These are some of my favorite articles to write for a couple of reasons. It’s not about shaming certain goalkeepers. Although I do have to say I’m surprised to find a particular goalkeeper back on this list of goalkeeper errors Premier League. If you watched the Premier League this week you know who I’m talking about. Getting back on track here though, the main reason I love these articles is that they create a lot of teaching points. Again, the idea is not to shame any of the goalkeepers on these lists. I would never put folly sounds or things of that nature. The second thing I like is that other goalkeepers can see that even the great ones make mistakes.
There is one particular play this week that I feel epitomizes what happens with young goalkeepers who make mistakes. If you make one mistake you have to find a way to shake it off and learn from it without wanting to over compensate the next time that a similar situation occurs in a game. We saw this happen this week to one of the top goalkeepers in the world. He makes identical mistakes, albeit with a potential referee error involved, but mentally you have to get over those too! Without further ado here are the goalkeeper error Premier League matchday 11.
5. David De Gea vs Manchester City – Is This Really An Error?
If I remember correctly last week there were a couple of plays that ended up on the list essentially, so I could fill out a top 5. For the most part, there were not a lot of blatant errors to speak of. This is one of those plays. Don’t worry though this week, this is essentially the only play that’s not a blatant error. The play though sadly highlights an issue that has plagued David throughout his career in the big moments. The shot doesn’t seem to be coming in too hot. A lot of times that’s worse though in these cases. If the shot is coming in strong it’ll bounce off him and come out. Yet, it’s kind of softer than he expects, and he just can’t get his hands in the right place to make the save.
For me the mistake is not really in the hands, but in the positioning. He essentially follows the play accordingly. The issue is that he ends up inside the goal. You want to make sure that you’re just a bit further off the line in these cases. That way if you have to make a save to the far post as is the case with De Gea here you don’t end up blocking the shot towards your own goal. Positioning in goalkeeping is everything. To be fair it’s a bit of a stretch to call this one goalkeeper error. In looking at the footage there are things that he could’ve done better.
4. Jose Sa vs Crystal Palace – Pre-Determining Where You Want To Go
On this play the error doesn’t lead directly to the goal. In fact, he sort of has the chance to make an amazing save that would’ve cleaned up the mess. However, the error starts the chain of events that leads to the goal. Coming out to catch or punch a cross is one of the hardest things to do in goalkeeping. That’s why you have certain goalkeepers that literally don’t ever try it. In the Premier League though it’s hard to play if you don’t incorporate this skill into your game. That’s why Victor Valdes could never manage to get on the field with Manchester United. Anyway, let’s talk about Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
He predetermines here what he wants to do. Even before the ball is crossed he wants to come out. This is what makes these types of plays so hard, everyone tells you if you want to go just go. In his defense there’s a deflection. To his credit he doesn’t back down, and he still tries to go after the ball even though he’s almost at the edge of the box. So at least he’s not in no man’s land like we saw other keepers last week. The play is a mess, but his defender has a chance to clear it away, and it’s ultimately the failed clearance that leads to the goal. He gambled and failed, but there was a point where he essentially did the best things that he could do. The problem is really predetermining what you want to do before you see a cross come in.
3. Tim Krul vs Brentford – Potentially The Worst Error Of The Week
There are a couple of things that essentially save the Dutchman from picking up the worst error of the week award. Even though if we look at this play compared to all of the other contenders this one is the worst. The first thing is, that the play came in as a last-minute goal that really didn’t change things much because his team still won. What really saves Krul though is the fact that we have a double header coming up from a keeper who essentially cost his team the game! With all of this said, come on Tim you’re like 10 feet tall this can’t happen to you.
When you look at the play it may not look as similar to what we saw with Jose Sa, but the error is essentially the same. He predetermines that he wants to come out, but in this case he puts himself right in the middle of no man’s land with his hips locked and no way back! This is the worst position to be in when a cross comes in because there’s literally nothing that you can do. At least jump and try to scare the attacker or something. Basically he just gives up on the play knowing it’s a last-minute goal that isn’t going to make a difference.
Top Goalkeeper Errors Premier League Matchday 11
1 & 2 Alisson Becker vs West Ham : Why Mental Toughness Is So Important
For the countdown that I’m doing for the end of the season I may put in Tim Krul’s error as the worst of the week. As I’ve been hinting at though, this double whammy from Alisson Becker this week is hard to ignore. It’s been a couple of bad weeks for the Brazilian. The biggest issue isn’t even technical. It’s mental mistake after mental mistake. That happens to all goalkeepers at some point. You know that you messed up, and you want to overcompensate on the next similar play or play it too safe, and it just doesn’t work out. It’s one of those things that maybe some days away from the game could do him a world of good.
The first goal is potentially a foul. It ends up being an Olympic goal from a corner and those are hard to get out of your head. You really feel like the dumbest keeper on the face of the earth. In 99.9% of the pro leagues in the world and even Sunday leagues this is a foul. The attacking player stretches his arms out and clearly makes contact with the keeper in the box. Alisson though is not in a good position at all regardless. That really makes it tough to sell the foul. He comes into the clash late and wants to punch the ball out without any conviction. His best bet halfway through the play was trying to sell the foul.
The Second Goal Is A Result of A Mental Breakdown
This second goal is a complete Alisson Becker error. Even if he did, everything perfectly would he have been able to make the save? Maybe not, but that’s goalkeeping for you. He gets into the Tim Krul funk here though. You predetermine what you want to do, and you’re caught out of position. Alisson does what Krul refused to do which is back peddle to try and get yourself into position. More often than not if you find yourself back peddling when you’re coming out for a cross that means you’re out of position. The thing is, when you’re in this position there’s not much else that you can do.
My theory is that he’s thinking about the first goal, so he over commits to the front post to try and win another potential 1v1 up top at the front post. To avoid the error from the first goal. When the ball comes into the back post he’s cooked. It’s not like this guy forgot how to play. When you make a mistake though your head can start playing games with you. As you can see here it happens to the best of them. That’s two weeks in a row Alisson Becker finds himself on this naughty list!
Goalkeeper Errors Premier League Matchday 11 Conclusion – What Can You Do If You’re In A Bad State of Mind?
Naturally it’s hard to get out of one of these funks. Mental toughness is key, and quite frankly it’s key to goalkeeping in general. The best thing that you can potentially do is super counterintuitive, but take your mind off the game for a little bit. Especially if you get a chance to go into half-time. If you keep repeating the mistake in your head you’re more likely to make another one. In this case if I was Jürgen Klopp I would give Alisson a couple of days off. If you can do that without having to officially bench him that could work great. He clearly has to work some things out though. Otherwise, the only thing that’s left is to believe the rumors that the Liverpool goal is haunted. Right Karius?
