Yeah what a great player. He just exuded calm in a way you rarely get at that position.
Top 10 goalkeepers since 2000
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To name Howard, Fabianski, Foster, Hart and Lloris - and then later say 'I have no idea why DDG is on any of your lists' is a surprising shout.
They were all average to good PL keepers - Hart and Lloris had very good seasons and were more towards the elite but the rest shown they couldn't hack it at a top club and were solid GK's for mid-tables/lower European sides.
The first 3 would do well to crack a top 100 goalkeeper list since 2000.
I'd have a hard time putting them all in order but I'll have a crack at the ten best I can think of:
Neuer - not only because of the way he has revolutionised the sweeper keeper role but he's just an amazing keeper too. It goes to show you don't have to accept a lesser keeper for ball playing/sweeping ability (ahem Onana). Still remember that game he played against us for Schalke where it looked like it would be impossible to beat him until someone scored an offside goal and the spell was broken.
Buffon - obviously a legend for his longevity alone but some of the saves he could make were breath taking. Won pretty much everything and was clearly a leader on and off the pitch.
Cech - I'm seeing some revisionism going on here based on his latter years but he was absolutely unbelievable at his peak and still a great keeper for arsenal as his career wound down.
Van der Sar - another absolute legend of the game who played at the very top for most of his career. Such a safe pair of hands, such a calming presence for the defence. A massive part of the success of the team around that time. If only we could have got him straight from Juve to replace Schmeichel what could have been.
For me those four are the best by some distance in that time. The rest to follow I think were great keepers in some aspects but not as complete as the above.
Casillas - capable of unbelievable saves. I dont think you are undisputed number 1 for that Real time for so long without being amazing. I didnt get to see a huge amount of matches with him (outside of international tournaments and champions league) but as someone who enjoys seeing a good keeper as much as any position it was normally a treat. So fast across his line and so agile.
Courtois - another I haven't seem as much of but always seems unflappable and solid any time I do see him. Can get down quickly for low shots despite being such a big lad (again take note Onana) and seems to be dominant in the air.
David de Gea - yeah as my username suggests I was a big fan. I dont think his latter years (where he had clearly gone way down hill) should distract from how amazing he was at his peak. I think of all those memes we'd laugh at after another amazing performance where he'd pull put amazing save after amazing save. Through those darkest days under LVG and Moyes he would often keep us in games or save points with saves he had no right to make. The time was right for him to move on, the mistakes were becoming far too frequent, it's just a pity we replaced him at great expense with someone who's incredibly error prone and has some serious weaknesses to his game.
Allison - while it pains me to say it he's clearly an amazing keeper; capable of making amazing saves but also a great ball playing keeper. I won't go too far in my praise but have to admit he's a good one.
Khan - I'll have to squeeze him in here even though he was passed his peak by the 00's. He was another keeper it was a treat to get to watch back then. Crazy as a bag of frogs but just seemed so solid, another of those that when he was on it there seemed like some spell had been cast on the goal.
Victor Valdes - quite a few I'd consider for this final spot but I don't think Valdes roll in that all conquering Barca team should be overlooked. I dont think he was as good a shot stopper as those above but he was an unbelievable ball playing goalkeeper which was obviously a big factor in that barca team playing they way they did.
There we go that's me. In notice Onana is conspicuous in his absence from this list. I wonder if any of his fans from the performance thread will make it over her to make a case for him.
Neuer - not only because of the way he has revolutionised the sweeper keeper role but he's just an amazing keeper too. It goes to show you don't have to accept a lesser keeper for ball playing/sweeping ability (ahem Onana). Still remember that game he played against us for Schalke where it looked like it would be impossible to beat him until someone scored an offside goal and the spell was broken.
Buffon - obviously a legend for his longevity alone but some of the saves he could make were breath taking. Won pretty much everything and was clearly a leader on and off the pitch.
Cech - I'm seeing some revisionism going on here based on his latter years but he was absolutely unbelievable at his peak and still a great keeper for arsenal as his career wound down.
Van der Sar - another absolute legend of the game who played at the very top for most of his career. Such a safe pair of hands, such a calming presence for the defence. A massive part of the success of the team around that time. If only we could have got him straight from Juve to replace Schmeichel what could have been.
For me those four are the best by some distance in that time. The rest to follow I think were great keepers in some aspects but not as complete as the above.
Casillas - capable of unbelievable saves. I dont think you are undisputed number 1 for that Real time for so long without being amazing. I didnt get to see a huge amount of matches with him (outside of international tournaments and champions league) but as someone who enjoys seeing a good keeper as much as any position it was normally a treat. So fast across his line and so agile.
Courtois - another I haven't seem as much of but always seems unflappable and solid any time I do see him. Can get down quickly for low shots despite being such a big lad (again take note Onana) and seems to be dominant in the air.
David de Gea - yeah as my username suggests I was a big fan. I dont think his latter years (where he had clearly gone way down hill) should distract from how amazing he was at his peak. I think of all those memes we'd laugh at after another amazing performance where he'd pull put amazing save after amazing save. Through those darkest days under LVG and Moyes he would often keep us in games or save points with saves he had no right to make. The time was right for him to move on, the mistakes were becoming far too frequent, it's just a pity we replaced him at great expense with someone who's incredibly error prone and has some serious weaknesses to his game.
Allison - while it pains me to say it he's clearly an amazing keeper; capable of making amazing saves but also a great ball playing keeper. I won't go too far in my praise but have to admit he's a good one.
Khan - I'll have to squeeze him in here even though he was passed his peak by the 00's. He was another keeper it was a treat to get to watch back then. Crazy as a bag of frogs but just seemed so solid, another of those that when he was on it there seemed like some spell had been cast on the goal.
