I had noticed the absence of a single S.American candidate for GK. Not a criticism. Putting together a reduced list of choices from all who have come before is extremely challenging. Speaking of S.American GKs, I saw Mr.Chilavert at the Sawgrass Mall here in S.Fla over the weekend. Altough he was alone, I assume he was breaking the bank shopping with his wife....he was sitting by himself with two shopping carts full of "stuff", looking extremely bored. I pointed him out to my girlfriend who instantly recognized him and said, "Why do all these ex-players get fat?"
There is not much to be found on Yashin (like moments of brilliance on film as in the case of Gordon Bank's save against Pele) but there can be little doubt that he will ever become number 2!! Buffon has been amazing recently as have been Shmeichel and Banks but I would give Yashin number one easily. Banks would probably be second.
And I take it for a reason. The Manchester United that once dominated english football has not had a keeper capable of making the position theirs since his departure despite numerous signings. Granted there really is no way to prove who the greatest keeper is but this guy has to be one of the first names off of the tongue. Props to the old school keepers, I'll never forget the story from my grandad about the keeper being knocked out cold in warm ups. Equipment makes the games so much easier today.
So if van der Sar plays really well for United, he will be the best keeper of all time? Schmeichel was great, but this was at a time when Keane, Cantona, and CO. was at its finest and Beckham was not the charismatic playboy but a strapping young go-getter.
You haven't seriously thought it over. Even though Schmeichel was with Man United during their glory days, he was a great goalkeeper and this is not just with Man Utd. He was just as great when he was between the posts for Denmark. At Euro 92, he was one of Denmark's best players in the whole tornament.
And it certainly wasn't coincidence - only Keane and possibly Giggs were more important to Man Utd during the 90's.
There is ONE vote for Ricardo Zamora? Jesus. Well, two now. comme: I'd have added Ladislao Mazurkiewicz and Ubaldo Fillol, to get some South American representation in here.
No Pat Jennings?? The man had hands the size of Luxembourg. Would have to agree about Yashin, most of us never saw him play (abit like Pele really). We are told he was great so most of us assume he was. Would go for big Pat, but as he's not in the voting (shame on you!), i'll go for...............oh bugger it! i'll say big Pat!
I'm a Spurs fan and thought it might be a bit biased to include Jennings, he was certainly among my options. To be honest though I doubt he would have got any votes, given that Zamora has two and Shilton none.
Well he would have got two votes at least, what with me and you! And no Clemence aswell in the vote, tut tut!
The poll can't be filled with a bunch of UK goalies and lots of votes have been going to Yashin anyway. Probably about 95 per cent of voters who went for Yashin haven't actually seen footage of him, they've only just read reports and stories.
I voted for Yashin but that's because I have read a lot about him. I've been trying to find some footage but it seems to be pretty rare! I'm surprised more that so many have voted for Schmeichel while no one's voted for Shilton! That guy was amazing!! Or even Banks only getting 11 votes. I don't think this poll is very accurate by any means.
Though you and I both voted for Zoff, I'm sure a few who did so as well never saw him play either. Votes based on limited knowledge cut both ways. Limiting our votes to only those we saw play doesn't make the poll any more reliable, as it excludes contenders solely because of our limitations. Seems logical to me that if you were not around, or have not been able to find enough footage, considerations have to be made for the eye-witness accounts of pundits and fans who were around and saw multiple generations of players in comparison. You take those sources, added to available statistics and your knowledge base of other players, and form your own impressions. It can be argued that on BSoccer too much weight is placed on players in the satellite era. I use the word "satellite" because I'm always amazed at how many peope haven't seen games from the 1982 WC. [I realize that I'm old, but those games are not very hard to find].
Blimey. There's a lot of old people on here. I aint young, but I haven't got a clue how good or bad Yashin was. He's just a folklore figure to me so I cant judge him. In my lifetime you'd have to go a long way to beat Schmeichel, although Zoff would come close and I'd imagine that I'd have them the other way round if I was an Italian football watcher rather than English. I often wonder how these keepers from a while back would have coped with all this back pass rule and such. Would they be thought of so highly if they couldn't kick a turd off a tee box?? And also with these shamefully light footballs. They dont do much to enhance a keepers reputation these days do they? Dont even think Schmeichel had to cope with a Nike Aerow!!
Although he hasn't got much luck and exposure with the Seleção (though he won WC02 as a third backup), my vote goes for Rogério Ceni of São Paulo FC Anyone who has closely followed Brazilian football for the last decade knows what I'm about He's probably the goalkeeper with the most diverse set of skills ever One could say that Rogério has the elasticity and reflexes of a world class goalkeeper, the anticipation and playing skills of a good sweeper, the leadership of a seasoned center midfielder and to top it all, the free kick of a talented attacking midfielder
That's pretty much the point. Footage of Yashin is not as easy to find compared to footage of Zoff but Yashin is killing it in the votes. To say that Yashin was the greatest goalie of all-time by a mile is an overstatement. There is lots of good competition on that poll and in reality, this poll should be a lot closer. Why? If everyone had an even balance of knowledge, meaning they would consider players that they have seen great footage of and ones that they have heard great stories of, Yashin wouldn't be dominating this poll.
I think that there are several reasons contirbuting to Yashin's reputation. 1) He played at the time football really started to become a true international sport (especially from a European perspective) - greater television exposure of the 54 and in particular 58 World Cups, the start of the European Championships, the start of European club competitions. 2) He is the only keeper (and will probably remain so) to win the European Footballer of the Year award and did so against very stiff competition. 3) He was a great keeper - his agility set the benchmark for all future goalkeepers and it his claimed he saved over 150 penalties during his career. 4) Longevity - he played until he was 41 again setting a benchmark for future greats.
Setting a standard is a great thing but there are other goalies who have great abilities than Yashin.
I would agree with you on that, but there are numerous other factors which you have to take into consideration. When comparing players from different eras then you cannot simply put them up against each other and make a decision based on that - variations in style of play, technological advances, improvement in training methods and even minor rule changes must all be taken into account. For example, how much specialist coaching would Yashin have received in relation to keepers and the 80's and again in relation to keepers today? Also modern keepers are afforded much greater protection than those in the 50's, who would often have to cope with huge centre forwards charging into them. Looking at attacking players, how do you think someone like Didi or Puskas would have done with the modern lightweight ball as opposed to the heavy ball they had to work with. Ultimately, when I compare players from different eras then I start by looking at their greatness in realtion to other players from that time. Using that as a base, other factors are brought in before I reach a conclusion. It's not a perfect system (far from it), but it is better than, for example, just comparing two players from different eras solely on comparing footage.