Spain's WC Keeper

[squarexpass]

Spain seems to have too many good choices at the Goalkeeping position. If you were picking the Team, who would you mark first on the team sheet?

1) Iker Casillas - real madrid cf - know for the casillas face and stare after making a save meaning "you call that defending"

2) Jose Manuel Reina - liverpool fc - has he had to make a save all season?

3) Santiago Cañizares - valencia cf - maybe spain's best penalty stopper - "pass the bottle of aftershave will you mate?"

4) Victor Valdez - fc barcelona - "wha?? david villa's not on my team?"

5) did i forget any

[realGaurab]

It should be
1. Casillas
2. Valdez
3. Reina

There's nobody better than Casillas in front of goal for Spain. He might have conceded lots more than Valdez or Reina but its mostly because of his defense. He is a class.

[mosesmalone]

Casillas will be the number one unless he gets hurt, while Cañizares and Reina will probably be the other two keepers that go. I'm quite comfortable with any of them, though. Cañizares is probably having his best season - and that's saying something considering his quality and longevity.

At this point I'd put Valdes behind Pinto (Celta) and Palop (Sevilla).

[Clenathan]

Casillas all the way. Guy makes upper 90 saves from free kicks look easy. He is the most athletic and technically sound of all of Spain's keepers......plus I love Real Madrid.

[bobkat]

i hate real madrid ... casillas deserves the spot.

[Kan]

Valdez is pants. That's all I'm saying.

[saurabh]

I don't understand why a team insists on a picking a flashy goalkeeper who cannot keep clean sheets. I prefer a goalkeeper who punches the ball to safety and keeps 33 clean sheets than a goal keeper who makes dramatic saves but cannot help conceding goals. How did Casillas concede goal against Sociedad? Just see the goals conceded by Madrid and you'll see Casillas makes a mistake every third match. I prefer Reina and his defensive mentality rather than the pomp and show put on by Casillas. I don't care how many saves Reina makes but I know for a fact that we have never conceded a goal beacuse of his mistake. And that is what I like - A goalkeeper who does not make mistakes. But choosing Reina over Casillas is a big decision and big decisions are only made by champions and I am not sure if España are really prepared to take such decisions and win the World Cup. They will just play Casillas and he will again make a silly mistake like he did against Russia and Portugal in the Euro 2004 and get España out of the World Cup.

[pablodaman]

I think Reina is very composed, he never chokes and is very consistant. But the fans choice will always be Casillas, even though it should be Reina.

[Zico]

None of the guys listed is as huge as Casillas.

Casillas is a big stage player... can't think of any big moment were he choked! And if it wasn't for him Madrid would've probably failed to qualify for the champs league the last 2 & perhaps 3 years

[Kult ov Azazel]

Casillas. There is no question. Here is how the order should be:

1- Casillas
2- Canizares
3- Valdes
4- Reina

Canizares is still much more reliable than Valdes.

[Kan]

Valdes isn't reliable. The season he has had he shouldn't even be considered. I reckon Barca will look for a new keeper next season. That is probably the only weakness Barca has right now.

[phenomenom]

I don't understand why a team insists on a picking a flashy goalkeeper who cannot keep clean sheets. I prefer a goalkeeper who punches the ball to safety and keeps 33 clean sheets than a goal keeper who makes dramatic saves but cannot help conceding goals. How did Casillas concede goal against Sociedad? Just see the goals conceded by Madrid and you'll see Casillas makes a mistake every third match. I prefer Reina and his defensive mentality rather than the pomp and show put on by Casillas. I don't care how many saves Reina makes but I know for a fact that we have never conceded a goal beacuse of his mistake. And that is what I like - A goalkeeper who does not make mistakes. But choosing Reina over Casillas is a big decision and big decisions are only made by champions and I am not sure if España are really prepared to take such decisions and win the World Cup. They will just play Casillas and he will again make a silly mistake like he did against Russia and Portugal in the Euro 2004 and get España out of the World Cup.

why do you insist on his only costly mistake this season? plus i don't remember the last time he made a costly mistake before that one. reading your long argument, i thought you have a valid point. in euro 2004, he didn't concede against russia, in fact spain won 1-0 - Valeron scored the winning goal just seconds after coming in. i hope you remember that one. he did concede a goal against greece, after helguera misjudged a long ball, and portugal, a goal by gomes. but i don't know know about silly mistakes you are talking about. pepe reina is good, but casillas is far better than him.

