All in all it can be said that we had a pretty clean week in the Premier League. Sorry for the spoilers, but De Gea is back on the Goalkeeper Errors Premier League list. The fact though that he keeps making these lists kind of reflects the current state at United. The game got away from them more out of personal frustration. McGuire killed them with the red card. The biggest problem that I see with David, and it can be said about a lot of goalkeepers is that they keep making the same mistakes throughout their careers. When you see that it really makes you question their work ethic and other factors. There has to be a reason why reasonably good goalkeepers are making the same mistake countless times.
Today’s mistakes particularly highlight how you should “walk the goal”. Knowing how to dive is great, and I can bet you spend a lot of time on that. Footwork and positioning may just be the two things that you should be working on the most. Ultimately, these two things are going to make or break you as a goalkeeper. For the worst of the worst this week though we do have a major error. Most of what you’ll find on the Goalkeeper Errors Premier League Matchday 12 list are teaching points. This worst of the worst though is a big time boo-boo. This goalkeeper is probably going to have some trouble sleeping this week after that one. As I always say, it’s part of the game. This list is meant to serve as a teaching platform not a place to just ridicule goalkeepers.
5. Alex McCarthy vs Norwich City – Goalkeeper Has The Near Post Right
It wasn’t the best day at the office for Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that he single-handedly cost the team the game. Although it may look like that’s exactly what I’m saying since both of the goals that he conceded are on the list. The reason why both made it is because, as I mentioned, it was a very clean week. However, he kept having problems with positioning in crosses. I don’t have as much of an issue with this one. At least positioning-wise. I wasn’t between the sticks to let you know how hard that header really was.
In looking at the play again I feel like if he hadn’t had trouble with the other one this goal wouldn’t have made it on the list. It’s just that his problem isn’t actually positioning, it’s more of a hand placement issue. That’s going to be more evident in the next goal. Here, what could he have done better? Maybe try and attack the ball. He just puts his hands in his chest and isn’t able to control the ball. Again, these can be hard plays to deal with. Particularly because the best answer could be to go a bit unorthodox and maybe try and punch the ball out. Attack the shot as I mentioned. The play is tough, but you typically want to see a better effort.
4. Alex McCarthy vs Norwich City – Really Want To See A Better Effort
Again while looking back at this one, it should be higher on the list, but I don’t want to lose this momentum I’ve built up talking about Alex McCarthy’s technique. I just got done saying that you want to see a better effort from a Premier League goalkeeper. This is the exact same thing. Except here, I see a major fundamental flaw. I haven’t seen enough of Alex McCarthy to tell you that he’s one of those goalkeepers that wants to put his hands out like a bear and play like that. He does so on this play though. The poor hand placement before the header is what leads to the ball slipping like a wet bar of soap.
There was a perfect example of hand placement by Tim Krul in the saves article. I’ve talked a lot about him, but I really liked how he’s in position with his palms facing outward and his arms to his sides. Here McCarthy isn’t just in the bear position he kind of puts his hands together just as the header comes in. The bounce is hard to deal with, but again you’d like to see him put in a better effort. Punch the ball, do anything else that you want to do. Don’t just be passive about it and watch the ball find the back of the net. Goalkeeping is like boxing good footwork and hands in the right place will get you places.
3. David De Gea vs Watford – The Tendency To Use Your Feet
A couple of weeks back we talked about this controversy that exists in goalkeeping. There are people that are always going to frown on a goalkeeper using his feet. This is pretty much the reason why. They are not going to be mad at you when you make the save. The problem comes when it becomes a habit. This would be a tough save for De Gea no matter what he decided to do. You’re caught right in the middle of your natural trajectory across the goal. Really he doesn’t have a lot of options. Taking a tab at the ball with his right leg which is literally what he tried to do was potentially the worst thing he could’ve done.
I feel his movement isn’t natural, it’s awkward all the way through. He takes a stab at the ball at an angle it’s almost like he would’ve had to get perfect control on the ball to make the save. If he just kind of naturally turns and extends his left leg he may have had a better chance of getting to that ball. There’s some nitpicking here on my part I would admit to that. As I mentioned none of the goals so far have been completely on the goalkeeper. McCarthy’s second was bad. A lot of times it’s just a reaction, and you don’t react in the best possible way to be able to give yourself a shot. I certainly feel that’s what happened to De Gea this time around.
2. David De Gea vs Watford – Put More Effort Into It
There were actually a couple of these plays on the LaLiga list this week. Not that the goalkeeper wasn’t able to react to a frontal shot. In all fairness this is hard to do. The shot is coming in really hard. The constructive criticism that essentially fits here is that De Gea is too far into the goal to be able to affect the shot. The shot is coming in too hot for him to be able to react or do anything. When you look at it though it kind of seems like he’s given up on the play way before the ball really finds the back of the net.
The main reason why I decided to showcase this particular play is just to show the emotional side of goalkeeping. Again, I get it, it’s not an easy shot. He gave up on the play though. Also, it must be extremely frustrating to play for a team with so much talent on paper that plays this bad on the pitch. Ole is gone and since then they’ve secured their berth in the second round of the Champions League with De Gea in goal. It does seem like he’s still going to be between the sticks for the club moving forward. He should be. He’s saved them a ton of times this season. Still, he’s a goalkeeper with a ton of peaks and valleys.
Goalkeeper Errors Premier League Matchday 12 – 1. Karl Darlow vs Brentford
There was just no way that this error would not top the Goalkeeper Errors Premier League Matchday 12 list. There are two things that go wrong for him here. One, he’s a little bit out of position. It’s just a tiny step that we could say would have made all of the difference. If he’s in good position he’d be able to just attack the ball falling forward naturally. Since he’s a little too much towards his near post you have to improvise a bit. Even if it means getting a forearm on the ball like a volleyball player to try and steer it out. The shot is coming in hard, so it’s not like he’s got a ton of time to be able to decide what he wants to do.
I think this is a perfect example of a play where the fundamentals need to go out the window for a bit. Particularly when you realize that the ball is going to hit you in the middle of the chest. You need to be able to improvise and get that forearm out. Maybe he does that, and he leaves the ball at the mercy of an attacker we’re still talking about the mistake. In that case, we would’ve only been able to say he’s out of position that’s really all it is. Here, he’s out of position and the decision-making is poor, and he comes out on top of the goalkeeper errors Premier League edition list for this week!
