For this season I would have to say Frey(up until sunday) but Buffon is just amazing, he just can't seem to do anything wrong, ever and he has been playing really well this year again!
You clearly have not seen his regular performances and are guilty of basing your opinion on a few games and highlight reels. This season alone he has made countless mistakes, several costing Celtic crucial points against their main rivals. The only vendetta I have is against the ignorant in our midst who are proclaiming him to be something he is not.
Actually that isn't true. Besides Champions League's games with the SAT Football I could watched him against of Dundee United and Motherwell in September, Falkirk and Aberdeen at the beginning of the season and at least his last four games with Poland in the Euro Qualifying against of Russia, Portugal and Finland. So, more or less 10 completes matches since August, that could be consider clearly more than only highlights, couldn't ? I think Boruc is far of be guilty of a lot mistakes in the season, not only for Celtic, too for Poland, he has had a good season and again, I think he deserves his position in my ranking.
Let's see what Boruc has to say: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/7009570.stm That is but one game. He's made numerous other mistakes this season. He is a good keeper but like all shot stoppers he has failings in the rest of his game and these have resulted in more mistakes than usual this season. He's not as good as people here seem to think.
I believe that Boruc, makes mistakes, but to all honest truth his done more good then bad. I'm not gonna argue about him being rather the best since he of course needs improvement, but I think you over exaggerate that he fails in everything else his rather solid and I've seen him play in his bad and good games, I just think his main problem is focus he tends to rather underestimate his opponent.
So these other shot stoppers who have stints of having numerous failings are so much better than Boruc... I think you think he's worse than he is, looking at the negatives not the positives. I can do that for other keepers and downplay their "greatness". Boruc is good, stfu and stop bein a fukin pest. We get that you don't think he is that great, you can't change the minds of people whose minds are set. If people say that he's one of the best, your meager attempts to downplay him are fukin annoying. Comments to yourself please.
Several of them are because they do not make stupid mistakes like he does. That's not even taking more rounded keepers and the accepted top three in the world into account. Boruc is overrated by certain individuals and I will continue to point out the error of their ways, whether you personally like that or not.
personally? I'm not the only one... Everyone makes stupid mistakes, you single Boruc out and your bias is really annoying. Was Boruc great last season? Yes, is he doing great now? No, he's struggling a bit, but like all footballers we go through good and bad times. True he's overrated by some, but this does justify your undermining of his abilities. You could do this with other keepers that are posted her, but you single him out. That's just fukin annoying. Hurry up, get it all out and move on
In the following clip an "overrated shot stopper" singlehandely puts Poland in the EC's. Watch this save against Belgium Nov. 17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw7chfA7_Ks
You know you have lost an argument when you are forced to defend it by posting a single incident from youtube. I have never denied that Boruc is a good shot stopper. The problem is in the rest of his game and the number of mistakes he makes (particularly this season). There is no denying that he is overrated by certain individuals in this thread. The placing of him so highly in their lists and the laughable attempts at trying to ignore the clear mistakes he has made this season is proof of that. Good shot stopper? Of course. The best keeper right now or deserving of being placed so high in certain lists? Not a chance.
Teso, given the age of this thread and bias in the poll choices, who would you rate as your all-time top 5 'keepers, and why? And, as I expect I won't see this name in the top 5 list, where would you place Michel Prudhomme?
The thing is Boruc makes an awesome, game changing save (or two or three) in nearly every game that he plays. This Belgium game is but one example of him making a near impossible save (can you think of a better struck free kick from that position?) in a hugely important game. Unlike many other great keepers in this thread, he is one of the very, very few in the history of the game that can change the outcome of the game by all by himself. However, this works the other way around as well: his mistakes can cost his team their games too, although that happens much more rarely than his successes. I firmly believe that his strongest point is his mind; he is able to influence his, as well as the other team, because of his strong personality, and how that translates to his physical performance. But, as you, Teso Dos Bichos, and others pointed out, Boruc is also prone to mistakes. The same strong personality/character that allows him to win games for his team fails him at times, and makes him the bear the brunt for losing, especially against weaker teams. Once he can learn how to control his temper/mind/personality, I strongly believe he can be one of the best keepers ever.
