Robbie Rotten wrote:Honestly, carl, how can you sit there and write that? Especially the all-round stuff. Reina's strongest attribute isn't even his shot stopping, but he's easily one of the best shot stoppers in the world. His best attributes are his athleticism and his distribution: he's so quick off of his line, he's rarely beat in 1v1 situations 'cause he comes out so quickly and makes himself big, he's easily the fastest goalkeeper in the league and it shows with his outstanding pace from his line, I mean, we've been able to play a 'pushed up' defence for years, but we've never had any genuine pace at the back, but that has rarely been exposed, largely due to Reina's terrific pace, he's like a sweeper; add to that, his distribution, again, is by far and out the best in the league, he is excellent at starting counter-attacks, he's solid at passing and he never has to 'punt it' down field, as he's a natural footballer, he can pass it about, something van der Sar and Friedel can't do, at least to the effect and level that Reina can.
Reina's weakest attribute is his cross-handling, whether he's a bad handler or not, I don't know, but he really struggled to 'command' the box with zonal marking, as it simply blocked him from getting to the ball with 10 of his own defenders in the box. Other than that, I'd say he's world class at every single thing, whilst I think his handling in general (ignore that fumble on the weekend, he regularly makes great saves catching the ball and so on) is top class, whilst his positioning, closing down, 1v1's and all-round ability makes him by far the most 'complete' goalkeeper in the league, if not the world.
It's the command of the box which I thought about with the all-round comment, in the same way I'd apply it to Given as his achilles heel. And the ironic thing about it is, they're probably in the league that most demands that attribute. The reason I think Friedel and Van Der Sar are better all-round keepers is because they don't have such a glaring weakness IMO. They are a little behind Reina in some things, like the athleticism and speed off the line, but none to the extent that he is behind them in commanding his area. The distribution point I can agree with whilst not particularly valuing it in a keeper. It's an added bonus if a goalkeeper can pick out long passes, but so long as they are comfortable putting their laces through the ball with either foot and can throw with decent accuracy within their own half, that's enough.
