The Lad Can Play: Peter Gulacsi
5Thursday, April 16, 2009 by Paul Grech
Most of the time, rather than letting player go on loan to gain experience it seems as if Liverpool are sending them out into the wilderness.
Take Craig Lindfield, the FA Youth Cup winner who never seems to manage to get a game no matter where - and it is usually in Division Two - he gets sent to. Or Adam Hamill, who looked so good at Dunfermline, but has struggled to settle in at Southampton, Blackpool and now Barnsley.
Even Paul Anderson who enjoyed such an impressive season at Swansea last year was guided into joining Nottingham Forest where he has struggled to make much of an impact at a club hounded by relegation.
Peter Gulacsi could easily have added to that list. Of all places that could have been chosen for the young Hungarian keeper to make his senior debut Liverpool opted for Hereford, a club set for relegation from Division One.
The reason for such a choice - if there really was one - probably was that of testing his strength of character. Games at reserve team level are testing to a very limited degree so, while he consistently looked good for Gary Ablett's team, there remained a question mark as to whether he could handle the added pressure of competitive football.
Within his first ninety minutes at Hereford, he had answered those doubts as a penalty save and a series of top class stops ensured that his new side beat Leeds.
That performance set the (high) marker for Gulacsi and he has rarely strayed below it. Whilst Hereford have struggled for results and relegation seems now an inevitability, Gulacsi has been consistently excellent. So much that when a minor injury made his presence doubtful at a recent game against Hartlepool, this generated a semi-panicked reaction.
“To say that he has been doing pretty well is an understatement!” say Martin Watson of Hereford fan site Bulls News. “He has single handedly stopped us from being repeatedly embarrassed throughout his twelve games so far.”
“He's conceded 21 goals in those games; any bog-standard League One keeper would have let in 40. He pulls off, on average, two or three top class saves every game.”
Such performances confirm Gulacsi’s reputation – he was chosen as the best goalkeeper at last summer’s European Under 19 championships – and could ensure that Diego Cavallieri’s stay at Anfield as back-up keeper might be short lived. Yet, for that to happen he will have to bulk up his experience with a further loan period next season. With a destination that is unlikely to be Hereford.
“We'd love him to be here next season, but when Coventry reserve team boss Steve Orgizovic was seen at Scunthorpe (in the away end) we expect him to be snapped up by someone higher up for next season.”
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Category Peter Gulacsi, Reds on Loan, The Lad Can Play
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5 comments »
I really like your blog but come on – Adam Hammill and Paul Anderson failing to perform on their loans? Paul has been playing as much as possible due to his injuries and has been one of the few bright lights at Nottingham Forest.
“We wish him well and a quick recovery because he has been absolutely brilliant for us over the last few weeks.” said Nottingham Forest manager David Kelly in January when Paul was injured.
Adam Hammill takes set-pieces at Barnsley and is a regular who has maintained a great form during this season – something that has made Benitez thinking about giving him the chance in the first-team. He was back in Liverpool in January but was sent out to Barnsley to get even more experience.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxGuQUpvupQ
And furthermore, isn't it good for the lads to play in a relegation club in order to strengthen their character and mentality?
Good shout, but please get your facts right.
Anderson was doing well at Forest until his injury.
Hammill has had some great reviews and Lindfield has established himself at Accrington, been an ever present 1st choice and been involved in breaking the clubs record of 6 continuous undefeated games, securing their status in the football league for a 3rd successive season.
Ok, let's clear things up. The comments were made in relation to how players seem to be loaned out to clubs not suited to them or to those which aren't the best options.
Let's take Anderson. My implication wasn't that he hasn't done well but rather that he was apparently directed to a club that was always likely to struggle thus making it all the more difficult for him. Perhaps it is easy to say now, but wouldn't it have been better to let him re-join Swansea who clearly were eager to get him back and who had better prospects than Forest?
Same goes for Hammill. Why was he loaned to Southampton and Blackpool when clearly the managers there wanted him purely to be a squad player? Surely, the aim of such loans is for the players to get experience at playing, not of watching from the sidelines.
As for Lindfield, I'm glad that he's getting a good run of games at Accrington but it looked strange to me that he was constantly being loaned out to clubs where he was being left in the bench as happened at Bournemouth.
He certainly seems like one to look out for. Top site you have by the way. Really enjoy reading it. Would you be able to email me when you get the chance?
Thanks a lot,
Thomas
I absolutley agree with your assesment on Hamill and Anderson. I was just thinking even though you may not get the best out of sending these players to unsuitable teams perhaps benitez thought that if these players could rise and stand out from such circumstances, that will show more accurate signs of 'mentality'in terms of fighting for your place, standout performances amidst unfamiliar players/surroundings and so on.I beleive more often than not players dont make it because they lack the correct mentality. By the way perter Galacsi is one of my favorite players at reserve level. He reminds me of peter chec.
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