Manuel Neuer

Oneunited26

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He is easily the best goalie at the moment. He has the presence and the command to give his defence huge confidence in him. And he forestalls danger by successfully doing things that no other keeper would dare to try. I like how he reads the game in front of him and sets the team on the counter attack as soon as he collects the ball instead of holding on to it for 10 or 15 seconds like most keepers.
He is the best keeper I have seen since the great dane, and at his current age he could become one of the best ever.
 

Isotope

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Who had done more with 28? And he turned 28 a few months ago.
Kahn, Buffon, Iker.
He is on their level now. Amazing. And how long can he play? 12 years?
Agree with Kazi. Barring injury he has the mind and talent to become the best ever.
I don't think he's reached peak Buffon yet. Buffon at his peak is just something else.
Although I'm impressed with Neuer reading and anticipation of the game. I haven't seen one do it consistently over a tournament. Just look at this beauty...

 
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Lothar

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I don't think he's reached peak Buffon yet. Buffon at his peak is just something else.
Although I'm impressed with Neuer reading and anticipation of the game. I haven't seen one do it consistently over a tournament. Just look at this beauty...

This is a good example of Neuer's strategy since it looks to have a decent chance of going wrong. If the trajectory of that ball is sligthly lower the attacker will, depending on his touch, have an open goal in front of him. He may miss, he may have a bad touch and send it over the line, so let's say he's got a 80% chance of scoring if Neuer misses. Let's be pessimistic and say that happens 30% of the time. That's about 25% chance of goal for each time this situation occurs.

Then let's say Neuer stays. Argentina will most likely get that ball and get it good. It will either be a shot or a cross. A big goal scoring opportunity. Depending on the players involved we have a high chance of either goal, corner or penalty. Maybe as much as 50/50, probably higher than 25.

And as long as that number stays over 25 Neuer is making an optimal play. Doesn't matter that he will miss some of the time, that's part of it. And given that he's gone pretty much an entire tournament without cocking up, the real numbers for those situations are probably 90+ in his favor. If that is the case, and we play around a little with these numbers, he can reduce the chance of conceding from maybe 25-50% down to 8-10%. Do that over a season and we're talking a lot of goals.
 

The Mitcher

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Its only a matter of time before one of Neur's sweeper keeper forays results in a goal. I know its probably happened, but I can imagine the response already...still, he's better than Hart and Lloris at it, just its good for my heart when a goalkeeper does it less often.
 

NMF

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Its only a matter of time before one of Neur's sweeper keeper forays results in a goal. I know its probably happened, but I can imagine the response already...still, he's better than Hart and Lloris at it, just its good for my heart when a goalkeeper does it less often.
Lloris does it to much and at the wrong times far to often.
 

Balu

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Its only a matter of time before one of Neur's sweeper keeper forays results in a goal. I know its probably happened, but I can imagine the response already...still, he's better than Hart and Lloris at it, just its good for my heart when a goalkeeper does it less often.
You get used to it. After a while when you watch other teams concede goals in 1on1s, you start realising how often that sweeping prevents these situations and how rarely it costs a goal in comparison, especially if you play a high defensive line. There's also the side effect that strikers start to panic infront of goal, expecting a huge goalkeeper rushing at them and therefore often making bad decisions. That's something you have to earn as a goalkeeper. In the beginning I was way more nervous that Neuer is in constant danger of a red card with his sweeping, but his timing is so brilliant and his awareness of what's happening as well, so that even if he mistimes a sweep, he still won't commit a foul outside the box.

I would be surprised if de Gea doesn't make a significant development in that direction under van Gaal by the way. De Gea is really talented on the ball and van Gaal always prefered sweeper keepers over normal ones and brought his own goalkeeping coach with him, in my opinion for exactly that reason.

