Claudio Bravo

[Kerrybai]

It wouldnt be unfair at all. It happened to Pinto every time Valdes got injured and came back. Its what happens when there is a number one and two. I would compare ter Stegen's situation to Lloris when he first went to spurs. Although Friedal was already there first for a season before and didnt join the same time as Lloris so this situation is even dumber the more you think about it. Unfair would be losing your place because someone injured you and never getting a chance to win it back even if you look much better in your one appearance than the other person in the 4.

Sorry but what did Ter Stegen do that made him look better? Bravo has 4 clean sheets, sure he has barely been tested but that's not his fault.

 

[Ursegor]

Fact of the matter is, Lucho told Barça TV he thought rotating keepers at the top level was impossible to do, even though it's not clear whether that referred exclusively to his Barça B experiment of X games per keeper or to competitions as well it does show awareness/opinion from his side that top-levle gks need consistency.

That was before even a single preseason game was played. In more recent times, yesterday to be precise, he said this:

Luis Enrique: "There are many cliches about goalkeepers in football. Like that one always has to start to be confident. I'll do it my way."

Unless he's trolling the press it indicates he will rotate goalkeepers. How exactly and in which frequency remains to be seen but I believe this statement as I really can't see Bravo dropping to the bench for a large amount of time for some reason.

 

[BBZ8800]

Again, I am not saying that Ter Stegen absolutely must play ahead of Bravo and that Bravo is absolutely shit, but I don't think it's beneficial at all for Ter Stegen to only play CL matches if it leads to that. I think it will hit his confidence and development and with the lack of match practice, you cannot expect him to do very well either. Just as shown with Iker Casillas.

Look, I am also in team Mats.
I love Mats and think that he will be our No1 in the future years.

But, in this moment, it is just not fair and it would be wrong to change anything.
There is an old football saying, something like: "You should never change anything if your team is winning"
-- you change something, you think that it would be even better, but too many times, something goes wrong. Hard to explain what, but something just too often goes wrong.

Also, imagine if Lucho gives a chance to Mats now, for no reason, and Mats makes a blunder and we play 1:1 tonight.
How to explain his decision to Bravo after that?
-- also, Bravo will lose a bit of confidence because he was benched even though he had 4 clean sheets
-- he will know, that no matter how well he will play, he will be benched by Mats

On the other hand, how will Mats feel?
-- he got a chance, and made a mistake
-- he will be under a huge pressure in the future

So, today you have:
1. Bravo, one Gk, in good form and with high confidence
-- and a team is winning
2. Mats, 2nd Gk, who knows that he has to wait and that he will get his chance
-- his confidence is also still more or less good

Then, imagine Mats' blunder in today's match:
1. Bravo will lose a confidence and will get angry
2. Mats will be low, with lower confidence and under a lot of pressure

So, the safest and the smartest move for now will be:
-- to play Bravo, and if he will play poorly, Mats will eventually in 3-4-5-10 weeks bench him, both in Liga and Cl matches

That is the only "fair" way in this moment.

 

[Kohe321]

Taking his chance in "brutal fashion" would be true if he did a number of amazing matchwinning saves in the matches where Ter Stegen has been out injured. Truth is that he hasn't had a lot to do, which of course is a good thing as it means our defence is doing good, but the little he's had to do has been handled fine.

I'd say that Ter Stegen has impressed me more in the games he's played, though. He has had some really nice saves (the one against APOEL especially comes to mind), kept his cool with his passing and clearances (that clearance header to Xavi against APOEL was also amazing), his long passes are incredibly accurate, and the way he has controlled and owned his area with authority has been really impressive. I do feel safer when he's between the posts than Bravo, even though both are amazing keepers. Ter Stegen is already one of the best in the world, and it would be a real shame to only use him in the CL.

 

[DonAK]

Sorry but what did Ter Stegen do that made him look better? Bravo has 4 clean sheets, sure he has barely been tested but that's not his fault.

Ter Stegen didn't have much to do either, but his distribution in that one match was far better than what Bravo has showed in four games so far. His command of the box was also quite good.

 

[Barcadub]

Brutal fashion what a joke. Will bump this when you change your tune a few months down the road.

If he falls out of form well then im sure Ter will be in.

People tend to be nasty on here to players. Everyone makes mistakes, players always fall out of form. That's the way it is.

If i happens to Bravo, Ter will come in. No major issue. Pique fell out of form and he ain't playing.

But right now, Bravo has been excellent and he should and will remain in goal.

 

[Kerrybai]

Ter Stegen didn't have much to do either, but his distribution in that one match was far better than what Bravo has showed in four games so far. His command of the box was also quite good.

Fair enough, his distribution does look better but outside of that neither keeper has anything to do. To bench Bravo after 4 clean sheets is basically giving him the middle finger. Lucho simply can't do it.

I think it's further complicated by Bravo's price tag, spending 12 million suggests that we bought to keepers to comepte with each other rther than 1 as a back up.

 

[Irish_Cules]

People are making out that Ter Stegen was amazing against APOEL. He looked good with the ball at his feet but he had f**k all to do really. He made one save that he should have saved easily anyway and came out for that header. That's it. I really like him and prefer him to Bravo but it's not like his performance was so amazing against APOEL that he has to be made number one straight away. Bravo hasn't conceded a goal yet so he has to play. Simple as. Mats time will come.

 

[suckabov]

That was before even a single preseason game was played. In more recent times, yesterday to be precise, he said this:

Luis Enrique: "There are many cliches about goalkeepers in football. Like that one always has to start to be confident. I'll do it my way."

