David James Injured. Time to Go Green?

May 19th, 2009 | by: Daryl | View Comments

According to the AFP, we have an England goalkeeper crisis on our hands. But if David James having shoulder surgery is what passes for a crisis these days, then we were in trouble long before James’ surgeon picked up his scalpel.

With all due respect, we’re playing Kazakhstan away (June 6th) and Andorra at home (June 10th). We can win those games without DJ. And where the AFP sees crisis, I see opportunity. James is 38, so finding his successor as #1 should be a priority. These two games are a great chance to do exactly that.

This could have been a great chance for Man Utd’s Ben Foster to get a run out, but he’s out for two months with a poorly thumb. And to be honest, I’m not 100% comfortable with Man Utd’s #2 being England’s #1. So get well soon Ben Foster, and please don’t eff things up at Man Utd after van der Sar’s retirement.

The Daily Mail has a pretty good run down of the six other keepers they think could play next month: Paul Robinsnon, Rob Green, Chris Kirkland, Scott Carson, Joe Hart and Joe Lewis.

I’m pretty sure we can discount youngsters Lewis (hasn’t played above League One yet) and Hart (now second choice behind Shay Given at Man City). Scott Carson has been only OKish for West Brom this season.

Which leaves…

Chris Kirkland who appears to be over his bad-back injury problems, but still reminds me a little of Sam Jackson’s Mr. Glass character in Unbreakable.

Paul Robinson who has rediscovered his form at Blackburn, but may never recover his reputation as an international class goalkeeper.

Rob Green who seems like the obvious choice to me, although Fabio Capello hasn’t been as enthusiastic.

I’d argue that given Rob Green’s age (29), his current position as the highest placed first choice English keeper in the Premier League (West Ham are 9th, everyone higher has a foreign keeper) and his lack of “baggage” (Carson and Robinson both have howlers vs Croatia hanging over them) the timing is perfect for him to step in.

And if you need any more convincing, here’s a YouTube vid put together by a West Ham fan that makes Green look Lev Yashin on steroids:

And if none of the above works out, then from July 2009 onwards we could also give Señor Almunia a try.