Just-Football’s Ten Best Goalkeepers In The World 2008
Now, as anyone who reads SBI will know, the site in question tags itself as ‘the world of soccer with an American voice’ and so naturally one can expect such a slant to bring with it perhaps a slight bit of bias where American goalkeepers are concerned, but nonetheless the choice of these two keepers in particular provides ample food for thought.
I think that if you were analysing the finest goalkeepers in the English Premier League there would be no doubt that both Friedel and Howard are deservedly up there amongst the best and the most consistent. On their day both are keepers that can make the difference as Friedel did regularly for Blackburn Rovers and Howard continues to do for Everton. Whether they would make it into a world top ten though is highly debatable.
Lets take a look at hard stats. According to Premier League statistics Tim Howard made 233 saves in the two seasons prior to this and has made 48 saves in the 12 games so far during 2008/2009, including two clean sheets. Brad Friedel made 286 saves in his last two seasons at Blackburn and has made 41 saves in 2008/2009 during his first year at new club Aston Villa, also in 12 games, with three clean sheets to his name. Comparatively speaking, keep in mind that Friedel played more minutes than Howard in the two seasons prior to this one.
Both keepers are solid, reliable performers who can also offer the occasional superhero showing in which they heroically manage to keep the opposition at bay almost singlehandedly. However, having thought it through and looked around for alternatives we here at Just-Football would be inclined to leave both of them out of a World Top Ten and choose instead the following ten as Just-Football’s best goalkeepers in the world, in no particular order:
- Iker Casillas
- Gianluigi Buffon
- Petr Cech
- Pepe Reina
- Igor Akinfeev
- Sebastien Frey
- Julio Cesar
- Steve Mandanda
- Andres Palop
- Manuel Neuer
Honourable mentions to Edwin Van der Sar who would have been an absolute certainty five months ago but has fallen down the pecking order due to a shaky start to this season, David James, Carlos Kameni, Rogerio Ceni and Alexander Doni. Of course it is always difficult to separate keepers performing at such a high level, in different leagues around the world in front of defences of vastly differing qualities, but overall we feel that these are the ten that currently deserve to fit into any such list.
Naturally not everyone will agree with the choices, but that is part of the fun. I would be interested to read as to whether or not you disagree with these choices. Would Friedel and Howard make it into your top ten? Have we omitted somebody you definitely feel should make it? Please feel free to leave your comments and opinions below.
Best XI, Brad Friedel, Gianluigi Buffon, Goalkeepers, Iker Casillas, Petr Cech, Tim HowardShare This Post!
About Jonathan F
The boss of this here... Creator and Editor of Just-Football.com and world football analyst, watcher, freelancer and all-round enthusiast. Write for FourFourTwo, have also written for ITV, When Saturday Comes and others. Open to offers.
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I would put Reina before Cech in that list. All the other goalkeepers are well placed.
i think Reina must be third because he is better than Cech
Where’s Shay Given???
Hi Anonymous,
At the time of writing this I didn’t feel Shay Given would sit comfortably inside a list of the ten best goalkeepers in the world. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great keeper, but whilst playing at Newcastle (when this was written) I felt him not playing at the very top level hindered him from truly being considered one of the best keepers on the planet.
He is certainly one of the best in the Premier League, and has impressed in the UEFA Cup for City, which no doubt holds him in good stead for when we analyse 2009’s best keepers, but I’m afraid last year, for me, he wasn’t in the world’s top 10.
This is a fair list. However now that the 08/09 season is over I must say Mark Schwarzer was the clear standout of all keepers in the EPL.. if you make a new one I reckon he should go in!
Hi Anonymous #2 and thankyou for leaving your thoughts.
I agree with you. For me Mark Schwarzer and Jussi Jaaskelainen have been amongst the standout keepers of the 08/09 season in the Premier League. Indeed, Fulham’s rise and Middlesbrough’s fall owe a lot to Schwarzer’s move to London.
Whether either of them could qualify as one of the world’s top 10 keepers though, I’m not so sure.
Reina is not nor will he ever be ahead of Cech. Where is Artur Boruc, Shay Given, and Manuel Almunia who was a standout this tear at the Emirates.
I would put Gianluigi Buffon ahead of Casillas but have Casillas be 2, David James and Dida are good goalkeepers that deserve to be noticed other than that good list
Good to see an interesting debate still going on here.
To the 2 previous commentors, I'm really not convinced about Almunia, Dida and in particular Boruc. Boruc was AWFUL against Northern Ireland recently, especially the howler when he completely missed his kick from the backpass. Perhaps you guys could elaborate on the case for these keepers being involved in a world top 10?
I'll throw another name out – what about Essam El-Hadary of Egypt? Excelled in both African Nations and Confederations Cups…
if given was english he would be in the top 10.people talkin about david james are ye having a laugh
Tim Howard has to be top 10 – if the Confederations Cup and the performances of Egypt and USA have taught us anything, it's time to set aside the Euro/South American soccer bias and realize the talent the rest of the world has.
Hello to the last 2 Anonymouses (I do wish people would leave their name when commenting!) and thankyou for expressing your thoughts.
I do definitely share the opinion that Tim Howard has to be considered for any 2009 list given the season he has had both for Everton and the USA. It's definitely been one of his best as a professional goalkeeper and with each outstanding display it's becoming harder to ignore him really.
As for Shay Given, well it's hard to argue against but I still am not convinced he would fit into a world top 10. If City become the force they are trying to be and get Champions League football soon though, it would be great to see him playing at that level to really assess his worth.
memo ochoa is the best of all. and thats it
the comments are good but why should we forget to include EDWIN VAN DER SAL.
he is a great goal keeper and relates to people like cech and casillas.
not even reina and given.it should be corrected cause i was shocked when i saw reina.!!
buffon
casillas
cech
van der sal.
these are the best four we have for now and its just the truth of the matter !!!
i think ochoa should be in that list !!!! and yeah ochoa is way better than tim howard!!!
1. Buffon
2. Casillas
3. Julio Cesar