Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Don't neglect your goalkeeper's ball skills

I always say the goalkeeper should be the best player on your team.  Experience has taught me that not being demanding of them does them a disservice.

When I was 17 years old, I was training with a local semi-pro team for 4 months during the off season.  One player was 6'4", dominated most of our scrimmages in the gyms and tough as nails.  He was a very good player.  Just as the snow was melting we were invited to play a friendly on rarely available artificial turf (This was 1983).  In the dressing room I was shocked to discover that he was the KEEPER. It was new for me to see how often the ball was played back to him and how effective he was in possession.  That game changed my view

My goalkeepers do all of our player drills at training. I was always big on that, but working closer with Gerry, our club and college's GK coach, I am even more focused on a goalkeeper's ability with their feet.

Tonight at our college session, we had a 45 minute passing component and then a revolving 5v5 game and our two goalkeepers spent the entire night playing with our players.   They did not have one shot taken at them.  That will be tomorrow night.  :)

I expect my goalkeepers to:
  • Be able to handle balls with their feet as if they were a fifth defender
  • Understand our system and be an active part of it, not just a shot stopper
  • Actively support our defenders from behind
  • Come out to play balls played past our defenders
  • Accurately play balls out to teammates from their feet
  • Take goal kicks and free kicks from certain areas in our half of the field
I can't see how a team can compete at the higher levels if they do not have a GK that they can play the ball back to.  I can't see how a team can keep shape moving forward and the opposing players honest if the GK cannot take the goal kicks and free kicks.

You want your goalkeeper to be able to consistently put a goal kick past half by age 15.  This allows you to move your players up and prepares your GK for success at higher level and older age groups.

The occasional young keeper that I inherit is usually in a state of shock when we make them assume all of those duties.  I am told that I am hard on my keepers and there is too much pressure on them to play the ball.  For this, I make no apologies. 

Canadian coaches are becoming more aware of the importance of their goalkeeper in possession.  The expectation of this increasing awareness is that it reflects in their coaching and goalkeepers improve in their ability to be the 11th man in possession.

Why wouldn't you want your keepers to be very competent with their feet?  They are your last line of defense.  If they misplay the ball it ends up in the net.  If your defenders can't pass to him, they are forced to put the ball out or turn (and be dispossessed).

Goalkeeping is a position of pressure.  The better equipped your keeper is with their feet, the better and more confident he is at handling that pressure.

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