A few eyebrows were raised when Spurs picked up Brad Friedel on a free during the summer and the majority of supporters were assuming that the American had joined as Tottenham’s back up keeper for 2011-12. He would either be warming up the bench, putting pressure on Heurelho Gomes or a new man would have stepped in to replace the Brazilian.
Names such as Maarten Stekelenburg and Manuel Neuer were mentioned and when they didn’t arrive, we all felt as if Gomes would hold his place.
Three months into the season and Brad is firmly installed as our new number one. The performance at Fulham finally gained him some headlines but up until yesterday’s game, Brad had quietly gone about his business.
“At the moment, the way things are going for Brad, the shirt is his to lose. He is playing really well for us in the league and he has played so many consecutive matches,” said Kevin Bond before the Fulham game.
“We are not playing him because of that run of consecutive games, but because he has showed that level of consistency to warrant playing in the league.”
Friedel may not be the best keeper in the Premiership but what he has given Tottenham this season is that feeling of calm at the back. There is no longer any real need for Spurs fans to close their eyes at corners and set pieces as the ‘error-prone’ Brazilian comes flapping and that new steadying influence must also rub off on the back four.
As I’ve said, Friedel may not be the greatest in the Premier League, but he is sadly the oldest and we must therefore keep looking to the future but for now, his contribution to this great eight game run cannot be underestimated.
Brad for this season and next season, then Stekelenburg or Krul
From where i was standing it looked anything but CALM it looked bloody absolute chaos!!! Friedel rarely comes out for a ball ,he stays on his line a lot ,he hasnt had a lot to do because we have had what we didnt last year an unchanged defense plus LEDDERS go back 2 seasons or has your mind gone blank lowest amount of goals conceded in 70yrs by GOMAS full of crap u ar !!
set pieces haves a look at some of the saves from set pieces by gomas ,also he is called JESUS by villa fans because he hates bloody crosses
AS for Bond he doesnt know his arse from his face let alone goalkeeping ,and by the sounds of it u have been listening to 2 many NUMPTY journos who find him a figure of fun to take the piss SHOW me a gomas cockup and i will show u just as many from freidel
Spur1950, What on earth are you on about. You obviously know absolutely zero about goalkeeping or are just anti American. Brad Friedel is one of 3 outstanding signings and is one of the reasons we are on this run.
My feeling is, that you sir or madam, who does not know his arse from his elbow. Unbelievable comments.
are you sure you’re not a Brazilian clown agent?
Calm the f down spur 1950
Spur1950s’ first point was a good one. Whilst Friedel has brought a level of calm generally I wouldn’t have associated that with the Fulham game. I always liked Gomes and would still like him to succeed – think he will but after leaving Tottenham. Friedels’ style of ‘keeping works if your defenders are good. Ours are good in the air – difficult to beat, if they get beat, Friedel relies on stopping split-second shots from close range, something he’s pretty good at himself, shot-stopping. His style may suit us better. Maybe we could keep both and when we’re left with Bassong and Dawson, play Gomes to mark the strikers.
mate i have played football all my life and watched since 8 u u mate no doubt played in goal i played in goal for 10yrs after playing out on the pitch most of my life and i have my coaching badge to prove it
And BRAD FRIEDEL is not in the top 3 mate ,we should have looked at a younger keeper not the oldest keeper in the prem
And did u go to the game because the people round were panicking and said the same ,but we come out with 3 points.
read what i said then ask some 10yr old to explain football to u mate how a game works Goalkeeper- DEFENSE- midfield -attack as the geezer jerk”””” says he is a good shot stopper fact ,he has had an unchanged defense y/n for those games ,hasnt had much to do in some games because of this. Any way don’t remember gomas letting in 5
Look at the facts, read it [ i wont swear]
Unreal anti american heard it all now
coys
i have calmed down NOW !!
Been a pro keeper for many years and UAFA level 2 Goalkeeping Coach, and am also a lifelong Spurs and Pat Jennings fan. Didn’t realise we had a Gomas ever in goal for us.
Lets be sensible about this, even someone like yourself, who is obviously very passionate and emotional about Spurs, has to admit that Gomas, sorry Gomes and Friedel are not in the same class.
As for the comment about letting in 5. That was probaly down to a far superior team on the day and very little to do with who was between the sticks. I suppose your view of goalkeeping expertise is just about how many goals are conceeded.
I’m sure any Spurs fan with football knowledge would be very happy with the current situation.
I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to how many shots Brad has had fired against him in comparison to other ‘keepers but I’m sure the stats are out there. But mate, young ‘keepers? Hiss. ‘keepers are like managers, they get better with age. I appreciate your standing in the game though. I broke my legs badly at 19 and couldn’t play. I don’t mean afterwards, I mean I was shit. I was like Hoddle in that I didn’t run or couldn’t tackle, only I couldn’t pass, either.
We cant be calm with a clown like gomes in goal. We lost to many points because of him, and the defense is better with friedel. Gomes is good but, too many errors. I have played football too. The defense gets better with good keeper that we can rely on.
Didn’t he throw the ball into our net once? And attempt a goal-kick in open play? Love the guy and feel for him, we’ve all witnessed unbelievable saves from him in a Tottenham shirt but, he needs a fresh start.
Carlo Cudicini shouldn’t be forgotten either. He was superb at the back of an inexperienced team in Russia and saved Spurs from a heck of a thrashing.
He too is better than Gomes.
Ironicly, Friedel looks good because he doesn’t come for crosses but stays on his line. Gomes’ main fault was that when he did come for crosses, he missed / flapped a lot of the time. If Gomes was allowed to stay on his line like Friedel does I’m sure he would look a much better keeper. Add to that Gomes’ superior reaction time and agility, it does make you wonder how good Gomes would look if he were allowed to get away with the little amount of work Friedel does.
i really wish all Gomes lovers would wake up and realise he is a clown! sdo your selves a favour and check out some of his gaffes on you tube, namely the fulham goal, drogba, ronaldo, and yes the famous goal kick in open play.
he is an accident waiting to happen and he scares defenders. there is no way we would have the points we have now if we had gomes in the sticks. and yes we still would have been spanked by both the mancs. wether Friedel comes for crosses or not he is doing a top job and has yet to make 1 error to cost us points, some so called fans really dont get it! Gomes is a good shot stopper, so was barthez, so is Green but they always had/have an error in them. we need better than that and Brad is the man for this season
COYS