The Goalkeepers : Sweepers For The Win?

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Football is a team sport of 11 players. one is different, rest are similar. Those 10 men are divided into three parts, defense, midfield, attack. In there are different types. Different types of defenders create a backline. different dimensions of midfielders created the midfield such as defensive and offensive and central midfielders. Even in attack there are wingers and strikers. Now, about the keepers, well there is only one position. so most of you will not be blamed to think there is no variation in a goalkeeper's role. But there is, a sweeper or a box keeper.

The box keeper is very common actually, and it is the basic type of goalkeeping. What anyone can be. The other is the sweeper. and This one is hard. Because a sweeper has to do additional stuff on top of being a conventional goalkeeper. We can take Manuel Neuer for example. Sweeper keeper refers to a goalkeeper who is not limited to the penalty box, but tries to stop the attack by going out of the box at risk to stop the opponent's attack. During the team buildup, sweepers push up a little to shift the entire team further up the field. They push up at times to distribute. like supplying the ball high up the field. Or helping the team maintain a high defensive line. Yes this policy has it's risks of being exposed on the break. But when implemented correctly, this high line can effectively squeeze the opposition. They also try to match their defensive lines by becoming an extra defender during defense or during buildup. Manuel Neuer has been doing this job in a fantastic fashion for many years now. Those who watch Bayern Munich or Germany will clearly know what I am talking about. Yes sometimes he overcommits himself which results in bad scenarios, such as the disqualification in the 2018 world cup. But apart from those mistakes, Neuer is the best sweeper in the game currently. Previously there was Iker Casillas too. This sweeper keeper philosophy isn't something new. In fact it was a very old theory. The greatest of all time, Leg Yachine, was a sweeper too. He would also push up and close down attackers, become the extra man in the defensive stitching, help his team maintain a higher line. And somewhere in this world people like Manuel Neuer and Iker Casillas thank the black spider for introducing this role and accumulate him as their role model.

In the modern football, the sweeper keeper is a big bonus for any team. And teams who have such keepers tend to dominate. Teams such as Barcelona, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool all have keepers who push high up and are more offensive towards the ball. This enhances their tactics significantly. The result, these teams almost rule Europe, well, apart from Barcelona. But they too are doing a very good job of making a comeback. That doesn't mean conventional keepers are completely obsolete. Teams such as Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid have these types of keepers. And they too are notorious to score against in Europe. Both types of goalkeepers are useful in today's world too. Both have their weaknesses and strengths. At the moment there are the sweepers who are more sought after. Who knows, ten years later maybe the tables will turn.