2024-01-05 21:25:34
Before the 2010s, goalkeepers primarily used their hands. Fast forward to 2024, however, and today’s goalkeeper is expected to be as productive with his feet as he is with his hands.
Legendary Premier League goalkeepers, such as Petr Cech y Peter Schmeichel, were excellent goalkeepers, but may not have been as technically gifted with their feet as today’s goalkeepers. To the current stars of the Premier League, like Ederson Moares y Alisson Beckerthey are required to be goalkeepers “with the ball.”
During research in 2019, by Fabian Otte, into how modern goalkeepers train, technical skills such as footwork were listed as one of the top four skills they regularly focus on. There was no mention of shot saving, which may directly show the transition in how the role of the modern goalkeeper is developing.
The two goalkeepers mentioned are vital to their teams’ style of play and are required to be competent with their feet. Goalkeepers are now crucial to building attacks and dictating the game with their distribution. Since the 2010s there has been an evolution, which has accelerated since the arrival of Pep Guardiola.
Previously, goalkeepers were simply the last line of defense between the posts, but now they are required to help initiate attacks due to the evolving style of play. As Sam Griffiths, coach of the Derby County For women, whatever the level of play, goalkeepers have to be as skilled with their feet as they are with their hands.
Pep Guardiola’s revolution
One of the key pioneers in changing the goalkeeping dynamic was Pep Guardiola. Since he coached Barcelona in 2008, Guardiola has always demanded that his goalkeepers play the style he wants. Refusing to deviate from his tactical philosophy, Victor Valdes, The Barcelona goalkeeper at that time sometimes had problems with his distribution in relation to what Guardiola demanded.
Guardiola’s confidence in his style of play as a goalkeeper was evident early in his time at Barcelona, when Valdés made a costly mistake against Real Madrid that ended in a goal: “Most goalkeepers would take it away, but Víctor he kept playing the ball. I’d rather we lose the ball like this, but [que tengamos] continuity in our game”, declared Guardiola. The Spaniard wants his goalkeepers to continue playing the pass and building attacks, demonstrating that this tactical idea is essential in his style. During his stay at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola established his player goalkeeper style , and it makes us wonder if this is the future of the tactical use of goalkeepers.
In 2016, England welcomed a world-class coach, Pep Guardiola, to imprint their model of the modern goalkeeper. Joe Hart had been Man City’s number one goalkeeper for several seasons before Guardiola’s arrival. Despite being excellent with his hands, he spent a tough season on the bench after Guardiola deemed him unsuitable for his style of play. This led him to turn to one of his former Barcelona goalkeepers Claudio Bravo, in the transfer market. Despite his previous past, Guardiola demanded even more from his goalkeepers than before with his footwork. Ederson ended up fitting perfectly into the criteria of what Guardiola demanded in a goalkeeper.
EdersonMoraes He was a breath of fresh air for the Premier League and reinvented the typical role of a goalkeeper through Guardiola’s tactical style of play. During the 7 years that Ederson has spent with the Citizens, he has undoubtedly been the goalkeeper with the best footwork to contribute significantly to his team’s style of play. And more importantly, his ability on the ball has helped the Manchester City to win five titles the Premier League. Before signing for Manchester City, He had shown amazing ability on the ball, which was on another level for a goalkeeper. The technical coordinator of Benfica’s youth teams stated: “Ederson has always had amazing technical ability, with incredible ability with his feet, and he can even play better than some centre-backs.”
Ederson’s passing ability is impeccable for the Manchester City and allows you to print your domain on the Premier League. Ederson follows the trajectory expected of modern goalkeepers in terms of his technical ability.
Hugo Lloris has been a fantastic Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper for over 10 years before his departure in 2023. In 2016, Sky Sports reported that Lloris recorded a save percentage of 75.68%, the second best among Tottenham’s goalkeepers. the Premier League. A new generation of goalkeepers is emerging, these goalkeepers like Ederson, Allison, and Aaron Ramsdale They are now a double threat with their feet and hands. Being one-dimensional is no longer acceptable for coaches like Pep Guardiola and other coaches are following his example. In the last 2022/23 season, Ederson’s passing ability eclipsed that of Hugo Lloris. The most notable statistic is that, when he passes the ball long, Ederson is 92% correct when it comes to finding a teammate. While Hugo Lories struggles in this department, only achieving a 51% completion rate according to FbRef. Pep Guardiola is determined to play through Ederson as he sees him as a catapult to initiate attacks. Ederson averaged 30.56 passes per 90 in all games the Premier League Last season. Which shows that both Guardiola and Ederson himself fully trust in his distribution ability. Lloris averaged only 22.07 passes per game, which reflects his playing style and that his ability is predominantly with his hands.
