[Football] Best and Worst PL Keepers ( 2017/18 )

edna krabappel said:

Where has that poster been for the last two years??

I do think Hennessey is artificially high in that list: even Palace fans think he's dreadful.

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I think there's an old joke in there, about Hennessey not being able to catch a cold!

Worst - Hennessey & Joe Hart.

Best - De Gea.

Most over hyped & average - Fraser Forster & Pickford.

Perkino said:

Ryan has the luxury of a decent defence reducing opposition to difficult shots for the majority of the game. He is an excellent keeper

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He's not tall enough...

MattBackHome said:

Annoyingly not that I can find. I guess this is because it's something of a labour intensive number to pull together? It just seems to crop up every now and again on football stats blogs.

Interesting that you mention distribution as it's long ball accuracy where I reckon Pickford truly excels. I agree that Pope is putting in a very solid shout for the No.1 shirt though. Form an interception/bal-playing goalie perspective I suspect that the likes of Ederson & Allison are going to pretty much redefine the role that a keeper should have on a team. [MENTION=286]Garry Nelson's Left Foot[/MENTION] is the expert here.

(Incredible also to consider the downfall of Joe Hart)

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You flatter me far too much.

I am however a huge fan of keepers like Ederson and Neuer and the like. Any keeper that is able to cut out danger at source before it develops into a more serious threat is worth their weight in gold. Ones that are ridiculously composed with the ball at their feet are also invaluable. Combine those two qualities with the traditional bread and butter goalkeeping qualities of shot stopping, handling and dealing with crosses and you've got yourself something very special.

If they're not the future of goalkeeping they should be.

As for Ryan, there was an article on here a few days ago where he talked about how his role at the Albion was different to what he was used to. He said previously he had played much more as a sweeper keeper whereas with us we defend much deeper forcing him back into his six yard box. That level of protection will play into his save stats, he's rarely left exposed(which is not to take away from the quality of his saves), and into his seeming trouble with corners/set plays. He's shown a number of times when balls are pumped into the box during open play he is willing to come off his line and catch or punch clear which is in line with a keeper who plays with space in front of him. It's a different story when it's a set play with a crowded box and centre halves who are expected to deal with the ball into the box. Look at De Gea and the trouble he had when he first came to England. The only criticism I'd make with Ryan on corners is that he's too preoccupied with the man marking him on the line. Often he takes a step forward to push the player before then reacting to the cross. I'm not a fan of that because it mucks up your positioning and timing for the flight of the ball and explains why he gets caught underneath it at times.

I'm actually really interested to see how Ryan would play if we ever played with a high defensive line. I hope that's how Australia play in the World Cup. We might see a whole new other side to his game.