By Sir Bobby Robson
In Praise of Goalkeepers.
Any manager or coach with ambitions to win honours must start with the
magic number one……a good goalkeeper.
Show me a great team and, more often than not, I will show you the great goalkeeper who plays for them.
To build a good house you need a sound base and a football team is no different with the goalkeeper forming an essential part of that defensive base because a goalkeeper is the one player who can deflate a team with a poor performance or inspire them to the heights with a great game.
Outfield players who are out of touch and struggling for form can always hide but a goalkeeper knows a single mistake can cost his team a goal and consequently a game.
A great goalkeeper not only inspires his team mates but also the team’s supporters. A spectacular dive, like Gordon Banks’ save against Pele in the World Cup, lives in the memory forever and a save from a penalty can lift a team to greater heights. With one moment of magic he can turn a match.
A top class goalkeeper, over the course of a season, can be the difference to a title or a cup and in my estimation can be worth between ten to fifteen points.
Top class goalkeepers must have a courageous character, the ability to handle the environment, whether it is a big occasion, a big crowd or the big stage i.e. a local derby…Barcelona v Real Madrid, Newcastle United v Sunderland or a World Cup Qualifier or Semi Final. The goalkeeper must show a calmness and competency, a class above the ordinary keeper to play under enormous pressure, where one mistake or error of judgement can mean National or Regional disaster!
World class goalkeepers have the ability to make saves that other goalkeepers don’t….to reach the ball in the top corner, to save a certain goal, these goalkeepers inspire crowds, team mates and managers!
I have always been careful with my choice of goalkeepers, someone not only I can trust, but also his defenders.
Goalkeepers like Laurie Sivell and Paul Cooper at Ipswich Town were both exceptional with Cooper an absolute expert at saving penalties.
For England I had Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence with Peter a dedicated and tough worker who set himself and his team mates ever higher standards.
Then there was the wrongly maligned Portuguese international Victor Bia’ia who I had at Porto and took with me to Barcelona.
There was the outstanding, steady Ronald Waterreus who was with me at PSV Eindhoven and the truly outstanding Irish goalkeeper at Newcastle, Shay Given, one of the best I have worked with.
So, what are the qualities you look for in a top class goalkeeper?
He must be confident, very confident, among all those flying bodies and flying boots in a congested penalty area, he must have sticky fingers to hold onto the ball and not spill it after a save.
He must have strong wrists and forearms.
Needless to say every top ‘keeper must have excellent reflexes and reactions to adjust to any given situation.
He needs to be sharp and have perfect co-ordination with the ability to make quick decision when under intense pressure both physically and mentally.
He not only needs to be courageous and agile, he also needs to have power and strength to dominate his six yard area when under pressure from corners and free kicks.
He needs to be FOUR dimensional, with vision to left and right, good at catching high balls and stopping high shots and able to go to ground not just to make saves but at the feet of a flying centre forward. If he is missing in any of these departments he has a profound weakness.
He needs to have excellent communication and understanding with his fellow defenders and, at the same time, keep his defenders alert and alive.
He has to be a character of depth and inspirational in almost everything he does.
He needs a ‘sixth sense’ to know his angles and distances, an awareness of space, to see a clear path to the ball in a crowded penalty area.
If he has all of these he is a great asset to the team and is probably already an international!!
Sir Bobby Robson
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