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USA - Iceland GK Analysis

A fun game on Sunday afternoon, for sure.  Three goals from a young USA squad is encouraging, two sloppy goals conceded causes concern...though it's worth mentioning that the primary skill at the top level required to be a successful defender is, essentially, teamwork.  Chemistry, or whatever term you prefer to describe the glue holding a back 4 together, is unlike almost any other skill on the field.  It's the only skill which you can't train on your own, you can't watch film to improve (unless you watch the film with your partners), and, you can't formulate - the game is too variable to reduce defending in groups to an if-then proposition.  Every great defensive record has a steady lineup of veterans, and there's a reason for that.

But, it's the last line with which this post will be concerned.  Warning:  Nit picking ahead.

Here's Luis Robles on the first goal of the game....

Tough play.  A monster deflection certainly makes Robles less culpable...but there is one aspect of this play that bears a second look.  Watch this shortened clip, and notice the huge movement forward Robles makes as the ball is headed weakly by the CB:

That's a fine movement, but once the initial Iceland attacker is kept off the ball with a second, even weaker clearance (excellent work by the first white shirt to keep the ball alive in the penalty area), Robles is slow to react to the ball being played away from the goal line, and only adjusts slightly to his right.  Here, he's in his final position just as the shooter begins to hit the shot:

What if, as the ball was played away from goal, Robles had taken a quick step or two backward, like this:

And now, he'd have this extra yard of space to maybe not have to watch so helplessly as the ball goes in:

It's a very bang-bang play, and he's right to step forward on the initial header by his defender...if the attacker gets on the ball there, he's facing a 1v1 or breakaway save on the doorstep.  But, as the ball is knocked away from goal, perhaps (and that's a pretty big if) he could drop a tad deeper to give himself the extra reaction time on a shot taken in traffic.  Watch it again, and see his initial large movement forward, then the relative lack of movement right up to the shot.  Quiet feet are good, an excess of movement can be a far graver danger, but here there's some evidence that getting frozen can cost a GK as well.

Here's Iceland's second....this one is a killer.  Robles, after a conniving free kick by Iceland (taken very quickly, maybe too quickly?) gets sucked over to the near post (a topic touched on before in this space...a result of LOUSY American coaches who "know" that goals cannot be allowed at the near post) and gives up a relatively slow, curving shot to the far bar.  Look at his starting position as the shooter releases the shot:

Robles is 6' 1" and cat-quick.  A little guestimation math tells us this shot comes from 20 yards, 1 foot away from the front post.  Over 60 feet away.  Robles can cover the front post from much further towards the center, again, Ghost Robles:

Does that get him close enough to cover the front post, and still reach this shot:

That's really tight....But I think if I'm Luis, I would want to work on taking a better angle.  Of course, he's thinking the shooter could go by the defender to the outside, and now he's got a 1v1 party he won't want to arrive late to...maybe he was telling the CB to keep the shooter to the right, and HE dropped the ball....that'll kill a GK's chances of making a play.  There's plenty here to consider, so while the images show a simple location A versus location B situation, like the rest of life, it's a lot of gray area to manage!

Iceland helped us out as well....and it should be said that these are excellent GKs getting beaten.  They have great coaches, they have known these concepts for a long time, and while the greatest seem to make these plays every time, the reality is that as fast as these scoring plays happen, the remarkable thing about all this is that these guys can keep as many out as they do...give credit where it's due!

1v1 saves...tough.  But Jozy isn't going to get all tricky and dribble a GK...know your opponent!  He's hitting this first time every time.  The GKs read, decision-making, and, timing are good (that's three essential skills) but it's his angle and posture (two more skills, people) which cost him.  For my part, I see two options here...dive superman-style, hands to the ball, hard.  Risk of a PK and a red card, but that's life as a 'keeper.  Alternatively, the "German-style" block is a great option here, or any of the other blocking techniques.  Bottom line, either get the hands to the ball as Jozy's foot arrives on the other side of it, or set up shop IN FRONT of the ball....not off to one side, like this:

Here's the play live: