Thread by @themoderndaygk

Outfield Qualities to help goalkeeper performance

Feature 2: Wanting the ball / Being an option and Distribution under Pressure

✅ Ball control
✅ Awareness
✅ Comfortable on the ball
✅ Spacial awareness
✅ Playing under pressure
✅ Being an option through positioning
✅ Dealing with awkward back passes
✅ Pass Appreciation

These are football skills that are more associated with outfield players, that’s why we’ve called it “Outfield Qualities”

Playing outfield is where Lee had developed these and have played a huge part in his style of play

You get a lot of goalkeepers who are great at distributing dead balls or when they have a lot of time

The difference is being able to do it under pressure

Its funny what a bit of pressure can do. The Gk’s who aren’t comfortable under pressure lose their distribution quality! You might see miss kicks, balls being put out of play or giving up possession far too easily which can potentially end up putting your team under pressure

Times in game where def/mid play ball back to the Gk as the only option. If you're playing in a team that doesn't play out from back / encouraged, there'll not be another close range pass, so gk needs to be able to distribute ball accurately higher up pitch under pressure

If you’re able to deal with back-passes better by either being in a better position or if you’re comfortable enough on the ball, you can be a huge asset to your team:

✅ Defence are confident in playing the ball back
✅ You can deal with awkward back passes
✅ Defence can play higher
✅ Higher chance of keeping possession
✅ Higher chance of starting a counter attack
✅ Less chance of putting your team under pressure

There's been a lot of focus on playing out from the back in the last few years, but apart from a hand full of top top teams, not many others can.

If you have a gk who can play the ball effectively up the pitch to either create chances, move possession higher up the pitch, put the opposing team under pressure or at the minimum, win second balls / concede set plays, encourage that, work on that

‼️ There’ll be one more feature to go on this topic, covering how you could help expose goalkeepers to this and improve performance

#themoderndaygk