HANDLING THE GOALKEEPER

Case Analysis

Source: The Technician UEFA Newsletter 

Handling The Goalkeeper

MOST TECHNICIANS WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING A GOALKEEPER'S HANDLING OF THE BALL. BUT HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TECHNICIAN'S HANDLING OF THE GOALKEEPER?

Previous issues of "The Technician" have discussed the role of the goalkeeping coach and the need to find the right balance between specific keeper-orientated training and sessions which fully integrate the goalkeeper with the rest of the group. However, mental preparation can be just as relevant as time spent between the posts on the training ground. Apart from the demands placed on the keeper during a match - spells of hectic activity interspersed with long periods of inactivity, for example, with a consequent need for special ability to maintain concentration - the goalkeeper has to contend with a series of external factors that outfield players are not usually required to deal with.


It is a well-known fact of life that a goalkeeper is more readily judged by his mistakes than any outfield player. The 'justice' of the penalty shoot-out, for instance, has frequently been debated because the player who fails to convert a spot-kick can all too easily be classed as the villain of the piece. By contrast, it is one of the few occasions when a goalkeeper can be hailed as a hero. During normal play, outfield players are rarely condemned because of an error. The goalkeeper normally is. One of the basic requirements for top goalkeepers is therefore the mental resilience to cope with negative report ing by the media and acknowledgement of the fact that they may only be noticed when they make a mistake.


But what about the goalkeepers who never make a mistake? The immediate reaction is to think that we're talking about a non-existent species.But it is a fact that, if we consider the goalkeeping fraternity as a workforce, the majority are, technically speaking, 'unemployed'. At club and national team levels, most squads contain three goalkeepers, of which only one habitually gets a chance of shining - or making mistakes - on the field of play. Some outfield players might not be classed as 'first-team regulars' but they, at least, have realistic chances of entering the fray as substitutes or during spells when the team is affected by injuries and/or suspensions. Reserve goalkeepers are rarely, if ever, given this opportunity.

For the technician, this can be problematic. In the first place, it converts the selection of the goalkeeper into an important issue - and one which sometimes becomes headline news. But, having made their first choice, many coaches now recognise that, in -management terms, there is a need to give the reserve keeper some football. Sometimes there is a pre-season agreement that, whatever happens, the No. 2 will be between the posts for cup games or, in some nstances, UEFA club competition matches. Rafael Benítez, while leading Valencia CF to a league and UEFA Cup double in the 2003/04 season with a squad that contained two top-class keepers, established a system whereby his No. 2, Andrés Palop, would be between the posts for UEFA Cup matches. He would have kept goal in the Gothenburg final had he not broken a bone in his wrist five weeks earlier and handed the UEFA Cup gloves back to Santiago Cañizares. However, fate redressed itself this season, as Palop was able to demonstrate his worth during Sevilla FC's run to the UEFA Cup final and by keeping a clean sheet against Middlesbrough in the Eindhoven final.


These days, the top clubs recognise the importance of having top-quality cover between the posts. Coaches therefore face the challenge of keeping their 'reserve' goalkeepers motivated and focused on a job they are only rarely allowed to perform. The issue takes on even greater relevance if one considers the circumstances in which the reserve keeper is required to take the field. After weeks or months of 'inactivity', the keeper often has to pull on his gloves without a moment to warm up or to prepare himself mentally for the task in hand. Sometimes, it's because the first-choice goalkeeper has been injured. On other occasions, the situation is one of even greater emergency and tension: the keeper has been red-carded and the first task facing his replacement is to stare a penalty-taker in the face.


Ask Manuel Almunia. After watching from the bench as Jens Lehmann assembled a record-breaking collection of clean sheets during the knock-out rounds of the UEFA Champions League - and having contributed to the record-breaking run during the group stage - the Arsenal keeper was abruptly summoned on to the pitch after 19 minutes of the final and required immediately to set up his defensive wall and deal with a Ronaldinho free-kick from the edge of the box.


All this adds up to a clear demand for the coaching staff to recognise the value to the team of their goalkeepers - plural - and the need to make the peripheral performers feel that they are important components within the team ethic. Treating them as equals on the training ground is probably the easiest part of the equation. The coach also has to ensure that there is a good working relationship between all his keepers and that the reserves are fully motivated and prepared to perform a vital role for the team in crucial moments of matches or at crucial stages of the season. For the media, the 'reserve keeper' might be a forgotten man. But the technician cannot afford to neglect him.