Starting Goalkeeper for next season

[GoldCoastWhite]

How different do people think their skills sets are and do you think that one of them is more suited to the sort of play Jol wants to see from the side as a whole?

Schwarzer's strengths -- apart from vast experience and toughness -- are his command of the area, his amazing shot-stopping skills, and until recently, his positioning.
Schwarzer's weaknessess are his decisiveness once he has the ball in his hands and his distribution skills. This past season he was a bit better at the latter, but the season before his clearances caught more defenders than attackers.

Stockdale's strengths are his agility, his quick decision-making, and his distribution -- especially the length and accuracy of his kicks, not to mention the fact that he has a clear idea of WHERE he's going to distribute, so there's not this "I'm going to hold the ball until everyone is covered and THEN I'll kick. The other advantage is his youth and the fact that regardless of how good he is now, he'll only be getting better over the next 9-10 years.
Stockdale's weaknesses -- whan compared to Schwarzer is his command of the area. I put most of this down to the fact that he's started for only about 4 or 5 weeks at a time. During those stints, he has performed brilliantly enough to be selected as the club Player of the Month.

I come from the school that says that you're better off getting rid of a player a season early rather than a season late. There's still a market out there for Schwarzer. If we wait until the continuing erosion of his skills is such that he is obviously NOT up to Premiership quality, then we'll be in the uncomfortable position of acquiring a new goalkeeper from a position of weakness.

For all of those who think I'm trashing Schwarzer because he's an Australian, let me announce that before I started typing this, I said 5 Hail Fosters, and a half dozen Waltzing Matildas.

How dare you put Schwarzer's name in the same sentence as that insipid catp!ss F**ters ! For shame...

[CorkedHat]

How different do people think their skills sets are and do you think that one of them is more suited to the sort of play Jol wants to see from the side as a whole?

Schwarzer's strengths -- apart from vast experience and toughness -- are his command of the area, his amazing shot-stopping skills, and until recently, his positioning.
Schwarzer's weaknessess are his decisiveness once he has the ball in his hands and his distribution skills. This past season he was a bit better at the latter, but the season before his clearances caught more defenders than attackers.

Stockdale's strengths are his agility, his quick decision-making, and his distribution -- especially the length and accuracy of his kicks, not to mention the fact that he has a clear idea of WHERE he's going to distribute, so there's not this "I'm going to hold the ball until everyone is covered and THEN I'll kick. The other advantage is his youth and the fact that regardless of how good he is now, he'll only be getting better over the next 9-10 years.
Stockdale's weaknesses -- whan compared to Schwarzer is his command of the area. I put most of this down to the fact that he's started for only about 4 or 5 weeks at a time. During those stints, he has performed brilliantly enough to be selected as the club Player of the Month.

I come from the school that says that you're better off getting rid of a player a season early rather than a season late. There's still a market out there for Schwarzer. If we wait until the continuing erosion of his skills is such that he is obviously NOT up to Premiership quality, then we'll be in the uncomfortable position of acquiring a new goalkeeper from a position of weakness.

For all of those who think I'm trashing Schwarzer because he's an Australian, let me announce that before I started typing this, I said 5 Hail Fosters, and a half dozen Waltzing Matildas.

How dare you put Schwarzer's name in the same sentence as that insipid catp!ss F**ters ! For shame...

I think we have Barry McKenzie to thank for perpetrating the myth that Australians drink Fosters when in reality we would avoid it like the proverbial plague. When in England I didn't see any of my favourite beers but there again I was quite happy quaffing Abbots Ale.
As for goalkeepers, I hate to say it, but that bloke from that other club in SW6 is probably the best going around at the moment. He is almost, although not quite, as good as Tony Macedo