Football News: Liverpool FC - Goalkeeping Dilemma Part 4

Image from: Glovespot.net

Due to a request from another poster (Zeddicus, I believe?) my Goalkeeping Dilemma series has been extended to 4 parts. As I've already covered the players I believe to be serious options, in this piece I've covered the keepers that were requested as well as a Swiss keeper from Borussia Monchengladbach, who I believe we should be targeting in the likely event that Alisson Becker and Jan Oblak are unattainable.

Gianluigi Donarumma

Mentality:
Absolutely atrocious. His attitude is poor, and if anything he has regressed as a player since making his breakthrough. His performances are littered with minor mistakes that he should be ironing out of his game, but he shows no signs of doing so. 3/10

Handling:
Donarumma has very good hands. His natural talent is not in question at all. If he wants to catch the ball, it sticks. He can be guilty of trying to make his actions more highlight reel worthy in my opinion though. 9/10

Sweeping:
Donarumma is fairly quick to come out as he's a very confident keeper. He's not a fine tuned sweeper keeper, but he does display the necessary skills to become one. His focus has to improve so that he can react faster and come out earlier. 6/10

Reflexes:
Again, natural goal keeping talent is something that he is blessed with. If goal keeping was as simple as just stopping shots for 90 minutes, he'd already be one of the best. 9/10

Distribution:
Average really. He gets good distance to his throws, but he doesn't seem to be thinking about what the receiver can do with it, as he plays people into trouble at times. His kicking is decent but nothing more. 5/10

Presence:
A keeper of his size and agility should command the box brilliantly, and although he is above average in this department, he needs to do more. His communication skills should come with experience, as should his decision making. 6/10

Donarumma genuinely has the potential to be as good as Jan Oblak or David De Gea. In fact, his ceiling might even be higher. Unfortunately, he is not showing the right attitude to the game and I personally believe he'll be remembered as a wasted talent unless he grows up. Overall score 38/60

Timo Horn

Mentality:
Horn is a very focused keeper who makes very few mistakes, however he plays in a very weak team which was actually relegated last season. Being constantly involved in the action makes it much easy to keep your head in the game. It is debatable whether he could step up a level because he's never been given the chance. 6/10

Handling:
Horn has decent handling, though it is nothing special. He catches what you expect him to catch, and rarely drops a major clanger to be fair to him. 7/10

Sweeper:
When his team are playing with confidence and pushing up, Horn has displayed the ability to play the sweeper role to a good standard. German keepers all tend to model their game on Manuel Neuer, so it is pretty common amongst them to excel in this field. 7/10

Reflexes:
Honestly, he is only marginally above average in this department. He does make lots of very good saves, but that is really just because he faces a lot of shots. He's not as good a shot stopper as the highlight reels might suggest. 6/10

Distribution:
Another thing that modern German keepers excel in is distribution, and Horn doesn't exactly buck the trend. He's not as comfortable on the ball as some of his counterparts, but he can move the ball around reliably at least. 6/10

Presence:
This is Horn's biggest weakness. His command of his area can be quite poor and he looks nervous to me at times. He does get away with it a lot of the time though, even if it is awkward to watch. He is probably around about average in this department but I'm not convinced by him. 5/10

Horn is still young for a keeper and one day he may develop into a very good player. He isn't an upgrade on Karius at all, but he could be available at a very good price. He would be a decent number two in my opinion. Overall score 37/60

Jiří Pavlenka

Mentality:
Pavlenka plays behind a very compact Werder Bremen defence who are prone to the odd error. It means that at least once per game they rely on him to produce a moment of magic. Despite this uncertainty in front of him, he usually comes up with the goods. You could argue that he is now expecting a mistake though. 7/10

Handling:
Pavlenka has very good coordination and gets a strong hand behind most shots. He can catch the ball very well but I believe he has been coached not to in the past. He seems much more comfortable punching/parrying the ball as far away as he can, or simply tipping it past the frame of the goal for a corner. 6/10

Sweeper:
Pavlenka hasn't had to play a sweeper role before and his current side drop back very quickly when they lose possession. On the rare occasion someone does get in behind, Pavlenka backs his shot stopping ability (for good reason) and seems to deliberately meet the striker between the 6 yard box and the penalty spot. I'm unsure he could adapt mentally but he is mobile enough. 5/10

Reflexes:
Simply outstanding; maybe even the best in the Bundesliga right now. The reason why I believe Pavlenka doesn't rush off his line, is because he backs himself to stop the shot. His 6ft5in frame helps him get to shots going right into the corners, and he is brilliant at stopping shots with his feet. 9/10

