Has John Ruddy really ever been that good?

[E.L.F. 0]

City 2nd wrote the following post at Nov 06, 2015 1:21 PM:

ELF write:

He''s been a PL keeper for 4 out of the last 5 seasons and is on the fringes of the Engkand team........

On the fringes of the England team?

The Burnley goalkeeper has just been named behind Hart and Butland as third choice for the next internationals?

So Ruddy is nowhere near an England team, and isn''t likely to be any time soon!

Ummm, I never said he was on the squad did I? He was capped in 2012 and his PL experience means he''s on the fringes of the senior squad. Is Joe Hart really the best England keeper? Not in my books but he and a number of so-called elite English internationals consistently being picked by one of the worst England gaffers in recent memory. A good run of form with City or another PL squad come January and Ruddy should be back in the picture.

[daly 513]

First What has Marshall to do with Ruddy''s distribution. I can go back to the days when we had the best 2 keepers in the country and Ruddy is not one of them by any means.

Second I would not be so rude as to make remarks about your comments, Ruddy has failed to come for free kicks corners crosses etc all season and has resulted in goals.

Last weeks flap cost us a point.

[93vintage 16]

The appalling injury Ruddy suffered is key for me. To be fair he''s covered up the deficit that this has left quite admirably overall, but no amount of confidence will bring him back to what he was physically before it happened. I don''t think that anyone''s saying that he''s a terrible keeper.It''s all very well to hero worship and think of players as unsellable, but there are clear reasons to consider selling in Ruddy''s case - age, injury and having a potential replacement being among them.It''s no slight on Ruddy to suggest that we''d best start looking to

replace him, and that starts with giving Rudd a go in the first 11.

[City 2nd 191]

Chicken wrote:

Is Ruddy good enough to be a top 6 keeper? Well Chelsea/Arsenal wanted him. Arguably as understudy, although at that time, I doubt he would have been a straightforward understudy at Arsenal.

If Chelsea or Arsenal wanted him, either could have made an offer for him at any time, such that Norwich couldn''t turn it down!

The fact is, they didn''t!

[Horse Renoir 1]

@93Vintage

Can you recall any of the details of that injury? I know he was out for a while a couple of years ago but I can''t remember why.

It might be useful in understanding why he''s dipped so much since then, thanks

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

Out of penalties faced how many has he saved?

[Herman 9,842]

[quote user="Ricky Spanish"]@93Vintage

Can you recall any of the details of that injury? I know he was out for a while a couple of years ago but I can''t remember why.

It might be useful in understanding why he''s dipped so much since then, thanks[/quote]If I remember correctly it was gruesome. The muscle tearing away from the bone after a heavy clearance kick.

[Iwans Big Toe 312]

[quote user="daly"]First What has Marshall to do with Ruddy''s distribution. I can go back to the days when we had the best 2 keepers in the country and Ruddy is not one of them by any means.

Second I would not be so rude as to make remarks about your comments, Ruddy has failed to come for free kicks corners crosses etc all season and has resulted in goals.

Last weeks flap cost us a point.[/quote]1st. As a comparison, Marshall''s kicking has every thing to do with it. Ruddy''s distribution is nowhere near as bad as you make out, he get''s decent distance, his kicks very rarely end up in touch and he is considered a viable option for a pass as Russ and Seb will often go back to him, likely under instruction from AN, who doesn''t seem to share your concern about JR''s distribution.2nd. Blaming Ruddy for a defender failing to stay with their man at a set piece is the equivalent of blaming one of the midfielders when CamJam misses a sitter. The blame for conceding from so many set pieces is not down to JR, but is down to individual errors from how we defend set at set pieces. People have, as you pointed out, often gone to sleep and allowed the man they are marking a free header, Diouf for Stoke, Ottamendi for Man City are just two examples. Ruddy chose, correctly, to stay on his line both times and had every right to expect his defence to deal better with the ball in.3rd. You are Lakey and I claim my £5.

[daly 513]

Wrong

Enjoy the game will be starting out from the Lake District on Easy Jet around mid-day See you in the Jarrold I''ll be sitting opposite the Pie Lady and her husband

[Grant Holts Moustache 105]

City 2nd the story at the time was that Chelsea did make an offer and we didn''t refuse. It was Ruddy who refused it. I have a memory of an interview where he said he was happy here, liked living in Norwich and wanted to play football.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/john-ruddy-chelsea-transfer-news-norwich-city-509865

sorry can''t make it clickable as the pink un still won''t let me on a phone.

[grefstad 0]

Ruddy has never been an awful keeper, but never been a very good one either.

He is, to be fair, a pretty mediocre keeper, and reflect the standard of players this club realisticly seem to be able to attract.

