Definitelynotanotherref
SILVER ELITE
This may not be a popular opinion, but I am tired of the number of times I hear "you have to protect the keeper". I wouldn't mind if it was just players and parents complaining about this, but now I am starting to hear it from goalies as well. I believe this mindset/attitude is an obstacle to good keeping.
I was a keeper and played up through a small college. I am 5'9". For male keepers, I am tiny. So how did I play for so long at relatively high levels despite my physical impediment?
I came out, a lot. Because I wasn't large enough to stop shots from my goal line at the same level as a 6'5" keeper, my goal was to stop shots before they even occurred. This means most of my saves were 50/50 challenges. I also needed good enough geometrical awareness so I could cut off the best angle even when I was 10 yards off my line, but that is a different matter.
When I came out and dove at a players feet in the middle of a shot, I had zero fear. My goalie coach taught me: "If it comes down to your body vs their leg, your body will win every time". I believed this wholeheartedly and ran around with reckless abandon.
There was a memorable time when an attacker slid studs up on a 50/50 ball with me. A red card for him in some ages and leagues, a minimum yellow. His studs made contact with my stomach. But I wrapped my arms around the ball and his foot got caught in my stomach/arms/ball area. If I had no forward momentum, I would have been pushed back from the force of his kick/slide and would have taken the full force of the tackle. But because I myself was going full speed the opposite direction, his foot stopped at my stomach, but his body kept going past me.
I had a cleat shaped bruise on my stomach, but his leg was broken.
Goalies should go up in the air and down for 50/50 balls without any fear. If at any point they are hoping for a referee to bail them out, they have already lost. They have went up/down with the wrong mindset. If the slightest bit of contact is enough to throw them off their objective, they are in the wrong position and should join Neymar as an attacker.
Keepers are Kings on the field. They rule their box and the air inside it. Keepers shouldn't want or hope for protection from players; players should want protection from keepers.
I was a keeper and played up through a small college. I am 5'9". For male keepers, I am tiny. So how did I play for so long at relatively high levels despite my physical impediment?
I had good hands and had near perfect positioning, but that is kind of like the base necessities. My strength was
I had zero fear.I came out, a lot. Because I wasn't large enough to stop shots from my goal line at the same level as a 6'5" keeper, my goal was to stop shots before they even occurred. This means most of my saves were 50/50 challenges. I also needed good enough geometrical awareness so I could cut off the best angle even when I was 10 yards off my line, but that is a different matter.
When I came out and dove at a players feet in the middle of a shot, I had zero fear. My goalie coach taught me: "If it comes down to your body vs their leg, your body will win every time". I believed this wholeheartedly and ran around with reckless abandon.
There was a memorable time when an attacker slid studs up on a 50/50 ball with me. A red card for him in some ages and leagues, a minimum yellow. His studs made contact with my stomach. But I wrapped my arms around the ball and his foot got caught in my stomach/arms/ball area. If I had no forward momentum, I would have been pushed back from the force of his kick/slide and would have taken the full force of the tackle. But because I myself was going full speed the opposite direction, his foot stopped at my stomach, but his body kept going past me.
I had a cleat shaped bruise on my stomach, but his leg was broken.
Goalies should go up in the air and down for 50/50 balls without any fear. If at any point they are hoping for a referee to bail them out, they have already lost. They have went up/down with the wrong mindset. If the slightest bit of contact is enough to throw them off their objective, they are in the wrong position and should join Neymar as an attacker.
Keepers are Kings on the field. They rule their box and the air inside it. Keepers shouldn't want or hope for protection from players; players should want protection from keepers.