Very few countries have such an intense goalkeeper controversy heading into the World Cup than the one that Spain has. Although, the question is really between the guy that you thought would’ve been your starter after the retirement of Iker Casillas, and the guy who’s taken the spot over and more or less performed well. There’s a third candidate that could come into the picture. I’m talking about David De Gea as the goalkeeper who we all thought was going to start for at least a good 8 years for Spain. Unai Simon, though, has taken over those duties, and performed well. Then we have Kepa who is finally living up to the expectations that Chelsea had put on him way back when they put so much money down to get him.
Right off the bat it must be said that this is actually a good problem to have. You’d much rather be in a situation where you can pick between good players than having to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find a decent option. What sometimes confuses fans though, particularly when it comes to goalkeepers is that the guy who seems to be in the shape doesn’t always start. We saw that with Germany for example when Neuer got the nod to start in Russia over Ter Stegen who was coming into the tournament in better shape. What should Luis Enrique do? Who should start for Spain at goalkeeper during the World Cup?
Could We Say That Unai Simon Is The Safe Pick?
The criticism that most people have of Unai Simon may just be that he’s not flashy. He’s not necessarily the goalkeeper that’s going to grab headlines at all. Usually he’s in a good position, and he has safe hands. What can you hope for other than that? As I mentioned he may not have that big save ability that we see a lot of from DeGea, and even Kepa. There is a reason though, other than the massive fee that Chelsea paid of course, that Athletic Bilbao did not suffer greatly when they let go of Kepa. Remember this is a team that can only play players that were born in, or have some type of lineage tracing back to that Basque region. So they think twice when it comes to getting rid of players, particularly because even with the money they can’t necessarily go out and buy replacements.
Of course there’s literally a new training ground for Athletic Club that we could call the field that Kepa built. He built it by leaving though, and handing the team over to Unai Simon. It’s just incredible how things have worked out. Kepa was once the biggest promise of Spanish goalkeeping, and now he may not even make the World Cup roster, and have to watch Unai Simon play from his couch. Simon is very much the prototypical basque keeper, tall, not flashy, but very safe across the board.
