I wouldn’t give up hope yet either. It’s unclear if the drop in form is all on him. He seemed frustrated with his defensive back positioning much of the game. They may still all get on the same page.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Thread starter charlenefan
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Benched today.
Refusing to be benched, currently stood in the centre of the goalmouth ready to play.
Why? What’s the story here?
He's been awful. Bottom of the table for save % from goalkeepers with 12+ games played (his percentage is something like 55%, next worst is 63%).
Wow! That’s pretty poor. Cheers Damien
Gave up 4 goals more than PSxG, 4th worst in the PL, too(btw, De Gea is 2 goals "behind". Picked the right time the turn into a bad goalkeeper, after signing the biggest contract ever. Henderson meanwhile is 5th best)
I'm curious about Kepa's expected saves %
Garbage keeper.
Wall today, must have been hurting after being dropped.
Treble save was quality, in fairness.
Did well in the first 30 minutes. You could've put my nan in goal after that and it would've been the same score.
Liverpool literally just kicked the ball at him 3 times in a row.
Also he's the biggest tool in football. I hope Chelsea drop him again.
Had an indifferent season but excellent tonight and simply miles better than Caballero.
Still won't change the fact that he won't be starting for any of the elite teams in the world.
Apart from Spain.
Spain haven't got world class players since the last world cup winning team.
Their world class players are on the decline, and the young generations haven't caught headlines either.
Can't remember any Spain wonderkid nowadays...
Also, their performance in major tournaments are embarrassing.
Shocking goalkeeper.
Again, for how much did they sign him for ?
Spain chose that shite in their national team... unbelievable!
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80m euros.
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This is such a glorious "In your face" after the cosmic level of disrespect he laid out on Sarri. I couldn't feel sorry for his situation if i tried, not after that.
Very interesting article on Kepa's deficiencies that go beyond just 'he's shite'. GK is by far the most misunderstood position by fans in the modern game (for example the widely parroted line that keepers should never be beaten at their near post when that's not true), so I enjoyed someone knowledgeable about goalkeeping technique breaking it down. I'd love to see them do one on Pickford, who I suspect shares a lot of the same problems in terms of his technique making 'normal shots look unsavable and normal saves look like showstoppers'.
Spain have a massive GK problem. De Gea and Kepa are just full of mistakes. De Gea lost his position for a reason, but Kepa is even worse (at leats for Chelsea, but can't imagine he is any better for Spain either).
Chelsea do a lot of good business, unfortunately this is proving to be increasingly egregious game by game. He’s a very average to poor keeper and his deficiencies are further amplified playing in a team that concedes big chances.
His predecessor wasn’t the pinnacle of goalkeeping either and benefitted from a lot of protection in the sides he played in, however Kepa would struggle to be a standout in any system.
Their entire defence needs reshuffling to play the way Frank wants effectively.
His predecessor wasn’t the pinnacle of goalkeeping either and benefitted from a lot of protection in the sides he played in, however Kepa would struggle to be a standout in any system.
Their entire defence needs reshuffling to play the way Frank wants effectively.
That's a long article so before/if I read it can you elaborate on the bolded bit because I've always believed that to the case. Obviously not that keepers should never be beaten at their near post but the by law of averages, it's the one of the fundamentals that they should be good at.
For example the goals Greenwood and Bruno scored against Brighton were imo 'poor' keeping:
Yes it's harsh and I do acknowledge both shots were either through a defender's leg or a deflection but considering the positioning of the keeper (which was good i.e place at the near post where the action of play was), it was 'poor' footwork/reaction to be beaten there.
Honestly, I'm far from an expert in goalkeeping so I won't lie to you and say I can explain it very well. It's just something I've read from many goalkeeping coaches. Keepers often have less time to react to shots at the near post, and split seconds are crucial in that position. If they completely close off the near post and get beaten at the far post, people don't usually criticize them even if they might not be covering the optimal amount of goal. Obviously, it's far from a perfect rule and should be considered on a case to case basis, I just think fans automatically assign blame to GKs in those situations because it's something that's repeated by pundits all the time. For example, I think blaming Ryan on that Greenwood goal is incredibly harsh. Greenwood unbalances him with the stepovers and he can shoot anywhere, but manages to sneak the ball through the defender's legs. Maybe a top class keeper does better but that's such a hard shot to get down to and there's a reason Greenwood keeps scoring like that. The second was a deflection as you say which is incredibly hard to judge, but I agree that with how close to it Ryan got he could have reacted better.
Here's a Tifo video about that goal De Gea conceded vs Crystal Palace early in the season. The title is a bit misleading as it unfortunately doesn't really go into why the near post is a myth but it's a nice analysis of why positioning and split second decisions are so important to the position.
You should read that Kepa article though, it's excellent and utilizes video examples well to get the point across.
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The whole point of guarding your near post is to force the attacker to take a shot across the goal i.e the harder chance. Obviously, it happens and the attacker will casually open up their body and put it in the far post but it's playing to these percentages that makes elite positioning/keeping. Yes it's a very general rule and repeated a lot but it's there for a reason just like 'don't let the ball bounce from a high ball'. It's pretty much the basics and fundamentals of football.
