Goalkeepers' Union

It's good to talk, which is how we start this week's Between the Sticks.

Aside from Rich offering up some motivational anecdotes over the past week, we read out a listener's email focusing on anxiety and nervousness in aspiring goalkeepers as young as ten years old.

Additionally, we ponder a question which isn't often asked despite the regular use of its main subject: What and where exactly is "no man's land"?

Edouard Mendy, Jordan Pickford and Dean Henderson were all found guilty of residing in such a place this weekend, so we figured it was worth delving into the origins surrounding this loathed location.

Elsewhere, the FA Cup First Round throws up names not usually heard on the podcast, and Benfica B stopper Samuel Soares has put his hat in the ring for next year's Puskas Award. The 20-year-old netted an absolute piledriver against Trofense in Portugal's Segunda Liga.

Rich explains the fortnight absence before delving into all the goalkeeping action from the weekend, plus a few snippets we missed last time out.

There's a nod to three goalkeeping substitutions in the Premier League (plus another in the Scottish Championship), matchwinning performances from Illan Meslier and David de Gea (although the latter still not deemed decent enough for a provisional 55-man Spain squad) and a return to form and action for Danny Ward and Mark Travers respectively.

The klaxon is sounded thanks to Nik Tzanev's pinpoint distribution as AFC Wimbledon beat Harrogate - and there's even a goalkeeper goal to celebrate courtesy of Alex Bass' last-gasp equaliser for Sunderland U21 at Newcastle.

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Thank you, as always, for your support. Please feel free to drop us a line with absolutely any goalkeeping queries and questions.

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In this week's episode, we take a look at the return of Kepa to Chelsea's No1 fold. Circumstance may have prompted his selection ahead of a then injured Edouard Mendy, but the Spaniard has since established himself as Graham Potter's favoured goalkeeper - and he's not conceded in the past four outings.

Fellow countryman David Raya produced another match-winning performance for Brentford as they saw off Brighton, while David de Gea - also in the hunt for a trip to Qatar next month - racked up appearance number 500 for Manchester United.

The klaxon is sounded for Alisson, Thomas Kaminski produced a potential Save of the Season in Blackburn's win over Middlesbrough and David Robson earned an EFL debut in a long-awaited victory for Crawley.

Following another European sojourn for Richard, it's another Tuesday podcast this week.

All the usual stuff, however. Some quick chat about his time with Uwe Rosler at Brentford before a dissection of the Premier League and EFL, plus a 'Keeper Caper from Portugal and some very rare stopper squabbles over in Denmark.

Apologies for the late arrival of this one, but viewers of the Fozcast will be well aware of the reasons.

Yes, Richard rejoined his ex-teammate for a chat about all things goalkeeping and all things goalkeeper agent(ing) on Monday, thus pushing this particular episode back a day.

Naturally, we cover his guest appearance on the show in a very tight Manchester United top, plus all the key action from all four tiers of English football.

Enjoy!

We're going to take a wild stab in the dark that listeners of this podcast are almost certainly avid listeners of Ben Foster's Fozcast.

That being the case, you'll have all heard a familiar name on this week's YouTube phenomenon. For when announcing his retirement, Foz mentioned a certain Richard Lee and the part our apparent "Goalkeeping Super Agent" played in a rollercoaster of a day which convinced the ex-England No1 to hang up his gloves.

Rich reacts to a manic 24 hours on this episode, in addition to all the customary analysis from the Premier League and EFL.

With a host of games cancelled, we'll take a break during the international fixtures and return once the league schedule restarts.

Wow. Insane.

Two words used by Jurgen Klopp to describe the performances of Jordan Pickford and Alisson in the weekend's Merseyside derby.

He also asked, "What can you do?" And our answer to that is to produce a podcast which delves a little deeper into what we all saw at Goodison Park.

Equally impressive displays were seen at St James' Park in the form of Nick Pope and Vicente Guaita - the latter of which was the subject of a rather dubious VAR call, matched by that goal-overturn involving Edouard Mendy and Jarrod Bowen of Chelsea and West Ham respectively.

All the key action from the EFL is also covered as Rich returns to cast an eye over Deadline Day transfers and a long-awaited Rate My Save. The franchise may now return following our reinstatement on Twitter.

Good to have opinions of our listeners back on the regular.

"Hold on a minute. Is that a regular episode of Between the Sticks... But with Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and not the Voice of Goalkeeping, Richard Lee?"

Well, funny you should ask... Because it most certainly is.

With Mr Lee otherwise engaged, we've drafted in a new voice for what will become a semi-regular slot on our weekly analysis show.

Asmir joins GKU to cover all the key goalkeeping action from the weekend's fixtures, plus a little insight to his current setup at The Toffees alongside Jordan Pickford.

All the same stuff, just with a Begovic instead of a Rich.

Here's to the first of many more.

Following his much-maligned performance at Brentford last week, David de Gea fronted up in both body and mind to help Manchester United to victory over Liverpool.

It's testament to a stopper who, despite his continued critics, continues to remind everyone just why he's still commonly regarded as one of the world's best.

In the North East, Nick Pope kept Man City at bay and bagged another MOM display in the process – very much staking his claim for a potential starting berth at this year's World Cup.

A man who will most definitely be starting in Qatar is Edouard Mendy. However, the Chelsea No1 is the subject of this week's Keeper Capers after conceding possession and then a goal to Leeds' Brenden Aaronson in a shock 3-0 triumph for the Lillywhites.

The klaxon is sounded at Goodison Park courtesy of Jordan Pickford, Barrow's Paul Farman provides a Text Talk after his heroics helped barrow to three points against Harrogate and the first leader of the Clean Sheet Club is revealed.

You couldn't have asked for more contrasting fortunes concerning Manchester United goalkeepers at the weekend.

Dean Henderson, on loan at Nottingham Forest and off the back of some pretty scathing remarks about his parent club, had a worldy. David de Gea, very much the chosen No1 much to the chagrin of Henderson at Old Trafford, struggled in a 4-0 defeat to Brentford.

All that, plus another MOM performance from Nick Pope, is discussed in this latest episode, which also tackles the debate as to whether Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's goal for Tottenham at Chelsea should have counted with Richarlison obstructing the view of Edouard Mendy.

Meanwhile, in the Championship, a new trumpet is tooted after Seny Dieng scored a last-ditch equaliser in QPR's comeback at Sunderland – and then made a heroic double save to maintain parity.