Too Many Pairs of Gloves?

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.

A mid week interjection- The Black Swans

      We football fans are the luckiest in the world. There is a reason why Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid are some the biggest brands in the world. There is a reason why you cant go a week without seeing a kid in either a Messi or Ronaldo kit. There is a reason we bleed "red" or "blue", and when someone questions it is quite easy to defend beloved sport. But neither of those reasons are the answer  to why we are the luckiest fans in the world. We are the luckiest fans in the world because we get to watch our giants battle it out in some of the biggest games ever played and unlike most sports when the black swans play, when our underdogs take the pitch, bloody hell we are in for a good game of football. This couldn't have been proved more accurate than with yesterday's rounds of the Spanish Copa Del Rey and the FA Cup that took place. 

     As the home side Levante looked to turn around a 0-2 aggregate at the kickoff of the second leg against Malaga it appeared things were going to be even harder despite home field advantage, for the only thing you could see on screen was a sea of empty seats. Young Portuguese striker Ricardo Horta also had no problem reminding Levante who last scored against them when the two side met just a few days ago as he slipped one into the back of Jesus Fernandez's net, adding to their aggregate lead in the 22nd minute. Almost 15 minutes later they doubled their lead once more as Jose Recio added his name to the score sheet  in the 38th minute. As the half came to a close it seemed Malaga had done their part in securing their spot in the next round of the Copa. I myself was ready to congratulate Malaga on their strong performance and their advancement in the tournament as the second half came to a start. It seemed impossible that the home side could turn around a two goal deficit let alone turn the aggregate but the joke was on me and Malaga both. Levante manager Lucas Alcaraz made a tactical switch almost right away as he brought in striker David Barral in the 61st minute of play, After that things happened so quickly, if you were to blink you surely would have missed something. Shortly after being subbed in Barral found the back off the net as caught Malaga's defense off guard, having took advantage of a sleeping Malaga while subbing in a player of their own. It seemed a simple mistake, one that wouldn't happen again, but it apparently Barral cut Malaga's defense deeper than it appeared on screen for five minutes later he struck again, netting his second against the sensational Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa. The wound seemed to spread as Ochoa continued to be tested and the clock couldn't end fast enough for Malaga. Levante once more undid their opponents defense in the 85th minute, this time Juanfran Garcia was the one to celebrate. Just like that Levante had took the lead 3-2. Sadly for the home side it wouldn't prove to be enough as they didn't have enough time and Malaga had the away goal advantage. Levante proved to be relentless and put up an admirable fight, leaving everyone watching on the edge of their seats. Had they had an extra ten minutes who knows, it could have been Levante sneaking through.

      It seemed only fair to start with the Spanish affair first since everyone, though I don't necessarily agree, seems to have the opinion that there is more competition in England than there is elsewhere in Europe. Still England has its underdogs and there is no better competition for them to shine than the FA Cup and while Everton and West Ham are not exactly bottom of the table in league competition, they're also not everyone's first choice in winning the FA Cup. That's why this is the competition for them and after the performance yesterday its hard to decide which one of these two teams actually shined brighter. Though both sides started off strong it took awhile before either team saw a break through, the first half ending level at nil-nil. While goals from both sides seemed promising I don't think anyone could have predicted what was to come in the second half. West Ham broke first with Enner Valencia in the 51st minute. Soon after Everton looked to be in trouble as Aiden McGready was shown red for his second yellow of the game, leaving his side to fend off a promising West Ham who seemed eager to score more. This wasnt going to be allowed as Everton subbed in the ever promising Kevin Mirallas who found them the equalizer late on and as the teams remained level at the end of regulation time it seemed it would have to be settled in extra-time. Everton might have been a man down but that didnt damage their determination as Mirallas continued to be a contributing factor as he sent a low pass into the box for Lukaku to stun the home side and take the lead. Having been a goal down and a man down and coming back to take the lead in extra time seemed reason enough to hope to see Everton through but we all know that's not how the beautiful game works, and proved to be true as West Ham took their turn to even out the scoreline. Even with players exhausted chances continued to come for both teams but not before time could run out and with the score 2-2 it meant penalties. As if the game couldn't get interesting enough the shootout ended 9-8 with West Ham goalkeeper Adrian scoring the winning penalty kick for his team.

We are the luckiest fans in the world. For every person who doubts it, for every person who misses out on games like these, I truly am sorry.

-Til next time, this is The Final Whistle.