He was better before his injury, and probably suffered when Watson left the coaching staff.

But for me, Ruddy has never had the nescessary confidence to become a greeat keeper. Is is also a bit too heavy (in the meaning not agile enough) to be a top keeper.

Others have pointed out the fact he concedes far too many low shots often from pretty long range, and it is due to his movement/agility, I think. Too much muscle has to be moved around, I guess.

He reacts pretty well, good shot stopper, commands his area pretty poorly though, and I think his decision making leaves a lot to be desired (when to come, not to come for crosses, when to stay on the line, go out to punch, etc).

Overall, he is a top half Championship keeper, and top half Championship can be said about most of our squad, so he is not alone...

[Jim Smith 2,349]

Confidence seems to play a huge part with Ruddy. He''s had spells for us when he''s been really good, primarily the spell just before his injury when his involvement with England clearly boosted him and as a consequence his presence and command of his area improved markedly.

I also felt he was getting back to something approaching his best a few weeks ago although his command of his area was still not brilliant.

Posters are correct to say that it''s not his fault if defenders leave their man unmarked and that is true. That said sometimes a keeper can render that irrelevant if they come and claim the ball and got me that''s what he''s struggled with this season at times. Opposition players are getting headers inside our six yard box from crosses I feel he should be claiming. He seems to get stuck on his line or allows opposition players to block him off which should not be happening.

I think his kicking and distribution is fine.

Shot stopping he''s a mixed bag. Generally makes a couple of excellent saves per match but also lets the odd one in where you think he should have got down to it quicker. He''s never been much good with pens as he''s not an agile keeper.

In short, when on form he''s probably as good a keeper as a club like us can hope for. He has been good for us. He''s also had spells where he''s been unconvincing and this is one of them. With this prem looking like coming down to find margins, how long this spell lasts could well define our season.

[Thirsty Lizard 3,184]

He was pretty good today.

[Herman 9,842]

Agreed. At least a couple of cracking saves to keep us in the game. Well done John.

[ca 1]

He made 3/4 cracking saves today, well done Ruddy

[morty 0]

What I saw of the game he was excellent today.

Lets hope his form remains consistent.

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="morty"]What I saw of the game he was excellent today.

Lets hope his form remains consistent.[/quote]

Costa''s goal today is a classic example of one of JR''s major weaknesses -- instead of flying out at the attacker to narrow the angles and hurry the shot, he just stood rooted where he was while Costa picked his spot. JR made several good saves, but failed where a more decisive, quicker-thinking and more agile keeper might have succeeded.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

Sorry Westcoast but I disagree with the above.

The reason Ruddy remained rooted to his goal was because Bennett was covering back, it was only after Costa cut inside, beating Bennett, that it became a more 1 v 1 situation. And by then it was too late.

I think Bennett will perhaps be disappointed with his efforts for the goal, he should have kept Costa on his weaker foot, in letting him cut inside he gave him the better angle as well as it now being on his better foot. Obviously in the heat of the moment I suppose the only thing in his mind was to get the f*** back!

I''m also confused as to why you point him not being able to rush out as one of his ''major weaknesses'' when the two top saves he pulled off during the match were doing exactly that?

Much improved performance today I thought and hopefully an injection of confidence for the upcoming fixtures.

[westcoastcanary 173]

I disagree that when Costa cut inside Bennett it was then too late for Ruddy to do anything. On the contrary, JR should have anticipated just such an eventuality and been on his toes ready to come out and attack the ball. He was statuesque and gave Costa all the time in the world to place his shot.

In fact I think a more confident, decisive and agile keeper would not have just waited to see whether Bennett was able to deal with the threat but been on the move earlier to try and intervene decisively himself. That is what a better keeper would have done -- as witness several instances in recent Premier League games.

[Jacko 0]

I''ve been his harshest critic lately but he''s made several excellent saves today and was totally blameless for that goal. He''s stood up and made the attacker beat him which he hasn''t done enough of this year. To criticise him yesterday is ridiculous is my opinion.

[Grant Holts Moustache 105]

I think you are being a little harsh there westcoast. Ruddy did all that could be expected of him in that situation and showed throughout the game when he needed to be quick off his line, he is and made three excellent stops with his feet, doing just that.

There were a few things we should have done that would have prevented the entire situation in the first phase. Why no one stood on the ball and slowed down the free kick is beyond me. Normally Wes is straight over to the ball and standing in front buying valuable seconds for the team to organise. Instead we had Bassong give the ball back whilst Mulumbu helped the player up to get them back in the action. All the defenders had their back to the ball too and weren''t aware of the situation. It showed that once again we weren''t quite streetwise enough and it''s time to get a bit more of a nasty streak in the team to better manage those situations.

