Speculation is rife at the moment about the burning question of who will be the next goalkeeper of Manchester United after Edwin Van Der Sar eventually hangs up his gloves at the end of this season.
I’m still sort of hoping he won’t. VDS is still at his very best, and there are only a handful of goalkeepers at the moment that are anything like as good as him.
I keep thinking – if I was anything like as good a keeper as Van Der Sar, I’d try and go on playing for as long as physically possible. He could probably still play in the lower divisions well into his 50s – imagine that!
Anyway, the talk goes on about who will replace him between the sticks for the Red Devils. Tomasz Kuszczak has had a few games recently, but he’s been around for a few seasons at United now and never really given many people the impression that he’s made of the same stuff as VDS. A shame for him really, as he’s a solid and sometimes spectacular goalkeeper – given the right chance, who knows.
But a lot of the talk is involving the young German, Manuel Neuer. Friend of the blog Mark Attwood recently sent over this video of Neuer’s insanely good performance for Shalke last season, I think in the UEFA cup. I remember watching this game as it was the first time I’d properly seen Neuer in action. There are some insanely good moments.
Check out the second penalty save at the end of this video. Without doubt one of the most spectacular and incredible penalty saves you’ll ever see – keepers rarely get to the high ones like this.
Actually, Neuer wasn’t all that consistently impressive during the World Cup 2010, which leaves some question marks about his ability to handle it at the very top level. He was shaky several times in the England – Germany game, and benefitted from a bit of luck. In the video below, you’ll see he arguably lacks a bit of bravery too, preferring to go in with his feet rather than his hands at times when the hands would really be better.
But you can’t argue that Neuer isn’t a promising young keeper. And it would be fun to see him in action at Old Trafford next season…