Other evidence suggests that Lloris is not comfortable using his feet, given the number of errors that have occurred and have led to goals. The erroneous passes led the Frenchman to a record four errors that ended in a goal, the most in a season for him, which reveals that, as football has come to require goalkeepers to use their feet more frequency, Hugo Lloris He has had a difficult time adjusting as he lacks the necessary technical ability regarding his footwork. Ederson, for his part, only made one mistake with his feet all season. UEFA B licensed coach Les Howie insisted that coaches no longer see goalkeepers as the last line of defence. As football transforms tactically, goalkeepers are becoming the first line of attack, and are becoming essential in dictating which key areas of the pitch are used, thanks to their excellent ball distribution.
One of the biggest rivals of Manchester City In recent times it has been Jürgen’s Liverpool Klopp. One of the main changes that Jürgen Klopp introduced to Liverpool was the search for a dual-threat goalkeeper in the transfer market. The Brazilian Allison Becker responds to a profile similar to that of Ederson, of the Manchester City. Both goalkeepers are the numbers one and two of the Brazilian team, and Alisson Becker was the one chosen in the last world 2022. Alisson attempts more passes per 90 minutes than Ederson, with 33.13 in the most recent season of the Premier League, although it has a lower completion percentage of 82%. Both have an extremely similar and very low average passing distance. Ederson’s is 28.2 meters, while his Brazilian counterpart’s is 26.8 meters. This highlights that both goalkeepers are being used to help build their team’s attacks from their defense rather than kicking long shots.
During the 2019/20 season, Alisson had the highest xG (expected goals) chain per 90. Raumdata Football’s xG chain analyzed the number of passing sequences leading to a shot that has involved the goalkeeper at some point in the build-up. Alisson was credited with an xG chain of 0.25, while Ederson managed a total of 0.23. Judging by the data, goalkeepers who stand out for their contribution to their teams’ attacks are becoming gems for their coaches from a tactical point of view.
The old school goalie
As already mentioned, in recent years goalkeepers have only started to become a threat with their feet due to the tactical demands of their coaches. According to Sam Tighe, journalist for Bleacher Report, No position has evolved as much in the last 25 years.
In the early 1990s, before the pass-back rule, goalkeepers could collect the ball after a pass from a teammate. This meant that goalkeepers did not have to use their feet to avoid pressure situations during the match. His role was simply to stop shots that did not reach the back of the net and kick the ball long for goal kicks. Although shot-stopping is the bread and butter of goaltending, there are now new dynamics required to be an elite goalkeeper.
Reference is often made toPetr Cech as one of the best goalkeepers of all time, but especially in the Premier League. However, the football of 10 years ago is not the same from a tactical point of view as that of today. Throughout his entire career, Cech has only averaged 17.77 passes per game, while Ederson and Allison have averaged 26.61 and 30.55 respectively. To the old school goalkeepers, like Petr Cech, they were not used in the same way as the current ones. The Czech goalkeeper spent most of his career in the Premier League, At Chelsea, however, he was not molded to be technically gifted on the ball.
A decade ago, the goalkeeper’s primary role was to be an excellent shooter, something Petr Cech stood out. Tactically, coaches built attacks from the back through their defenses and midfield. Goalkeepers had a very limited role in the development of attacks.
The present
In 2023, goalkeepers are taught to be confident in their play on the ball and it is becoming common practice for goalkeepers to focus on their technical ability. Guardiola’s pioneering concepts regarding the goalkeeping position have filtered through the English football league pyramid.
Darren Currie, UEFA qualified coach and current assistant coach del Southend Unitedexplained that goalkeepers are now required to possess and maintain a high level of technical skill in relation to footwork, for high-pressure situations that may arise during a match.
As more coaches become inspired by the style implemented by Guardiola, it will be more common to see goalkeepers with extremely developed footwork to tactically complement their team’s style. Teams like Brighton, Brentford and Aston Villa They now demand that their number one has high-calibre footwork to adapt to their club’s tactics.
Until recently, goalkeepers were limited to preventing rival shots from entering the goal. However, in today’s football, goalkeepers are athletes with highly developed technique, who are increasingly crucial in coaches’ tactics to help the team build attacks through them.
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