In the next few days I'm going to post a series of polls to see who is considered the best player ever in every position, with the aim of creating an all time XI simply on votes, in this team I will be playing a genuine 442, and so avoid the fantasy teams with no defenders that we often see. Obviously the first position to decide is the goalkeeper. So who do you think is the greatest goalkeeper of all time?
It is easily Lev Yashin. He won European POTY, had a statue built, won the Order of Lenin, named in the FIFA "Century XI" team, won the "World Keeper of the Century" award, had a FIFA award named after him and even had success at ice hockey. His career was also impressive. There have been some great keepers over the years, but he edges every single one of them.
Up to a couple of years ago I would always have said Yashin. But the more I think about things now the more I'm inclined to go with Schmeichel.
Peter Smeichel, he influenced the game so much from between the sticks it was scary, to me he'll always be the greatest of all time.
Has to be Schmeichel IMO. He pulled of some phenomenal saves. However best save ever i would say goes to Gordon Banks (when he lifted it over the bar) or David Seaman v Sheff Utd when he somehow clawed it away.
Everyone is voting for Yashin, but how many of us ever saw him play? Of course, it doesn't mean that he isn't the greatest goalkeeper ever, but I have trouble voting for someone who I haven't seen play (even in highlights). With that caveat, I would have to say Banks, Schmeichel, and add Kahn to the list. Kahn put Germany on his back and took them to the WC finals in 2002. Of course, he may not even been better than Meir... I need to review some footage of Yashin and others before giving my finally vote...
What brought all this on? You know this is going to get lopsided real quick right? It's a shame because players who have a solid case are going to get overlooked for others with 'bigger names/reputations' will win by default. I'm trusting you will put the right players in the right polls though, which should make this a little bit more interesting. When you say a genuine 4-4-2 are you talking about a diamond or winger system btw? It makes a huge differnce to who you can choose for the polls.
If you didn't vote Yashin you you probably never saw him play. I only got to see him (on TV) toward the end of his career. Growing up I hated the USSR I couldn't accept a USSR player being the best GK in the world. I kept on looking for someone else I could call "the best". I tried to convince myself that Banks was better, but whenever I said that I knew I was lying ... Schmeichel would be a very worthy backup.
Dino Zoff is the greatest. Played in three World Cups, winning one as a captain and for 1,142 minutes, in nearly 13 internationals between 1973-1974, he didn't concede a goal. I'd put Yashin second. From the ones I've seen though and are on that poll, Zoff is first (wouldn't make a difference if I've seen him or not), Shilton is second, Schmeichel is third, Pfaff is fourth and Dassaev is fifth.
Gordon Banks' save from Pele in the 1970 WC was the greatest save of all World Cups so i'm gonna vote for him.
Taffarel's save from Mo Johnston in WC 1990 was equally great (probably even harder than Bank's). Does that mean he deserves to be voted as the world's greatest goalkeeper?
He was funny to watch. For those who don't know, get some footage of Colombia at Italia 90 to see him at his best or funniest. The game against Cameroon is very comical.
I wonder why so many people still rate Yashin as the most outstanding keeper ever, the one keeper that is in his own league removed from all others. There’s a lot of myth surrounding Yashin today. Like as if there’s an unwritten rule that no other keeper could touch him. Now he played in three World Cup, one was disastrous (by his standards, 1962), and two were pretty good (1958 and 1966), nothing more. It is worth noting that in none of the World Cups he performed in he managed to be rated as the single best keeper. In 1958 both Harry Gregg of Northern Ireland and Jack Kelsey of Wales outperformed him, in 1962 Yashin had to be rated among the worst not the best keepers and in 1966, Gordon Banks and Ladislao Mazurkiewicz are generally considered to have been the best keepers. His best performances were during the 1960 European Championship. Yashin was no stranger to lapses and blunders, what made him special at his time was his directing of the defence, often acting as an additional defender, offensive nature of play, clearing balls with his head outside of the penalty box. In European football, this was new and extraordinary for a goalkeeper, but in South America, several keepers already mastered this new style of play, most notably Carrizo. Sure he has to be rated as one of the greatest ever keepers, but I think his performances were not that outstanding compared to that of other legendary keepers.
In 1962 there were some goals that a great goalkeeper would have saved. In the match against Colombia, the USSR were 4-1 up after 56 minutes. After 68 minutes though, Colombia scored three goals in 18 mintues and drew 4-4. When Chile defeated the Soviets 2-1 in the quarter-finals, both Chilean goals were from at least 25 metres out. In the Euro 64 Final, Spain scored two goals and the goals looked like goals that great keepers would save, probably one who is just a good goalie would have saved them. They weren't long range shots, these goals were scored within the penalty box but the shots weren't exactly an example of great placement. I'm not picking on Yashin but these were just examples of his flaws and he wasn't the only great keeper who had his bad days.