It's practically 0500 here and I'm half asleep but here's my list. I'll pad it out with more comments when I wake up today/tomorrow... In no particular order: Yashin - First 'modern' keeper. Only keeper to win European Player of Year. Won various votes FIFA/IFFHS polls. Granted footage is limited but I'm not going to disagree and I'm also going to conveniently sidestep comparing keepers of old with their modern equivalent. It's a discussion I cannot face at this time of the morning... Sepp Maier - West German footballer of the year three times and a key player in the success of Bayern Munich and West Germany. Dino Zoff - Very highly rated and successful keeper for club and country. Peter Schmeichel - Best keeper of my generation. Second highest ranked keeper over history of Ballon d'Or voting (first was Yashin). Key player for Man Utd and Denmark. I'm taking the fifth for my fifth selection. Comparing keepers is really difficult and there are lots that are very close to each other. I personally rank the four above very highly but after them I struggle. Take British keepers as an example. Banks usually gets the praise but there are at least three more with a very good case of being the best British ever. It's too hard to rank them and there is too much hype/bias towards each one depending on where you go. You will notice that I have excluded currently playing keepers. Kahn has been very good but of those still active Buffon would be the best. They will definitely both push for inclusion at some point. With Preud'homme, WC94 aside, I have seen very little of. Some people rate him very highly but his club career makes it difficult for me to judge him. I do find it interesting to note that Jean-Marie Pfaff was rated higher in the IFFHS poll.
Thanks for your reply. I tend to agree, and am pleased to see that someone else besides me things that Meier deserves more credit than he's received. Notwithstanding the immense talent he had in front of him, Meier orchestrated his defenses (both club and country) with great skill, and (obviously) showed his ability to make the big save when required. Does Chilavert rate in your pantheon?
I like Chilavert a lot and most of my knowledge of him comes from his time at Vélez and internationally. Very good keeper but too eccentric to break into the top of my list and I've always been wary of the set-piece keepers for obvious reasons. If I were to ever do a personal top 10 then he would definitely be in the list but somewhere between 6-10.
I don't understand this adoration for Yashin. Has anyone that rates him so highly actually ever seen him live? Or seen an entire game with him in the net on tape? IMO he's very much overrated. I have seen three games with him in their entirety, and he was shakey in all. Sucked on crosses, couldn't hold the ball if his life depended on it, but a decent, not great shot stopper. Zoff on the other hand, I agree, a fantastic all around goalkeeper, maybe the best ever.
I guess Zamora is another keeper who many of us have not seen enough of to make a judgement on, but certainly from his reputation and his status at the time, must be considered amongst the best.
It boggles the mind that the name of 'REINA' might be on the list of the top ten even?? With that being said it does remind me of another goalkeeper often passed up the topic, RICARDO' of Portugal...... Now, as for the BEST GOALKEEPER in the World Today??!!!!.... Without a doubt whatsoever, Nº1- Gianluigi BUFFON (ITALY'S WORLD CUP WINNING GK) Then there's the rest of the lot #2-Jens LEHMANN #3-Petr CECH/ #4-Grégory COUPET/ #5-Iker CASILLAS/ #6-Anti NEMMI #7-Van Der Sar/ #8-RICARDO/ #9-Artur BORUC/ and last but not least #10-KUSCZACK Peter Schmeichel was unbekiavably awesome as well. I believe that the top (6) on the list can be moved around in order. However, I believe in my humble opinion, that BUFFON is still the KING and The KING'S NOT DEAD! When he is ready to retire, I don't see him giving up his position as FIFA'S BEST GK! Most soccer FANS in the know agree on him being the BEST!... FORZA AZZURRI, FORZA ITALIA Ciao, Luigi/ACMILAN-Maldini03.. PS: DINO ZOFF and Peter SHILTON are mi BEST ALL TIME