I didn’t see the pass back so I can’t comment, but I was disappointed that for all three goals Friedel was far enough off his line to not give himself enough time to react.

For the first goal he was busy playing WWE with a United player when, as a keeper, the law is on his side. Had he been fouled then no goal would have stood. Instead he lost any chance of being able to react to the shot, particularly as he was two feet off his line.

I was also incensed how he could’ve let Ronaldo’s lame shot get past him for the equaliser, but when I saw the replay he was, again, a good two feet off his line. That distance would probably have made the difference between saving it and just missing it.

And while the third goal was a blinder by the young débutante, I think had he been on his line Friedel may have stood an outside chance of saving it. For someone of his experience it was very poor goalkeeping for all three goals and quite possible for the pass back.

Age is catching up on Friedel I think, and while he is still a very good keeper there has been occasions this season where he has not been good enough. His experience will make Guzan and Parish much better keepers in the long-term but I am worried that he may be past his best for next season.

And the same could be said about Heskey, but that’s a moan for another post.

Comments (46)

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Damian said:

... I think it's a bit harsh to blame Fridel and certainly for the second goal, if anything, we wanted him to be a little further out, to close down the angel .. further back would have just made it more difficult. The first goal was as much an error for James Milner - I mean, Fridel was going to get the ball and he sort of had no option but to pick it up, because that was what he was committed to doing. Granted, he shouldn't have been in the wall .. but still, Milner shouldn't have touched the ball.

Comment 1, made on April 06, 2009 at 11.42 am

Abdul Kashif said:

... To put any blame on Friedel is just silly. The third goal was just one of those things where he was beaten by a great strike which was plum in the corner, as was Ronaldo's shot for the second. Friedel has done a good job this season and has been the best keeper we've had for a while. Carson is 15 years younger than Friedel but I know who I'd rather have between the sticks. The fact is, we crumbled under pressure yesterday at the very end, but the way we played should provide a boost for the players and give them a bit more belief for the rest of this season and next.

Comment 2, made on April 06, 2009 at 11.49 am

Sheriff Kimbo said:

... That is one of the worst, mis-informed articles that I have ever read in my entire life.

Comment 3, made on April 06, 2009 at 11.55 am | url

Andrew Murdoch said:

... I'm not sure about the second and third goals but i'm with you on the first. He wasn't even looking when Ronaldo took the shot.

Comment 4, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.02 pm

Christian said:

... I don't think he could do much about goals 2 and 3. The backpass was Milner's mistake- you NEVER, EVER knock a short ball like that back to your keeper- either shield it or hoof it out for a throw. However, perhaps if Friedel had reacted a bit quicker then Milner would never have had a decision to make. But Friedel's positioning for the indirect freekick was absurd. What was he doing wrestling with the united player? What was he doing BEHIND his own wall? What's the point of building a wall if you're not going to stand the other side of it?! Piss poor goalkeeping. But he did make a wonder save from Wellbeck late on, so I don't think he's to blame for the result. The referee is to blame...

Comment 5, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.05 pm

John Flynn said:

... Good post, he was at fault for the first two.. If he had been on the line for 2nd one he could have got to it there wasnt much power behind the shot just well placed.!!

Comment 6, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.07 pm

John Flynn said:

... Sheriff Kimbo, Prat.!!

Comment 7, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.09 pm

Smyth said:

... I agree with the last couple of paragraphs Luke. I don't think Friedel was overly bad yesterday but he hasn't lived up to the hype prior to his signing. He's been just average for most of the season.

Comment 8, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.10 pm

Mutters said:

... I would like to comment how many balls we crossed the 6 yard area without any strikers to be seen, by my count it was 5 or 6 went into the area at least 3 were open goals, we need a goal poacher that can get into the box when the cross comes in we do not have that at present, someone in the mould of owen, kean,

Comment 9, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.17 pm

villarobin said:

... he wasnt totally to blame, but he was to blame for the ronaldo free kick and the free kick against Liverpool. You dont stand behind the wall !! You stand on the open side, the wall covers one side of the goal , the keeper the other side, but Freidel failed to do this twice. Hope he learns his lesson now !!

