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Legzdins v Kuszczak

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Image for Legzdins v Kuszczak

I must say, we are very lucky at Birmingham City with our goalkeeper situation. This isn’t just in regards to the first team either. I am a follower of youth football and I think that the talent we have between the sticks through all age groups is almost unrivaled.

But back to the first team. The situation is also very encouraging because we have two goalkeepers who are perfectly capable of being first choice. Firstly, this means that players are able to train at a good level and learn from each other which is always a plus and secondly, it means that they have to train hard in order to fight for selection, rather than the regular ‘keeper knowing he can just stroll into the squad. That is not the case.

I know the article title leads you to believe that I am going to compare both goalkeepers and choose the goalkeeper who I think is the best, but actually it’s much more than that. I think they’re both wonderful and I am very happy with the quality we have got. I know that some clubs such as Stoke are in a pickle whereby when their goalkeeper, our very own Butland, got injured, they were lacking in the goalkeeping department with only a veteran and a youth player to call upon. However, if Tomasz Kuszczak was to get injured, I’d be perfectly happy with Legzdins in goal.

With the play-offs looking beyond our reach, I would be a strong advocate at starting Legzdins more as an experiment. Goalkeepers need game time just as much as outfield players in order to get experience of game situations and more than anything, to get confidence and feel part of the squad. I feel that if he gets a few games under his belt, it means we will be able to utilize him more next season.

Legzdins is also 29 whereas Tomasz Kuszczak is 34 so at some point, Tomasz Kuszczak will want to retire or even not be at his best in order to compete. So I think having Legzdins in order to fill this void is a good thing. I am talking several years off by the way, 34 is very early for a goalkeeper but I still think that if Legzdins stays as number 2 for a while, it shows his commitment to the club and this deserves recognition.

As goalkeepers, I am impressed by them in different ways. I see Tomasz Kuszczak as much more a shot stopper and less able in terms of his kicking and handling of crosses than Legzdins. Tomasz Kuszczak appears to be much more vocal and commanding but this is because he has been playing with a settled defence for a while and they all seem to work well together. In short, I feel that both players make each other better through competition and this is great for the club.

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