Bob Wilson: Current Keepers
Tipster
Glenn Moore: Goalkeepers grapple with art of impossible in 'beach ball'
era
07 June 2005
Manchester United have got their man, Edwin van der Sar, but Arsenal
and Liverpool are still hunting for a new goalkeeper. Extraordinarily,
all three clubs ended the season searching for the "next Petr Cech"
after their own staff were overshadowed by the Chelsea No 1. However,
one goalkeeping sage believes the "next Petr Cech" does not exist.
Indeed, Cech himself is far from perfect.
This verdict is delivered, with sadness, by one of the art's most
expert judges, Bob Wilson. The former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper,
who for many years was goalkeeping coach at Highbury, was unable to
recommend a single goalkeeper because, he said, changes in the game
have made goalkeeping "impossible".
"I can't give you a name of anyone I'd be rushing to sign," Wilson
said. "You name me any flawless goalkeeper like you used to be able to
in our day and age. There is no goalie in the world who doesn't make
mistakes and that is because of the rule changes and the ball. Cech has
been the best in the Premiership, but I don't think he's consistent. It
is related to the defences in front of you.
"Jens Lehmann was the best by a mile the previous year. Arsenal had a
fantastic defence and he was top of virtually ever statistic. But even
he got done in the Champions' League. The back-pass rule caught him out
against Eidur Gudjohnsen in the first leg against Chelsea; in the
second, Claude Makelele's shot came back off his chest.
"The backpass rule makes you look a fool. You have to be so good with
your first touch. Someone knocks it back, you get a bad bounce and it
goes over or under your foot. We just picked up the ball and wasted
another five or six or eight seconds; now there's always the risk of
error.
"But the biggest factor is the ball. It is a joke - on goalkeepers.
There is nobody who is not vulnerable to the modern ball. It's become a
lethal weapon. The old ball didn't move unless you were playing in thin
air like Mexico. Now it moves like a beach ball, it's so thin. You
always had a decision to make, but now you have this split second to
decide, 'Do I catch or parry?' It's almost impossible. I spoke to Jens
recently. He said: 'You just have to make your mind up to parry'.
"A goalkeeper relies on his footwork and position. You start to move
your feet, then the ball takes off and you can't get in the extra beat.
Or you are in line and once it starts to move human nature makes you
panic and your head moves, or whatever, and suddenly it's hit your
shoulder.
"Bending the ball the way Beckham or Roberto Carlos do is a fantastic
skill, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about someone who just
wellies it at 70 to 80 mph and somewhere on its flight it does
something. There was a whole series of them in the Champions' League.
Juninho's goal for Lyon against Werder Bremen started in the middle and
finished in the far corner.
"Roy Carroll and Jerzy Dudek were blamed for goals they conceded, but
the ball moved in each case. It doesn't have to move much. If you are
in position, even fractional movement can defeat you. It is like the
late movement of a swinging ball in cricket. Cech had a similar
situation in Barcelona but one of his defenders bailed him out. You
just hope somebody does."
For Wilson, who now spends much of his time on the Willow Foundation,
the charity he formed after the death of his daughter, Anna, to improve
the lives of young adults with terminal illnesses, this development is
not a surprise.
"When David Seaman was at Arsenal this American guy from Nike brought
these modern balls in for us to try out. We all had a go, telling him
the balls were ridiculous, they moved all over the place. He came out
with all these theories about perfect flight so we stuck him in the
goal and hit some at him. He went off with his tail between his legs.
"But they want bums on seats, they want entertainment. That means
goals, as people won't come for a boring 0-0. Tampering with the ball
is a way to ensure errors. Sadly for the art of goalkeeping, it makes
you look a fool. Goalkeepers always made errors, even ones like Banks,
Schmeichel, Seaman, Jennings. But now it's impossible."