#goalkeeping

hello i am entirely aware i make too many posts these days and nearly all of them are annoying but this is a topic that has been on my mind for a very very long time and is imo one of the most interesting bits of analysis in football- what role should a goalkeeper play on the pitch, and how should they play it? how has goalkeeping evolved? this topic links in very nicely for the fight for the first goalkeeper’s spot following the retirement of jens lehmann, whose career ended in the final of the 2008 euros. also inspired by the lovely betty :) @lemonhemlock WARNING- THIS IS SO LONG (and revolves around german football, to narrow down the vast topic a bit)

so the first question we have to ask ourselves when analysing goalkeeping is, what should goalkeepers do on the pitch? the answer to this question is far more complex than, “make saves when they need to”. there are questions we should ask ourselves, such as: should goalkeepers stop every attacking manouevre before they take place by audaciously running out to collect every long ball, or should they have an unerring sense of which through-ball they’re going to go out for and which one they’re not? how far should their influence extend onto the team? should they be as manuel neuer is, the eleventh outfielder, the additional man at the back who seamlessly integrates himself into defensive play, or should they be like the traditionalists, such as oli kahn, who make spectacular saves on the goal line?

the important thing to recognise is that there is no right or wrong goalkeeping style. the idea that one style is better than the other is purely theoretical- this fact is proven because, in the autumn of 2008, there were 3 german keepers, all of wildly different styles, who were part of the national team. we accept without question that strikers all have different qualities and are of different types, and can all become fantastic players in their own ways. it’s the same thing with goalkeeping. the vital thing is that goalkeepers play consistently well and decisively and act surely in key moments, whether they’re standing yards off their line to intercept the last man incoming or poised close to the goal line, ready to spring at the right moment. the important thing to take in mind when analysing the comparative merits of goalkeeping is, which keeper has perfected their own style?

let’s take a little foray (my god am i obnoxious) into how the objectives and styles of german goalkeeping have changed over the years :)

oliver kahn, tim wiese and the traditional german keeper

everyone knows this man. the bayern munich titan from karlsruhe who has become regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time. along with sepp maier and toni schumacher, he’s one of the classic keepers germany have become known for over the years. we’re definitely a country that seems to be a factory for producing good goalkeepers.

oli kahn is a poster boy for the nineties style of german goalkeeping. back then, the country had a distinct idea of how goalkeepers were meant to be. they lingered on the goal-line, awaiting their moment to be a star, they dived and exaggerated their punches and held onto the front post during crosses. they threw themselves speculatively at shots, stormed out when the striker advanced on their own and took risks. the idea was that, as the lone wolf, the goalkeeper needed to shine in their own right. they needed to be showy and wow the crowds with their antics, because the moments when the ball is near the goal are the most stress-inducing moments in football. they werent a part of the team’s attacking plays like they are these days, before van der sar sent perfect drop kicks down the length of the pitch to set his teammates up like a goal. they were the last resort. 

oli kahn is probably one of the most spectacular keepers who have ever played the sport- but i would say he was not as technically gifted, as, say, manuel neuer. back then, footwork and the ability to read the game for a goalkeeper were not as important as they are these days. the ability to use your hands and catch/punch the ball was more important. 

how this relates to germany’s goalkeepers’ battle for the first keeper’s spot of 2008 is very simple- tim wiese was one of the 3 goalkeepers part of the national squad, and he was a traditionalist.

i should probably offer some background to this ‘battle’. following the end of jens lehmann’s career, germany needed a new no.1- and they had only known kahn and lehmann for years. the main conflict of that generation came mostly from enke and adler, but wiese’s presence in the squad shows that the traditional keeping style was hanging on in those days.

 in an age where goalkeeping was tentatively moving forwards, tim wiese was one of the last few people stopping shots and making breathtaking saves on the goal line. he was what’s known as a ‘tabloid keeper’- someone who takes brilliant risks that often pay off, but whose decision-making often leaves a lot to be desired. wiese was the type to come sliding recklessly at a striker or punching the ball violently away when a simple catch would have done- and commentators cried his name in joy. it’s a far cry to say that he was revolutionary, but he looked that way. spectators love keepers like that, they’re showmen, who use their few moments of glory well. but positioning wise, and decisions-wise, he was taking largely unnecessary risks. strikers could have easily gone around him to get to goal, and you could see that when he was knee-sliding towards the opposition attacker that he sometimes wasn’t even looking in their direction.

while i won’t say wiese was a perfect example of a traditional keeper- more of a caricature, in my opinion (ok seriously i’m not even being mean he became a wrestler after football), in that germany squad he was the representation of that archetype of goalkeeper. 

