A few weeks ago I wrote about David de Gea’s impending move to Real Madrid and how it will not be the tragedy some Manchester United fans fear.
Partly this is because they have a more than capable replacement in Victor Valdes just waiting to take over.
But more than that is my belief that we football fans have a tendency to give the men between the sticks more importance than they deserve. Not a lot, but enough to distort our perception of their value.
Which brings me to Petr Cech.
In the next few days the Czech international will sign for Arsenal in an £11 million deal, and news of the transfer has sparked a tidal wave of overreaction.
Yes he is a good goalkeeper, quite possibly one of the best in the Premier League. He has a wealth of experience and, at 33, is arguably in his prime.
But is he, as some have claimed, the signing that will make Arsenal champions? Nota chance. Is he, as John Terry suggests, worth 15 points a season to a team? Never in a million years.
For a goalkeeper to be worth 15 points to a team, then that team by its very nature must not be very good. Because, let’s not forget, a keeper is supposed to be the last line of defence.
If you are relying on your keeper to win you points, it means your strikers are scoring enough goals while your midfield and defence are not giving him enough protection. That is not title-winning form, it is relegation-avoiding form.
Strikers and, possibly, goal scoring midfielders, might be worth 15 points a season. But even then that would only apply to a select few like Ronaldo and Messi.
Stick Petr Cech in last season’s QPR team and you are telling me they would have finished comfortably mid-table? It’s just not even close to being reality.
As I emphasised the last time I broached this topic, I am not trying to belittle goalkeepers in the slightest. They do a brilliant job knowing they are always just one slip, flap or fumble away from taking the blame for all the world’s problems. And rarely do they get enough credit when they deserve it.
Equally, having a world-class keeper like Cech in the net will give the rest of Arsenal’s players a confidence boost that should allow them to play better and express themselves with more freedom. And that may even be enough to earn them an extra point or three over the course of a full season.
There are one or two other, more important, holes which need filling within the Arsenal team before a title challenge is on the cards
But the signing of Petr Cech, no matter how great a piece of business it may be, will not be the difference between Arsenal finishing top of the pile or fighting to make the top four.
There are one or two other, more important, holes which need filling within the Arsenal team before a title challenge is on the cards.
If Wenger moves to plug those gaps in the next few weeks then that, combined with the Cech signing, may be enough to see them over the line. Cech on his own is nothing more than a small part of the solution.
Another summer of failure
You know summer has definitely arrived when you get to watch an English national team leaving early from a major tournament.
This time that honour fell to the Under-21s who went into the European Championships as one of the favourites to win it but failed to even make it out of their group.
This is a team that went undefeated during qualifying, winning nine and drawing one of their games and finishing top of their group with a goal difference of plus 29. A team that then went on to beat Croatia home and away in the play-offs to book their place in the Czech Republic.
Yet it was the same old story when the tournament proper arrived – three poor games and an early flight home.
And just to make matters worse, from the perspective of a Maltese England fan at least, it was the Italian under-21 team that effectively booted them out of the tournament.
The Italian youngsters thrashed England 3-1 on Wednesday night in the final group game and it was no less than either team deserved. For most of the match the England youngsters that had promised so much, delivered very little. They were like rabbits caught in the headlights of tournament football while their counterparts were cool, calm and collected.
Something is fundamentally wrong somewhere with England. I am now starting to get the impression, however, that nobody knows what it is or how to fix it.
Our only hope, I guess, is that this latest failure serves as a warning to the senior team who are also busily steamrollering their way to next summer’s finals.
Who will be first to 50?
After writing about Wayne Rooney last Sunday I thought I might get one or two e-mails from Manchester United fans sticking up for their striker.
But no, not a sausage, and that is despite me suggesting the current captain of the three lions is entirely unworthy of being considered a true England great.
What I did get, however, was a few of you pointing out an interesting twist in the race to be the first England player to hit the 50-goal mark for his country. And that is that Rooney does actually have a current rival.
As it stands now, Charlton is still out ahead on 49-goals with Lineker and Rooney tied in second place on 48.
But what I failed to notice is that Wayne and Gary are sharing second place with a third ‘person’– the understated, but prolific, Mr Own Goals.
Of course, unlike Rooney, Mr Goals’ international career has been going on for many decades and he will still be banging them in long after Wayne has hung up his boots.
But silliness aside, there has to be a chance, however remote, that Wayne is beaten to the magic 50-goal milestone by a statistical quirk. And if Mr Goals does manage to get there first, don’t be surprised if Manchester City try and sign him…
Signing a firm favourite
To have any hope of regaining the Anfield initiative, Brendan Rodgers needed to make some exciting and potentially game-changing signings this summer.
His first was James Milner who, although he arrived on a free, could well be one of the most important players at Anfield next season. His versatility and his immense experience will go some way towards softening the blow of Gerrard’s retirement.
This week Rodgers secured his second major deal of the summer snapping up Brazilian international Roberto Firmino.
Although I have my doubts that another attacking midfielder should have been top of Liverpool’s priorities this summer, with Coutinho, Lallana and Sterling all able to play that role, signing Firmino must still rank as a coup for Rodgers.
Sceptics have suggested the 23-year-old may be a little lightweight for the rough and tumble of the Premier League but, to be fair, Firmino more than held his own in the Bundesliga where he scored 35 goals in 145 games for Hoffenheim.
Admittedly the German top flight is not as competitive as the Premier League, but his experience over there will undoubtedly have toughened him up to the rigours of European football.
I did hear one or two more ambitious fans suggesting this week that Roberto could actually be the ‘new Luis Suarez’ but that, certainly at this stage, is taking things a bit too far.
But the £29 million player does have all the right attributes to become a fan favourite at Anfield. And that, as much as anything else, makes him an astute signing by Rodgers who needs to bring the feel good factor back at the club to strengthen his own position.
sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade