Kansas City Wizard defender Jimmy Conrad had been writing a column for ESPN.com during the MLS season addressing various topics. Today, he tackles an issue that is near and dear to my heart: the relationship between a goalkeeper and his defenders. The basic question seems to be why does the keeper get all the (statistical, at least) credit for a shutout when it may have more to do with the defense in front of him than any brilliant saves? I suspect, as a keeper myself, that it has something to do with the keeper's role in organizing the defense. After all, the keeper has the best wide-angle view of the play on the field. Of course, I wouldn't go as far as 2004 MLS keeper of the year Joe Cannon, who told Conrad:
First of all, I have always made one assumption as a player: Every defender is as smart as a monkey (the most intelligent type) and you need to tell them everything about their position.Heh! I think Matt Reis has the better answer: the keeper is the last line of defense and the solitary obstacle to a striker scoring if and when he breaks down the defense. Of course, sometimes a goal is just a matter of bad luck (witness the first Italian goal against the US yesterday). Like it or not, we keepers are the ones most likely to make the obvious mistakes the lead to a goal. Gods know, I made my fair share last season! Defenders can sort of huddle up under a group responsibility where they got beat, but nobody specifically screwed up. No man is an island, but keepers are at least an isthmus.
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