Valdés on the way back

Art Morte wrote: While Mignolet has his shaky moments, I don't know if it would send him the right message to sign a keeper with as big a stature as Valdes's.

How can you blame him after you've seen what's playing infront of him?

Mignolet is the least of our worries.

Valdes is a great keeper don't get me wrong, but we shouldn't be nowhere near him. His age, wages, and injury, on top of the fact that Mignolet isn't the problem back there, really just shows us failing to identify problems within the squad. We're trying to fix a problem where there isn't one.

A GK doesn't lose anything after a an ACL injury, he'll be in the top of his game and should be a clear starter. Great signing for Liverpool. Hope he still has his competitive edge and brings his championing to Liverpool to get them the much anticipated PL.

free_cat wrote:A GK doesn't lose anything after a an ACL injury, he'll be in the top of his game and should be a clear starter. Great signing for Liverpool. Hope he still has his competitive edge and brings his championing to Liverpool to get them the much anticipated PL.

I'm sorry but no you can't be anymore more wrong. lol

We have agreed a deal in principle acc to ballague. So clearly wages aren't an issue. Just needs to pass medical next month to tie him up.

I feel Valdes is not the kind of guy asking massive wages - probably accepting a wage cut compared to Barça. He left us not because he wanted more money but because he wants a different experience

Is going to be a great signing. I just hope he's as good as he was before the injury.

One thing I love about this guy is that he puts his life on the line for the team which I've always admired even if I didn't like him much at Barca.

Sky Sports News HQ ‏@SkySportsNewsHQ
BREAKING: Former @FCBarcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes to train with @ManUtd

Manchester United ‏@ManUtd
Louis van Gaal has offered Victor Valdes a chance to complete his rehabilitation from injury at #mufc.

https://gfycat.com/PlushDisfiguredCygnet @ standard liege

how the mighty have fallen

Collblanc wrote:https://gfycat.com/PlushDisfiguredCygnet @ standard liege

how the mighty have fallen

He should never have left Barcelona. 0 sympathy whatsoever. Stepping out of a 7* hotel to a basement.

Collblanc wrote:https://gfycat.com/PlushDisfiguredCygnet @ standard liege

how the mighty have fallen

this gif is amazing

should try to go to the US

I have no sympathy for him because of his attitude tbh, refused to play with our reserves to regain fitness and now look at him

the zoom-out has to be one of the most melodramatic scenes ever

jibers wrote:

Collblanc wrote:https://gfycat.com/PlushDisfiguredCygnet @ standard liege

how the mighty have fallen

He should never have left Barcelona. 0 sympathy whatsoever. Stepping out of a 7* hotel to a basement.

I'm SO glad he decided to leave. No doubt Barca would've kept him for another 10 years if he didn't leave on his own, just because he's Catalan.

Standard Liege isn't so bad. They produce a lot of good talent. It's a loan, btw.

It's tough being a goalkeeper in the transfer market, just ask Valdes or De Gea.

Vibe wrote:Why did he leave anyway? Would be at least second choice at Barca. Perhaps even first choice for a while longer if he stayed.

Reports said he left on his own, if that is true then career suicide.

If he had stayed Barcelona would never have gotten TSG or Bravo. He lft because he felt he wasn't appreciated. Ego check was needed.

Vibe wrote:Why did he leave anyway? Would be at least second choice at Barca. Perhaps even first choice for a while longer if he stayed.

Reports said he left on his own, if that is true then career suicide.

Because he's weird in his head. In his mind he thought he deserved Messi level wages and when he wasn't offered that he ragequit. It is also said that he lost a lot of money with shady businesses which is why he initially signed a € 60M deal with Monaco who then bailed out after Valdes damaged his knee so he ended up in Louis van Gaal's reserve team.

Valdes leaving improved Barca's goaltending situation. They got one of the most talented on the ball GK's ever in Ter Stegen and a world class shot stopper in Bravo.

Should have known better. In such a least shot faced team the GK isn't important for his GK skills but mainly for his ball skills. There were number of gks just as good as Valdes is with his feet and they dumped him and brought another one.

Adit wrote:Should have known better. In such a least shot faced team the GK isn't important for his GK skills but mainly for his ball skills. There were number of gks just as good as Valdes is with his feet and they dumped him and brought another one.

I disagree. Obviously being Barca GK is in general an easier job than anywhere else but it's not an irrelevant position. Valdes let in a plethora of soft goals (on top of his seasonal brainfarts) where a world class goalkeeper could have made a real difference. Bravo is much superior. 1 1/2 seasons and I'm yet to see him doing any major brainfarts. He had one error against Sevilla last season and IMMEDIATELY rectified it the next game against Valencia when he saved the 3 points while Valencia were all over us.

Valdes was always a mental midget which shouldn't be surprising as he stated several times that he hated being a goalkeeper. When 1 on 1 he just froze and panicked, even with shit shots coming directly at him.



Like a Fifa glitch.

No idea what you are on about Valdes in his prime was one of the best keepers around in 1 v 1 situations.... he saved Barca on many occasions in many big games but nobody remembers because Messi would go down the other end score a wonder goal and it would all be forgotten.

He'll never get the respect he deserves, because of the injuries post Barca and the fact people think for some reason that in the Pep era you could have put a random keeper off the street and the end result would have been the same apparently.

Nope. He was plain average. Of course he also saved Barca and of course he also had great games. Doesn't change that he was a plain average keeper in general.

"One of the best around in 1 on 1s". That's a great marketing gag.

Pep is a fraud but won two CLs with a shit keeper.

You can't have your cake and eat it, pls decide.

That's entirely possible. Valdes didn't play much of a part in those 2 CL victories. He received one shot on target in the CL final in 2011 for example. 0 shots on target against Arsenal in the same campaign. Etc. Hardly played a big role. If anything he made things complicated, should have saved that RVP near post goal at Emirates.

I did some quick research now:

10/11 CL knockout rounds:

Final vs. Manchester United: received 1 shot on target.

Semi-final vs. Mehdrid: received 1 shot on target in Camp Nou and 3 shots on target in Bernabeu.

Quarter-final vs. Donezk: received 1 shot on target in Camp Nou and 5 shots on target away from home (when the tie was already done and dusted with the 5-1 result from the first leg)

R16 vs. Arsenal: received 0 shots on target in Camp Nou and 5 shots on target away from home


Conceded 6 goals from 16 shots on target. That's a save percentage of 63 %. If we factor in that most of these shots weren't even threatening (Donezk in particular skews the stats with garbage efforts) he more or less only saved what any average goalkeeper would have saved and let in everything that required some goalkeeping skills.

As a comparison: ter Stegen (who is still developing and far from a world class keeper right now) last season:

Final vs. Juventus: received 6 shots on target.

Semi-final vs. Bayern: received 0 shots on target in Camp Nou and 8 shots on target in Bernabeu.

Quarter-final vs. PSG: received 2 shots on target in Camp Nou and 4 shots on target away from home

R16 vs. City: received 4 shots on target in Camp Nou and 4 shots on target away from home

=> 6 goals conceded from 28 shots = 79 % save percentage. As it should be from a world class keeper. Around 80 % save percentage is world class level. Fact.

Pep