WHAT NOW FOR BOSNICH?
AFTER having his contract terminated by Manchester United, Mark Bosnich is now free to join any club who wants him, but which clubs are looking for a keeper and would he improve their squads? Opta had a look at the evidence.
Chelsea were reported to be interested, Liverpool are looking for further competition for Sander Westerveld, while Arsene Wenger has been scouring the world for a replacement for the ageing David Seaman. Newcastle and Villa - his former club - have also had keeper problems recently. In the 23 league games he played last season, Bosnich saved 68% of the efforts he faced. That return is only superior to Ed de Goey and Steve Harper (both 67%) and ironically, Raimond Van De Gouw who is the worst shot stopper with just 50% of efforts saved. Interestingly, one club who are after a keeper is Monaco who have failed to properly replace Fabien Barthez since he joined Manchester United. The current Monaco keeper Stephane Porato has only managed to keep out 58% of efforts fired at him in this season's Champions League games and in football's equivalent of the circle of life, Bosnich could well be what they are looking for. At the age of 29, Bosnich should be entering his prime as a goalkeeper, and with a 91% catch success rate his positional sense is already pretty good - but again that is inferior to all but four other Premiership keepers. The Australian national manager, Frank Farina, had urged Bosnich to leave Manchester United as he will not be picked for international World Cup qualifying games unless he is playing first team football. Should none of the bigger Premiership clubs invest in the antipodean goalkeeper then there would certainly be no guarantee of first team action. If Bosnich is to resurrect his career, both at club and international level, then it appears that he may have to look abroad or even drop down a division. Matt Pomroy