[ellis206 0]

[quote user="westcoastcanary"]I disagree that when Costa cut inside Bennett it was then too late for Ruddy to do anything. On the contrary, JR should have anticipated just such an eventuality and been on his toes ready to come out and attack the ball. He was statuesque and gave Costa all the time in the world to place his shot.

In fact I think a more confident, decisive and agile keeper would not have just waited to see whether Bennett was able to deal with the threat but been on the move earlier to try and intervene decisively himself. That is what a better keeper would have done -- as witness several instances in recent Premier League games.[/quote]I think this post is almost as laughable as the people who blamed Martin for a cross coming in to the box.So what you''re saying is, Ruddy''s major flaw is not being psychic?Why on earth would any keeper come rushing out when there was a defender covering, madness.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

There''s no way Ruddy was at fault for that goal. If he had ''anticipated'' the through ball and came hareing out , then all Costa would have had to do is chip him, or take it round him, then what would you have said?

Bennett did have Costa in his sites, but as has been said put him on his stronger foot.

westcoastcanary, why don''t you start different threads on Mulumbu and Bassong''s roles in the lead up? That might get more people agreeing with you.

[sgncfc 1,259]

[quote user="Jacko"]I''ve been his harshest critic lately but he''s made several excellent saves today and was totally blameless for that goal. He''s stood up and made the attacker beat him which he hasn''t done enough of this year. To criticise him yesterday is ridiculous is my opinion.[/quote]

What you have to ask yourself is whether a really top keeper would have stopped Costa''s shot going in. Personally, whilst I think Bennett was 90% at fault for allowing Costa to turn inside I do genuinely think that a Buffon, De Gea etc would have turned it around the post; maybe even Butland in his current form.

However, we are Norwich. We don''t have a world class goalkeeper playing for us - the vast majority of PL keepers wouldn''t have saved it.

Ruddy had a good, solid game and made a couple of above average saves. If he played like that every week, he would get back in the England squad.

[westcoastcanary 173]

@Crabbycanary3

I''m not alone in seeing keeper as a position of weakness in our current squad -- just look at the several earlier threads calling for Rudd to be given a chance, never mind this one specifically about JR.

@sgncfc

I don''t think it would have taken a world class keeper to do better than JR in that situation yesterday. I think virtually any other keeper in the EPL would have made things more difficult for Costa.

@ellis206

Are you seriously suggesting that keepers shouldn''t intervene if there is a covering defender? If doing so is madness, there are a lot of absolutely crazy keepers playing in top class teams.

[Van wink 2,994]

JR had a good game yesterday and made some cracking saves.

[Guest]

Westcoastcanary, are you actually being serious? Costa had a free shot from, what, 8/10 yards out on his stronger foot, across the keeper. As others have mentioned, Bennett was "defending" so Ruddy had no real opportunity to smother the shot.

I would suggest that very very few keepers would have done any better. Ruddy made at least one unbelievable save yesterday, so it looks like you are just looking for any opportunity to get at a player you clearly don''t like.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

Westcoast

''''I''m not alone in seeing keeper as a position of weakness in our current squad -- just look at the several earlier threads calling for Rudd to be given a chance, never mind this one specifically about JR. ''

But you are alone in blaming him for yesterday.

A lot of people wanted Rudd to be given a chance, I was not adverse to the idea, but Ruddy did not put a foot wrong in my eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuISoE1cX1k

I think you need to take another look at the goal.

For me Bennett needed to keep him on his weaker foot and wide of the goal.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Ian wrote: "..... it looks like you are just looking for any opportunity to get at a player you clearly don''t like."

On the contrary, I like JR a lot, but that doesn''t blind me to the deficiencies of his goalkeeping.

Lord Eddied Stark wrote: " But you are alone in blaming him for yesterday."

If you re-read my original post I did not "blame" JR for the goal. I criticised him for staying :rooted where he was while Costa picked his spot". It is possible that Costa would have scored whatever JR did, but JR could and should have made it more difficult for him.

If you look back at my posts about JR, going back to the start of the season, I have consistently questioned important aspects of his keeping, not just occasional lapses but deficiencies evident time and again in almost every game. They include a lack of agility, indecisiveness, questionable judgement, failure to command his area, a tendency to leave to others what he could and should take responsibility for himself. As respected a commentator as Parma has drawn attention to some of these weaknesses, saying JR "could do more" to help those in front of him. IMO JR is as weak a link in our defence as any of our back four and bringing in a better keeper would do every bit as much to strengthen us defensively as bringing in a better CB.

This may be a minority view, but sometimes minorities are right!

[Guest]

Wow, are you seriously telling me that bringing in better players would make us a better team? Who would have thought it!