LAW 14: “..the defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts, without touching the goalposts, crossbar or goal net until the ball has been kicked…

… when the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, or in line with, the goal line.”

This is an excerpt from law 14 of The Football/Soccer governing body FIFA about the conduct expected from a goalkeeper when facing a penalty. In the current FIFA Women’s World Cup held in France, the group stage game between Argentina and Scotland has caused more than a stir at a defining moment in the game, when a penalty was awarded against Scotland via VAR. The Scottish goalkeeper saved the penalty but was deemed to have violated the rule, both feet off the line before the penalty was taken.. again via VAR! The penalty was then retaken by the Argentinians this time levelled the game 3 – 3, from a few moments ago staring at a 3 – 0 imminent defeat. Now this particular incident has got many football fans, pundits, social media groups and the rest in a concoction of emotional frenzy over the so called updated rules and the VAR technology. Even the prestigious former USA Womens goalkeeper Hope Solo, commentating as a pundit at the World Cup weighed in with her opinions on the situation, pointing out inconsistencies especially when compared to the men’s game, effectively opening up a whole new discussion of the overall practicality of Law 14 in the past, present and in future of football/soccer.

For the purpose of indebt unbiased analysis, I will focus and comment on Hope Solos opinions, who I personally consider the greatest women’s goalkeeper ever to grace the pitch. When a penalty is awarded in a game, the defending goalkeeper is immediately consciously aware of the size of the goal to be guarded, considering the relatively short distance between the goalkeeper and the penalty spot (12 yards). Goalkeepers in general believe they’ve got a less that 30 percent chance of saving the penalty and that includes off target misses. On average in general, less than 20 percent of struck penalties are either saved by the goalkeeper or it completely misses its target. Naturally we goalkeepers seek ways of gaining an edge over the striker, as we feel we are already at a disadvantage considering all the variables. The most effective method is to “step” or “edge” forward just before the penalty taker strikes the ball to narrow the angles, giving us more of a chance of making the save. Unfortunately this form of action is an infringement of the law, which states that we must be on the line before the penalty is taken. Hope Solo mentioned that this is an unfair advantage because goalkeepers have to give themselves a chance to make a save by narrowing the angles, in effect implying that the goalposts are too wide for any goalkeeper to make a save from the line. From that standpoint, I do empathize with her but the very reason why Law 14 in the FIFA rule book was updated was to underline the emphasis on the importance of a penalty. A goalkeeper is not meant to save a penalty taking into consideration the goal size, the distance between the goalkeeper and the spot kick and the goalkeepers line restrictions, instead the onus is on the penalty taker to score, and that’s the bottom line.

The goalkeepers union will argue that our marginal advantage in dealing with penalties has been stripped away by the new rules, hence reducing our chances of making a save. So the question is what is the Goalkeepers Union reaction to the rules? Well for a start, a proposal was made in a recent discussion about reducing the width of the goalposts to accommodate the women’s game, which didn’t go down well with certain prominent individuals in the game citing sexism. A case can be made for that proposal to equally apply in the men’s game, as a benchmark for radical change in the ever increasing demands in goalkeeping excellence. In my opinion that would constitute as wishful thinking as FIFA historically aren’t in the business of favouring goalkeeping. Remember the time they proposed to increase the height of the goalpost because not enough goals where scored, about two decades ago? Well that didn’t go down well and the idea was ditched. So the focus is back at the coaching and management of goalkeepers to prepare for these evolving aspects of the game. It is obvious straight off the bat that a taller goalkeeper physically has a longer range and that should be an advantage but it almost always not the case. Again in my opinion, many tall goalkeepers in the men’s game ( 6′ 5″ plus ) especially on the professional level aren’t as agile as their counterparts who are shorter. In most cases the shorter goalkeepers ( 6′ 4″ down to 5′ 10″ ) are more explosive in agility and possess quicker reflexes, which in effect covers more distance in making saves. In the womens game where the average height can be as much as 5′ 6″ at best, incorporated with limited abilities magnifies the overall problem. Some goalkeepers are naturally gifted with the bounce (agility) but the point I’m making here is specific tailored programmes of increasing vertical leaps must be encouraged and more importantly introduced in the coaching sessions. Once the vertical leap increases, that reflects back on the lateral dives as one will notice an increase in distance covered. Many at times a goalkeeper subconsciously relies on ones hand reach to do the work of catch or deflecting the ball with minimal vertical leap effort, but top players ( and there are many! ) can consistently out jump many goalkeepers to a cross. I’m not aware of any goalkeeping coaches who’s formulated a programme that works solely on increasing their goalkeepers vertical leap.. but then again I might be mistaken. This will be a game changer especially in the womens game, as I recall Carly Telfords words that womens goalkeeping should focus more on better coaching to improve the standards and this is just one proposal.

As for VAR? The technology is here to stay and we practitioners must be able to understand, seek clarity and adapt because it’s of no benefit to coaches, goalkeepers and the union if we continue to allow external technological influences to get in the way and undermine the necessary work required to upgrade the levels in goalkeeping excellence

You Are The Ultimate Keeper of Your Destiny.. ULTIMATE KEEPER