Oddly enough there was a similar problem when trying to find goalkeeper mistakes LaLiga for matchday 13 as we had with the Premier League last week in our opening week of the segment. It seems like goalkeepers know that we’re looking for them, and they want to be on top of their game so that they won’t find themselves on the naughty. As I mentioned in many of these articles before, the goal of these isn’t to make fun of a particular goalkeeper. The idea is not only to point out the mistake, but also to provide a solution to the problem. Ideally this can be something that other goalkeepers apply to their game. There’s one goalkeeper in the Premier League article who’s been on the naughty list twice already; that’s not a good sign!
One of the things that I’ve found incredibly interesting is just how different playing goalkeeper is in Spain compared to England. This may seem like such an obvious statement. A lot of us just know and accept it. It isn’t until you start looking over some of the plays through a microscope that you realize just how different it can be. For one the back line in Spain plays a lot further out. We see a lot more 1v1 situations for Spanish league goalkeepers. Meanwhile, the prototype tall English goalkeeper is going to be more prone to coming out and plucking a cross out of the air. While Spanish goalkeepers have more of a tendency to stay back. In reading back what I just wrote it seems counterintuitive, but I’m just telling you what I see. Having said this, let’s get going with the worst goalkeeper mistakes LaLiga for matchday 13.
5. Unai Simon vs Cadiz – Really Hard To Make This Save
The fact that this goal made it on the errors list essentially tells you all you need to know about how “clean” the week was for LaLiga goalkeepers. What makes this an error? If they score this goal on you, you really shouldn’t get too down on yourself, but I am surprised with the troubled footwork exhibited by Unai Simon this week. He’s one of the up and coming goalkeepers in Spain and in the world, but even in one of his saves that actually made the save list this week his footwork is off. You can argue here that he sees the ball late. That’s why his reaction is to stand up. He’s kind of caught fishing for the ball. The reaction is just not there.
I’m not saying that there’s a lot more that he can do to try and make this save. However, his footwork was off this week even in his saves. This is certainly something that I’m going to monitor moving forward. If he continues exhibiting these types of behaviors we can start saying that he’s a goalkeeper that relies a little too much on size and natural ability. There are weeks when your footwork is off. That for me was the case with Unai Simon this week.
4. Stole Dimitrievski vs Real Madrid – Another Picky Error
Overall Stole Dimitrievski had a great week. He had a couple of saves that could’ve easily made our top 5 this week. Only one of them did eventually, but it wasn’t necessarily his play that cost his team the match. That’s potentially what I wanted to make clear. This is one of those plays though that are really hard to read. For me Stole Dimitrievski does almost everything perfectly, but he doubts that split second thinking that the defender is going to be able to reach the ball. That moment of doubt takes him out of the play.
These types of crosses are so hard to defend for both goalkeepers and center backs. Precisely because if the passer can get that ball in the sweet spot in between how far each of the defending players can reach it’s usually a goal. Especially when it’s Benzema making a run in the far post. What could have been done better on this play? I would’ve loved to see Stole Dimitrievski just go for it and not have that split second of hesitation. You can see it in his body language. It’s a game of inches, and unfortunately he just came up short. Again if this was baseball there’s no way we can tally up an error for Stole Dimitrievski here. It just speaks to the good week for goalkeepers in Spain, that there were few clear goalkeeper mistakes LaLiga this week.
3. Édgar Badía vs Mallorca – Trying For Late Game Heroics
This is one of those goalkeeper mistakes that really hurts in the worst way. You really have to feel for Édgar Badía here. At the end of the day he’s trying to do too much. In doing the research for this article I came across his story. He was a goalkeeper that started for Elche in the segunda division when the team won promotion. This year however, they brought in Kiko Casilla to be the starter. Twelve games in Casilla wasn’t being the difference maker that the team wanted. So they bring in Badia. Just when the team is about to pick up a vital 3 points with the win this happens.
The mistake itself is pretty self-explanatory. He’s trying to do too much. There are so many examples of errors like this particularly in last-minute plays. What happens most of the time? The goalkeeper is trying to play hero ball. That’s just the only way to explain it. As was the case with many errors in England this week here Badia pre-determines that he’s going to come out. He’s got the conviction, but he’s out of position way too far off the line. He really has no chance to make a play on the ball, and he costs his team two points in the end. It’s usually never a good idea to force things as a keeper. As they say, let the game to you.
2. Pacheco vs Levante – Caught In No Man’s Land
If the site, and these sections in particular, ever go massive I’m going to produce some shirts that say, “caught in no man’s land”. I’ve talked so much about this in the few error articles that I’ve put out. Even this early on, I can tell this is going to be a recurring theme. If we want to push it, we can say that Badia also got caught in no man’s land. Except he tried to fight it more than Pacheco. The finish is great here, we have to give the forward that. In the reply though it just seems that Pacheco is so slow coming out that he gives the attacker enough time to see him and just lob the header perfectly.
There’s no other way to put this, you have no business out there in this type of play. Especially coming out this slow. He goes so far off the line so slowly that he literally takes himself out of the play. If he comes out faster maybe he can make a play on the ball. Maybe we even get a collision that is called a PK who knows. If you stay back you at least force the attacker to have to bring the ball down and try and get a shot off. A header from that position with Pacheco closer to his line is a much harder goal to make. Hey, it happens and when it does you find yourself on the list.
Goalkeeper Mistakes LaLiga Matchday 13 : Biggest Mistake of The Week
1. Marc Andre Ter Stegen vs Celta de Vigo
I wouldn’t necessarily want to admit that the main reason I started this section was to talk about mistakes made by high-profile goalkeepers. However, I do feel that it’s comforting for developing goalkeepers to see something like this. On the other hand, it kind of hurts me when I have to talk about mistakes from younger keepers or guys like Badia who had a rough road in their careers, and they mess up when they get the chance. In this case, one of the top two or three best goalkeepers in all of LaLiga made a mistake that sparked a massive comeback tie for Celta de Vigo.
It’s not as easy of a shot as it looks. Of course, you’re going to expect someone like Ter Stegen to be able to make this save. There’s really no excuse here. However, it’s at a point where you really can’t put your body behind it, and you’re not going to dive for the ball. Really all you have is your hands for this incoming shot. From the footage I feel this is an overconfidence error. He looks so surprised when the ball slips through his hands. So much so that he reacts late to the deflection. It’s an interesting play because you usually don’t work on this too much. You can’t really put your body behind it, you need to make a clean catch. It wasn’t meant to be, for one of the safest goalkeepers in the world!
Goalkeeper Mistakes LaLiga Matchday 13 Conclusion
The biggest takeaway from this week in the goalkeeper mistakes LaLiga edition could be the fact that even the great ones make mistakes. Also, you want to be even keel with your emotions. Plenty of goalkeeper errors can be traced back to a keeper not being able to handle his or her emotions. Mistakes are going to happen. The important thing is to recognize them and move on. Maybe start practicing how to make those clean catches Marc Andre!
