Can Dundee Utd afford to stick with Kucherenko?

One mistake? Fine. Two? A bad day at the office. Three? Potentially unforgiveable.

There's a good argument to be made that Yevhen Kucherenko was at fault for all three Falkirk goals in Dundee United's abject Scottish Premiership defeat against the newly-promoted side on Saturday.

It was a nightmareish performance for the 26-year-old, who could barely trudge off the pitch such was his misery at the full-time whistle.

It was hard not to feel for him - unless you're a United fan.

There were even a question asked as to whether he would appear after half-time, such was the calamitous nature of his first 45 minutes.

But should Jim Goodwin stick by the Ukrainian, who only signed in the summer and has broadly looked like an upgrade?

Or is it time to make a change? After a third game in which he has made a high-profile mistake?

Ghost of Birighitti haunts United fans

Kucherenko has had a decent start to his United career, producing a series of impressive saves, looking comfortable with the ball at his feet, and bringing personality to the role.

But this game will be a low point.

Things went wrong early on, Kucherenko parrying Calvin Miller's shot straight back to the Falkirk forward, who duly tucked in the rebound.

Sure, the goalkeeper was exposed by his defence, but he should have done better.

The second goal, less than 20 minutes later, was all on him, though. Kucherenko sprung from his line to try and clear a corner, but got his punch grotesquely wrong, diverting the ball behind him into his own goal.

It was uncannily similar to a mistake he made on an admittedly-filthy afternoon at Easter Road earlier in the season.

The horror show continued when the now-nervy Ukrainian hesitated to leave his line and claim a ball over the top. That allowed 37-year-old Brian Graham to lollop onto the ball, round the goalkeeper, and roll the ball into the empty net.

At full-time, the cameras zoomed in on Kucherenko, squatting down on the turf, taking a moment before facing the music in the dressing room.

Falkirk's Scott Bain came across to put an arm round his shoulder, and pass on some sympathies. The goalkeeper's union still going strong clearly.

But add in another misjudgement from a cross which gifted St Mirren a goal a few weeks back, and the United fans' patience with Kucherenko may well be dwindling.

Not least because this is a fanbase still haunted by the recent memories of Mark Birighitti and his succession of goalkeeping mistakes - mistakes which played a big part in their side being relegated in 2023.

'Unacceptable but others also to blame'

"It's a mistake from Kuchurenko, he knows that," was Goodwin's appraisal of the first goal. "He either has to make sure the shot sticks or he needs to push it a lot wider.

"That puts you 1-0 down and the game plan needs to change because we're chasing the game, similar to what we've done in the previous six games.

"The second goal is unacceptable and it gives us a huge mountain to climb."

When pushed on whether he would stick with Kucherenko or turn to experienced deputy Dave Richards, Goodwin was a more coy.

"It's a difficult position in any team," he said. "When you make the kind of mistakes that were made today, it's highlighted.

"Those mistakes that he made probably take the spotlight off a few others in the team because I don't think there's many in the group that got pass marks.

"The third goal completely kills us. Again, a shambles at the back. All over the place. Centre-back stepping into midfield when he needs to hold his position, the goalkeeper is caught between a rock and a hard place."

What do the stats say?

With only two clean sheets this season, Kucherenko has the second-worst save percentage in the league.

His 'goals conceded per 90' stat is the third worst in the league, behind only Livingston's Jerome Prior and Dundee's Jon McCracken.

Of course, the defence comes into that as well. And United's back three has looked fragile at times.

To get a proper look at goalkeepers, sometimes the goals prevented stat is best. That is calculated by xGOT (expected goals on target) conceded from shots on target faced, minus goals conceded.

For that, Kuchurenko ranks fourth-worst in the league. He's saved 0.1 more goals than expected - almost par for the course, then.

But average teams can go down with bad goalkeepers - as United fans might attest to with the aforementioned Birighitti.

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