Who is the world's best goalkeeper?

[Grinners89]

You're a Liverpool fan, aren't you supposed to hate Chelsea :D. No wonder you don't agree with Cech being #1.

Buffon = Casillas > Cech = Van der Saar > Reina

I agree mostly with that although IMO, it would be

Casillas > (slightly) Buffon >> Cech = Van der Saar = Reina

Goalkeeping isnt just about stopping goals and punting the ball upfield to leave the responsibility with the other players...like Cech does.

[Hendrixforpope]

I agree mostly with that although IMO, it would be

Casillas > (slightly) Buffon >> Cech = Van der Saar = Reina

Goalkeeping isnt just about stopping goals and punting the ball upfield to leave the responsibility with the other players...like Cech does.

Casillas and Buffon are so close they might as well be equal. Everyone else is mixed in the second level.

We need to start talking about keepers other than the 5 or so that are constantly talked about :D

[Kulspruta]

It seems like everybody watches Juventus, and nobody watches Inter.

[Hendrixforpope]

It seems like everybody watches Juventus, and nobody watches Inter.

I'm all for J.C. because of his national team :D. Best Brazilian goalkeeper in quite a long time.

[yasik19]

Btw did you see the most recent error of his in the Carling Cup?

Of course he is #1 in the world :rolleyes:

the ball bounced off Woodgate's head when he punched out the ball. It was rather unfortunate.

[KumarsS]

It seems like everybody watches Juventus, and nobody watches Inter.

I watch both equally, that is to say I don't see them regularly but I catch a game or two every month. From what I've seen of Buffon and Cesar with their clubs and national teams, I can honestly say I'd have the former over the latter ten times out of ten. That's not to take anything away from Cesar, who is truly remarkable in his consistency and an asset to any team.

[Grinners89]

I watch both equally, that is to say I don't see them regularly but I catch a game or two every month. From what I've seen of Buffon and Cesar with their clubs and national teams, I can honestly say I'd have the former over the latter ten times out of ten. That's not to take anything away from Cesar, who is truly remarkable in his consistency and an asset to any team.

Cesar was certainly excellent against Liverpool last week and without him im sure that the scorline wouldve been 2-0 or 3-0 after 60 mins...he somehow got a fingertip on Torres' shot when one-on-one and also saved from Kuyt, Gerrard and a few other i think

[Kulspruta]

I'm all for J.C. because of his national team :D. Best Brazilian goalkeeper in quite a long time.
Depending on how good he plays in the next World Cup, he may be regardaded as the best since Taffarel, maybe even better.

Cesar was certainly excellent against Liverpool last week and without him im sure that the scorline wouldve been 2-0 or 3-0 after 60 mins...he somehow got a fingertip on Torres' shot when one-on-one and also saved from Kuyt, Gerrard and a few other i think

He pulls at least one of those saves in EVERY game. There's not a single game in which I take a look at inter forums across the internet and the fans aren't hailing him as the best Goalkeeper in the world. And although I disagree, they do have a point, because no goalkeeper has been as influential for his team's points this season as JC, not even Casillas, but people have the 1Buffon2Casillas3Cech thing stuck in their minds.

I watch both equally, that is to say I don't see them regularly but I catch a game or two every month. From what I've seen of Buffon and Cesar with their clubs and national teams, I can honestly say I'd have the former over the latter ten times out of ten. That's not to take anything away from Cesar, who is truly remarkable in his consistency and an asset to any team.
I think Buffon is the better keeper too, but there's no way to conclude that based on these season's showings

[frasermc]

Buffon - Casillas ------- Cech.

i think that's hard to argue with but i wouldn't be putting Van Der Saar and Reina as the next two above all the other keepers in world football.

they're good keepers but there are others as equally talented.

such as Julio Cesar, Coupet(when healthy), Boruc, Frey, Hildebrand before he went to the mess that is valencia. younger keepers that have also impressed include Lloris and Akinfeev(prior to his injury).

