Goalkeepers

[jtl60]

Is it just me or are goalkeepers just not as good as they used to be!

With our own Number one heavily under fire, it got me thinking that , there are a lot of goalkeepers making a lot of mistakes out there, Why is this?

Joe harte pulled off an absolute worldy against West Ham the other night, but he still let a soft goal in during the same goal.

Petr Cech has been great for Arsenal, yet against the kopites he was at fault for the 1st and should have done a lot better with the 3rd

Hugo Lorris is a great keeper, but never that far away from making mad decisions

I don't want to make this about Howard so refrain from the comparisons, but I'm sure going back the likes of Southall and Peter Schmicheal just didn't make these mistakes. Are keepers just not what they used to be?

 

[Toast]

The pass back rule change makes comparing different generations of keepers very difficult.

 

[ijjysmith]

Interesting thread.

I reckon you are right. Keepers don't seem to be what they were. Not sure of the reason. Are forwards better? Are the balls really that different?

I don't really know. But it's probably worth mentioning that even Schmeichel had the odd brain fart in him. Hell even Manuel Neuer does.

It could be the fact we now see every mistake magnified by media/TV every weekend over and over again.

 

[jtl60]

Interesting thread.

I reckon you are right. Keepers don't seem to be what they were. Not sure of the reason. Are forwards better? Are the balls really that different?

I don't really know. But it's probably worth mentioning that even Schmeichel had the odd brain fart in him. Hell even Manuel Neuer does.

It could be the fact we now see every mistake magnified by media/TV every weekend over and over again.

He did, but never to the level Harte does, or even De Gae.
I can only remember Southall making one mistake! A bad throw out against Southampton which went straight to Le Tissier who rolled the ball into an empty net

 

[Jacko93]

Much of the work that is done to the FA rules is in order to make football more exciting, and to many that means more attacking with more goals. The one change that had the biggest impact was the back-pass rule, which made every single decision a keeper made in terms of distribution after being in control much more important. It took a few years until keepers stopped just booting it as far as possible all the time, except for Schmeichel or course, who could throw it to the half way anyway. Majority of technology brought into the sports wear is to the attackers advantage, the predator boot, the lighter balls etc. What we are seeing is more goals, and a higher level of focus by football 'experts' who need increasing levels of things to comment on without sounding like they're just repeating what A.N Other said. For me, this is what is creating the increased criticism of todays goalkeepers.

If for e.g, the balls went back to being proper casey's with the leather that soaked up the water and if you put curl on it, you were either George Best or it took a deflection, then would you argue that Strikers have gotten worse.

Howard however, is just not very good anymore and no amount of sports tech, other than a bionic head for improved decision making, can help him.

 

[Kurt.]

I know the Swansea coaching staff were very pleased with Howard's performance on Sunday.

 

[B17BLG]

I think keepers now are much more part of the game than they were before. They are expected to sweep, start attacks with distribution and with that are subject to more intense criticism when they make an error its highlighted quite significantly.

 

[sageyefc]

Yet theyre all miles better than starjumps

 

[quasi modo]

Their has always been an exceptional group of goalkeepers and then the average set.

I think overall the standard is better now, as a lot of the keepers have more to their game nowadays, and obviously the advancement of training techniques will only add to the improvement.

 

[rascal]

I also think that this is the case with CB's too.

 

[Whistlin' Dixie]

The pass back rule change makes comparing different generation, or defensive/attacking s of keepers very difficult.

And the reason the shoite haven't won the league.

But to answer the question...

Yes - goalkeeping standards are far lower than when I were lad; probably due to all these goalkeeping coaches. I've never seen the point of them, or any 'specialized' coach.

And they get far too much protection.