I can't believe people are saying De Gea, best shot stopper? Sure. Best keeper, not even close. Ederson is a much better all-round player and Alison, while a bit error-prone is still much better because of the confidence he gives his defence with his proactive style. De Gea is a big problem for us, people just get fooled by the odd wonder save.
Best Goalkeeper in the league
- Thread starter MZX7
- Start date
I agree with that, he's an incredibly flashy keeper on his best days and to be fair to him, his form has definitely picked up this season compared to the last few. Still think he's a massive issue though and causes our CBs to get much more stick than they otherwise should with his rooted to the line approach.
I’d say Alisson / Ederson / De Gea are all fairly equal in the top bracket if you look at performance / longevity.
I’d have people like Mendy / Martinez / Pope / Sanchez in the bracket below.
I’d say this season Ramsdale has probably been the best so far.
I’d have people like Mendy / Martinez / Pope / Sanchez in the bracket below.
I’d say this season Ramsdale has probably been the best so far.
Dave's made a few saves and seems to have regained his shot-stopping capabilities so far this season but he isn't the best keeper in the league.
Far too harsh on De Gea this season. De Gea has had as good a season as those two. De Gea could be more commanding, sure, but the biggest problem with De Gea vs his peak is that he was throwing in howlers every 5 games for the past few seasons. He's stopped doing that, Atalanta aside. He's not a big problem at all, on current form. If he starts throwing the ball into the net again like previous 1-2 seasons then yes he is a problem, but on current form he isn't.
Ederson is a good footballer but he doesn't have to do anything. He's faced less than 25 shots all season! That's the Man City system. Alisson is a superior keeper to Ederson in my opinion at all aspects of being a goalkeeper and could fit into any team. Alisson is the best in the league in my opinion, then Ederson or De Gea. But if De Gea gets back to his form of 5 years ago, then he's up there with Alisson.
It's really not harsh at all. It's fairly safe to say he isn't getting his mid to late 20s reflexes back and his all-round game is worse than Alisson or Ederson.
Looking at the stats Sa and Mendy are right up there this season but it's only December. We'll have to see how they do over the season, much like we'll see if Dave's sorted out whatever issues he had for the long-term or not.
I’d agree with this, and the stats don’t really prove anything - GK is a very subjective call. Meslier and Krul have made the most saves, but have also conceded the most goals which tells you more about the defence in front of them than the keeper. Nobody is claiming Krul is the best. DDG has the most Pk saves but that was only 1 game and was a bit of an anomaly in itself!
For me Alisson probably pips it. DDG is right up there this season and Meslier is decent in a defensively poor team. Ederson has little to do and is generally solid but seems prone to silly mistakes and over confidence like the goal McSauce scored against him.
In current form Alison, Ederson....then perhaps Ramsdale. I love De Gea as a pure shot stopper but he still has so many glaring weaknesses to his game.
Not for me. Football has changed and personally, I wouldn't even want peak De Gea in our goal anymore. He's just too passive and always has been. Give me VDS any day despite the fact he was never as spectacular a shot-stopper, he used to stabilise the defence in front of him in a way De Gea simply never has. I sound harsh on De Gea and he's a legend for me at this club so I don't want to downplay him but he's just not good enough at the other elements of the game. I reckon we concede an extra 10 - 15 goals a season from crosses and corners alone with him in net compared to a keeper who comes off his line and claims crosses and sweeps up behind the defence better.
He's only recently turned 31 though, he's not 36. The save from Pukki in the last game for example, there was nothing wrong with his athleticism. Mendy has also been excellent I agree. Haven't seen a lot of Wolves games to rate Sa. I just find it hard to rate Ederson too highly, before the last game he had to make only 21 saves and of them, he was worse than average for stopping them. Not much to do, not amazing when he had to do it isn't a great combination. I will say that Ederson is a unique keeper though, his kicking is by far the best in the league, so he brings other aspects.
Ok fair enough I got my maths wrong, as I'm supposed to be working, but the point still stands I feel and the real situation is arguably worse. Your reflexes from your early to mid-20s are not something you're going to get back in your 30s.
Just to point out the other poster and myself have both talked about Ederson's overall game when compared with De Gea, not his shot-stopping ability.
With Ederson it is a bit hard to judge, as you say he doesn't face a lot of shots so if you put him in a poorer team where he was more active that may increase. He is a bit unique and seems perfectly suited to City.
De Gea best in the league is madness. He has too many weaknesses in his game. Making brilliant saves, he’s probably near the top for sure. But I wouldn’t pick him if every goalkeeper was available in the EPL
Martinez at Villa is the best in the league followed by Mendy at Chelsea. Then De Gea (current form), Allisson, Ramsdale and Ederson.