Distribution:
Pavlenka is not bad with the ball, but he's very much a safety first kind of keeper. When the ball is passed back to him He just puts his foot through it and looks to hit the channels every time. It could be tactical though as I had never seen him play before last season. 5/10

Presence:
He commands his box superbly, but doesn't always catch the ball when he could. He seemingly prefers clearing his lines with a thunderous punch. This is fine, but if he did ever get the direction wrong and punch it out to an opposition player, it could leave him in no man's land and scrambling back to his line. Certainly though, his confidence to deal with crosses is a major strength. 8/10

Pavlenka is a massive talent, and despite last season being his first in a major European League, he was arguably his team's player of the season. His ability to pull a magical stop out of the bag kept his team in the game at times and helped them to a very respectable mid table finish. Liverpool are reportedly interested and if that is true, it would probably be as competition for Karius, rather than as an outright replacement. Overall score 40/60

Yann Sommer

Mentality:
Sommer is a very experienced keeper and it shows in his lack of mistakes. His decision making is exemplary and he stays focused on the task at hand. He has to be sure his positioning is spot on at all times as he is only 6 foot tall and therefore cannot rely on his reach like taller keepers can, but he does just that. 8/10

Handling:
Sommer has brilliant hands and can pluck a ball out of the sky even when it looks like he is stretching or off balance. He gets everything behind shots as well and doesn't drop the ball very often at all. Sometimes he does parry shots he could probably catch, but most modern keepers do that nowadays. 7/10

Sweeper:
One of the first things that comes to mind when people think of Sommer will be 'Sweeper keeper'. He is superb at covering behind a high line, and his speed helps him to reach through balls that you'd maybe think the striker is favourite to reach first. 8/10

Reflexes:
Another area he excels in is his shot stopping abilities. His speed allows him to move rapidly across his goal line and compensate for his shorter reach, and he is also capable of superb reflex saves from close range efforts. You rarely see Sommer beaten by a shot and think he could've done better. 8/10

Distribution:
Sommer always looks to release the ball early and he tends to pick the best option as well. His execution can be found lacking at times though, as his drop kicks drift out of play from time to time. He is perhaps too keen to set up a counter attack, but he is still a very good keeper with the ball at his feet or in his hands. 7/10

Presence:
As excellent as Sommer's handling is, and as vocal as he can be, he is still short for a goalkeeper. He doesn't let himself get physically bullied, but a big centre back can beat him in the air unless he nips in front of them (which he is very good at by the way). If crosses come too close to him he will catch them with no bother, and he organises the players in front of him well. 7/10

Sommer is a hugely under rated goal keeper. It is possibly because of his height, but in reality he is actually one of the best all around keepers in Europe. There is no confirmed interest from Liverpool but it has to be said, that Sommer would be a superb option. The Swiss keeper is already at his peak and unlikely to improve any further, but he has no glaring weaknesses to his game and should be seriously considered, in my opinion. Overall score 45/60

Peter Gulacsi

Mentality:
Gulacsi is a relatively error proof goal keeper. In fact, he is one of the most reliable keepers in the Bundesliga. He's very good at not committing himself too early in one on one situations as well and stands up very bravely. 8/10

Handling:
His handling skills are good, to put it simply. He is unlikely to totally misjudge a catch, and he will punch the ball if under serious pressure. Not spectacular in this department, but he gets the job done most of the time. 7/10

Sweeper:
Gulacsi has been used in this way, but I always feel as though he is riding his luck a bit as he is not very agile, and he is slow off the mark. He reads the game well enough to get by, but sweeping seems unnatural to him. 5/10

Reflexes:
This is another area where I sometimes feel as though Gulacsi is only just getting by. He is not gifted with natural shot stopping ability, but you can visibly see how hard he has worked on his positioning. So although he does make some good saves, it is more owed to his ability to be well positioned, than any naturally good reflexes. Thus, he can be caught out on close range shots. 5/10

Distribution:
This is an area where Gulacsi excels. His distribution both in open play or from his hands is brilliant. He can accurately pick out players with long range passes as well as some midfielders can, and it is definitely his main strength as a goalkeeper. 8/10

Presence:
Gulacsi is very tall and broad, and therefore quite imposing. Not many players will fancy challenging him for a 50/50 in the air, because if they come off second best it'll probably hurt! He could do with being a bit more vocal at times, but all in all, he is very much in control of most situations and won't over commit himself. 8/10

Since Gulacsi left Liverpool, he has gone on to become a fine goalkeeper. I very much doubt he would be interested in coming back to the club, despite once admitting it was his dream to play for the Liverpool first team. His career has gone in a different direction and Red Bull Leipzig are unlikely to be keen on selling. 41/60

Written by Adam Jones July 05 2018 10:18:49