My one contribution to the art of goalkeeping

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Moore has taken a bit of stick on here for the Charlton goal. As soon as they were all in position, I said to my neighbour on the Kop that if they got the ball over the wall and down again, Moore could not possibly save it. He just got a finger-end on it, but no way could he save it.
I played in goal for many years at a very low level, and my one innovation, which I still have not seen elsewhere, was to split the wall to cover both sides of the goal, and leave the gap in the centre. That way, the opponent either shoots straight at the keeper, or the keeper only has to dive half the width of the goal. I never conceded from a free-kick. Mind you, most of them would not have scored with an open goal to aim at. But I have occasionally wondered if it would work at a higher level.

 

[JonnyRed(WCFC)]

i wish the Worcester keeper had done it today..he positioned the wall sloppily leaving too much space on the one side and a simple side foot curl round and it popped inside the post, frustrating!

i like your innovation...i play in goal myself albeit in just 5,6 and 7 aside leagues due to my height, having a wall just hinders the keepers vision whereas your idea of split wall means he can see the ball as its hit and has less chance of deflecting in on top of that.

 

[Caseh]

I set up a wall like that once before... I was never good with free kicks and we shall leave it there.

 

[Snowman]

Moore has taken a bit of stick on here for the Charlton goal. As soon as they were all in position, I said to my neighbour on the Kop that if they got the ball over the wall and down again, Moore could not possibly save it. He just got a finger-end on it, but no way could he save it.
I played in goal for many years at a very low level, and my one innovation, which I still have not seen elsewhere, was to split the wall to cover both sides of the goal, and leave the gap in the centre. That way, the opponent either shoots straight at the keeper, or the keeper only has to dive half the width of the goal. I never conceded from a free-kick. Mind you, most of them would not have scored with an open goal to aim at. But I have occasionally wondered if it would work at a higher level.

The problem you face when lining up like that is that your opponent fills the gap. Then visibility is once again lost and your opponent has the option to peel away, push your wall or tempt you to put players behind them. Trust me, unless it is on the 18 yard line and dead centre its a relatively easy job. The problem I used to face was nesh defenders valuing their wedding tackle and noses over my clean sheet.

 

[Digger]

Moore is a decent keeper.
We need more than decent next season.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

The problem you face when lining up like that is that your opponent fills the gap. Then visibility is once again lost and your opponent has the option to peel away, push your wall or tempt you to put players behind them. Trust me, unless it is on the 18 yard line and dead centre its a relatively easy job. The problem I used to face was nesh defenders valuing their wedding tackle and noses over my clean sheet.

That struck me as a potential problem. I did it back in the day when players did not try to disrupt the wall. On the other hand, if you have the same number of players in the wall, there is only the same amount of gap for opponents to fill. It does happen with the 'solid' walls of today, and the keeper has further to dive when he eventually sees the ball.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

I set up a wall like that once before... I was never good with free kicks and we shall leave it there.

Curses! I thought I was unique.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

Moore has taken a bit of stick on here for the Charlton goal. As soon as they were all in position, I said to my neighbour on the Kop that if they got the ball over the wall and down again, Moore could not possibly save it. He just got a finger-end on it, but no way could he save it.
I played in goal for many years at a very low level, and my one innovation, which I still have not seen elsewhere, was to split the wall to cover both sides of the goal, and leave the gap in the centre. That way, the opponent either shoots straight at the keeper, or the keeper only has to dive half the width of the goal. I never conceded from a free-kick. Mind you, most of them would not have scored with an open goal to aim at. But I have occasionally wondered if it would work at a higher level.

My view from John Street gave a good view of that free kick, being in line with the ball and centre of the goal. Moore seemed to be half a yard too far to towards his left hand post. The ball over the wall to his near post had far less distance to travel than a curler to the far one;. would get there quicker and leave him much less time to react ; so a positioning fault for me, and one which Ricky Holmes was almost odds on to take advantage of. If you want to see some " worldies" have a look at some of his goals on the internet. ( a very good word to end a sentence on where he`s cocerned).

 

[DHeppenstall]

That struck me as a potential problem. I did it back in the day when players did not try to disrupt the wall. On the other hand, if you have the same number of players in the wall, there is only the same amount of gap for opponents to fill. It does happen with the 'solid' walls of today, and the keeper has further to dive when he eventually sees the ball.

Sometimes you accept it's where you just can't get to it...I used to hate having a big wall..Two max and then it's the free kick taker against me .I win 90% of the time as they have too much to aim at...

 

[BigBed]

I won't slate Moore, he's done a great job since coming in, but as I've said before, he has no competition for the shirt! He needs competition to fulfil his potential and until that happens he's never going to be the best he could be!
I'm hoping the situation can be addressed next TW.

 

[vas borbokis]

I think one problem here is we don't seem to have anyone on our books who can take a free kick like that.
Therefore we can't practice either scoring from them directly or defending them.
When was the last time we scored directly by looping a free kick over a wall? I remember one recently from Duffy but not many more this season.
Something to work on...

 

[Brissieblade]

Moore has taken a bit of stick on here for the Charlton goal. As soon as they were all in position, I said to my neighbour on the Kop that if they got the ball over the wall and down again, Moore could not possibly save it. He just got a finger-end on it, but no way could he save it.
I played in goal for many years at a very low level, and my one innovation, which I still have not seen elsewhere, was to split the wall to cover both sides of the goal, and leave the gap in the centre. That way, the opponent either shoots straight at the keeper, or the keeper only has to dive half the width of the goal. I never conceded from a free-kick. Mind you, most of them would not have scored with an open goal to aim at. But I have occasionally wondered if it would work at a higher level.

Not a bad thought. I've recently questioned the wisdom of a wall for free kicks at close range. It means the keeper doesn't see the ball until it's about 10 yards from goal. If it's on target he has less time to react than a penalty