[barcalove]

what a silly thread... of course its cassillas. who else? no one on that list compares.

[barca7788]

what a silly thread... of course its cassillas. who else? no one on that list compares.

correct...though we are barca fans..we'd love cassillas on the goal.2nd it would be reina.

[Mellberg]

I agree with the two Barca-Fans (that's rare *g*).

There shouldn't even be a discussion....Casillas is by far the best Spanish goalkeeper and there is absolutley no doubt that Aragones will put him between the pipes. I actually think that Ikér is one of the five best goalkeepers in the world.

[mhtwins113]

At this point, to suggest anyone other than Casillas is complete insanity. How the hell does any other Spanish keeper even come close to him?

[deviant]

only a mad man would choose Valdez

1. Iker
2. Pepe
3. Santiago

[kidujp]

Casillas
Raina
Valdez

No doubt abt casillas... in form and playing superbly for a long time.

And as for one guy with the criticism...everyone makes one mistake and to play behind the madrid D and only concede so many goals is a great feat unlike Raina playing behind the current liverpool D.

[kaku]

Casillas.Had it not been for him real madrid would have conceded a lot more goals.He gets better as he becomes more experienced, experience being very important for a keeper.

Keep in mind he plays for a team with one of the worst defences in europe.

[zerocool920]

casillas would probably be the way to go althogh i think canizares is a very solid alternative

[kuuze]

Imo
Casillas...

lOl... Valdes is a s*it...

[eraser2224]

1. casillas
2. reina
3. canizares
on the couch watching at home. valdez

[jpm085]

Iker san of course , Most team would be happy having Iker in their squad. Iker saves Real Madrid, Now saving Spain???

Grtzz,

[jak914]

I would have to say Iker Casillas is my number one pick. He is a great Keeper who has never failed. Reina is not as consistant as Casillas is and Valdez i just dont know what to say. But my #1 is Casillas for sure.

You should add a poll with this thread

[squarexpass]

I know it's madness to say anyone but Casillas, but watching this season, he has had to change his style to become more aggressive simply because Madrid's back line is $h*t. He's been caught off his line on numerous occassions only being rescued by a friendly bounce of the post (If you like I can run down the catalog later). And he's ALWAYS looked suspect (inconsistent) on crosses. maybe that will change playing for Spain maybe not. I'm just saying, Cañizares and Pinto have given up less goals and they play in front of leaky lines as well. BUT in the end, cassillas will be the keeper, barring injury. Y'all are probably right. I just think others have made a strong case. And Valdes is cr@p.

[nimme]

First choice: Casillas
second: Cañizares
third: Reina
never EVER: Valdes

[praro]

Without doubt, Casillas the first. He is the best
2- Cañizares: I thought he was finished but he has done a great season.
3- Reina: I haven't seen him this year, but he's a good keeper.
There are some good spanish goalkeepers like Palop and Pinto.
Last place after all spanish goalkeepers: Victor Valdes.

[sirmax858]

3) Santiago Cañizares - valencia cf - maybe spain's best penalty stopper - "pass the bottle of aftershave will you mate?"



best part of WC 2002:D


I said Casillas, but realisticly Reina and Canizares are both great keepers and currently Reina is at worst a top 10 kepper in the whole wide world.


Valdes is over rated

[Rev]

I don't understand why a team insists on a picking a flashy goalkeeper who cannot keep clean sheets. I prefer a goalkeeper who punches the ball to safety and keeps 33 clean sheets than a goal keeper who makes dramatic saves but cannot help conceding goals. How did Casillas concede goal against Sociedad? Just see the goals conceded by Madrid and you'll see Casillas makes a mistake every third match. I prefer Reina and his defensive mentality rather than the pomp and show put on by Casillas. I don't care how many saves Reina makes but I know for a fact that we have never conceded a goal beacuse of his mistake. And that is what I like - A goalkeeper who does not make mistakes. But choosing Reina over Casillas is a big decision and big decisions are only made by champions and I am not sure if España are really prepared to take such decisions and win the World Cup. They will just play Casillas and he will again make a silly mistake like he did against Russia and Portugal in the Euro 2004 and get España out of the World Cup.

