So, Shay Given arrived at Villa Park this summer for £3.5 million, and with the performances he has been putting in, he looks like a real bargain. Obviously there is still a question mark over his fitness as he was known for being more injury prone than your average goalkeeper, and he has already picked up a couple of niggles, but so far he has started every Premier League game.
When Brad Friedel departed at the end of last season we were all thinking the same thing, what an act to follow! We had been used to Mr Reliable for the last 3 seasons and the kind of names being mentioned to replace him, Foster and Al Habsi most notably, were prone to making the occasional error. Don't get me wrong, I rate them both quite highly, but for £10 million and £4 million respectively, they aren't a patch on Given. He is cheaper, more consistent and a better shot stopper. I know he is older than them, but he could potentially have another good 3-5 years left in him.
Onto his performances this season. His standout performances came against Fulham on the opening day where he saved us a point with a couple of great stops, and most recently against Newcastle where he made some great saves from Cabaye and even for the goal he made a great save initially and almost kept out the next one which just stayed under the bar. He has single handedly earnt us at least 2 or 3 points aready this season, so from my point of view it is very much money well spent.
Rating - 9/10
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