Comment 10, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.34 pm

Christian said:

... I agree Mutters. Carew (as good as he is at what he does) doesn't get into the 6 yard box enough, nor Gabby. But it's Catch-22 becuase if we get an Owen or Keane (or Franny 'Fox in the Box' Jeffers!) then we'd have to sacrifice Gabby or Carew, and then we'd be saying we have no aerial threat and no-one running the channels! There's a few strikers who run the channels and poach in the box- Craig Bellamy is one we missed out on.

Comment 11, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.37 pm

Damian said:

... Christian1983 I agree with all this too .. but look at yesterday and the goals we scored. The first came from a midfielder out on the right - crossing to a striker. The second came from counter attacking play (our best form of attack in my opinion) that could have been anyone crossing in .. We need the 'fox in the box' type player absolutely .. my point is, Gabby can be that player who runs the channels and gets in the box .. Carew is just a little too slow, although yesterday we did see some of his strengths.

Comment 12, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.42 pm

Steve said:

... Guys, I'm sick of so called villa fans criticizing the team. They may have had a poor run in the last couple of months. Just think how we were not so long back when O'Leary was in charge. We were lucky not to be relegated, but you get some "fans" and I use the term lightly who think that we are premiership title contenders. Now when MON first joined the villa team he said in quotes "There are no quick fixes, but long term plans". I might not agree with all the signings he has done, but he is the boss and I respect that. I'm just so sick off villa fans complaining when in reality we are doing quite well, we may not finish 4th but who expected us too at the beginning of the season. Everyone just gets caught in the hype we had a good run the seasons not over. If you're a true fan you have believe in your club and your players.

Comment 13, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.44 pm

Mike Carter said:

... The pass back was Milner's mistake, yes, but Friedel's positioning for the free kick was absolutely attrocious. Baffling even. Standing right behind the line gave him no advantage whatsoever, and having 4'3" Nicky Shorey on the post was just as bad. If Friedel stays on the line, that wasn't a goal.

Comment 14, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.49 pm

Ian Stockton said:

... Christian 1983/Damian Do you think that had we played 4 5 1 the lone striker, be it Carew or Gabby, would have been in the box for those crosses? We played well yesterday, esp. with a left back playing left back, i'd like to see MON just try 4 5 1 to see if we win. If we dont, then we shite whatever formation we play!! Lol

Comment 15, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.50 pm

Ian Stockton said:

... Never rated Friedel, get little Brad in

Comment 16, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.51 pm

Christian said:

... Stocky, I think that a lone striker is much more likely to be in the box. The 5 in midfield would give us enough width that there'd be little need for Gabby to run the channels all game. But then again, if the wide men don't support well enough and make it 4-3-3, then we'd find ourselves with only 1 man in the box- and we'd all be asking for 4-4-2!!! I dunno, I don't get paid to know. But, I'd like to see 4-5-1 with Carew or Gabby interchangeable depending on opposition (Carew if we're looking to break down a team that's 'parked the bus' and Gabby if we're looking to get into space) If we can get a 'world-class' creative midfielder next season to sit behind the lone striker in a 4-5-1, I think we'd be pretty hot to handle.

Comment 17, made on April 06, 2009 at 12.58 pm

Notts Villan said:

... Steve - I think fans have every right to be upset and to voice their criticisms. True fans dont have to be blind to the facts. Our form has been shocking of late (we havent won in 9 now), we have thrown games away that we should have won on too many occasions this season and last (how many mistakes have to be made to learn from them?), we have well supported our team at VP this season only to watch our team win 5 times, we threw our money at the UEFA cup campaign home and away only for it to be flushed down the drain in disgusting fashion when it was there for the taking. Obviously if we were winning we wouldn't be upset but we aren't winning and haven't been for 2 months now. Yesterday, was a vast improvement on the Liverpool game but its the same old story.

