SCI 05.8 Frans Hoek

In general they try to get close to theopponent and leave the initiative up tothem, causing them to initiate the actionin order to create a scoring opportunity.They have a lot of patience, remain intheir position and will go to ground at theright moment in order to intercept theball. When they posses these skills theywill have a high winning ratio.Furthermore, they do not take risks, sowhenever they make a mistake it doesnot lead to a penalty or card right away.”Cross“Crosses seem to be a problem for anytype of goalkeeper. Generally speakingan anticipating goalkeeper is not any betteror worse at this than its reactingcounterpart. The situation is totally differentand does not only have to do withvision, there are other factors which playa role in crosses.”Player“The anticipation goalkeeper turns out tobe a goalie who is able to think and participatewhile in possession. They oftenknow where things are going wrong andwhere they are working. So they do notalways opt for the long pass down thefield. They have the ability to play thelong ball, but also take time to play theball in a way that will have the largestpossibility of retaining possession. Theyalso have many methods on how toplace a ball. They have a falling pass,a straight pass and a lob pass. Generallyspeaking they do not reach the distanceof a reaction goalkeeper. Anticipationgoalkeepers could be easily used as fieldplayers, as they are able to function asthe 11th player. This means they love aback pass.”Comments“The prototype for A-goalkeepers are goaliessuch as Stanley Menzo, Edwin vander Sar, Maarten Stekelenburg andFabien Barthez. They are real anticipationgoalkeepers. They try to eliminatedangerous situations by means of positioning,coaching, leadership and timelyactions. They try to avoid line goalkeeping.This is hard for people to differentiateamongst, so reaction goalkeepersusually receive better comments/critiques.Reaction goalkeepers are easier toevaluate: someone shoots on goal andthe goalie makes a spectacular save.”Difference“As a coach you need to be able todifferentiate between the two extremes.When we go back to the 1974 WorldCup, the late Dutch national team coachRinus Michels did not have a good understandingof catching and falling techniquesof a goalie. However, he did knowwhich goalkeeper would work best withinhis system of play. To the surprise ofmany Michels opted for goalkeeper JanJongbloed instead of Van Beveren,Doesburg or Schrijvers who were perceivedas the ‘real’ goalkeepers. Howevertheir qualities did not correlate with thesystem of play and Michels needed andopted for an A-type goalkeeper instead ofa R-type.”Line“When you look closely at the goalies,you will see a different type of A goalkeepersand R goalkeepers. But all othergoalkeeper also fit somewhere along the44A complete soccer coaching experienceNo. 8 - April/May 2005

Illustration courtesy of ‘Nieuwe Revu’Illustration courtesy of Jan de Koning (KNVB)spectrum. There are plenty of goalieswho are not A-types or R-types, but canbe places somewhere in between thetwo extremes. Where they are on thespectrum is very important as it has consequencesfor a) their education. Howwill you educate the goalkeepers in general(from youth to pro)? b) a coach needsto determine what effect the goalkeeperhas on the system of play and c) if thegoalkeeper is a certain type, how do youtrain him. I believe you should alwayseducate a goalkeeper as an anticipatingtype. More on this in future issues ofSoccerCoachingInternational.”Articlecode: 266a6ec7REACTION GOALKEEPERGeneralMentality ++Charisma ++Physical (strength) ++Coaching/Organizing (after) +/-Possession opponentShots on goal ++1 v 1 +/-Crosses +/-Through passes --ANTICIPATION GOALKEEPERGeneralMentality +Charisma +/-Physical (athletic) +Coaching/Organization (before) ++Possession opponentShots on goal +1 v 1 ++Crosses +/-Through passes ++PossessionMaking choices +/-Goal kick +Back pass -Key:++ Excellent+ good+/- poor - average- Poor- - Very poorPossessionMaking choices ++Goal kick +Back pass ++No. 8 - April/May 2005A complete soccer coaching experience45