Ok current form I would say he is.
He's definitely the best shot-stopper at the moment.
Agreed. There’s nobody else so great at keeping the ball out of the net. Other issues, fair enough, he’s not the best. It all comes down to what you want from your goalkeeper, I guess, and in a certain way, to taste….
De Gea.
Keepers is always hard to judge, Ederson, Allison looks impressive and so does Mendy, but not getting 20 shots a match blamed at you helps them massively.
Some keepers who get their goals battered may have no chance with goals their conceding.
Ramsdale has looked good for arsenal this season, de gea has got better as the season has gone on.
But some mid table/lower table keepers have probably kept their teams in games and won their teams games just as much as this mentioned above.
So after that, best keeper in the league: feck knows.
Some keepers who get their goals battered may have no chance with goals their conceding.
Ramsdale has looked good for arsenal this season, de gea has got better as the season has gone on.
But some mid table/lower table keepers have probably kept their teams in games and won their teams games just as much as this mentioned above.
So after that, best keeper in the league: feck knows.
Only 16 games though. I'm reluctant to say he's back just yet and I would still prefer a keeper who does all of the other stuff to a high level a modern goalie needs to do: sweeping, coming for crosses, accurate long passing to beat the press, and being totally comfortable passing the ball around at the back.
Incredibly bizarre logic seeing people suggest DDG is anywhere near the best goalkeeper in the league. Sure, he's a great shotstopper but there is an awful lot more to goalkeeping that people seem to miss and there have been an awful lot of goals conceded over the past couple of months (the period everyone seems to be going on about him being in great form!) that we simply would not have conceded if we'd had half the other keepers in the league.
Also regarding the amount of shots conceded, if your defence have to play deep because their goalkeeper doesn't come off his line to support them, then you will generally get more shots against you because you're allowing the opposition more of the ball closer to your goal.
Also regarding the amount of shots conceded, if your defence have to play deep because their goalkeeper doesn't come off his line to support them, then you will generally get more shots against you because you're allowing the opposition more of the ball closer to your goal.
De Gea might be one of or the best shot stoppers in the league but there's no way he's the best overall goalkeeper.
Chance prevention (claiming and sweeping) & distribution matter a lot. For example someone like Ederson prevents approx. 7.5 goals a season more than De Gea through sweeping/claiming. Which means De Gea doesn't just have to overperform him in shot-stopping for parity, he has to overperform him by a lot. And then there's distribution on top of that. It's easy to say someone like Ederson only looks good because of City's system, but De Gea would struggle to function in that system because he doesn't have the skillset required. Ederson benefits from a system he is a key part of.
So while De Gea's shot stopping has been excellent this season, it's massively offset by the things he doesn't do because he gives ground on sweeping/claiming to nearly every other goalkeeper in the league. And it isn't a case of "it depends on what you want from a keeper", because nobody wants more goals conceded.
And I say that as one of De Gea's biggest fans on this forum. He's just too one-dimensional. But because people see goals prevented by saves in a way they don't see goals presented through claims/sweeping, they don't weigh those skills against each other properly.
That isn't to say De Gea couldn't be one of or the best goalkeepers in the league in a given season if he manages to sustain a freakishly high shot-stopping rate, but over the long run you just can't do that.
Chance prevention (claiming and sweeping) & distribution matter a lot. For example someone like Ederson prevents approx. 7.5 goals a season more than De Gea through sweeping/claiming. Which means De Gea doesn't just have to overperform him in shot-stopping for parity, he has to overperform him by a lot. And then there's distribution on top of that. It's easy to say someone like Ederson only looks good because of City's system, but De Gea would struggle to function in that system because he doesn't have the skillset required. Ederson benefits from a system he is a key part of.
So while De Gea's shot stopping has been excellent this season, it's massively offset by the things he doesn't do because he gives ground on sweeping/claiming to nearly every other goalkeeper in the league. And it isn't a case of "it depends on what you want from a keeper", because nobody wants more goals conceded.
And I say that as one of De Gea's biggest fans on this forum. He's just too one-dimensional. But because people see goals prevented by saves in a way they don't see goals presented through claims/sweeping, they don't weigh those skills against each other properly.
That isn't to say De Gea couldn't be one of or the best goalkeepers in the league in a given season if he manages to sustain a freakishly high shot-stopping rate, but over the long run you just can't do that.
Surely best "overall" keeper means the keeper that impacts the result in the biggest way and no other keeper is close to De Gea in that respect. He kept Ole in a job way longer than he should, even after that he won us 3 points at Norwich. His contributions surpass any fancy footwork from Allison and Ederson who are top keepers but in terms of impacting results, De Gea is back to being No1.