Comment 18, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.01 pm

Damian said:

... Stocky When I saw the team he put out yesterday I've got to hold my hands up and say I thought we were going to get spanked .. but because of the way United set themselves up - playing three up - we always had a man extra. It all went wrong when we took Milner off in my opinion and decided to sit back and defend the lead - but hopefully it is a lesson we will learn from. I think 4-5-1 against Everton is vitally important though, because they won't play with three up - I don't think they've got three strikers!

Comment 19, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.02 pm

Mike Carter said:

... 4-5-1 against Everton isn't going to give us enough firepower. It's far too negative and Everton will deal with a lone striker all game long. 4-4-2 is neccessary in my opinion. If our midfield plays like it did against United then we won't need to play 5.

Comment 20, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.04 pm

Steve Sims said:

... Luke - no keeper is even on his line in those situations, or would ever want to be. Why do you think keepers rush off their line when facing a penalty? The advantage in narrowing the angle and making yourself as big as possible far outweighs the milliseconds of extra reaction time you might get from being further back on your line. The only goal he'll feel he should have done better with will be the second one. His positioning seemed fine but he was a little slow to react. Those bumpers right in the corner are always frustrating. But if he had have been on his line, he would have been further away from it, believe me.

Comment 21, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.06 pm

Steve Sims said:

... I meant "ever" on his line, obv........

Comment 22, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.07 pm

Damian said:

... vivavilla The thing is; we had an extra man against United in midfield - it's easy to see why we played so well. Everton played 4-5-1 yesterday at home and they'll do it again when they come to us. Okay, you could say it's 4-4-1-1, but the extra man, much like what Keane does at Spurs, drops back and helps the midfielders. 4-5-1 maybe won't give us enough fire power, so call it 4-3-3 or call it 4-2-3-1 - call it whatever you want .. but if they have an extra man in midfield, we will find it hard; we've seen it the last couple of months ..

Comment 23, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.08 pm

Jake Gardner said:

... having played as a goal keeper at a professional level this is just nonsense luke mate, espically the one about the third goal u stand on the line the attacker sees more of the goal, it was just a bloody good goal no one could have saved that. friedel kept us in the game at 2-2 when friedel came out on welbeck. why would we play guzan he has no experience in the league its just silly , im not denying a good goal keeper but to play him now would be stupid.

Comment 24, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.27 pm

Jake Gardner said:

... i think the second goal was a hard one as he couldnt see it until it was to late and ronaldo was lucky it didnt deflect off petrov

Comment 25, made on April 06, 2009 at 1.35 pm

hitman83 said:

... Im a huge huge fan of Brad Friedels, however i am getting slightly worried by his erratic form. His kicking isn't great at the moment and i dont agree fully with the article, but Brad's deecision making has been very indifferent of late. the position he got himself into (against Torres for the pen) he should have been spreading himself, creating a barrier, text book goalkeeping. For Ronaldo's first, should have had his near post covered and he should have been on his line towards the back post. Shoving players out of the way was crazy A)it makes a gap in the wall anyway B) when he's using his hands to shove, he could be using them to reach for the ball... Bad start when we were all over them! Leading up to Ronaldo's first and throughout the game, Friedel is incredibly slow at getting off his line to sweep up the danger. Milner was right to get a touch onto the through ball, but it shoul have gona for a corner worst case scenario, but then, he's not a defender!

Comment 26, made on April 06, 2009 at 2.16 pm | url

peter haworth said:

... Friedel may have been better positioned for the 1st goal but it is harsh to attach blame for the other 2.Also,great save from the Welbeck shot at 2-2.I must admit he does not seem the same confident keeper that he was at Blackburn but it maybe that he does not have confidence in our 2 centre backs However,if you look at other keepers this season he probably is still in top 5 and a big improvement on Carson,even James looks very dodgy at the moment.My mates at Spurs would love to get rid of Jenas,I hope we don"t buy him!Our best 2 players yesterday were both from overseas Petrov and Carew,perhaps MON should look abroad in the summer.English players seem highly overpriced to me.Good to see Storey have a decent game just very disappointed MON did not play him months ago and maybe we would not now be in the slump after playing so many players out of position.

