One of the things that you never want to do when composing lists of whose is the GOAT at this or that is to have a recency bias. It’s actually something that is rather hard to stay away from. In basketball for example, the younger generation backs LeBron James while the old guard sees Micheal Jordan as untouchable. Football has a similar dilemma between Lionel Messi and Cristiano being compared to the likes of Pele and Maradona. When it comes to goalkeepers I’m going to try and make the argument that Gianluigi Buffon is actually the greatest goalkeeper of all time. There are a couple of factors in my opinion that put him head and shoulders above the rest, particularly when examining his entire career.
Consistency is the major calling card for Gianluigi Buffon and why I think he’s just head and shoulders above the rest. What I would concede though is that there may have been goalkeepers that had one or two seasons where they reached a level that was extraordinary. That’s something that a lot of people in goalkeeping want to hold against Buffon. He’s consistent, there’s really no denying that he’s still a competent goalkeeper in his mid 40s. Did he really reach a peak level that was unmatched by his contemporaries? I happen to think so, but that’s something I’m going to elaborate on here shortly. So here’s my case for why Gianluigi Buffon just might be the greatest goalkeeper to ever put on goalkeeper gloves.
Gianluigi Buffon’s Longevity Is Unmatched
Let’s get this one straight, I’m not necessarily referencing Buffon’s current longevity. What I mean by that is, his current job as Parma goalkeeper in Serie B is irrelevant to his legacy or his claim as the best of all time. Although, I do think at that age being decent in a competitive league with your boyhood club has value. What I consider Buffon’s longevity is his relevance to the game on a global scale for the better part of 20 years. It could be argued that Dino Zoff captained Italy to a World Cup win at 40. Gigi’s World Cup win came at a much younger age!
That is in essence true, but Zoff, Banks, and some of the old timers that also played for a long time did not see such a physical evolution to the game. Sure, they came in without goalkeeper gloves, and ended it with gloves, and that’s relevant. However, Buffon saved shots from Batistuta, Ronaldo Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, when Italian football was the top league in Europe. He went on to face Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo in key Champions League moments. He became Parma’s number one option in the 96 season, and the team were runner’s up of the best league in Europe that year. More than 20 years later he lost a Ballon D’or to Cristiano Ronaldo! Always on top flight teams starting for over 20 years. Coping with much more athletic strikers as he got older.
Playing In Entirely Different Eras
This is part of the point that I was just trying to make. A lot of people who don’t know goalkeeping tend to dismiss what guys like Gianluigi Buffon have done. Actually, we can take away the plural: there’s no other goalkeeper that transitioned from the golden years of Serie A to the modern day football landscape like Buffon. Even Casillas, who is one of his main rivals as a contemporary, really didn’t burst onto the scene until the very early 2000s. By the time Buffon was captain of the Juventus team that got to the Champions League final and lost to Real Madrid in 2017, Casillas had been shipped off to Porto. While Buffon was arguably still at the top of his game.
Now, in trying to set up a tactical analysis to understand how Buffon was able to cope with the changing times I would say his style really didn’t change much. Again someone like Casillas, struggled a lot more late in his career because the game got more physical. Casillas was never great at the high balls, and was more of a between the sticks keeper. Although Buffon was and is a magician between the sticks his natural height has always allowed him to come out whenever he needs to. He was never someone who forced himself to come out and cut crosses. As has been his style he’s consistently been able to time things right, and just an overall good keeper while being excellent between the sticks.
The Peak Years
What were Gianluigi Buffon’s peak years? I asked myself the same question as I got ready to write this article. You could make the argument he reached the pinnacle of his career in 2006 when he won the World Cup. The thing is, the following year he played in Serie B because of the Juventus match fixing scandal. Then from around 2007 to about 2010 he was really in that head on race between himself and Casillas. By the end of that era, he’d been a pro for 15 years, and had been Italy’s number one goalkeeper since the 2002 World Cup! It’s just really hard to pick out what the brightest spot of his career was. Then we have the era from 2015 through 2017 when he’s willing Juventus deep into Champions League tournaments, and he was still at the peak of his powers.
I know I went back to longevity, but to me that’s just the thing that makes Buffon so special, and at the same time so hard to judge. He didn’t have that burst of 1 or 2 years where he made unreal saves. In reality he had like 5 of those bursts! He was always a much more balanced goalkeeper though he doesn’t play to the crowd as much as Casillas. He wasn’t the visibly intimidating force that Khan was, and he wasn’t the sweeper keeper Neuer has been. Yet, while all those names have at least one glaring weakness in their games Gianluigi Buffon did not and has not had that one chink in the armor. He’s remained that way for over 20 years! So it’s really hard to pinpoint the peak years. Pick the era that you like best!
