A deeper look at Liam Roberts
A deeper look at Liam Roberts
One player who has stood out so far this season for Barnsley has been on loan goalkeeper, Liam Roberts. Supporters have been impressed with his shot stopping ability which has undoubtedly assisted in taking the Reds up to third in League One. Roberts’ goal celebrations have also endeared him to the fans and he looks a player enjoying life at Oakwell.
Roberts has played for a number of clubs previously and we asked fans of Northampton Town and Middlesbrough for their opinion on the keeper’s time at their clubs.
Danny from Cobblers to me podcast says:
Liam joined the Cobblers in 2021 having spent a lot of time out on loan at different clubs from Walsall. We were told he was “average” by a lot of Saddlers fans when he joined but he went on to become a crucial cog in the system for the Cobblers as we challenged for promotion from League Two.
Roberts immediately endeared himself to our fans with a number of superb performances, showing his command for the box and proving to be a top shot stopper. Our number of clean sheets increased majorly with him between the sticks and he became more and more popular throughout that season thanks to his celebration of goals and winding up for a fist pump in front of the fans after every win.
He has very few weaknesses to his game and the only blot on his copy book was a red card in that fateful game at Barrow on the final day of the season when we won but were overtaken by Bristol Rovers who scored 7 in their game to overtake us into the final promotion place.
Jonny from The Boro breakdown podcast says:
When Liam Roberts signed for Middlesbrough in the 2022/2023 season there was a feel on Teesside that we’ve made a smart signing in Liam.
Being in the team of the season and with an impressive record, it felt like Middlesbrough have made good business and signed a goalkeeper who could potentially be first choice. However, a few weeks later, Middlesbrough secured the services of Zack Steffen, which therefore ruled Roberts out of being first choice in the interim.
After a shaky start to the season and an injury to Steffen, Roberts was called upon by Chris Wilder to start against Sunderland – which resulted in a 1-0 and a clean sheet for Roberts and then proceeded to play the next few games.
Although his time in the side was short, Liam’s showed his qualities which saw him get into the League Two team of the season. He was a good shot stopper, commanded his box well and made the right choices by playing it safe, so in short. A safe pair of hands in net.
However, what let’s Roberts down vs Steffen was his distribution. With Middlesbrough style of play we rely heavily on the goalkeeper to build out from the back and start our attacks. We also need a goalkeeper who can sweep up potential attacking moves from progressing and most importantly be comfortable on the ball.
Although Roberts was okay on the ball, Steffens capability to play that role was immaculate at times which unfortunately for Roberts, made his game time difficult to come by.
Even though his time on the pitch was limited, Roberts made the most of it off the pitch.
Picking up community awards, being vocal in the changing rooms and trying to push Steffen all the way was very clear to see. This is also reflected by a number of Boro players coming out and saying about Roberts positive presence in the squad especially during the difficult start to the season.
Barnsley have got a good goalkeeper in Liam Roberts but more importantly , they’ve got a great person at the club – we wish him the best of luck!
Authors opinion:
It was concerning when both Harry Isted and Brad Collins left Oakwell in the summer. I wondered would the club be able to fill the gap left by both very competent goalkeepers? The answer so far has been a resounding yes.
Whilst Roberts is only on loan, it does appear his time on Teesside is up and his contract runs out next summer. If Roberts keeps up this form, we can only hope the Barnsley board tie up his services full time before any other clubs come looking.
Image credit: The Northern Echo
That’s a BIG IF the way the board bring players in and don’t try hard enough to sign them Isted looked nailed on but he’s with Charlton a team really struggling l was very annoyed when Barnsley missed out but Roberts has impressed and l would like us to sign him permanently unless our scouts have found another gem to take on loan.