Comment 27, made on April 06, 2009 at 2.21 pm

Christian said:

... My opinion on goalkeepers at Premiership level is that, essentially they're all the same in a shot-stopping capacity, but some make more mistakes than others. And that's what you pay for. You sign the keeper who makes least mistakes. Robinson makes plenty, James makes plenty, Friedel doesn't make too many, Given and Van Der Sar have made only a handful in their whole career! Shot-stopping and catching crosses there's not much in it between any of the aformentioned, but when you look at errors and mistakes you can see who commands big fees and play for big clubs.

Comment 28, made on April 06, 2009 at 2.39 pm

croni said:

... his positioning for the first was bad, real bad, it actually made me ill seeing it again ronaldo's second, well ronaldo wasn't picked up when he received the ball, so that gave him time to tee it up. i thought it was friedel's fault at first, but now i think it was a good goal and friedel might have been blind sighted still think firedel's good but overhyped

Comment 29, made on April 06, 2009 at 3.17 pm

Cookie Monster said:

... I have watched Friedel live around 15 times this season not counting the dozen or so games I have watched live on the telly. To me it appears that he has lost a yard or two of pace and reaction time to the goalkeeper he was at Blackburn last season. As brother aptly put it........all of a sudden it looks like we have an old man in goal! I was at Old Trafford yesterday and he really was slow of his line for the first goal and I couldn't believe Ronaldo's left foot scuffed shot beat him for the equaliser - any number of prem keepers would have saved that without doubt. Great pro and well liked and respected, but we need better if we are to progress - can't believe MON will not look to improve this position for next season. UTV Great professional and well respected

Comment 30, made on April 06, 2009 at 3.19 pm | url

JigzVilla said:

... You really don't know much about goalkeeping, Sheriff Kimbo is so right, you are so mis-informed mate!!! The first goal Friedel could have been more on his line but for the other two, most keepers wont have got close!!

Comment 31, made on April 06, 2009 at 3.41 pm

Steve said:

... Nots Villan - I'm not saying that we should be happy about the recent form but I was trying to but a point across maybe I didn't say it clearly enough. What I'm trying to say is that some villa fans say certain things about some players or the team one week then say there the best thing that has ever happened the next. For example when Gabby got cheered for being subbed against spurs. Instead of offering support just criticizing to me that’s not what a supporter is about. But that’s my opinion

Comment 32, made on April 06, 2009 at 3.46 pm

jon said:

... Little harsh and maybe people are looking too hard to place the blame but, at the same time, I agree with the point that Friedel is on his way out, he has looked poor at some stages this season. His Carson-like mistakes against Spurs cost the match. Sure, he pulls off a couple of blinding saves per match and I wouldn't disrupt the team if I was MON but Guzan/Summer GK signing must be No1 next season.

Comment 33, made on April 06, 2009 at 3.54 pm

colm tarpey said:

... Why is Friedel getting such a hammering? He could have done better with the free kick sure, but he made a number of good saves yesterday, the best been the effort from Welbeck... He has been consistant all season,insofar as this is the first critisism of him and people are saying they want him sold...bloody hell...we were a lot nicer to Tommy Sorenson and you never knew if he was going to be your matchwinner or give it away!

Comment 34, made on April 06, 2009 at 4.17 pm

Luke Marson said:

... I wasn't blaming Friedel for losing, I was just pointing out shortcomings that surprised me of Friedel.