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Cech has now dropped out of my three. Far too many stupid mistakes over the course of this season. I just cannot justify his inclusion.

[-Fifth CharM-]

Cech has now dropped out of my three. Far too many stupid mistakes over the course of this season. I just cannot justify his inclusion.

Would make up your top 3?
------


The best starting eleven in Europe for the month of January - voted for by the writers from the ten publications that fall under the European Sports Magazines umbrella - has been announced today, with Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the votes.

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas was a universal choice among all the publications except for the Gazzetta Dello Sport, with the Italians voting Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon as the best in January.

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=600571

[Teso Dos Bichos]

I'd need to have a think about that. Buffon and Casillas are obviously my top two but with Cech dropping back there is a big group of keepers at around the same level. I have problems differentiating between them in terms of form and particularly when you take their defense into account. I really like Van der Sar and he has only conceeded 12 league goals this season but the defense infront of him is exceptional. The same could be said about Julio Cesar but to a lesser degree. That is why I think the accepted top two are above the rest because they perform superbly despite having less than great defenses infront of them over recent years. I guess I have answered the question by naming the latter two keepers, so we'll call that my top four. ;)

[Hendrixforpope]

Buffon - Casillas ------- Cech.

i think that's hard to argue with but i wouldn't be putting Van Der Saar and Reina as the next two above all the other keepers in world football.

they're good keepers but there are others as equally talented.

such as Julio Cesar, Coupet(when healthy), Boruc, Frey, Hildebrand before he went to the mess that is valencia. younger keepers that have also impressed include Lloris and Akinfeev(prior to his injury).

He had a monster game against Barca at Camp Nou.

[I-Got-The-BLUES]

Btw did you see the most recent error of his in the Carling Cup?

Of course he is #1 in the world :rolleyes:
Btw did you know that he played the last 40mins of that match suffering from double vision?

I'm not making a case for him being #1, as I think Buffon has that spot locked, but his Carling Cup error shouldn't be a point in this.

[Grinners89]

Btw did you know that he played the last 40mins of that match suffering from double vision?

I'm not making a case for him being #1, as I think Buffon has that spot locked, but his Carling Cup error shouldn't be a point in this.

Then why wasnt he substituted?

Obviously due to a poor coaching decision if thats true.

[I-Got-The-BLUES]

Then why wasnt he substituted?

Obviously due to a poor coaching decision if thats true.Well, I'm not one to degrade members of my own squad...but if we had a Top 100 members in the Premiership, Grant wouldn't make the list (And of course, there are only 20 clubs)
:)

[Berean Todd]

The thing is, it isn't just about a "top 3" or "top 5" either, because there is great stratification. The gap between some numbers is greater than others.

1. Buffon




2. Casillas
































3- Julio Ceasar/Van der Saar
4 - Cech/Reina
everyone else in the world

[Hendrixforpope]

I'm not really sure about J.C. at 3rd quite yet.

[babaorum]

The thing is, it isn't just about a "top 3" or "top 5" either, because there is great stratification. The gap between some numbers is greater than others.

1. Buffon




2. Casillas
































3- Julio Ceasar/Van der Saar
4 - Cech/Reina
everyone else in the world

The gap between Buffon, Casillas and the rest (please add Coupet) is not that large.

[Berean Todd]

I'm not really sure about J.C. at 3rd quite yet.

I don't know that I'm entirely comfortable with it either; however I am comfortable that it is NOT Cech any longer, and the general point I was making is that there is a large gap between Iker/Gigi and everyone else.

The gap between Buffon, Casillas and the rest (please add Coupet) is not that large.

I disagree. As I said what the order of 3-whatever is I am not entirely sure and is largely subjective. But there IS a very large gap between Iker/Gigi and all others. Show me one area that Buffon lacks. Show a mistake he makes. The man is a machine, he is sublime, nearly perfect, and although he doesn't have the length of career yet to brand him this - he WILL be considered the greatest ever keeper one day.