What makes a great: Goalkeeper (Soccer)

[Ferbian]

Being influenced by a lot of those people that makes a longer series of threads with different wrestlers, different finishers etc. in the Non-Spam Wrestling Section, I figured why not do something in the Sports Stadium section, and that's what I'm gonna do, I'll be covering the different positions (Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfield and Forwarder, not specifically Defensive Center for example)

As you probably figured by now reading the title, this thread asks the question, in your opinion: What makes a great: Goalkeeper?

Is it a longer period of not letting any goals in? is it amazing saves? value on the transfer marked? etc. you tell me.

I think what makes a great goalkeeper is a lot of things like the ability to keep a goal clean, but not necessarily keep it clean all the time, nobody has that feature, letting in a goal doesn't damage their greatness, as long as the amount of goals let in aren't massive.

Also I think what makes a great goalkeeper is someone who has the ability to "comfort" and keep up the morale of a team, I've seen goalkeepers who are in the position of being captain, a goalkeeper like Gianluigi Buffon, while he's not the captain, he's the vice-captain, and has a great ability in keeping the morale up for his team from what I've seen.

And of course, the ability to make amazing saves doesn't exactly hurt the goalkeepers legacy, but I don't think it's necessarily something that makes them great.

 

[LUFC HBK]

To be a great keeper one must have three things in my opinion.

Firstly I think a keeper should have terrific reflexes. If a striker is barelling down the field, heading straight for the goal his shot could go anywhere. Left, Right, Up or Down the keeper needs to be able to spot it and go that way almost instantaneously. The best keepers in the world have this skill and I think it is something that is quite rare to find and train from a young age. This is the most important thing if you are to become a great keeper.

Secondly a great Keeper must be able to trust himself and believe in his reflexes. If he sees and senses the ball going to his right he has to trust himself to dive that way and not worry about what could happen or what people think of him if it goes wrong. The best keepers need to be oozing with self confidence.

Thirdly a keeper needs to strike fear into the heart of the strikers that are barelling down on him. If a striker is away on goal, completely clear and looks up to see a great keeper he will think about where to place his shot for alot longer than if he was facing someone much less experienced. The more time a striker takes to take a shot the more likely he is to miss and if he misses that is one less goal against the great keeper.

And all that from a midfielder

Good Thread Ferbian

 

[Spurs4life22]

I think theres many factors to what makes a great keeper. One of the most important though imo is decision making. He needs to know wherever to try and come and catch a cross or to let a defender deal with it. Mistakes in these situations mostly prove costly. Also in regards to decision making,wether to stay on the line and wait for the shot or to come out and try to narrow the angle. Leave it to late and stay rooted to the line then you will be crucified for not coming. Coming to far and having it taken around you will lead to the same results. Also when thinking about this decision making factor is the keepers distrubution. Throw it to the wing back, or boot it upfield to the lone striker to hold up? These are decisions that can easily lead to attacking options for your side or if wrong can lead to a whole load of problems at the back for your team.

Obviously reflexs play an important part but I consider positioning to be equally important,and that means with general shot stopping and dealing with crosses to even your starting position when there oppo begin there attack.

And also i love a keeper to be vocal and really try to lead from the back. He can see the whole pitch and whilst attacking can have good look at what the entire team is doing. A loud keeper can also organise the defense which is very very important. He should be very vocal on corners and set pieces too organising the marking is a keepers job in my eyes and he should be able to command the respect of every player on the team in these situations.

And like stated before me the ability to not let in to many comes in handy!

 

[harrythem]

I think if you're going to be a great goal keeper you have to be a mental case!

If you look at some of the top keepers that've played in the Premiership over the years I'd deffo say the best were Schmichael, Seaman, Lehman, Cech, Reina, Grobbelar and Bartez (he was good dammit, even as a Gooner I can say that) and they have one thing in common (Cech and reina not so much) they are nutters.

As a defender I like knowing the bloke behind me is crazy enough to throw himself all over the place and quite happily go crashing through anyone who's in front of him to claim the football and, right or wrong, once they've made their mind up they stick to it. Far too many keepers dither on this (see Almunia or Flappy-Hand-ski) and it breads uncertainty throughout the entire team