Costel Pantilimon, a necessary signing?

At the start of the season, most football fans would say that Watford bringing in Costel Pantilimon on an undisclosed fee from Sunderland is a fantastic piece of business. However, what no one expected was for Watford to be tenth in the Premiership, 11 points clear of the relegation zone at the end of January and to possess one of the strongest strike partnerships in the league.

A key to their success and possibly a hidden gem to the Hornets is their experienced 34-year old goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. Despite being known for a catalogue of mistakes and howlers during his six year spell at Tottenham Hotspur, Gomes has been on top form for the newly promoted side and has statistically been the best goalkeeper in the league this season. Gomes has played every minute of Watford's Premiership campaign and has a better average match rating then every keeper in the league this season that has played over 50% of the league this season. Despite strong seasons from the likes of Petr Cech and Jack Butland, the Brazilian has consistently impressed including 8 clean sheets and two man of the match performances against Southampton and Bournemouth.

How does the best keeper in the premiership this season compare to Watford's new signing. Gomes has made 2.7 saves per game on average compared to the 4.2 average saves per game made by Costel Pantilimon. Pantilimon also has an average of 0.2 saves in the six yard box which is double that of his new south american team mate. Pantilimon also has an average of 1.7 saves in the penalty area per game compared to Gomes who only has 1.3. Pantilimon also has the best record in the division for saves out of the box per game with an impressive 2.3 per game, Gomes only has 1.3. However the big distance is their number of clean sheets. Pantilimon may seem superior on statistics but he has averaged a clean sheet every 5.67 matches in the league this season, compared to Gomes who has an incredible average a clean sheet every 2.86 league games which puts him as the tied fourth keeper in the league for most clean sheets.

So make your own judgements, but the way I see it why would you change a working formula. If you have the best keeper in the league this season, then keep playing him. Not that Pantilimon isn't a good signing but he is currently 16th in the goalkeeper rankings out of the 20 keepers to play the majority of this campaign, where as they're current number one is the current number one.