Goalkeepers are constantly working on positioning. It’s arguably the most important part of goalkeeping. A goalkeeper with good positioning even if he or she has poor technique with their hands or diving they’ll be able to make more saves than someone who is regularly out of position. Where should a goalkeeper stand then? Obviously, the answer to this question is, “it depends”. There are so many variables that you have to take into account when playing in goal. As a goalkeeper, you’re playing the positioning game at all times during the game. That can be hard because you can be caught watching the game just as an innocent bystander. In a matter of seconds, a long shot catches you out of position and it’s a goal. We see this all the time.
For those reasons in this article, I will cover where should a goalkeeper stand. Of course, the idea is to talk about the different parts of the match. Even set pieces. There is one thing that I want to make sure I get across right away. Different goalkeepers can have different positions and that’s ok. There are goalkeepers who feel comfortable playing way off their line. Others are much more comfortable between the sticks. There’s always that struggle to be able to find the middle ground. That’s exactly what we are going to want to do here! We are going to divide this article into the different moments of the game.
Where Should Goalkeeper Stand When The Ball Is Away
This is something that there is a lot of debate over. What has been taught over the years is that when the ball is away on the other side of the field you should be standing around the edge of the box on the semicircle. A lot of goalkeepers these days want to stand way outside the box. I’m not a huge fan of this for a couple of reasons. Number one if you’re standing way too far out there’s a chance that you’ll end up on the highlight reel and not in a good way. How far out you can stand when the ball is away could vary from where pros stand or even other goalkeepers your same age.
If you feel comfortable standing way outside the box and you have great recovery speed go for it. You’re certainly going to be able to fulfill the role of sweeper-keeper more efficiently. One of the biggest issues that I’ve seen is that many goalkeepers even in the pros have a rough time running back towards the goal. When the striker takes a shot and you’re out of position you can’t just aimlessly run back towards the goal. This brings me to another point: it’s not about standing straight in the middle of the goal. Ideally, even when the ball is way off you’ll be standing at an angle as you would if there’s an incoming threat from that position. That way you’ll be able to turn back and have a more natural return towards the goal.
As with a lot of things in goalkeeping, there is no one right answer here. What I would say to players is start from the edge of the box and do what you’re comfortable with. To coaches, I would say don’t force your goalkeepers to stand way outside of the box when you haven’t trained it and your goalkeeper isn’t comfortable. A lot of times running back towards the goal from so far out is not something we train regularly. That’s why you see even seasoned pros have trouble with this. If you want to be more of a sweeper-keeper go for it, but train your return towards goal.
Where Should You Stand When The Other Team Has It At The Halfway Line
The reason I started the article talking about the ball being far away is so that I can go through the whole progression of the ordeal. The ball in this scenario is about at midfield and the other team has it. A lot of goalkeepers these days want to stay on the edge of the box. I would typically recommend moving a little bit towards the penalty spot. Maybe a bit ahead of the penalty spot. Here is why though, your ability to come outside of the box and make a play isn’t overly hampered compared to being outside of the box. In this position, though most strikers won’t be thinking about taking that long-range shot. Even if they do, you’re not going to be overly out of position.
One thing to remember is that the position of the goalkeeper is not static, but fluid as the game goes along. Yes, there are moments where you’ll see even the greats standing around. You can’t be on your toes the whole game. It’s important though to limit those moments where you lose focus. A trip to Mars while in goal, yes they do happen, can make you crash back to reality real quick. I’m not saying when the ball is with the other team at the halfway line you should be sprinting towards the penalty spot. Again, it should be a fluid motion almost like slow dancing a bit.
Where Should A Goalkeeper Stand In Crosses
I’ve done a whole article on corner kicks. Therefore, there is no sense in going down that road again. The thing is crosses during a game can be super different. The main rule is that you don’t want to get caught cheating or with your hands in the cookie jar. Ideally what you’re going to want to do is be a couple of steps behind your front post and a couple of steps away from the goal. How far away you stand from the goal should reflect how comfortable you are getting back from that position.
These are the types of things that are a trial and error process and can vary from person to person. If you’re 8 to 10 years old you’re going to naturally want to stand closer to the goal because getting back is going to be tougher for you. These are things that you really should train. A lot of coaches love to use goalkeepers when they are training crosses for field players. More often than not as goalkeepers we don’t take full advantage of these opportunities to try and find that perfect position for you. If you don’t try and fail in training the mistakes are more likely to come during a game. That’s the last thing that you want.
