It is always a talking point amongst
football critics, mates down the pub and the endless groups of Monday “experts”
gathering around the water coolers, building sites and tearooms all around the
globe. “Who is the best?” It is what makes us who we are, separates us from our
peers and defines our character. Rather than compare keepers from different
eras, I will dissect the stats from the most popular leagues in Europe to come up
with the current top five in keepers in each and open it up to the floor for
discussion. One thing is for certain that fans rarely agree and everyone has
their own favourite. They may not come from the stats book, but rather from the
heart or from a deep emotional club bond or National pride that is harder to
crack than a piece of “Corelle” crockery.
In my opinion I have chosen from
Europe’s four most hardened football leagues towards inclusion towards this
most subjective of selection exercises. The English Premier League is a given,
followed by Spain’s La Liga; Germany’s Bundesliga, and Italy’s Serie A. I would
have included the Dutch Eredivisie but trying to gain detailed stats for goalkeepers
is proving harder to find than a left handed football. For now I will stick with “arguably” the big
four and in future editions may move the focus onto Ligue 1 (France);
Eredivisie (Dutch); Superligean (Danish) and Spor Toto Super Lig (Turkey).
For the purpose of the exercise,
I will take the top five keepers from each league based on clean sheets
recorded (often used as a bench mark of a keeper’s quality), but not the only measure
as it does not always reveal a keeper’s real worth based on the work rate the
keeper may have endured throughout a tough season. i.e.: shots faced/goals
allowed. The average minutes between goals conceded is another fine measure so
together with clean sheets will go part of the way in determining the worth of
a keeper. Again the results are up for discussion, analysis and cross-examination.
There is certainly no right or wrong answer but an interesting window to the
world of what makes a fine keeper. More often than not though the cream of the
keeping elite does tend to rise to the top of the stats sheet.
English Premier League after 26 rounds (Min 10 games to qualify)
Top
5 Clean Sheets
Joe Hart 11 (Manchester City)
Simon Mignolet 9 (Sunderland)
Asmir Begovic 9 (Stoke City)
Petr Cech 9 (Chelsea)
Pepe Reina 8 (Liverpool)
Top
5 Average minutes between goals conceded
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) 102.8
mins 16 games
Joe Hart (Manchester City) 97.5
mins 26 games
Gerherd Tremmel (Swansea City)
92.8 mins 12 games
Petr Cech (Chelsea) 84.6 mins 24
games
David De Gea (Manchester United)
81.00 mins 18 games
Top
5 shots to goals conceded
Gerhard Tremmel (Swansea City)
(168 shots/11 goals = Avg. 15.27 shots)
David De Gea (Manchester United)
(235 shots/20 goals = Avg. 11.75 shots
Simon Mignolet (Sunderland) 399
shots/34 goals = Avg. 11.74 shots
Julio Cesar (QPR) (287 shots/25
goals = Avg. 11.48 shots
Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)
(278 shots/25 goals = Avg. 11.12 shots
German
Bundesliga after 22 Rounds (Min 10 games played to qualify)
Top
5 Clean Sheets
Manuel Neuer (Bayern München) 16
Oliver Baumann (SC Freiburg) 9
Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia
Dortmund) 7
Fabian Giefer (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
7
Rene Adler (Hamburger SV) 6
Top
5 Average minutes between goals conceded
Manuel Neuer (Bayern München)
282.8 mins 22 games
Oliver Baumann (SC Freiburg) 90
mins 22 games
Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia
Dortmund) 78.75 mins 21 games
Christian Wetklo (FSV Mainz 05)
73.20 mins
Lars Unnerstall (FC Schalke 04)
73.13 mins
Top
5 shots to goals conceded
Manuel Neuer (Bayern München) 162
shots/7 goals = Avg. 23.14 shots
Rene Adler (Hamburger SV) 305
shots/27 goals = Avg. 11.30 shots
Oliver Baumann (SC Freiburg) 218
shots/22 goals = Avg. 9.91 shots
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
(Mönchengladbach) 292 shots/31 goals = Avg. 9.42 shots Fabian Giefer (Fortuna
Düsseldorf) 273 shots/29 goals = Avg. 9.41 shots
Spanish
La Liga after 24 Rounds (min 10 games played to qualify)
Top
5 Clean Sheets
Thibaut Courtois (Atlético
Madrid) 11
Willy Caballero (Málaga) 10
Andrés (Osasuna) 9
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 8
Adrián (Betis) 7
Top
5 Average minutes between goals conceded
Willy Caballero (Málaga) 102.86
mins 24 games
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
100.12 mins 19 games
Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid)
94.29 mins 22 games
Andrés (Osasuna) 80 mins 24 games
Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) 80 mins
24 games
Top
5 shots to goals conceded
Willy Caballero (Málaga) 259
shots/21 goals = Avg. 12.33 shots
Dani Hernández (Valladolid) 220
shots/22 goals = Avg. 10 shots
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 169
shots/17 goals = Avg. 9.94 shots
Andrés (Osasuna) 250 shots/ 27
goals = Avg. 9.26 shots
Toño (Granada) 239 shots/26 goals
= Avg. 9.19 shots
Serie
A after 25 Rounds (min 10 games played to qualify)
Top
5 Clean Sheets
Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli) 10
Mariano Andújar (Catania) 9
Gianluca Pegolo (Siena) 9
Federico Marchetti (Lazio) 9
Jean Francois Gillet (Torino) 9
Top
5 Average minutes between goals conceded
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
121.76 mins 23 games
Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli) 107.14
25 mins 25 games
Federico Marchetti (Lazio) 106.88
mins 19 games
Christian Abbiati (AC Milan)
84.71 mins 16 games
Sergio Romero (Sampdoria) 82.22
mins 22 games
Top
5 shots to goals conceded
Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli) 317
shots/21 goals = Avg. 15.10 shots
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 228
shots/17 goals = Avg. 13.41 shots
Federico Marchetti (Lazio) 213
shots/16 goals = Avg. 13.31 shots
Sergio Romero (Sampdoria) 290
shots/23 goals = Avg. 12.61 shots
Zeljko Brkic (Udinese) 253
shots/21 goals = Avg. 12.05 shots
Based on how each keeper ranks I
have compiled a final list of the top keeper from each league.
· EPL
Joe Hart (Manchester
City)
· Bundesliga Manuel Neuer (Bayern München)
· La
Liga Willy Caballero (Málaga)
· Serie
A Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
So there you have it. What do you
think? I welcome your criticisms, concerns and if there another measures you
could use or add to the mix, I wanna hear from you!
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