Goalkeepers- an interesting breed goalkeepers are. Some days they either make or brake a team. Other times you only catch a glimpse of your keeper when the camera man quickly passes by the starting line up at the beginning of the match. And that's just the starting goal keepers, who usually is your best goalie and then you have the backup who came from the youth system. If it wasn't hard enough for the kid on the bench to get some attention it's even harder as teams are fascinated with the idea of switching keepers for competitions. As you know this involves having multiple quality goal keepers and allotting one to play the league and the other to play the cup matches. It seems to be a good idea right? Look how many teams are being successful with it; especially treble winners Barcelona who won La Liga with Claudio Bravo and Champions League and Copa del Rey with Marc-André ter Stegen. It seems to be the key formula to winning more than one trophy.
So then where is the downfall you ask? It comes in numbers. Take for example Real Madrid, who never intended to have a goal keeping duo but when Diego Lopez continued to prove himself at the club it seemed the only solution was to keep a rotating schedule between the gloves in front of the net. After failing to win La Liga it seemed Iker Casillas would be handed back the reigns until Real Madrid went on to purchase Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas after his spectacular performance in the World Cup. So back at two quality keepers Real Madrid push the limits even further by eyeing goal keeping extraordinaire David De Gea. Its said that De Gea is sought to be the long term replacement club captain Iker Casillas, who has been with the club his whole life, but Casillas has recently said that he is not yet ready to leave the club and doesn't wish to play elsewhere. Anyone who has seen De Gea in net for Manchester United over the years would probably admit he is the dream keeper for any club to have, but Casillas' loyalty to the club over the years keeps him at fan favorite and they are not yet ready to see him leave. Though his spot doesn't necessarily seem to be questioned at the moment, Navas has also stated that he is not ready to leave Real Madrid and is willing to fight for his place. Compared to other big name goal keepers it may seem as if Iker is slowly descending down the ladder, having not too long ago being considered the world's best goal keeper. He may have lost that title but he still finished off the season with 84 saves and 12 cleansheets. De Gea had a total of 93 saves and 11 cleansheets in the EPL. Navas in his most recent active season, being the 2013-14 season with Levante, had 160 saves. Clearly all three goalies have remarkable stats to their names. So here is the problem-Who stays and who goes?
Goal keepers naturally have the longest last careers in football. Notably being able to stay in top form and playing as starting keeper into their mid to late thirties, but it seems now quality goal keeping is limiting that and are cutting their own career life span down. Having multiple star goalies is seeing not only the youth keepers out of a spot, but also forcing others into early retirement. Having rotation doesn't seem to be a problem when its only two goal keepers being looked at, especially when it gives both players a chance to play, but soon enough other clubs will find themselves in the same situation as clubs look to secure more titles. Iker Casillas not being the only one to have to hand his spot over without his time necessarily being up. Long time Chelsea goal keeper Petr Čech also seems to be taking off the gloves early as Thibaut Courtois stepped in and having Jamal Blackman starting to prove his worth. So is winning the treble one year really worth it in the long run, or is it acceptable to be replacing keepers once every few years? Even if it means seeing their careers be over with as early as thirty?
-Til next time, this is the Final Whistle.
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