Just to recap, you want to be standing behind the first post with the most crosses. Particularly if the player getting ready to cross doesn’t necessarily have a direct shooting angle. If he’s coming inside the box you need to cover your front post, shooting angle first. So this means you may end up ahead directly at an angle from your front post and maybe pointing towards the edge of the small box. Your first priority is to protect the front post when players are coming in with a chance to shoot. If the cross does come you have to keep your head on a swivel to make sure you take a step and cut the cross if you can. If not, you need to move across the goal virtually as quickly as you can to get yourself in position to potentially block a header, a volley, or whatever it may be.
Come to think of it when attacking players are coming from the side as a goalkeeper there are potentially more things to consider. At least compared to what would happen in a 1v1 situation or when you have one striker with what we can describe as an obvious shooting angle. It’s extremely important in all of these situations to be as far off of the end line as you’re comfortable with. The further you are off the end line usually the more shots you’ll be able to reach. You have to watch out though for the dreaded chip shot!
Where To Stand When The Ball Is A Couple of Yards Outside The Box
The first thing that you have to decide in these situations is how far off the goalline you want to be. Where should goalkeeper stand here? Standing on the line is never going to be a good option. Usually what I would say is that you need to find that middle line between the edge of the small box and the goal. This is going to give you a spot where you’ll be able to reach more shots than you would just by standing all the way back on the line. At the same time, it’s not a position that’s going to invite a striker to chip the ball over you. In case they want to do that you’ll most likely be able to take a couple of steps back and jump the ball over the bar.
Once you’ve got that position down you need to make sure that you’re not overly static without being jumpy. Follow the ball with decent strides without feeling like you’re rushing to every ball. This is really where all of the footwork drills that you do can come in handy. It’s super important to be able to find that natural stride at a decent pace that allows you to get in position. You’re making all of the decisions on the fly, but it’s always a good idea to have markers in the goal to ensure that you’re not standing beyond the post too much, things like that. Once you’ve found that position that you’re comfortable with at least a couple of steps away from the goal the rest is going to be easier to train and teach.
Where Should Goalkeeper Stand When The Ball Is Inside The Box
When the ball is inside the box naturally you’re going to take a couple of steps forward compared to where you were when it was outside the box. This is likely where you may have to make a decision whether to essentially rush the shooter or wait it out. If defenders are still on the player with the ball you’re probably going to want to wait it out. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a good idea to close off the shooting angle as much as you can. Particularly when the ball is inside the box you should be less afraid to come out off the line and towards the shooter. The likelihood of someone chipping over you is certainly less likely. We do see a lot of goals though where keepers took too long to get off the line!
When you take too much time to close off the shooting angle by coming off the line what you’re essentially doing is giving the shooter a wider goal to shoot to. It’s even a psychological thing. You want to make sure that you put enough pressure on the shooter so that they don’t get a chance to think about the shot. When you are able to hurry the shooter it’s more likely that he’ll try and power the shot right through you. Those shots will go over the bar or crash into the goalkeeper’s body more times than they’ll find the back of the net. At least that’s what we all like to tell ourselves.
Where Should Goalkeeper Stand Conclusion
One thing that I would say sometimes coaches don’t do a great job with is doing individual positioning. What I mean by that is, if you’re 5’10 or right around 1.80 meters tall your position at different moments during the game should be different from someone who is 6’3 or almost 2 meters tall. If someone is really tall they should take advantage of the height and play more off the line. Shorter guys are definitely going to need more speed. If you have that speed you’ll be able to close the gap to the shooter quicker. Inside the box you may find that you play further off the line than taller guys.
Where should goalkeeper stand then? At the end of the day it comes back to finding your style as a goalkeeper. We can’t all be textbook goalkeepers that should be ok. I do think a lot of times coaches do a disservice to some goalkeepers trying to make them fit into a style or specific positioning that’s not going to suit their game well. Positioning is a trial and error process. Especially if you’re a young keeper that is physically still growing. Where you’re standing today may not be the ideal spot a year from now that you’ve grown taller. Since I criticized coaches it’s only fair that I talk about goalkeepers as well.
Don’t just fly through some of the drills that are meant to help you with positioning when you’re training. Even if it’s something as simple as having your coach shoot from different distances. Something as simple as that should force you to position yourself as you would in a game. If you’re standing in a spot where you feel you just can’t get to many of the shots, move! Talk this over with your coach if you feel that you’re getting caught out of position in games. Literally, the easiest way to mimic is to line up balls in different spots and have a shooter that is going at game speed. Take these exercises seriously and try to figure out how far off the line you can afford to be.
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