As for Ryan's involvement in the goals, you have to ask if he was already placed at his near post and well positioned, why did he get beat there?
For Greenwood's goal, his feet was planted. Considering Greenwood was in motion (i.e with momentum), if he shot at the near post or far post, it would have been hit with some power. To have your feet planted, he was essentially ball watching and not preparing himself for the several possible outcomes. For Bruno's goal, he stutter stepped to his right and does okay to react but should have got there in all honesty.
Put it this way, I would have been disappointed with De Gea if he let those in.
When I have some time I'll read the article and video but I can't get my head around anybody even professional keepers saying they shouldn't be prioritising their near post. Usually those chances are presented in a way that the near post is the 'only' reasonable shot an attacker can take. So more times than not, the keeper should be protecting that post; conversely unless it's an absolute rocket of a shot, pin point accuracy, bit of good skill, deviation, gave the keeper the eyes etc situation, then any other scenario i.e just a a well struck shot should be a high percentage save for the keeper.
I can think of many examples of poor keeping at the near post. Rashford against Spurs. Martial against Ederson (away and home!), Henderson recently against Newcastle and Arsenal etc.
P.S this is deja vu but I'm pretty sure I've debated you or someone about this before (probably in De Gea's thread)!
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Wasn't me haha, but this is good discussion. Just to be clear, I definitely think keepers should be prioritizing the near post, but overcommitment to it is seldom criticized. I agree that most of those examples were poor keeping btw, though Ederson at the Etihad was excusable because it was so perfectly placed. Ederson has some major problems with his positioning though imo
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I am curious who is the third Spanish goalkeeper after two of them?
No, it’s not the ‘fundamentals of football’.
It is a delicate balancing act - protect the near post (the most direct route to goal), but don’t leave too much space at the far post. As @ValenciasDrilledCrosses has rightly pointed out, a keeper will rarely face criticism for faithfully protecting their near post, even if it is at the expense of their far post... seemingly this idea that you shouldn’t be beaten at your near post is a rather lazy cliche peddled mostly by non-keepers.
See the below quote from Kasper Schmeichel:
It’s a myth. Something I have never understood. One day someone just came up with it and said a goalkeeper should never be beaten at their near post.
Anyone who has played in goal knows it’s a huge area and you try to cover the whole goal. You can’t try and cover the whole goal and the guarantee the ball won’t go in at the near post if it’s a great shot. Near post, far post, you try to cover it all and you’re not happy if it goes in anywhere.
I’m not a keeper, mind, but that’s precisely why I don’t feel equipped to comment on the technical components of the role without having done some research myself. My conclusion is that I still don’t fecking know - but if top level keepers dispute the applicability of this myth, who am I to disagree? No one has said that a keeper shouldn’t protect their near post; rather, people have questioned the assumption that a keeper is automatically at fault if their near post is beaten.
I can only assume you are a keeper given the confidence of your assertion.
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Yeah, that's the thing.
Even at near post, there are still plenty of "spots", "angles" and "directions" to aim at for the shooter.
No keeper can be able to cover all of those. None. Zero.
It's not like a keeper is a huge block of vertical rectangle wall, nor a time stopper each time a powerful shot is made.
The very tone of your post illustrates how some clubs go completely under the radar for shit transfer business. Kepa cost a world record fee for a goalkeeper and Chelsea receive relatively little criticism for it. United have a player like Fred who has become a very serviceable Premier League central midfielder and people still regularly talk about his price tag to knock him.
I think it's more down to the fact Kepa had a good first season whereas Fred looked like the rebirth of Bakayoko until about a few months ago.
We've had many underperforming expensive players targeted for criticism, some even when it's completely unfounded and they're not actually underperforming (Jorginho).
A good first season? I must have missed that. Irrespective, Kepa has completely hit the depths – he’s conceding a goal with every other shot that the opposition gets on target. This is an £80m goalie we are talking about, which is absolutely atrocious business.
Maybe for his level he had good season, which would have been average for any good GK.
Having played goalkeeer for close to 20 years, there are several things that Tifo video gets right about the position and nature of shot-stopping, especially near post efforts. The concept of “black holes” for one: I’m taller then Van der Sar, and I struggled the most with shots at my shoulders or close down by my feet - with those, I almost had to fall down rather than dive, which was a hard thing to train my body to do. You can’t spring off of one foot like you would for shots at the corners, or use your feet instinctively.
And all those little hops that keepers do to set themselves as much as possible? If I wasn’t set to make a dive to my near post, a quick shot would put me off balance. It doesn’t take much to have your weight going the wrong way. We’ve all seen how one little step in the wrong direction can prevent a keeper from making it across their goal during a free kick.
Regardless, Kepa has been poor, especially his refusal to come and claim corners. The man seems anchored to his goal line.
And all those little hops that keepers do to set themselves as much as possible? If I wasn’t set to make a dive to my near post, a quick shot would put me off balance. It doesn’t take much to have your weight going the wrong way. We’ve all seen how one little step in the wrong direction can prevent a keeper from making it across their goal during a free kick.
Regardless, Kepa has been poor, especially his refusal to come and claim corners. The man seems anchored to his goal line.