Goalkeepers' Union

Sometimes you witness a passage of play in goalkeeping that simply makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.

This weekend, Robert Sanchez and Matz Sels contributed to a "save off" that earned a point for their respective sides Chelsea and Nottingham Forest. Incredible goalkeeping in an incredible moment.

For Liverpool, Czech 23-year-old Vitezslav Jaros made his Premier League debut when coming on as a second-half replacement for Alisson in the win over Crystal Palace. He did well, reopening the discussion on whether young or old is suited better to that No3 spot.

Established Goalkeeper Coach, David Rouse - in for Richard Lee this week - gives his opinion on the above, as well as casting an eye over the best action from the EFL. Paul Nardi continues to enhance his reputation at QPR, Illan Meslier is the subject of 'Keeper Capers for the freak goal which saw Sunderland scrape a draw with Leeds and Connor Ripley stakes his claim for Performance of the Weekend thanks to his starring role in Port Vale's victory at Notts County.

Lastly, we touch on the return of David de Gea. The Spaniard saved two penalties in Fiorentina's triumph over AC Milan, although remarkably two less than Paulo Gazzaniga managed in a week thanks to heroics in Girona's games with Feyenoord and Athletic Bilbao.

Just when you thought it was safe to listen to goalkeeping punditry...

Up popped Roy Keane with some rather preposterous analysis of Ederson's antics during Man City's draw with Arsenal at the weekend. Along with claiming the Brazilian needed to "come with violence" in a bid to halt his fellow countryman in Gabriel, Keane also suggested Matz Sels should be docked a week's wages for allowing Danny Welbeck's free-kick to beat him in Sunday's other contest between Brighton and Nottingham Forest.

It all makes for an action-packed Commentary Corner in this week's episode, followed by takes on the performances of Dean Henderson (MOM), Andre Onana (double save alert) and Guglielmo Vicario (handball or no handball?).


In the EFL, Jacob Zetterstrom is rapidly making a name for himself following his summer switch to Derby, Harry Tyrer bagged Celebration of the Weekend right in front of Charlton fans as Blackpool left The Valley with three points and, for the second week in succession, Tommy Simkin pulled off a knee slide after claiming a late cross for Walsall.

On one hand they giveth...

Goalkeeping punditry cranked up a notch at the weekend with Danny Murphy taking centre stage on MOTD. In showcasing Ederson's distribution in Man City's win over Brentford, he not only did so with understanding and well-reasoned analysis, but unknowingly carved a hole for the universe to strike a balance elsewhere.

For over on Sky Sports, messrs Neville and Carragher continued their goalkeeping guffery with criticism of Guglielmo Vicario, Emi Martinez and Sam Johnstone - Neville at one point bizarrely stating Tottenham's Italian stopper had "frogs in his pants".

In the Championship, James Trafford helped Burnley to a big win at Leeds, Jacob Zetterstrom bagged another clean sheet in a strong start to life at Derby and Anthony Patterson very nearly made a Save of the Season in Sunderland's loss at Plymouth.

Tommy Simkin of Walsall takes Celebration of the Weekend and a shout out to Kasper Schmeichel for not conceding in his opening five league games for Celtic - the first time since 1906 any goalkeeper in Scotland has achieved such a feat.

Not nineteen forever.

That's certainly what you'd imagine if Lukasz Fabianski's career history is anything to go by. In Saturday's defeat to Man City, the West Ham goalkeeper replaced Alphonse Areola at half-time, racking up his 19th direct involvement in a goalkeeping substitution. Three of those have come since January, meaning we're hedging our bets that number 20 could well occur before the season is out.

Elsehwere in the Premier League, Aaron Ramsdale, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Sam Johnstone were all thrust into action at their new clubs, while Dean Henderson not only made three vital stops in a draw for Crystal Palace at Chelsea, but in turn bagged Celebration of the Weekend.

In the EFL, Bristol City's Max O'Leary and Christy Pym of Mansfield staked their claim for Save of the Weekend, on the international stage a new three-man selection was introduced for the England Men's senior team and the U21s, and over in France a ray of light was handed to much-troubled Bordeaux thanks to a last-gasp goalkeeping equaliser.