I would love to see how Reina will do if he switched position with Casillas. Doing all those saves for Real isn't easy considering Real's defence is so weak at the moment.

[AC_]

1. San Iker - been with Real Madrid since he was 7 yrs old or something, only 24 yrs old but loads of experience. He can handle pressure well and he's been tested in Euro and WC matches

2-4 Those other GK :p
- Reina, consistent but not as good as Iker IMO
- Cañizares, has had a great season. Saw him stop a couple of PKs. Lacks the experience that iker has
- Valdes is overrated

[Dogme]

Well i hope it isn't Valdez, as he's a circus clown. Even though i'm a Barca fan, i think Barcelona and Spain would be better off without him.

Definately Cassilas to start. He's been the best goalkeeper in Spain for the last 6 or 7 years by a long way.

[mambo]

Isnt it time for Casillas now or did he do some important faults this season ?

[AC_]

Isnt it time for Casillas now or did he do some important faults this season ?

What do you mean by "Isnt it time for Casillas" ? He's been Spain's #1 for quite some time now

[QbeCK]

Why not W?? He'll be doing fine as long as Villa's on he's side :p :cool: :rolleyes:

[es7eban]

The 3 goalkeepers must be Iker Casillas, Santiago Cañizares and Jose Reina. Andrés Palop i think that hasn`t got what is needed, Ricardo (Osasuna) is too old, and Victor Valdes is a joke, c`mon, he doesn`t exist.

Casillas is the best spanish goalkeeper. I want to see Cañizares or Reina in his position, stopping all what he stops because of the very bad defense he has. If Casillas is in the Cañizares or Reina position, he couldn`t have all the mistakes because Valencia and Liverpool are not so attacked

Cañizares and Reina are good goalkeepers, no doubt about it. I think that this 3 men will be the Luis` choice. Anyway, i think that 2 goalkeepers are enough for a 7games championship

[Allkor]

Casillas... if Real didn't have him, they wouldn't be even battling for the Champions League :rolleyes: Iker is the only sureness they have. He has his place in Spain squad and I'm thankful for that.
Reina is having great season and should be the second choice.

Valdes isn't reliable. The season he has had he shouldn't even be considered. I reckon Barca will look for a new keeper next season. That is probably the only weakness Barca has right now.
But it would be a pity to sell him away, if a new keeper should really come, that Valdes still has to stay. He's got great potential and could be much better in few years. I watch him every match and altough he makes stupid mistakes from time to time, he always wins back my confidence in him. In the last matches he's been superb again. He's just still inconsistent, that's all. And I hope he can improve soon :rolleyes:

[nabil_ahmed_k]

NO doubt.... Casillas

[the_last_rites]

The 3 goalkeepers must be Iker Casillas, Santiago Cañizares and Jose Reina. Andrés Palop i think that hasn`t got what is needed, Ricardo (Osasuna) is too old, and Victor Valdes is a joke, c`mon, he doesn`t exist.

Casillas is the best spanish goalkeeper. I want to see Cañizares or Reina in his position, stopping all what he stops because of the very bad defense he has. If Casillas is in the Cañizares or Reina position, he couldn`t have all the mistakes because Valencia and Liverpool are not so attacked

Cañizares and Reina are good goalkeepers, no doubt about it. I think that this 3 men will be the Luis` choice. Anyway, i think that 2 goalkeepers are enough for a 7games championship
Spain coach Luis Aragones has named a 27-man preliminary squad ahead of this summer's World Cup finals in Germany.

Goalkeepers: Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Liverpool), Canizares (Valencia)


Canizares and Casillas, looks like they couldnt ask for anything more

[rollosan]

logical choice. Victor Valdes is definitely behind those guys

[Real JamesO]

Having watched quite a few Barca games this year (hoping they'd lose), I've really been unimpressed with Valdes.

Casillas should get the starting for sure. Here's my order:

1. Casillas
2. Reina
3. Valdez