Ben Foster has left Manchester United with the praise of Sir Alex Ferguson ringing in his ears.
‘The best English goalkeeper in the league’ joined Birmingham for a fee in the park of £6m but if he is in fact the best English keeper, why was he allowed to leave?
Foster signed a new contract last October and was given a run in goal in the first team following an injury to Edwin van der Sar but for me he simply failed to impress with a number of errors marring the spell. In Van der Sar’s absence he was effectively battling with Tomasz Kuszczak for the #1 shirt and it was a battle he lost, as for me Kuszczak was more impressive and inspired more confidence between the sticks.
Foster, it can be said, was unlucky as he rarely had our first choice back four in front of him in the 13 games he played last season but in terms of the bigger picture he was unlucky to have joined the club when we already had such a great keeper like Edwin van der Sar. Even now at the age of 39 the Dutch man is showing he is still one of the best in the world in his position so in that sense he didn’t really have a chance.
Foster is a good keeper in his own right and had some solid performances, nobody will forget his penalty heroics against Spurs in the Carling Cup final, but he just wasn’t able to usurp van der Sar’s place. I’m under no illusions he will do the business at Birmingham and I’m sure you will all join me in wishing Ben the best of luck for the future.
I’d like to wish him well…to an extent. If he actually plays up to SAF’s accolades after leaving then it would actually be quite painful to watch as a United fan for years to come. I hope he becomes considered as a top 10 keeper in the EPL…just not top 1 or 2.
Foster is a good goalkeeper but he lacked the experience needed to be our number 1. I think to be Man Utd goalkeeper you have to have experience and have played plenty of top flight football. Foster lacked this and was not going to get that sitting on our bench. There are certain exceptions like Cassilas and Buffon who were both amazing at young age. You do get young goalkeepers who are outstanding so there lack of experience doesn’t factor as much. However normally goalkeepers get better the older they get and the more they play. I do think he will do well at Birmingham. He will get the chance to play first team football and build up his experience. He is only 27 and in 5 years time Man Utd might be spending big money to get him back.