Lloris was a world cup winner

The list of excuses were endless for what were at the end of the day CRAP players and a CRAP manager.
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Sometimes you're just right and you just have to be happy about it on the inside. Especially if it's about calling our players and manager crap.

he looks the dogs danglies so far dont he

Vicario has been the best keeper in the league this season and a brilliant signing for us.

He’s integral to the way Ange wants to play. All of our progressive play builds from the CB’s, while the full backs move forward in their inverted roles (often getting as high and inside as the no10 position). When this happens Vicario effectively splits the CBs to make a back 3 and play around the press. The system is difficult to play against as it’s very unpredictable - the oppo can never be sure where certain players are gonna turn up because of the freedom the system affords them. But having 2 CBs and a GK who are very good on the ball is critical to making it work and in Vic (and Romero & VDV) we absolutely have that.

To be clear - the dodgy moment on Monday is inevitable and you have to prepare yourself for the fact it will happen again, just as Maddison was caught out by Jesus. What Ange wants them to do is high reward but high risk also, so there will a percentage of times it goes wrong and when it does it will be heart in mouth time.

But it’s no good being the GK version of Pirlo if you’ve got spaghetti wrists. However, Vicario has saved 80% of shots faced, the most of any keeper in the PL and I can think of at least 5 top class goal denying saves he’s made so far.

I liked Lloris and undoubtedly he was part of a group of players who elevated us to a new level during the mid 2010’s, but I always questioned his character - he seemed like a bit of a sap to me, who would wilt under intense pressure and certainly not captain material IMO.

With Vicario having watched him play, seen his interviews and socials etc I feel he is a strong character. And by that I don’t mean the cliched ‘bit of a character’ or ‘clown’ or ‘maverick’ that you could tag some keepers with. I mean someone with strength of personality and a huge amount of self belief, while also being intelligent and level headed.

I’ll hold my hands up and admit I was disappointed we backed off on Raya and went for a cheaper option but am happy to admit I was wrong and to quick to judge. I wouldn’t swap Vicario for Raya for all the tea in China, or Ramsdale and certainly not Onana. Very happy to have him here.

However, Vicario has saved 80% of shots faced
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He has pulled off some great stops for sure and I am more than happy with him but to be fair to Lloris he was often very exposed by a very poor defence.

I still wanted him gone for his individual errors which cost us so often but our defence never helped for sure.

Our big worry now is squad depth, we really cannot afford injuries to the likes of Vic, Romero, VDV, Bissouma, Son or Madison.

I have to mention Udogie because in my eyes he is going to be the best left back in the prem this year by a fair distance.

comment by grandspurs (U3810)
posted 1 hour, 12 minutes ago
Dunno which comments you've been reading that would suggest you were slaughtered for the same opinion that 99.9999% of our fan base had about those players
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted Conte gone after about 5 games last season most on here disagreed.

Oh there were a lot on here telling me Conte was a winner. I wanted him sacked.

Royal had turned a corner, yeah right. PEH always gave a 100% and was an important part of our team.

Lloris was a world cup winner

The list of excuses were endless for what were at the end of the day CRAP players and a CRAP manager.
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Let's not forget you said Harry Kane would be a mid-table club player at best

You win some, you lose some

Let's not forget you said Harry Kane would be a mid-table club player at best
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You always allege this and have been proven wrong by posters other than me but carry on spouting it by all means

Curious to know what has happened to Lloris. Does he even train with us anymore? Does he support us from the sidelines at games? Anyone know?

Appreciate his form dipped massively in the last couple of seasons, but would have preferred him as our number 2 over Forster.