Comment 35, made on April 06, 2009 at 7.50 pm

Liam said:

... People, I happen to agree that friedel has been looking ropey of late. I think anyone who says otherwise has not been watching the last couple of months. Their form has dropped significantly. Dropped points in essential games like Stoke, Wigan and Spurs at home have summed up our inconsistant form. And whilst it is easy to defend the team we love it is often harder to point out obvious failings such as starting Heskey when Carew was available, having shown little form; bowing to public opinion instead of believing in gabby - true, he was out of it, but it is down to the manager and the coaching team to motivate and show belief. The team is tired and struggling to muster performances, we don't have the depth to challange the top 4 over a season, even if we do have the quality to beat 'ANYONE' when we are not stretched. I don't blame MON for opting to ignore the UEFA cup, I think every villa fan felt the same. But we need to increase the depth of our squad before we can start challenging for what every villa fan knows our club should be. We need to trust our manger and ignore the decisions that haven't proved prosperous for us, and get behind the villa!

Comment 36, made on April 06, 2009 at 8.24 pm

FKev said:

... I would like to see BF rested i thought the set up for the backpass was appauling

Comment 37, made on April 06, 2009 at 9.24 pm

holte end paul said:

... i dont think luke has a clue about goalkeeping,,if you stay ON your line then it gives the attacking player MORE of the goal to aim at. by standing a couple of yards off his line he is actually halving the amount of goal the attacker can see...FACT

Comment 38, made on April 06, 2009 at 9.46 pm

villafandan said:

... back to goal keeping school with you luke!! you won't find a professional goal keeper in the world who would have been on their line at the time of the second two goals. you'll also struggle to find one who could have saved either. very silly to suggest otherwise TBH.

Comment 39, made on April 06, 2009 at 10.23 pm | url

Aaron Wilson said:

... HAY!!!!!!!!!!! VERY INTERESTING!!!!! i was on Newsnow the other day and saw a link to a story saying we had signed Ruben De La Red (VillaTalk.com). i didnt get a chance to have a look at it. I went back today but couldnt find it on Newsnow. So, I typed it into Google - "villa sign de la red villa talk". I got the story i was looking for... But! when i try to read it, it says "Sorry! You do not have authorization to view this story". So i signed up to the crappy website but still received the same message. So...... are Villa Talk writers holding out on us or something. Have we signed a pre-contract with him??? UTV!!!

Comment 40, made on April 06, 2009 at 11.45 pm

Jeremiah said:

... I think except for struggles the last few games - when everyone has struggled for Villa - Friedel has been quite good. Certainly considerably better than Carson or Sorensen. But with that said, I do agree that he is starting to get a bit long in the tooth - I think Guzan is about ready for the step up.

Comment 41, made on April 07, 2009 at 12.28 am

Nick said:

... Right after the match I was saying Friedel was our worst performance. But seeing everything for a second time im not sure we can put too much blame on him. The first goal, certainly poor positioning. But after that, I dont think any goalie makes those saves. And Brad did make a few great stops specifically on Welbeck. He has been very good this season, and every goalie is going to make mistakes. However Guzan has shown us glimpses of brilliance, I think it is only a few years before he is our number 1 and one of the best goalies in the prem.

Comment 42, made on April 07, 2009 at 1.12 am

ben said:

... I agree, Brad made some mistakes and during the season has cost us a number of points. A good shot stopper but flaps to much .... I think through mistakes we've lost 12 points this year. But for me Petrov was as guilty - this player is useless - his job is to close down and twice 2 and 3rd goal he didn't do it. These two are Villa's weak links and I've said it all season. We can't say left back as we've not had one.

Comment 43, made on April 07, 2009 at 8.02 am

jt said:

... you obviously have no idea about goalkeeping!!

Comment 44, made on April 07, 2009 at 8.50 am

Sheriff Kimbo said:

... Jaf. Yeah, great point. I'm a prat. I read an awful article, commented it's awful, but yeah, I'm a prat. Well done, you genius.

Comment 45, made on April 07, 2009 at 11.20 am | url

Jimmy Villain said:

... Friedel is a flapper, shit with crosses - a good shot stopper at best

Comment 46, made on April 17, 2009 at 1.19 pm

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