Unlike the outfield positions strikers midfielders defenders, the goalkeeper is currently by all means the most talked and written about position in the game of football/soccer, even though the main spotlight or entertainment is on the art of scoring goals. Top strikers and to a degree, top midfielders essentially are the marketing frontiers of the modern game and now goalkeepers are becoming pivotal in transforming the game. You ask about defenders? Well there’s more to the status quo than meets the eye and I will refer to that later..

The Modern Day Goalkeeper.. a label so modern that its origins stem from the intricate world of the internet via social media. Now its exploded into mainstream media and has got pundits, fans, commentators and experts raving about the now established ideology but the question that has to be posed is what is a modern day goalkeeper? When confronted with a poser of this importance, a holistic approach must be adopted as it refers to the evolution of the entire skill faculty of a goalkeepers game. According to Tony Elliott, a renowned Professional goalkeeping coach educator and strategist, in his book A Modern Approach To Goalkeeping he outlines the themes for a goalkeepers development and progression. These are..

• The Technical aspect
• The Tactical aspect
• The Physical aspect
• The Psychological aspect
• The Social and emotional aspect

Each individual subject is further subdivided into specifics in relation to the underlying topic. A highly recommended book for goalkeepers and especially goalkeeping coaches. The general perception of the modern day goalkeeper among football fans and commentators alike is that distribution is now the pinnacle of goalkeeping excellence, following the particular set skill revelation of goalkeepers like Ederson Moraes of Manchester City FC and Alisson Becker of Liverpool FC. Both epitomizes the modern day goalkeeper hysteria solely based on their skillful footwork distribution with such consistency accuracy and variation, underlining the evolution of the technical and tactical aspects of these particular skill sets in the modern game, although these observations are exclusively based on the EPL. It must be noted that other associations might have a different perspective on the observations in comparison to their leagues. In addition, again it must be noted that these two goalkeepers are from the footballing Samba Nation Brazil, a country renowned for their intricate qualities and prowess associated with ball skills. All is well and dandy but can the same be said about evolution of the technical and physical aspects of their goalkeeping skills? In my opinion the skill sets on the subject of these two goalkeepers at on par with each other and the rest of many goalkeepers in the EPL , the Bundesliga, La Liga, Seria A, Eredivisie and Ligue 1. My assessment mustn’t be misconstrued as some sort of goalkeeping bashing to suite a narrative but I would be doing the art injustice if I knew that there’s so much room for improvement, development and progression in this particular curriculum that must be highlighted. For example, I don’t subscribe to the current format for the Golden Glove awards, that recognises the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets over the season as the criteria for “the best goalkeeper”. In reference to my earlier writing, this is were the defensive unit isn’t given the credit it so unequivocally deserves. From experience its obvious goalkeeping alone does not produces clean sheets and on average throughout the season, the offensive and defensive units tally up the amount of clean sheets as a result of dominance. Most of the time the goalkeepers behind these dominant teams rarely have to make saves, giving them the opportunity to showcase their superior footballing skills. Yes they do make big saves when called upon but nothing out of the ordinary compared to other goalkeepers who are in regular constant variety of engagements.

Just recently the statistics below, courtesy of the EPL

Comprises the most saves by the list of goalkeepers so far this season sums up the discussion on the complexity of topic about the merits of being the best goalkeeper. As expected, non of the goalkeepers playing for the top four in the league featured on this list but at the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to “the race for the Golden Glove award” current second place Leicester City FCs Kasper Schmeichel, fourth place Manchester Citys Ederson Moraes and Sheffield United FCs Dean Henderson are all in the forefront with 5 clean sheets each out of 12 games. I don’t want go into indept details on statistics ( a goalkeeping data mining analyst by the name John Harrison who does a great job on Twitter ) but I can safely say that their saves per match ratios will be considerably less that the list above. Overall, one has to take into account the variables that affects the types of saves made by all goalkeepers as the quality will depend on the degree of difficulty in precedence of quantity. In effect, the eventual Golden Glove winner will have the most clean sheets with the least saves made ( majority of an expected routine nature ) coupled with an impressive distribution data, making him the best goalkeeper for the season. In my opinion, that system is flawed because it isn’t a true reflection of the goalkeepers ability to classify one as the best for the season. Maybe it’s best to do away with the award until a better system of accreditation has been thoroughly thought out. The hysteria of the modern day goalkeeper is now based on the ability to ping a low trajectory 40, 50, 60 yard ball like a laser guided missile hitting its target on the sponsored label stamped on the chest of your teammate or the logo on the instep of his boots. The self proclaimed social media Modern Day Goalkeeper sensation, a professional by the name Lee Robinson is a champion and technician in this sort of distribution and could very well be playing for either Manchester City FC or Liverpool FC as he does in my opinion a better job in this department for the profile requirement type. Soon midfielders will become the new goalkeepers as pinging accuracy becomes more sought after as the demand for attacking football gets ever more tactical and aggressive.

Where does this leave the traditional fundamentals of the makeup of a goalkeeper? The number one job of guarding the goal through the aid of the development and progression of the technical, tactical, physical, psychological, social and emotional aspects of the goalkeepers? So called experts, pundits and commentators will insist that the skill sets has evolved but in comparison with the past, I’ve seen better skill sets and characters that brought a level of enthusiasm and entertainment that today’s modern goalkeepers cannot emulate.

The illusion of The Modern Day Goalkeeper..

You Are The Ultimate Keeper Of Your Destiny .. Ultimate Keeper