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Football fans are often accused of having a short memory and it’s never as short as when it comes goalkeepers. Never has the potential to go from hero to zero been more possible than when playing between the sticks. Not only are individual errors remembered for all time (Massimo Taibi, Rob Green, Paul Robinson, etc) but it takes an age for their good form to be recognised. Much like the defensive midfielders in the game they are often the unsung heroes of the team. They rarely grab the headlines and you’d struggle to find many people willing to buy a goalkeeper’s jersey given the choice. However that doesn’t make them any less important, keeping out goals is just as important as scoring them and there’s no substitute for a world-class goalie.
One way you can prove this is by the defensive records of the Premier League winning teams. People tend to forget the defensive side to title winning teams more often than they forget their scoring exploits but since 2000 the team that has conceded the least in the league has won the title seven times, the same amount of times as those teams that have scored the most. And whilst the defence obviously plays its part in that behind every good defence is a world-class keeper. In that period the goalkeepers behind those league titles have been Edwin van de Sar, Petr Cech, Jens Lehmann, Fabien Barthez and David Seaman. All national goalkeepers, all world-class players.
But what is even more interesting is that the defensive side to the game appears to be becoming more important than ever. If we compare the league winners since 2000 to those in the ten years previous then we can see a remarkable difference. In the decade before 2000 only two of the title winners had the best defensive record. All this denotes a huge change in tactics over the last two decades in England and as big a part as the defenders have to play the goalkeeper is vital to how they play.
Take Arsenal’s unbeaten season for example; yes they had a good defence but the authority with which Jens Lehmann organised the defence was vital. Similarly at Newcastle this season, their defence is far from world class but having Tim Krul behind them makes their job that much easier. Newcastle have only conceded fifteen goals so far this season, a record that only the Manchester clubs can better and a lot of the praise has been heading Collocini’s way but after watching Krul’s performances against Chelsea and current champions Man Utd can you really say that their position would be as healthy without the Dutchman. His performances throughout the season have been remarkable yet it has taken until now for pundits to pick up on it at all.
Similarly Joe Hart has been on the form of his life this season. Manchester City’s defensive record is the best in the league so far this year but player for player their defenders are not the best in the league. What makes them so effective? Joe Hart. Before Szczesny Arsenal were enjoying a torrid time defensively in domestic competitions and as much as that was down to their style of play it was also down to their goalkeeper. Their defenders during this time were actually very good (Toure, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Sagna) but the lack of confidence that they played with was born out of a mistrust of the abilities of Fabianski and Almunia. Similarly Ledley King recently spoke about how although Parker is getting most of the credit for his defensive work at Spurs new keeper Brad Friedel has done wonders for the team. King championed both his calming presence and his experience as vital factors is Tottenham’s defensive stability this season. It’s not just at the top of the table either where it counts. Does anyone really think that Wigan would have stayed up last year had it not been for the season-long heroics of Ali Al Habsi who, game after game, made vital contributions to the cause; far more than Wigan’s strikers did arguably. Goalie will always be the position that no kid wants to play in the park, and who’d blame them, but that doesn’t mean we should go through life ignoring their applaudable exploits and scrutinising every mistake they make. Hart, Krul and Szczesny are proving themselves to be three of the best young keepers in world football at the moment, perhaps it’s about time fans started to take notice.
For more news and stories follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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