Only two games into the Premier League campaign and we already have a Save of the Season contender.

David Raya earned three points for Arsenal with his stop from Ollie Watkins at Villa Park. Not only did it banish the demons from the title-denting defeat of last term, but it served as yet another reminder that the Spaniard is at the very top of his game right now.

Two contests come in the form of 'Keeper Capers and Top Tips Over throughout all four tiers, both of which we saw on multiple occasions over the weekend. Jordan Pickford and Aro Muric guilty of the former in the top-flight, but Muric also involved in the latter with a marvellous stop from Erling Haaland as Ipswich fell to Man City.

Robert Sanchez raised his stock with Chelsea fans thanks to quick thinking and excellent execution in helping to set up Cole Palmer for the Blues' second in the 6-2 romp of Wolves, and Neto seemed to be a counterattack-thwarting target for Newcastle as they held Bournemouth at the Vitality.

Penalty stops from Joe Whitworth and Luke McGee should be noted, as should Conor Hazard's MOM performance for Plymouth in their draw at QPR.

A little late this week.

That can be blamed on both the transfer window and sleepless flights, which might just give you an insight into what this week's Voice of Goalkeeping will be.

Silliness aside, Joe Hart is now a bonafide member of the Match of the Day setup - and if the Premier League's opening weekend show is anything to go by, we could be in for a wealth of high-profile goalkeeping punditry this season.

That, alongside Christian Walton's first-ever top-flight start at Ipswich and Robert Sanchez currently being one of six at Chelsea, is covered with all the best bits from the EFL.

Special mention to Corey Addai for sounding the first Goalkeeper Assist Klaxon of the campaign.

It hath been a while.

Consider this a drop-in. A restart before the proper restart, if you will.

With the window still very much in full swing, our standard summer schedule didn't quite go according to plan this time out. However, we do promise to make up for that once September is upon us. That means more interviews and a few specials thrown in for good measure, too.

For now, behold the first Between the Sticks of 2024-25.  All the key goalkeeping goodness from the opening day of the EFL campaign is covered, including a whopping 28 debutants among the 72.

Quite the window thus far...

As the curtain comes down on the domestic campaign, so too does this season's bout of Between the Sticks shenanigans.

Stefan Ortega and Andre Onana both had moments in the FA Cup Final. We touch on each before a look at the Scottish Cup Final and Championship Play-Off Final, won respectively by Celtic and Southampton.

Attention is then turned to the season as a whole. Rich rates his Goalkeepers of the Season from the Premier League to League Two with a few stats thrown in for good measure.

Thank you for all your support yet again this term. The pod is nothing without loyal listeners and the GKU has stood strong once more.

As the final weekend of the Premier League season cemented Man City's fourth successive title, we ask the question, "Was it all down to Stefan Ortega?"

The German pulled off a masterclass in "No2ing" in the midweek victory over Tottenham and capped off another impressive campaign since joining the club as a relative unknown on these shores.

Elsewhere, Nick Pope returned to action for Newcastle, James Shea made his Premier League bow for Luton, Dean Henderson finished on a high at Crystal Palace and David Raya showed just how good his hands are in Arsenal's defeat of Everton.

A quick nod is given to Corey Addai and Jamie Cumming for their play-off triumphs at Crawley and Oxford respectively, while Joe Hart is now just one game away from goalkeeping retirement.

Following his retirement from professional football in 2018, Adam Bartlett's ascent in the world of goalkeeper coaching has been rather rapid.

Since officially taking the reins as Head of Goalkeeping at Newcastle United at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, he's overseen the arrival of Nick Pope, managed an unexpected scenario of having to play No3 Loris Karius - a man who hadn't started a competitive fixture for 20 months - in the EFL Cup Final with Manchester United, and contributed to his hometown club returning to the Champions League.

Over a spot of premium grub at Darsley Park, he talks us through how he grasped an opportunity and continued to evolve a department he hopes will soon be close to unrivalled in the Premier League.