He did well, but he made one save (the double) which was really questionable
Where he pushed it straight to a Chelsea player rather than out towards for a corner, an experienced player would have punished us for that.
Shot stopping as someone said on the Match Thread has never been in doubt for him though.
Its other areas, that he needs to show... Mannion is brilliant at catching, whilst AMB does have occasions where he almost loses his head and rushes out to close the angle a bit too enthusiastically - I think as well part of our recent problems are because we dont have Mitchell / Jones in defence, Jones especially is really good at communicating with the Goalkeeper (we all know how thats Ashley's biggest weakness).
Think we're suffering more because of that, than because of who is between the sticks.
Hope he gets to start again on Saturday though.
I think he'd do a lot better with Jones and Mitchell ahead of him, as they have a rapport and communication that negates his weaknesses. If he plays behind the current version all his old issues will be on display again.
He did well, but he made one save (the double) which was really questionable
Where he pushed it straight to a Chelsea player rather than out towards for a corner, an experienced player would have punished us for that.
Shot stopping as someone said on the Match Thread has never been in doubt for him though.
Its other areas, that he needs to show... Mannion is brilliant at catching, whilst AMB does have occasions where he almost loses his head and rushes out to close the angle a bit too enthusiastically - I think as well part of our recent problems are because we dont have Mitchell / Jones in defence, Jones especially is really good at communicating with the Goalkeeper (we all know how thats Ashley's biggest weakness).
Think we're suffering more because of that, than because of who is between the sticks.
Hope he gets to start again on Saturday though.
I think he'd do a lot better with Jones and Mitchell ahead of him, as they have a rapport and communication that negates his weaknesses. If he plays behind the current version all his old issues will be on display again.
Yeah agree... I'm a fan of Ashley, would like to see him behind those two, but think Mannion does well enough behind them as well... So its a bit of a difficult "Chicken vs Egg" scenario - As others have mentioned, he's certainly knocking on the door with these performances, and whilst I do hate the EFL Trophy, its proving damned useful for the likes of Taylor / Maynard-Brewer / Z.Mitchell, even Edun.
Thing is you can't have a keeper who is only good with a strong defence in front of him. CB's get injured and suspended and he needs to be able to cope with that
He made some good saves. No-one has ever questioned that he's a good shot stopper, it's his superpower. I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him but overall he lacks in too many areas. His command of the box is nil, he doesn't communicate with his defence, his distribution is awful and he gives off this shaky, terrified energy that visibly affected the defenders around him last season. Isted was fairly rubbish when he came in but you could tell straight away the defence were calmer with him there. Mannion has been decent so far this season with a couple of recent errors turning opinion against him pretty quickly which I don't think is all that fair. One decent shot stopping performance against some children in a near-empty Valley from AMB doesn't offset the 62 games with 8 clean sheets and 95 goals conceded that came before. Mannion is 3 clean sheets off matching that record and he did it in 13 games, conceding only 14 goals.
I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him.
There was one moment yesterday in the first half which made me laugh slightly. Where Chelsea should have made it 1-0 (or maybe 1-1), and the Striker fired it straight at AMB, which his face deflected away - For a moment I thought he was concussed again, as that lad seems to do his best to come down with that, as often as he can.
I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him.
There was one moment yesterday in the first half which made me laugh slightly. Where Chelsea should have made it 1-0 (or maybe 1-1), and the Striker fired it straight at AMB, which his face deflected away - For a moment I thought he was concussed again, as that lad seems to do his best to come down with that, as often as he can.
The boy is addicted to concussions. I don't know how he does it, it's like his skull is a magnet for everything solid moving at speed
You can’t do much more than what AMB did last night in terms of performance to knock on the door - and I would certainly like to see him have another chance in the next game.
However the horrors of last year still live close in my memory, and one swallow does not make a summer as they say.
AMB showed what he is very good at last night, against a young technical Chelsea team. However, it’s a very different game playing against a physical league one team full of seasoned pros who will ask very different questions.
The horrors of last season, he had a poor defence in front of him, which didn’t help.
I expect it didn’t help, but he also contributed massively to that poor defence as GM mentions further down.
I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him.
There was one moment yesterday in the first half which made me laugh slightly. Where Chelsea should have made it 1-0 (or maybe 1-1), and the Striker fired it straight at AMB, which his face deflected away - For a moment I thought he was concussed again, as that lad seems to do his best to come down with that, as often as he can.
The boy is addicted to concussions. I don't know how he does it, it's like his skull is a magnet for everything solid moving at speed
AMB watched Rocky movies as a kid and thought "What if I did that as a goalie?"
You can’t do much more than what AMB did last night in terms of performance to knock on the door - and I would certainly like to see him have another chance in the next game.
However the horrors of last year still live close in my memory, and one swallow does not make a summer as they say.
AMB showed what he is very good at last night, against a young technical Chelsea team. However, it’s a very different game playing against a physical league one team full of seasoned pros who will ask very different questions.
The horrors of last season, he had a poor defence in front of him, which didn’t help.
I expect it didn’t help, but he also contributed massively to that poor defence as GM mentions further down.