rene adler, manuel neuer and the ‘radicals’- the development of sweeper keeping

these days, nearly everyone knows what a sweeper keeper is, and that’s thanks to manuel neuer. the process of tactically integrating keepers into the team can be traced back to the early 1950s with sebes’ hungary, yashin was a very early sweeper keeper great, and the netherlands’ van der sar is another famous example of a keeper who was good with both his hands and feet. but manuel neuer is by far the most refined, intelligent and complete sweeper keeper out there.

i wonder, however, how many people remember rené adler. neuer’s predecessor in the ‘radical’ new goalkeeping role in germany, he was the strongest competitor for the first keeper spot in 2008-10. the ‘radicals’ were a new breed of keeper in the bundesliga. rather than maintaining the conservative positional play of the nineties, they wandered past their home of the box and stood yards away from their line. they became harbringers of a new trend- the trend of stopping a problem before it could even come into fruition. 

for those who may not fully understand what a sweeper keeper is, it’s really quite simple. a sweeper keeper is a player who acts as the eleventh outfielder, who builds from the back, commands and organises the back line and, of course, rushes off the line when needed, to stop an attack in its tracks. there is no gaping space between the back line and goalkeeper, the sweeper keeper keeps close to their defenders so counter attacks can be launched more efficiently. distribution is also vital- the keeper isn’t just hoofing the ball out for a free-for-all in midfield, they’re precisely setting up attacks. they’ve got to be a playmaker as well as a shot-stopper. it’s a dangerous way to play football- just look at claudio bravo at city for a way it can go wrong- but it’s probably the most rewarding way for a keeper to play football, mixing both the spectacle of the traditionalist and the tactical finesse of the outfield roles most young players always want to play in. thanks, manuel neuer, for making goalkeeping fashionable!

adler was by far the most outstanding keeper in the bundesliga back then, even moreso than schalke’s fantastic manuel neuer. the newspapers all fell upon him as the new no.1 who would carry germany back into the security of good goalkeeping they had become accustomed to with oli and jens. though adler’s role was not as advanced as neuer’s, who reads the whole game and becomes the third fullback or centreback at times, he was able to time his runs outwards, play balls from the back and stop attacking plays, all while adventuring past the point that german goalkeepers had stuck religiously to in the past. he was also a superb shot-stopper. he was the future.

unfortunately, he went along a different path- through no fault of his own. following robert enke’s suicide, he was intended to be the no.1 for south africa, but sustained a serious rib injury and was knocked out of commission, meaning manuel neuer took the top spot. he is now officially retired after yet another injury. i can bet a lot of bitterness has haunted rené since that one rib injury. i would love to see a little more appreciation for him floating around <3

for those who want to see a complete display of sweeper keeping, here’s manuel neuer vs algeria:

and here’s some highlights of adler:

robert enke and the middle ground

now, my final bit of goalkeeping analysis is going to be about the middle ground of goalkeeping, and that was provided by robert enke. in that german national squad, enke was a 29 year old who had played very few internationals, whereas highly rated young bundesliga players like hildebrand and yes, neuer (you should’ve known a goalkeeping post written by a german and bayern fan would have his name thrown around like confetti) were not being chosen. many people questioned this. but the reason enke was in that squad, and the eventual first choice (god may his soul rest in peace), was because of all the three keepers, he had perfected his style the most.

what was his style? well, enke was more along the lines of the traditionalists when it came to positional play- he remained further away from his line than oli kahn but not as far off his line as, say, neuer. rather than dashing out at every cross like most of the next generation of goalkeepers (ESPECIALLY in germany), he stayed closer to the near post and left some of the crosses for his back line to handle and the ones he chose to come out for, he dealt with safely. he chose the method not that would be the most rewarding, but the method that was the most secure, and that would rule out the most mistakes. whereas the traditionalists reacted and the radicals anticipated, he did both in equal measure. he was the most consistent in his style- even if he played for hannover, with their leaky defense and constant relegation quality performances, you could still see from a mile away that he was reliable.

regardless of how many remarkable athletic saves you might see a keeper make, or if they’re younger, the most important factor when picking a starting keeper is, in my opinion, who utilises their style the most consistently and effectively. traditionalists have less work to do and can turn up in big moments but are forced to make incredible reaction saves that are sometimes too difficult to pull off, radicals are forced to take in every aspect of the game into account which means they have a lot more work to do and have many more risks to deal with, but also can rule out danger more effectively. you need to take a lot of aspects into account when analysing a keeper’s performance- first of all, is their defence lacking? is their positioning good but their decision-making poor? did the keeper do all they could possibly do to stop the goalscoring attempt, or was there more they could have done? these are just some of the questions you have to ask- you can’t just say, “they didn’t save that, so they’re lacking as a keeper”.

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