This pertains to the new Tottenham signing's performance last season. More explicitly, his performance fell of a cliff. Oh, and Tottenham just signed him and seem prepared to start him ahead of the error-prone but better Heuerelho Gomes.

Let us embark on a statistical head-to-head comparison. First, 2010-2011.

Gomes was so much better. Yes, he made the joint most errors of goalkeepers in the Premier League, but think for two seconds and realize that if goalkeeper G faces 100 shots in a season and saves 10% more than goalkeeper F, who also faces 100 shots, then goalkeeper G is conceding 10 fewer goals than goalkeeper F. If we then say that goalkeeper G makes 3 more errors in a season than goalkeeper F, and that all of goalkeeper G's errors result in conceding goals and none of goalkeeper F's errors result in conceding goals - just hypothetical - then goalkeeper G is conceding 5 fewer goals over the course of a season than goalkeeper F. If we then say that the goalkeepers will face more than 100 shots in a season, then the skill gap between the two is lengthened; Goalkeeper G is conceding even fewer goals than goalkeeper F due to being considerable better at stopping shots.

Now to blow your mind I'll just say that Heurelho Gomes had a save percentage more than 10% better than Brad Friedal last season. His greater propensity for errors don't make much dent in his better "goalkeeping-ness" because he saved a far greater percentage of shots than Friedal. Gomes's skill is shot-stopping. If he makes a stupid error once every 8 games - resulting in conceding one stupid goal every 16 games, or let's be ridiculous and say once every 8 games - but makes a save that Friedal cannot make once every 4 games, then Gomes is stopping more shots and is the better goalkeeper. Well this is the case, overblown massively to the benefit of Friedal, and Gomes is still the better goalkeeper.

In reality, Gomes only made 3 more errors last season than Friedal. Yes, we remember them, and yes, he should not make them, but his shot stopping more than makes up for his error-prone ways vis-a-vis Spurs installing Brad Friedal as the club's new number one goalkeeper. But what about the psychological effect on the club's defenders who feel that they cannot trust Gomes? 3 more errors over a season, really? My only point is this: Install Craig Gordon or Ben Foster - both brilliant goalkeepers who save as well or better than Gomes but without the errors - but not Brad Friedal.

Now it has to be noted that Brad Friedal was an excellent goalkeeper prior to last season. In 09/10, he saved 76%, or 126 of 165 shots, which put him among league leaders. The drop-off in form is perhaps an anomaly, so there is a chance he will come back to being a standout shot-stopper, but he's 40 and single season drop-offs aren't that rare for old athletes, while returning to old form is rare. Spurs installing Friedal as the number 1 over Gomes is a silly move.