This is probably the most beautiful goal Neuer conceded after a sweeping gone wrong moment:


Well, what can you do, when Stankovic hits a volley from the half way line perfectly. He's still doing those crazy header clearances though ;). It's another thing I really love about him. He trusts his judgement and even after mistakes is instantly back to his cocky self.
 

kclord

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In regards to his collision with Higuain, a goalkeeper will more often than not will be protected by the referee in his own area. I loved it when watching it live: it's decisive and emphatic. I would liken it to a blocked shot in basketball that's sent to the stands instead of keeping it in play. It's not a smart play, per se, but it sends a message to the attacking team: don't come in my penalty area unless you expect to get rocked.

I immediately thought of Schumacher and Battiston, sure, but Neuer clearly makes contact with the ball first. Schumacher only wanted to take Battiston out.
 

anchan1989

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I don't think he's reached peak Buffon yet. Buffon at his peak is just something else.
Although I'm impressed with Neuer reading and anticipation of the game. I haven't seen one do it consistently over a tournament. Just look at this beauty...
Yeah. Buffon was amazing. Man Utd is on the highest level. But Buffon could have been better with 28. Lets hope that Man Utd is the best when the career is over. ;)
 

Plugsy

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He stops goal scoring situations before they develop. One time in five hundred he may rush out and miss the ball and it leads to an embarrassing goal but that will pale into insignificance the number of times he's stopped play developing into clear-cut goal scoring opportunities for the opposition.
 

Kentonio

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Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather have a rather more traditional keeper. Neuer would give me nightmares watching every watch..
 

Bazi

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Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather have a rather more traditional keeper. Neuer would give me nightmares watching every watch..
You'll get used to it, once you realize how very few errors he's actually making. For the last two years I can't recall a single failed sweeping attempt which led to a goal. He will drop 1-2 corner kicks per season or try to catch a shot out of overconfidence (like against Hannover when we were up 5-0), but outside the box he's been close to perfection. For the last two years I've never felt so calm and at ease with any Bayern goalkeeper and that's including the likes of Pfaff and Oliver Kahn.
 

anchan1989

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List of keepers who won the treble, the world cup and every trophy in a top 4 league while playing in all those wins as Nr 1.

Neuer, Manuel
 

africanspur

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Lloris does it to much and at the wrong times far to often.
I don't think that at all tbh. I think Lloris is excellent at it, unfortunately last season he was exposed slightly more than any keeper should be with the way we played.

I would take one of this style of keeper over the traditional style (as long as they're good at it of course). When it does go wrong, the concede a goal/ penalty/ red card and look like complete idiots but the amount of situations they save before it even gets to that is well worth the few mistakes they make per season.
 

Gio

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List of keepers who won the treble, the world cup and every trophy in a top 4 league while playing in all those wins as Nr 1.

Neuer, Manuel
You could add Gilmar if the Brazilian league(s) was considered top 4 in 1962.
 

Dante

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List of keepers who won the treble, the world cup and every trophy in a top 4 league while playing in all those wins as Nr 1.

Neuer, Manuel
Schmeichel won the European Championship rather than the World Cup, but then he didn't play for a world class side like Germany. He did, however, win the league title in three different countries. And the Intertoto Cup.

Neuer is rash and overrated, imho.
 

Sphaero

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Schmeichel won the European Championship rather than the World Cup, but then he didn't play for a world class side like Germany. He did, however, win the league title in three different countries. And the Intertoto Cup.

Neuer is rash and overrated, imho.
Rash is probably one of the worst words to describe him. Neuer possesses an extremely strong mentality and confidence in his abilities to the point that he even takes penalties in important matches himself. Sometimes his goal keeping even comes across as arrogant because of how effortless and ice cold it looks.

Furthermore rash would implicate that Neuer plays at least partly based on emotions or feelings, when he is one of the most calculating keeper on the planet. You can´t play like him and have such an high success rate in terms of sweeping if you don´t do it based on nothing but pure anticipation. Neuer judges a situation taking in account the speed of the ball, himself, the opposing player and the involved distances and then decides to go for it or not. Every trained GK can do that to an extend, but what makes Neuer truly special in that regard is his level of accuracy. He can judge so accurately that it allows him to go for sweeps with little to no buffer/safety zone, which are situations that other GK would not touch, not because they can´t reach it but rather because they deem it as too risky. It is a truly rare and impressive ability, more so than some might even think.