How Does Gianluigi Buffon Match Up Against His Contemporaries?
This is something that I’ve essentially been talking about the entire article. For me the knock on Buffon from people who maybe don’t have as high regard as I do is that he didn’t have that one top quality that stood out. For example, people who argue that Casillas was better want to point out that Buffon’s alleged top quality was shot saving between the sticks. Casillas was better at that than Buffon in Iker’s prime. Even if that was the case, Buffon was better in corner kicks and crosses in general. Iker was always subpar with his feet, Buffon was certainly considerably better there. Even though Iker won some vital 1v1 matchups in spectacular fashion throughout his whole career Gianluigi Buffon did as well. He made the saves look easier though, is that something that should be held against him?
If you want to compare him to Oliver Khan, although Buffon was a bit young when Khan hit his prime you can say that Khan had more of a presence to him. When push comes to shove though Gigi was a better all around keeper again. With Khan maybe having safer hands, which ironically failed him in the biggest moment of his career. Another German goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer will seemingly come and go during Buffon’s own career span. Again, Neuer is a much better sweeper keeper, and he’s arguably got safer hands. That’s just two aspects of the game that he would have over the balance of the Italian. Even if you like a certain goalkeeper over Buffon you have to admit that he has a fighting chance against anyone that you put up against him.
His Playing Style Versus The Current Top Goalkeepers
There’s an argument to be made that Thibaut Courtois is currently the world’s top goalkeeper. I know that’s not necessarily what you’re going to find in my ranking on this site. I need to update that ranking. In any case, I bring up the Belgian because he reminds me a lot of Buffon. In the sense that he doesn’t have that glaring weakness that we see in some of the other goalkeepers out there. For example, I’m a big fan of Jan Oblak, but in crosses and corners for his height he’s not as secure as he could be. Ter Stegen has the big save ability, and some really quick feet, but I just know that he’s as consistent, I don’t see him leading or being a presence on the team.
Going back to Courtois at this point in his career he’s found his stride at a mature age, and he’s doing great, but he wasn’t as consistent through some of the Chelsea years, and his first Real Madrid appearances. If we’re just talking about how his entire career stacks up. Really all of the other options that are out there as top goalkeepers particularly the Premier League guys are just not as consistent or at the level of the main three in Spain or Neuer who I’ve already referenced. Courtois who I believe is at the peak of his power currently resembles Buffon in the sense that he just is an all around great keeper without that major hole in his game. That’s really what we should all look for!
Can The Old Guard Really Compete With Modern Goalkeepers?
This is a rough topic for me to comment on. Particularly because I feel that a lot of times we are prisoners of our own times. What I mean by that is, in a few years I’m going to be defending Neuer, and Buffon from people who say that the new or current players of the time are way better than them. However, it’s hard to really say that someone like Gordon Banks can be compared to Buffon. Maybe the comparison between Buffon and Dino Zoff is much more evenly matched. Just because Zoff also went through different areas, and he was still near the top of his game at 40. Banks was playing in the USA at that age, and the league was semi pro at that time, to be honest.
With Zoff though, the comparison may be interesting because at least in the youth ranks Zoff would’ve had to come up in a game that was played with 5 offensive players going up against 3 defenders. That was the game in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond. To then transition all the way to the 80s game which certainly wasn’t as physical as today’s game, but tactically it resembles today’s game a lot more. Just based on the formations that started to be used. Zoff was a lot like Buffon in the sense that they are all around great players. It’s not one quality that allows them to stand out. The parallels between their careers are very intriguing.
Is Gianluigi Buffon The Greatest Goalkeeper Of All Time – Conclusion
Just due to the fact that he’s been one of the top goalkeepers of two different eras he deserves consideration. The way I see it I don’t have a problem crowning him as the best to ever do it because there’s not that many options out there that boast his credentials. I would concede that other goalkeepers have had a burst of greatness, and you could say things like I would take prime Khan over Prime Buffon. I wouldn’t, but there’s an argument to be had there. The fact that Il Nono has just been there through the generations is amazing.
The 90s Serie A was some serious top level competition. There were a ton of good teams in that league. To go from that to competing with a team that was by that point in a lower league against the two monsters Messi and Ronaldo is amazing. I don’t think that anyone could’ve written that type of a script. Also, it’s probably going to be really hard to see someone sustain success for this long. Donnarumma had already run into trouble, and Courtois had some growing pains. No one seems to be quite like Gianluigi Buffon.