AMB vs Mannion to me comes down to him having probably a higher ceiling but a lower floor - AMB on his best day probably is better than Mannion but Mannion having a poor game is not as bad as AMB on a bad day.
On average as an overall keeper Mannion is a safer bet than AMB. Neither strike me as the level of a promotion seeking first choice GK but of the two Mannion still gets the vote from me.
If AMB follows up last night's performance with something similar on Saturday he has got to be pushing Mannion for a first team starting place. People forget he is an inexperienced keeper who can improve.
If AMB follows up last night's performance with something similar on Saturday he has got to be pushing Mannion for a first team starting place. People forget he is an inexperienced keeper who can improve.
Pushing maybe but although Mannion has had a bit of a dent in form he's not been bad enough often enough to warrant losing his place as yet.
Mannion is ALSO a keeper with room for improvement and should keep his place for now.
Agree with @ForeverAddickted, he didn't really get a chance to show his weaknesses as Chelsea were never going to sling the ball into the box and the game was played at a pace that meant his distribution was less important. The Chelsea keeper had great distribution but wasn't great between the sticks. Combine the two and you're 2/3 of the way to an excellent keeper
Interesting criticism of AMB about his nervous energy. Now who does that remind me off 🤔 England's number 1 who is like a cat on a hit tin roof.
The match last night wasn't against Chelsea Under 11's for those of you who believe they were 6ft children 🤷🏻♂️😂
The battering as mentioned could well have affected his performances and confidence last season.
Ashley is 25 so we at least need him to have the confidence to come back in if needed. He is the number two in a 3rd tier club and hopefully his performance last night against the rich young MEN of Chelsea will help.
Mannion has the Jersey and is a decent League 1 keeper.
I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him.
There was one moment yesterday in the first half which made me laugh slightly. Where Chelsea should have made it 1-0 (or maybe 1-1), and the Striker fired it straight at AMB, which his face deflected away - For a moment I thought he was concussed again, as that lad seems to do his best to come down with that, as often as he can.
The boy is addicted to concussions. I don't know how he does it, it's like his skull is a magnet for everything solid moving at speed
He’d probably have saved Wrexhams first on Saturday straight on his noggin
I'm pretty sure he'd stop a bullet going in the net if you fired it at him.
There was one moment yesterday in the first half which made me laugh slightly. Where Chelsea should have made it 1-0 (or maybe 1-1), and the Striker fired it straight at AMB, which his face deflected away - For a moment I thought he was concussed again, as that lad seems to do his best to come down with that, as often as he can.
The boy is addicted to concussions. I don't know how he does it, it's like his skull is a magnet for everything solid moving at speed
AMB watched Rocky movies as a kid and thought "What if I did that as a goalie?"
Only, he ended up like Sly in escape to victory and asking where he has to stand at a corner.
Kin hell... this bloke has a fetish for head injuries I swear it.
Endless concussions and now suffered a broken jaw at the end of last season... I've never known a Goalkeeper like it!! - Even when he has played of late there have been a few times where I've thought that he's been concussed again.
Tommy Reid wont have to wait long for his debut if Mannion remains sidelined.
I like him a lot, his bravery is unquestionable. Came into a not so great side at a young age, so not surprised confidence is an issue. Both him and Will are young for keepers and room for both to improve considerably.
Weird how he's managed to pick up so many serious facial injuries.
If he just "too" brave, or is there a problem with his decision making, or how he dives at the feet of attackers, failing to protect his head properly.
Weird how he's managed to pick up so many serious facial injuries.
If he just "too" brave, or is there a problem with his decision making, or how he dives at the feet of attackers, failing to protect his head properly.
Probably got told as a kid to meet any challenge in life "head on" and took it literally
Surprised to learn he's 25, thought he was much younger than that. He was supposed to be freakishly gifted at youth level and had quite the reputation, thought he'd have really pushed on by now.
Comments
On average as an overall keeper Mannion is a safer bet than AMB. Neither strike me as the level of a promotion seeking first choice GK but of the two Mannion still gets the vote from me.
Mannion is ALSO a keeper with room for improvement and should keep his place for now.
Now who does that remind me off 🤔
England's number 1 who is like a cat on a hit tin roof.
The match last night wasn't against Chelsea Under 11's for those of you who believe they were 6ft children 🤷🏻♂️😂
The battering as mentioned could well have affected his performances and confidence last season.
Ashley is 25 so we at least need him to have the confidence to come back in if needed. He is the number two in a 3rd tier club and hopefully his performance last night against the rich young MEN of Chelsea will help.
Mannion has the Jersey and is a decent League 1 keeper.
I really hope Ash does a good job and has a run at being no.1.
Endless concussions and now suffered a broken jaw at the end of last season... I've never known a Goalkeeper like it!! - Even when he has played of late there have been a few times where I've thought that he's been concussed again.
Tommy Reid wont have to wait long for his debut if Mannion remains sidelined.
If he just "too" brave, or is there a problem with his decision making, or how he dives at the feet of attackers, failing to protect his head properly.