In terms of Neuer being overrated, the only times this could be up to depate would be comparisions between him and past keepers. In terms of active keepers he is quite simply the best and even more clearly most complete in the world right now and this is basically universially acknowledged by players, coaches and experts. There is probably no other position in world football right now which is so firmly taken by a player as the top position among the Goalkeeper.
 

Jammydodger7

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I don't think he's reached peak Buffon yet. Buffon at his peak is just something else.
Although I'm impressed with Neuer reading and anticipation of the game. I haven't seen one do it consistently over a tournament. Just look at this beauty...

I could watch that all day ha....any videos of his performances the whole way through he WC floating around?
 

Isotope

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I could watch that all day ha....any videos of his performances the whole way through he WC floating around?
Google is your friend. heh.. Also if anyone noticed that when he jumped, Neuer's knee was also high. Luckily the attacker was a bit smart to not challenge the Gk.
 

Amar__

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He really wasn't and I'm pretty sure that stats would back that up, but I'm too lazy to look for them right now. Neuer is also even more involved in the build-up at Bayern than Valdes was at Barca.
I know I am late few years with my reply, but I disagree, Valdes' distribution is much more impressive, at least for me. I have seen the stats, but I am not sure they are telling too much, especially those for long balls considering Bayern had the likes of Mandzukic, Müller and Robben receiving those long balls, and Valdes had Messi, Pedro, Sanchez or Neymar receiving them, and I am sure we'll agree which lot is more impressive in the air. Also Bundesliga keepers in general had better passing stats than those in La Liga which could be saying that they are under bigger pressure from oppontent forwards(it could be saying they are better with the ball at their feet too though).
Someone should ask Guardiola who out of those 2 is better with the ball.
 

anchan1989

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Voted Player of the year in Germany.
Well deserved. He was great through the whole season.
And with 28 just at the start of his great years.
 

PedroMendez

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After struggling in his first season, he stepped up and became worldclass. The worldcup clearly gave him a boost in confidence. He is playing on a incredible level this season. Forwards have to do something special to score against him.

I dont want to jinx it, but this season could go down as one of the best goalkeeper performances in the last 20 years.
 
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Bazi

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That's one of the many reasons why he is considered the best goalkeeper in the world:

 

izec

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He just throws himslef around, even if he doesnt know if he will save it or not. All the other goalkeepers wait and pretend that it was unsavable, while Neuer anticipates and tries to save them even though they are unsavable. Even for the Gervinho goal he threw himself and hoped he had a chance to save it, he didnt but in the case above he saved a goal that no other keeper could save. What a keeper, will go down as one of the best if not the best one.
 

Rykker_4united

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Keep Rodgers at Pool.
someone in the match day thread said that it was shot right at him and it was an easy save :lol:

He's one of the best goalies ever.
 

SonnyTheHaloPro

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He looks absolutely menacing between the goal posts, he could very well go on and become the greatest goalkeeper of all time.
 

BobbyManc

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someone in the match day thread said that it was shot right at him and it was an easy save :lol:

He's one of the best goalies ever.
Ermm, they were right. It looks an incredible save at first viewing but then you actually look at it properly and Gervinho kicks it right into the middle of Neuer. It's right at his chest. And I'm not trying to detract from Neuer, he is the worlds best keeper, no doubt about that. But seriously, that save is nothing.
 

Rykker_4united

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Keep Rodgers at Pool.
Ermm, they were right. It looks an incredible save at first viewing but then you actually look at it properly and Gervinho kicks it right into the middle of Neuer. It's right at his chest. And I'm not trying to detract from Neuer, he is the worlds best keeper, no doubt about that. But seriously, that save is nothing.
I would love to see you step out there and save that. I'd love it.
 

Rykker_4united

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Keep Rodgers at Pool.
Who would you say is better then? Remember, Neuer is only 28. He could easily become one of the best and already doesn't look out I place in the discussion of 'best 'keeper ever'
best ever? No. Schmeichel, Van Der Sar, Buffon, Banks, etc.