“Who’d be a goalkeeper?”

That was a common idea throughout my youth watching and playing football. The position of arguably the most importance, yet the first to face the blame for any error or for ‘not being good enough’. Big Dave will be sitting in a pub, 7 pints down and still reckon he could’ve kept out that top-corner finish from a world class striker… alright Dave if you say so.

As a youngster, the kid put in goal was often the one who just wasn’t wanting to actually play, and everyone else went all-out for the glory and success of goal scoring. Only when it was muddy and the thought of diving around was a laugh did anyone volunteer to go in-between the sticks.

It’s also one of the positions that has changed the most in recent years. Under the new phase of football, the ‘sweeper keeper’ has added a whole new dynamic into the pressure of goalkeeping. It’s no longer enough for you to keep a clean sheet, you also now need to be the starting point of an attack, and be able to set up an assist like prime Scholes would. It’s mad to think that we would be disappointed to have a keeper who couldn’t play up-front, yet somehow that’s where we are.

So, you may be asking what the point of this post actually is. Well, basically I want to just discuss the thought that we should go easier on keepers, and we need to acknowledge the pressure and expectation placed upon them. I completely understand that it’s irritating for your no.1 to make errors that almost always lead to a goal, however we need to acknowledge the progression that many are making and have made.

So sure, let’s criticise when deserved, but let’s also give them the strikers’ respect. In football, scoring is not always enough, you need the keeper to protect that lead, so take it easy on them, and hopefully enjoy the article.

Playing Out From The Back

First up, we must discuss the change in a goalkeepers role, to now be the start of many attacking phases. Some who watch their team attempt this, will see many mistakes coming from this style of play, however the idea behind the playing out from the back revolution are solid. Essentially, you must think of the attack vs defence phases of play, if your keeper hoofs the ball downfield, you’re probably going to lose that first header and be back defending 9/10 times, thus meaning at 90% (not accurate) of possessions at goal-kicks you’re immediately giving up the ball and instead facing another attacking wave. If your side rely on a possession-heavy playing style, the thought of instantly giving up possession every time you have a goal-kick is baffling. Whereas, if you pass the ball out from the back, you are controlling the ball, maintaining possession and calmly and steadily building up the attack, making it much more likely that you hold possession and can keep attacking pressure on the opposition, all because you play it out from the back. We all see this in games nowadays, even on FIFA as most people will pass the ball out from the keeper, because mentally and often without realising, we know that we can keep possession and be immediately attacking if we play it short and simple, rather than hoping our strikers will win a header and still maintain the possession.

What this means however, is that goalkeepers have had to immediately become calm, composed and controlled on the ball, or risk being dropped as we have seen on some major cases. If your keeper can’t make simple passes under pressure then they just aren’t going to make it in the modern-elite. If you told that to a football fan 25 years ago, they’d say it’s probably mad to drop a keeper who can’t pass a ball, but this is the modern game that has had thousands of scientific studies done on the simple elements to gain an advantage. It’s no coincidence that the most successful sides all play this way. What does need to be acknowledged however, is that keepers will naturally make errors playing this way, and I think it does need to be reminded that they don’t always have to play this way. It seems like some goalies are now fearful of playing the long-ball even when under pressure. But if they’re being lectured daily to play it simple and short, then the mistakes have been considered and accounted for, ask Pep or Klopp and they will know that playing this way increases the risk of a significant error, but they’ll take that chance if it means they hold on to possession 99 times out of 100. For keepers, they just have to adapt and increase that element of the game.

Leadership

Next up, we have the trait that I look for in a keeper, leadership and being able to spur on a side from the back. I genuinely liked the idea rumoured to have been introduced at Arsenal by Unai Emery, in copying the NFL style multiple captains within a squad. By having 5/6 captain roles in an entire squad, you have various players out there on the field at one time who can lead the team and be vocal and motivational when needed. I like the idea of my keeper being a captain as they are watching the game constantly and can organise the back line in front of them and spot things that other positions may miss. I appreciate that they aren’t fully ‘in’ the game and thus might not be the best choice for captain, but if your keeper isn’t a leader and a presence on the field, I believe that the side appears weak from the outset.

