FABIEN: FORMIDABLE OR FALLIBLE?
The French stopper has displayed acrobatic agility while exposing a worrying liability as he operates as France's last line of defence.
The French number one will be plying his trade at Old Trafford next season following his £7.8 million transfer from Monaco, and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will be hoping for consistency from Barthez when he finally dons the green jersey.
The Premier League Champions utilised three keepers last season in Mark Bosnich, Raimond Van Der Gouw and Massimo Taibi, but Ferguson confessed that he bought Barthez because the enigmatic Frenchman has the "personality" to emulate the now departed Peter Schmeichel.
However, it is his exuberance that begs the question as to whether Ferguson has spent wisely on an outstanding goalie, or just invested in another pretender to Schmeichel's crown.
In the three games Barthez has played in Euro 2000, he has conceded just two goals - both from the penalty spot - and kept one clean sheet against Group D whipping boys Denmark.
Despite a couple of early nervous slips against the Danes, 29-year-old Barthez has gone on to make eleven vital saves in the tournament and is currently ranked as the fourth best performing keeper at Euro 2000 according to the Opta Index.
He has proved that he is a solid shot stopper by making five saves from inside the box and six from outside, and has dominated his penalty area by catching eight crosses without dropping a single ball. He was rested for the defeat against Holland where his replacement, Bernard Lama, was beaten three times.
Reinstated for the clash with Spain, Barthez almost cost France a place in the semi-finals of Euro 2000 after he was adjudged to have upended Abelardo in the final minute.
Fortunately for both goalie and team, Raul blasted the spot kick high and wide and the French ran out eventual 2-1 winners. However, this incident was a perfect illustration of Barthez's fallible nature to produce moments of madness.
In true Barthez style, the goalie went on to diminish responsibility for his error by offering a three-pronged explanation for the penalty decision: "The first was that I thought the ball had already gone out for a corner, the second was that he trod on my hand and the only way I could get it out from under his foot was by lifting it up and the third was that he cheated in the way he fell over."
Despite indifferent form, Bosnich kept 13 clean sheets in 30 league and European games last season and is not impressed with his latest competition.
The former Aston Villa man launched a recent attack on European keepers and his new team-mate was not spared a mention: "You watch games around Europe and you'll see some ridiculous mistakes; Hesp of Barcelona, who is supposed to be one of the best - I've seen Barthez do it at Monaco and I've seen Van Der Saar do it at Juventus."
Ferguson has now ensured that he has quality cover for every position throughout his side and, if he is prepared for the occasional scare, Barthez may prove to be the man to finally fill Schmeichel's boots and be adored by the Red Devils' faithful.