Look at his latest game. Coach and defence means a lot for the keeper as well. He was much more of his line which could point towards Rangnick to making a difference.
Also De Gea has a much worse defence in front of him.
De Gea gets better the shitter our team is.
Reactive vs Proactive.
Good player but I do think the fax machine thst broke on transfer final day made us the looser and not the winner.
Reactive vs Proactive.
Good player but I do think the fax machine thst broke on transfer final day made us the looser and not the winner.
Agreed. Too many significant weaknesses to his game to be the best. Best shotstopper though and he's top five in the league for sure
How can you seriously claim that the GK who is part of the 5th worst defence that concedes the 5th most chances and has the 9th worst save % is the best GK in the league?
For me a goalkeeper is not just a defensive player anymore - just like alot of modern CB'S need to have the ability on the ball.
That's just the attacking side.
Then there is the defensive side where he is arguably the weakest player for us in opposition corners and free kicks. When it is taken and de Gea doesn't react - it literally turns in to a crazy taxi game.
Whilst he has been good this season - I genuinely think he is a player that will surprise many when we finally get a new goalkeeper and find out that he can help the rest of the 10 players on the pitch more so than De Gea ever did.
Why are saves made on the goal line the only thing a keeper can do to impact the result? What about rushing out to prevent a through ball from reaching a forward behind the defence? What about claiming a corner kick to prevent it reaching the head of an opponent in the box? What about finding a teammate with a long pass putting him through on goal (such as Ederson is capable of doing) or even simply being instrumental in beating a press playing out from the back which leads to goals at the other end?
Very narrow view of impact.
What metric (or metrics) are you using to determine which keeper impacts the result the most?
As others have said determining the best goalkeeper is a tricky one and I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.
That fancy footwork, you don't seem to rate very much, ensures that their teams can play a higher line, beat the press, retain possession better and give away fewer chances so they have fewer shots to save. I think that constitutes impacting the result of the game.
Exactly. And over the course of the season, De Gea's poor sweeping, claiming and limited distribution have a serious negative impact. Just because you can't point to it as easily as a dramatic save that doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't negatively impacting results. It means that if you compare De Gea to the likes of Ederson/Alisson, the former concedes extra goals every few games that the latter two don't because they've prevented the chance from ever occurring.
But being a keeper who's dormant for most of the match then doing the business when called into action is not only a skill in itself, it's the most important skill as a keeper for teams looking to win the league.
Many keepers who thrive at being the keeper who makes multiple supersaves couldn't adjust to being a largely dormant and staying alert ready for when needed type keeper, Cudicini and Given two examples.
Another example being De Gea for Spain at the WC 2018.
Thank the heavens most of the posters in this thread aren’t ManUtd manager. We’d be 14th but with a keeper who comes off his line quicker and kicks the occassional through ball to the striker.
The amount of disrespect DDG gets on this forum is baffling really. He’s still top 3 in the world for me. Oblak is the clear #1, Nuer second and then DDG/Ter stegan/Mendy and Allison are all so close so tied for 3rd IMO but DDG and Ter stegan are slighly better than the other two.
The amount of disrespect DDG gets on this forum is baffling really. He’s still top 3 in the world for me. Oblak is the clear #1, Nuer second and then DDG/Ter stegan/Mendy and Allison are all so close so tied for 3rd IMO but DDG and Ter stegan are slighly better than the other two.
From those in prem Emi Martinez achieved the most internationally and back to his best with us in last few weeks after conceding a few soft goals in October.
I'd take Ederson over anyone right now
De Gea is far too limited in certain areas to be considered the best
De Gea is far too limited in certain areas to be considered the best
Dave is back to his best so he will do for me.
The thing holding Alisson back is his complacency with distribution. He’s way too casual at times and lacks the long pass accuracy of Ederson or dare I say Ramsdale.
I do think Ederson and Alisson are the two best in the league currently though. De Gea looks back to his best.
I do think Ederson and Alisson are the two best in the league currently though. De Gea looks back to his best.
Mate as a fellow American you are not doing us a service here with takes like this. Oblak has been in staggeringly bad form this season (genuinely amongst the worst in Europe in terms of shot stopping), and Ter Stegan has been below par for 3 seasons now.
That said, the most ridiculous take is that De Gea is a top 3 keeper in the world. Do you actually think that there are only two teams in the world who'd be unwilling to swap their keeper for De Gea?
Thank the heavens you’re no football manager either. Your assessment is completely off. Oblak isn’t the clear #1 and Ter Stegan hasn’t been in the conversation for the world’s best since about 2019. DDG is nowhere near being the 3rd best keeper in the world either.