We’ve seen various methods of this leadership presence from goalies in English football, from Joe Hart being a little ‘too vocal’ in the build up to England games which many stated then caused a distraction that has been compared to Pickford in the current side. In contrast, we have the likes of Alisson for Liverpool, who is rarely vocal to his side, however he has the leadership presence in an undescribable way. By being on the pitch, the back line feel reassured in a way they simply don’t by other goalkeepers behind them. This leadership presence may well be something you can’t teach, and some may contradict this point, however having the feeling that your leader is behind you makes everyone on the grass feel more confident and comfortable. As a result, we again must be reliant on goalkeepers to be solid at their job, but also an on-field defensive coach, a motivator and be a leader.

Mental Strength

Moving on from the leadership, it seems a great time to mention the mental strength required of a modern keeper. In order to play the loneliest position on the pitch, when 50% of every game is spent metres away from 10,000+ fans pelting abuse directly at you, only to get off the pitch and see millions of Tweets and messages of hate and abuse because you didn’t manage to make that save that Big Dave would have caught, you NEED to be mentally tough and resolute. This is something easy to say and very hard to actually achieve. Once again, modern footballers and in particular goalkeepers deserve the respect for their mentality.

One of the main reasons I wanted to write about the modern goalkeeper, was after watching the likes of Souness and Keane et al on Sky Sports waffling on criticising keepers, and fair enough they have played at that top level years ago, however neither of them, or any of the critics ever played in goal, and they haven’t played in the social media age. Fans expect much more from players in the modern-era and thus the expectation and pressures are at a much more impactful level.

So, for anyone considering playing as a goalkeeper, you must ensure you have that mentality. Many people have often said you must have to have some madness to want to be a goalie, and while that’s not necessarily the case, it feels along the right lines. One player who’s mentality I respect is Alisson. It’s the second time I have mentioned the Liverpool shot-stopper, and I assure you I am not a Liverpool fan talking nonsense (maybe the nonsense bit). I read and have heard that Alisson often works to keep himself calm on the pitch, and with some keepers I have even heard of them undertaking a form of meditation whilst playing to keep a level-head and ensure the atmosphere of a match doesn’t overwhelm and bring in those silly mistakes that wouldn’t be happening on the training pitch.

Overall, the mentality is the key characteristic for anyone involved in football, as the world is ready to make a comment and make their voice heard, on social media footballers, managers and pretty much everyone involved in the game is subject to this, and I have no doubt that sadly a time will come when the pressure and comments get a bit too much for a player, and keepers are often needing to be the most resolute.

Reactions

With this final key characteristics, we are finally talking about something traditionally related to goalkeepers, and not necessarily this modern stuff. However, as with everything else, the reflexes are also heightened in recent years for goalkeepers, and as sports science progresses to new levels, a goalkeepers reactions can be measured, compared and improved upon to near perfect levels.

If you look through some of the training done by goalkeepers in the high-tech multi-million pound training facilities around the world, it’s honestly a wonder that any keeper ever concedes. They undertake many of the reaction training techniques done by Formula 1 drivers, and astronauts… all to keep a ball out of the net.

I’ve included the reactions onto this list of modern goalkeeping characteristics, as the development of the physicality of a human being are heightened to the next level. In the 80s, the keeper would need to be tall and tough, so they can battle at corners. Now, a Premier League keeper needs to be tall, tough, mentally resolute, have the reflexes of a cat, have the reaction times of an Formula 1 driver, be as fit as a marathon runner and still have hands like Peter Shilton.

I’m not claiming that players are kicking the ball any faster or harder than previously, however the speed of a game and in the penalty box scuffles, a keeper needs to be able to make a diving save to their right, and be able to bounce back and dive to their left in seconds to protect their goal. Fans want to see their keeper protect that net like their life depends on it, and again it’s not for the feint-hearted.

Other Factors

Some of the other factors a modern-keeper need to consider goes back to the traditional ideas of goalkeeping. They need to have a strong physical presence in set-piece situations, must be fairly tall and be on their toes at every moment (or risk ultimate humiliation of being chipped at distance).

The main additional factor which we have slightly mentioned, but not specifically is the ‘Sweeper Keeper’ playing style. Famed by Manuel Neuer and shown in the extreme by Ederson, the sweeper keeper must be willing to go to the half-way line and beyond and on occasions become a midfielder, defender and keeper in the same period of play. As silly as it sounds, they also must remember when and where they can use their hands, as there has been occasions of keepers coming out a little far only to forget the basic rules. The sweeper keeper is one of the most exciting developments as a neutral, however it is bloody nerve-racking when it’s your keeper going on an adventure a little too far from home.

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