Sport
Cech, Butland and De Gea show importance of a good Goalkeeper
Cech, Butland and De Gea show importance of a good Goalkeeper. It was a tale of three goalkeepers. Sunday afternoon’s two games in the Premier League featured just one goal – a thunderous close-range strike from Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney against Liverpool – with Petr Cech, Jack Butland and David de Gea all playing a major part in their respective teams recording valuable clean sheets.
The action on Sunday started at Anfield, where Liverpool were the better side but could not find a way past De Gea in the United goal. The Spaniard’s proposed move to Real Madrid fell through in dramatic fashion on deadline day in the summer; with the Red Devils outside the top four at present, it is worth remembering that things would likely be a lot worse had De Gea completed his dream switch to the La Liga giants.
Louis van Gaal suggested after the game that his keeper’s saves had largely been routine. While there is an element of truth in that interpretation, De Gea was clearly the outstanding player on the pitch in an otherwise dull encounter that was generally lacking in quality. He made key saves from Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Roberto Firmino and also helped United to get up the pitch quickly with his distribution, even though his team-mates were mostly unable to capitalise from promising situations that stemmed from his long kicks forward.
Stoke City and Arsenal each took a share of the spoils after their 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium later in the day, with both Butland and Cech in inspired form between the sticks. The former has been one of the breakout stars of the campaign; having previously served as Asmir Begovic’s understudy, the 22-year-old Butland is proving himself to be highly capable as Stoke’s No.1, while he could even pose a challenge to Joe Hart at international level in the next couple of years.
Butland has made more saves than anyone else in the Premier League in 2015/16, with the Potters’ impressive defensive record – only Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have conceded fewer goals than Stoke’s 22 – largely down to their excellent shot-stopper.
At the other end of his career is Cech, the 33-year-old custodian who is looking to win his fifth Premier League title with Arsenal this term. Chelsea captain John Terry claimed that his former team-mate would win the Gunners between 12 and 15 points after he moved across London in the summer, with the Czech Republic international’s displays since then suggesting that the centre-back’s prediction was an accurate one.
“Today he was outstanding,” Wenger said after Cech’s man-of-the-match display against Stoke. “You need a player like him in that kind of game. Today we needed him and he was there.
“I must say congratulations to him because the response when he is not top, top, top in one game, the game after he comes back in a very strong way and it was an outstanding performance today. It is maybe the most underrated position, the goalkeeper, so it makes a difference, of course.”
Wenger, like Van Gaal and Mark Hughes, is aware of the huge role that keepers can play. If Arsenal, Manchester United and Stoke City go on to fulfil their objectives this season, their three glovesmen between the posts are likely to have played a huge part.