Unless he's trolling the press it indicates he will rotate goalkeepers. How exactly and in which frequency remains to be seen but I believe this statement as I really can't see Bravo dropping to the bench for a large amount of time for some reason.

Yeah, possible, as I said I could imagine him rotating two keepers even for la liga when the schedule gets congested (such as now for the Malaga or Granda games); my point wasn't that he's against rotation per se but one way or another he's surely aware of the risks that come with playing one keeper in the top games every two weeks (or with even more time in between), hence why I don't really believe he has one gk per competition. The fact that MAtS started the CL game which had loads of rotations anyway could also be a coincidence, e.g. be down to him not being 100% for the Athletic game, or Lucho not wanting to give him too hard a game for his debut or whatever. The impression I got is he might rotate keepers on a game to game basis, which would explain why he keeps being vague about the situation. We'll see about that in the next few games. Long story short, don't think we can't say anything definite yet about the keeper situation.

Sorry but what did Ter Stegen do that made him look better? Bravo has 4 clean sheets, sure he has barely been tested but that's not his fault.

Guess most people are arguing based on their level of performances for their respective former clubs as well as talent, but even in the few games both played, I'd say MAtS' save was better than any Bravo has made so far while playing with a worse defence (arguably), his distribution was better (which is mirrored in the stats) and (and that's subjective) he has looked more composed. Plus if we take pre-season into account, there is that clanger from Bravo. But yep, hard to justify to bench him now. There's only that point that (supposedly) a fully-developed MAtS could be the best gk we could wish for abnd not giving him all the time he can get would only slow down the development, but that would be putting player over club.

 

[Flavia]

Ah lads would ye stop, no goals conceded in 4 games.

Ter got injured. Bravo took his chance in brutal fashion.

He is number 1.

Brutal fashion? That is on the defense, that isn't allowing shots on target. Bravo is still to be tested, and he always looks too nervous with the ball at his feet, for my liking.

People are making out that Ter Stegen was amazing against APOEL. He looked good with the ball at his feet but he had f**k all to do really. He made one save that he should have saved easily anyway and came out for that header. That's it. I really like him and prefer him to Bravo but it's not like his performance was so amazing against APOEL that he has to be made number one straight away. Bravo hasn't conceded a goal yet so he has to play. Simple as. Mats time will come.

Bravo also had f**k all to do, so far. The defense MAtS did was more difficult than any Bravo had to do, yet. And his much better distribution really stood out.

This is all on Song, who injured MAtS in a crucial period... damn it tchakap.

 

[spark]

4 clean sheets! 4 clean sheets! is all anyone says(or can say) when talking about Bravo despite the fact that the posts(3) and Rakitic have directly contributed more interventions to this statistic than Bravo the bystander.

Its not even about the saves, for the most part Bravo gets rid of the ball as soon as he gets it, hoofing up field whether under pressure or not. In possession hes not very comfortable and teams will eventually pick up on it. Last season Atletico at the Calderon in the away cl match deliberately targeted Pinto's ball control and passing which was probably better than Bravo's in the first place.

The only reason he is being treated as an equal to ter Stegen is because Unzue or whoever has to justify making someone of Bravo's level one of the more expensive goalkeeper transfers in recent times in a summer when Willy and Navas went for less money. So the narrative of they are both great has been created from the start.

 

[DonAK]

To wait for Bravo to make a mistake or concede plenty of goals and meanwhile let ter Stegen play in the CL several weeks apart and expect him to do very well is incredibly naive to say the least.

Neither Bravo or Ter Stegen will concede many goals. Heck even if you bring back Pinto he'll not concede many goals due to the defence and improvement of our game tactically. So if we have to go by that logic then Bravo who is not so old in GK years might stay as our 1st GK for a few years and ter Stegen who will meanwhile play in the CL where you play every other week and then every other month will have to impress with the lack of match practice to surpass Bravo which won't happen even if you put Lev Yashin in the same situation since you simply cannot do so well as a goalie when you play so little.

 

[poncirus]

The only reason he is being treated as an equal to ter Stegen is because Unzue or whoever has to justify making someone of Bravo's level one of the more expensive goalkeeper transfers in recent times in a summer when Willy and Navas went for less money. So the narrative of they are both great has been created from the start.

Again, Bravo has made the most saves in La Liga for last 2 seasons. How exactly are Willy and Navas better than him and why is Ter Stegen keeper of so much higher level?

Ter Stegen is potentially great and he will have time to prove it and earn his spot. Barca plays many matches throughout the year. This is not NT where Valdes was eternal sub even when he was obviously better than Casillas.

Attitude shown in this topic is disgusting and unsportmanlike. I believe Ter Stegen himself doesn't share it.

 

[Ursegor]

No player has committed more errors that have led directly to a La Liga goal in the last 4 seasons than Bravo (10).

http://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/472001846807392256

Should never be starting for Barca in the first place.

 

[spark]

Again, Bravo has made the most saves in La Liga for last 2 seasons. How exactly are Willy and Navas better than him and why is Ter Stegen keeper of so much higher level?

Ter Stegen is potentially great and he will have time to prove it and earn his spot. Barca plays many matches throughout the year. This is not NT where Valdes was eternal sub even when he was obviously better than Casillas.

Attitude shown in this topic is disgusting and unsportmanlike. I believe Ter Stegen himself doesn't share it.

Cherry picking time periods to suit Bravo is as equally disgusting. Why dont you bring the stats for all the goals he gifted real madrid since 2009?