Has Tim Krul strengthened his case for the No1 spot?

The last article made me think to be honest. Perhaps TheDimpleboy is right and we don't give the keepers that we have at the club the credit they deserve?

I guess in a way this article is a direct response to that article.

Tim Krul is now a full international. He's been away with Holland and has made two international appearances as a reward for his very long trip to South America. The first of his caps came against Brazil, in which he managed to keep a clean sheet, with the second cap coming against Uruguay. No clean sheet on that occasion, but lets have a little analysis of those two performances.

Playing against Brazil is never easy. Brazil are Brazil and you know what you are going to get when you come up against them. Keeping them to a 0-0 was a good result for Holland, as it is for any team against Brazil, but as I'm not Dutch I'm not overly fussed about their national team. What does interest me is the performance of our own Tim Krul, and on that front I can report some good news.

Against Brazil, Krul didn't have too much to do but what he did do he managed to do with minimal fuss as he carried off a string of decent saves.

In his next match against Uruguay you could probably say that he should have done better for their goal. He was there where the ball was but he just couldn't get a hand to it and the ball hit the back of the net as a result. Holland equalised late in the game however which sparked a pre-agreed penalty shootout between the two sides.

This, in my opinion, is where Krul came into his own. Watch it first though so you can understand where I'm coming from.



You'll notice that for every penalty against Tim Krul, he always went the right way, well apart from the one that was smashed down the middle. It takes a brave keeper to just stand there and not move though mind!

Overall, two fairly decent performances that, if nothing else, Tim will have learnt from which will make him a better player in the long run. I mean lets face it, the two matches aside, training with the like of Huntelaar and Van Persie surely has to be that bit more challenging than training wih Ameobi and Lovenkrands.

I just happen to think that Krul will be a better player for his international experience, and in turn that may tip the balance in his favour when this much anticipated battle for the starting goalkeeper spot at Newcastle takes place in pre-season. Being a full international will give him that bit more sway, but will it be enough?

Personally, teamed with last season, I think it will be.