I'm aware of that - what I was getting at in my post was really the best players we've had in the last 5 years - not necessarily the ones who've made the biggest, longest impact in an Aberdeen strip over the last 5 years. For me Ward was the best keeper we've had in the last 5 years, even though Lewis has been generally very very good.
Fair point - the centre back area is definitely our weakest. I was hoping with the 7 players in front of the back 3 we wouldn't need to do much defending - but the main reason for the back 3 was just to accommodate more of the midfielders as we've had a lot of good players in those positions.
It`s a tricky one with Goalkeepers.
Ward was a revelation because prior to him we had Langfield.
So he steadied the fans nerves. Gave us a confidence back in our Keeper. (
His one weakness that stuck out was he wasn`t a brilliant long distance shot stopper ? Something Langfield was good at ? Mind you I`m being harsh. Some of the rockets were possibly unstoppable, yet I expected him to stop them due to him being good at most else ?? )
Going way back to when we had " good " goalkeepers. Bobby Clark wasn`t a natural. He coached himself into reading a game so well his positioning let him make the saves. Whereas Jim Leighton, was good at instintive saves. Yet his coming for crosses was suspect ? ( Again, maybe under instructions from God ?? Who knows !! )
Lewis. Coming after Ward , brought more maturity, talks and tries to organise his defence more 9 it needs it !! ) But deffo in his first season looked awesome. We`ve all been noticing his mistakes recently. But is tht prtially due to a constantly changing defence in front of him ? ( Think Leighton at Man U. He didn`t turn poor overnight. Magically it happened with the introduction of new defenders. Pallister , for one ? )
Aye, what do I know about goalies ?!!
Over the course of the time he's been here, he's not made that many mistakes and as you said, it doesn't help the defence in front of him hasn't been particularly consistent.
Also, worth pointing out that Lewis didn't come in after Ward as such. Unfortunately we had to suffer Scott Brown.
I'm genuinely surprised that Maddison appears to be such a favourite. He perpetually slowed things down when controlling the ball, allowing opposing players to get goal-side of the ball. Yes, he scored "that goal" against the Huns but he was too much of a luxury for our club. Don't get me wrong, he was an excellent player and is better now but he did not fit our tactics.
McLean was the absolute opposite of Maddison in how he controlled the ball and pinged it wide and long in the blink of an eye. With McGinn and Hayes in wide positions needing to receive the ball rapidly McLean was an absolute lynchpin of the team. Rooney's goal threat was predicated on the wide men getting the ball early and getting to the byeline rapidly. With Maddison the whole gameplan was much more ponderous and inclined to get bogged down by a wall of defenders.