Victor Valdes - quite a few I'd consider for this final spot but I don't think Valdes roll in that all conquering Barca team should be overlooked. I dont think he was as good a shot stopper as those above but he was an unbelievable ball playing goalkeeper which was obviously a big factor in that barca team playing they way they did.
There we go that's me. In notice Onana is conspicuous in his absence from this list. I wonder if any of his fans from the performance thread will make it over her to make a case for him.
Fantastic, and the record he set for consecutive clean sheets is one I hope never gets broken.
Excluding keepers who are still active:
- Kahn
- Buffon
- Toldo
- Casillas
- Cech
- Van der Sar
- Dida
- Júlio César
- Valdés
- Ceni
1st tier are godlike men who surpassed earthly limits and the confines of the human body in order to reach new frontiers and redefine our ideas of what is actually achievable to humans:
Neuer
2nd tier are guys who are good goalkeepers. There’s tiers within here I’m too lazy to define:
Buffon
Cech
Kahn
Van der Sar
Curtois
Allison
Oblak
Casillas
Dida
Neuer
2nd tier are guys who are good goalkeepers. There’s tiers within here I’m too lazy to define:
Buffon
Cech
Kahn
Van der Sar
Curtois
Allison
Oblak
Casillas
Dida
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I'm pretty tired after a workout, so when I quickly glanced, I thought it said "top 100" 
A keeper's gotta save, so let's look at best 5-year periods from each of the ones mentioned so far (League/CL only):
source: fbref.com
De Gea's incredible 2017/18-season (82,6%) was great, but for Cech and VDS that would just be a regular season.
I saw nobody had mentioned one of my non-United favorites growing up in Canizares so I added him as well. Fantastic keeper.
Also, Casillas was by far the hardest working keeper, no wonder he was raking in personal accolades.
| Player | Club(s) | From | To | Games | Shots | Saved | Conceded | Save % |
| Cech | Chelsea | 2004 | 2009 | 197 | 766 | 642 | 124 | 83,81 % |
| van der Sar | Man United | 2005 | 2010 | 197 | 813 | 668 | 145 | 82,16 % |
| Dida | Milan | 2002 | 2007 | 215 | 826 | 668 | 158 | 80,87 % |
| Oblak | Atletico Madrid | 2015 | 2020 | 227 | 721 | 578 | 143 | 80,17 % |
| Cesar | Inter | 2005 | 2010 | 209 | 857 | 685 | 172 | 79,93 % |
| Canizares | Valencia | 2000 | 2005 | 200 | 792 | 626 | 166 | 79,04 % |
| Neuer | Bayern | 2012 | 2017 | 211 | 650 | 509 | 141 | 78,31 % |
| Buffon | Parma/Juventus | 2000 | 2005 | 209 | 813 | 633 | 180 | 77,86 % |
| Kahn | Bayern | 2001 | 2006 | 202 | 790 | 608 | 182 | 76,96 % |
| Casillas | Real Madrid | 2001 | 2006 | 222 | 1042 | 800 | 242 | 76,78 % |
| Valdes | Barcelona | 2004 | 2009 | 229 | 816 | 626 | 190 | 76,72 % |
| Alisson | Roma/Liverpool | 2017 | 2022 | 222 | 713 | 532 | 181 | 74,61 % |
| Courtois | Real Madrid | 2018 | 2023 | 213 | 777 | 574 | 203 | 73,87 % |
| de Gea | Man United | 2015 | 2020 | 203 | 782 | 574 | 208 | 73,40 % |
| Lloris | Spurs | 2016 | 2021 | 183 | 731 | 534 | 197 | 73,05 % |
| Ederson | Man City | 2018 | 2023 | 229 | 566 | 390 | 176 | 68,90 % |
De Gea's incredible 2017/18-season (82,6%) was great, but for Cech and VDS that would just be a regular season.
I saw nobody had mentioned one of my non-United favorites growing up in Canizares so I added him as well. Fantastic keeper.
Also, Casillas was by far the hardest working keeper, no wonder he was raking in personal accolades.
What about Ter Stegen? Hasn't been mentioned yet but there aren't many who combine traditional goal keeping qualities with elite ability on the ball like he does.
Save % is a flawed statistic for the reason that playing style will determine the type of save that needs to be made.
Bayern’s high lines under Guardiola meant that Neuer was confronted with 1v1s usually which he often had to diffuse by coming off his line.
Low block defenses like Chelsea meant that Cech was usually confronted with distance shots or powerless headers.
Cech nevertheless is a phenomenal goalkeeper and one of the best of his time.
Bayern’s high lines under Guardiola meant that Neuer was confronted with 1v1s usually which he often had to diffuse by coming off his line.
Low block defenses like Chelsea meant that Cech was usually confronted with distance shots or powerless headers.
Cech nevertheless is a phenomenal goalkeeper and one of the best of his time.
Nah, Kahn was still ridiculously good in the early 2000s. His performance in the 2002 world cup where he almost singlehandedly dragged a godawful German team all the way to the finals is unforgettable. Definitely deserves a placement in the top 10 for me. Maybe not in the upper half, but certainly somewhere in the list.
For me:
Neuer
Buffon
van der Sar
following are in no particular order:
Čech
ter Stegen
Oblak
Kahn
Casillas
Alisson
Cesar
great post
Santiago Canizares always seems to get overlooked in lists like this.
Would rank the save he made from Ballack as arguably the best I've ever seen (certainly against us). Think I remember an equally stupid one against Gerrard when he was one on one from point blank (maybe a Liverpool fan here can confirm if I'm remembering right or not).
Would rank the save he made from Ballack as arguably the best I've ever seen (certainly against us). Think I remember an equally stupid one against Gerrard when he was one on one from point blank (maybe a Liverpool fan here can confirm if I'm remembering right or not).