Edwin
van der Sar equalled Peter Schmeichel’s 129 international caps when he
came out of retirement to face Iceland on Saturday. It’s a feat that
reminds United’s goalkeeping coach Eric Steele that replacing the
Dutchman will be as difficult a task as it was trying to find the great
Dane’s successor.
Van der Sar, who turns 38 at the end
of this month, has a contract that runs until next summer. He plans to
decide on his future beyond that date by the turn of the year.
The
Dutchman has been a steadying influence on United since arriving from
Fulham in 2005. Steele hopes Edwin can carry on heading up the Reds’
last line of defence, but says the challenge has been set for the likes
of Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak.
"Edwin has gone public with
the message that this is his last year, but with a view to looking at
it and reviewing the position at Christmas. So we have to be prepared
for if and when that happens," said Steele.
"Edwin is a very,
very experienced goalkeeper. He has been one of the finest in the world
in terms of the sweeper-keeper role that this club needs.”
Steele worked with Schmeichel during his time as a coach at Villa Park, and he says the Dane’s rating as most people's best-ever goalkeeper is fully justified.
“It was tough getting someone in to fill Schmeichel's boots, and Edwin's boots are going to be big to fill,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
“He will now be remembered for the famous save in the shoot-out in the
Champions League final but I think it had been noted by the game’s
purists that he was one of the finest in terms of playing out from the
back.
“He has been, and still is, one of the best. It’s a joy
having viewed him from a distance to now work with him. He has raised
the bar. But when the time comes that Sir Alex says, ‘who is going to
replace Edwin?' I have to have an answer and reasons for the answer.
"My
job is to give the manager as many options as I can,” he added. “That
is what we are trying to do. We have to get all the goalkeepers fit and
competing and throw the gauntlet down to Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster
and ask, ‘who is going to become our no.1.
"This is the time for
Tomasz and Ben. This is what they were brought here for. They are both
back from injury. Both are fully fit now to accept the challenge and
Edwin knows it is there."
wonder who would replace Van der Sar after he leaves Manchester united.. Highly regarded Foster but well he seems to like the treatment room a lot =/
Ben Amos FTW!
Foster MIA so long, hope he recovers soon
heard the talk was about the german keeper who did well against russia over the weekend..
Ben Foster is very very agile and has good reading of the game. He is worthy of United's first team jersey. Only thing is that he is injury prone. Kuzczak is not good enough in terms of consistency although he is a wonder shot stopper and Amos is never good enough for the first team anytime lol.
Good keepers really hard to come by. Those with potential take a long time to polish.. and not many actually flourish eventually. Some falter after a while (rem Barthez).
Maybe the odds are stack against find keeps since only 1 out of 11 players is a keeper.
Originally posted by CuckooBird:Ben Foster is very very agile and has good reading of the game. He is worthy of United's first team jersey. Only thing is that he is injury prone. Kuzczak is not good enough in terms of consistency although he is a wonder shot stopper and Amos is never good enough for the first team anytime lol.
i find that kuzczak's goal kick not that good
AKINFEEV FTW!!!