A clear contradiction in terms, but it’s not as ludicrous as it might seem.
For years tacticians have played with formation. From the old WM to the modern hybrids like 4-1-4-1, 4-2-1-3, 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1, 3-5-2, 5-4-1, 3-4-3 and the now ubiquitous 4-1-1-1-1-1-1 (a variation on the Danubian 2-3-5 which was basically a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 with each player given freedom to roam), they are always tinkering to try and find the edge.
Yet one part has been crucially overlooked. Most tacticians are poor mathematicians and have failed to realise that for all their keen insight the numbers only add up to 10. Yet football is a game of 11. The goalkeeper has been roundly ignored as just the bloke who wasn’t good enough to play and so is tasked to stand there and handball off the line whenever he gets the chance.
Of course there have been goalscoring keepers before. Chilavert, the free kick taking Chilean Paraguayan maverick, the Bulgarian Dimitar Ivankov (who later became manager of Dinamo Zagreb before being shot to death by a disgruntled centre-half during a lively training session), Scorpion King Rene Higuita and German Hans Jorg-Butt, the exact opposite of Teutonic caution and circumspection. Yet these are exceptions rather than rules.
Examples and evidence
Foster needed to be taken into care after this display
This season though we’ve seen the emergence of the striking keeper, or the False 1©, in the Premier League. The diagram on your left shows Ben Foster’s recent display against Fulham. The intent is clear, he had 27 attempts on goal but as Alex McLeish’s plan is in its infancy there are issues still with targetting and distance. Every single shot fell short.
This is due to the understandable reluctance of Foster to push forward, fearing he’ll be exposed, yet McLeish has spoken about how when his False 1© goes beyond the halfway line his team should fall back into a fluid 10-0-1 crowding the goal line to block any potential breaks.
As Jonathan Wilson pointed out in his book – “Tictacs – how small white mints define football” – the primary role of the striking keeper is to use his enormous shot power to pulverise opponents. What’s even more remarkable is that Wilson wrote about it before I had even invented the concept.
Getting them forward safely seems to be the main issue and one that many coaches are still trying to come to terms with. Alberto Zaccheroni is currently trialling it with the Japan national team. At first keeper Kawaguchi was skeptical but the Italian’s unrivalled tactical knowledge won him over and in a recent friendly against Fiji he scored eight goals, five of them from inside the opponents area!
Kawaguchi spoke to Japanese media after the game and revealed that although he now feels liberated he also gets a tremendous sense of regret that he has wasted so much of his career contrbuting little. He then committed ritual suicide live in television such was his shame. Zaccheroni is persisting with a much less sensitive player.
Problems
The natural wastefulness of goalkeepers can cause problems. For years they’ve not really been concerned with accuracy, content simply to lump it long to the biggest man up top. We can see how this affected Arsenal in the recent North London derby against Spurs. Much has been made of Arsenal’s defensive issues but look at how many attempts on goal Lukasz Fabianski wasted.
Fabianski admitted to shooting lessons from Ade Akinbiyi
Had he even scored one of those goals it’s fair to say Arsene Wenger’s team would not have lost and again it raises questions over the Frenchman’s tactical acumen.
Conclusion
As defences get tighter and teams play with more men behind the ball simply so they don’t conceded then more adventurous coaches will look at bringing forward the Striking Keeper to break through the defensive wall.
One can imagine it when Man City play their new, albeit somewhat negative, 9 defenders + Tevez formation, and who could bet against a Brad Friedel or Pepe Reina popping up with the winner, causing Tevez to strangle Mancini on the sidelines?
It’s new, it’s rough around the edges, but it’s coming. Remember where you heard it first.
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With a good natured doff of the cap to this.
