Today's Goalkeeping

[Graham Thomson]

Watching the Arsenal v Chelsea game got me thinking,

Is the standard of goalkeeping today anywhere near as good as it was in years gone bye, 

Keepers seem to punch the ball when it's easier to catch it, I'm of an age where I remember goalkeepers such as our own 

Jim Cruickshank 

Peter Shilton 

Ronnie Simpson 

Gordon Banks 

Peter Bonnetti

Just to name but a few!! 

Maybe I'm looking at it with rose coloured specs on, but today's Goalies just don't seem as good!! 

[Phil Dunphy]

Certainly not as dominating as they used to be.

 

Goalkeepers like Schmeichel or Kahn that would dominate a penalty area don't seem to be a thing anymore.

[The Internet]

When I watch old football games (as in 70s) the thing that jumps out at me is how bad the goalkeeping is compared to today. 

[Thommo414]

Still some good keepers out there. Don't rate any of the current British goalkeepers on an international level at all however

[FarmerTweedy]

15 minutes ago, Graham Thomson said:

Watching the Arsenal v Chelsea game got me thinking,

Is the standard of goalkeeping today anywhere near as good as it was in years gone bye, 

Keepers seem to punch the ball when it's easier to catch it, I'm of an age where I remember goalkeepers such as our own 

Jim Cruickshank 

Peter Shilton 

Ronnie Simpson 

Gordon Banks 

Peter Bonnetti

Just to name but a few!! 

Maybe I'm looking at it with rose coloured specs on, but today's Goalies just don't seem as good!! 

A lot of it's down to the ball. They move a lot more unpredictably in the air these days, as well as faster, I think. That makes it more difficult to catch the ball cleanly, making punching it clear the safer option a lot of the time.  I think forwards are generally quicker these days too, and probably often in more advanced positions partly due to the changes to the offside law over the years, meaning that as well as errors leading to spilling the ball being more likely to happen these days, they're probably more likely to be punished too.

 

 

[alwaysthereinspirit]

Dont remember footballs moving so much as they do now. A hard hit shot was usually on the same trajectory straight of the boot. Not now. Players make footballs move all over the place in the air. Goalies appear happy just to block them now. I guess at the end of the day that is their job. 

[mayfield]

Different sorts of personalities end up as Keepers now than back in the day.

 

Eg look at the little shit Kepa at Chelsea - refusing to be subbed etc. Kahn or Schmeichel never would have behaved that way. Kepa Also has the build of a winger which not uncommon for keepers nowadays as feet play and ground speed is being valued over other aspects like strength in the air etc.

 

Traditional big dominating guys like Buffon, Neuer, Kahn etc are going to be rare for the future I think. 

[queensferryjambo]

My opinion is keepers have had to change the way they play due to the pace of the game and the amount of cheating players who dive at any opportunity with little contact or in fact zero contact. 

 

 

[Kiwidoug]

I agree with the OP.  I just dont see goalkeepers owning the penalty area the way they used to.  Cruikshank, not a tall man, used to soar in the air with perfect timing, time and again, to snatch the ball from the sky.  You dont see that now to anywhere near the same extent.

 

Posters have said it's the evolution to the footballs of today.  They may be right, I dont know, but it's a shame.

 

Neither of the keepers on Saturday looked to me as if they owned the penalty box.

[SectionDJambo]

I’m fairly sure that Jim Cruickshank had been a bit of a gymnast in his younger days, giving him some agility.

What usually separated the great goalkeepers, of his era, from the ordinary ones, was having the anticipation of what an opponent was going to do and having a calm presence around their defenders. I remember Jack Harkness, who had been a great goalkeeper of his own era, writing how seeing Cruickshank and Pat Jennings at Tynecastle, in a Hearts v Spurs match, was a dream for any young goalkeeper.

Athletic goalies were fairly uncommon, hence Peter Bonetti being nicknamed “The Cat”.

Scottish goalkeepers had a reputation of staying on their line, whereas English ones tended to come off their line quicker. Continental goalkeepers had a reputation of punching the ball, instead of catching it, even back then.

The characteristics of them, by nationality don’t seem to have changed very much.

[Calebs Grandad]

Actual contact with opponents was part and parcel in the days of Cruikshank etc whereas today’s keepers will simply hit the deck if an opposing player farts within 10 feet of them. 

[DETTY29]

Does anyone under the age of 60 still moan about keepers not commanding their box?

[AGoodLaugh]

I think goalkeepers today are better than ever. They're more athletic, have quicker reactions, and actually have to be decent with the ball at their feet. As others have said the increasing tendency to punch comes from the difficulty in anticipating how a modern football is going to move in the air. Having said that, in the particular case of Kepa last night both of his punches were a bit embarrassing. Straight at him with no attacker near him - should have been catching those. 

[John Findlay]

They are not coached to catch nowadays. My soon to be 11yrs old son is a goalkeeper. Having been a goalie myself I instill in him catch the ball. Safest place is in your hands. If you can't catch it then put it out for a corner or as far away from the goal to your left or right as you can but never into the middle of your goal as 9 times out of 10 the attacker reacts quicker than the defender. Because of the not able to pick up a passbook made from the foot or throw ins then naturally keepers have to do more with both feet. However that does not mean they have to punch every ball into the box. The modern football can be grasped and held when it needs to be.

[Taffin]

I'm only 30 but the clips I've seen suggest to me today's goalkeepers are not even comparable really, they are so far ahead. Some of the goals that used to trundle in looked embarrassing

[Debut 4]

There’s people on different sides of the debate. Many always run to bum up today’s football as the best ever or some say there’s no comparing to the past. 

 

Think im somewhere in the middle.  

 

Some of the best Goalkeepers from the past seemed more hardy and more commanding as if the penalty area was their domain only. Their reactions were just as good as goalies have ever had. 

 

But goalies today are probably just as good. 

 

I think some people who follow football think there’s been an unprecedented leap in human abilities between people just 20, 30 years apart in age. 

 

[avhudtheteeshirt]

Today goalkeepers are far to protected by referees, that said, I did not believe that the Aston Villa goal stood as John McGinn's head was actually in the goalkeepers arms, thought that would freekick every day of the week???

Today's keepers are more shot stoppers than trying to catch the ball, and have got to be able to trap and pass the ball, as most teams try to play from the back!

[CostaJambo]

15 hours ago, FarmerTweedy said:

A lot of it's down to the ball. They move a lot more unpredictably in the air these days, as well as faster, I think. That makes it more difficult to catch the ball cleanly, making punching it clear the safer option a lot of the time.  I think forwards are generally quicker these days too, and probably often in more advanced positions partly due to the changes to the offside law over the years, meaning that as well as errors leading to spilling the ball being more likely to happen these days, they're probably more likely to be punished too.

 

 

This plus the introduction of the pass-back rule have significantly changed goalies' skillsets these last 20 or 30 years.

 

As an ex-goalie (not of any decent level I add) it makes me laugh at times when a goalie makes a brilliant but visually unremarkable save/block/positional move or whatever and gets absolutely zero comment from either commentator or summarizer as they do not appreciate/understand the role at all. Anyone else notice these??