SIMPLE ADVICE

In the last few days we have learned of the dangers of goalkeeping.  And I don’t mean the foolishness of England’s Paul Robinson, who tried to whack a back-pass away without first bringing it under control, only to see it roll into the net in the 2-0 defeat by Croatia.  No, the dangers I refer to are the real possibility of injury because goalkeeping is an inherently dangerous occupation, sometimes made worse by the inattention of the referee.

So, no political comments here, but a couple of things that any referee can do to protect the goalkeeper at all levels of the game.  (And if you look at my picture at the head of this blog, you will see an obviously broken nose, which was caused by contact with Alan Durban’s knee when we were both youth footballers playing for our respective cities in Wales.  Believe me, I know whereof I write!  Subsequently, Durban became a first-division professional and an international for Wales; I became a referee.)

In the match between Chelsea and Reading in the Premiership last weekend, snippets of which are now on YouTube™, you will see the dangers.  Chelsea’s Petr Cech runs out to the right of his goal to dive for a ball near the edge of the penalty-area.  Even though it is obvious that the goalkeeper is going to get to the ball first, the forward keeps on coming, and runs into Cech on the ground, striking his head with his right knee.  It was at least reckless, and possibly deliberate.  Result?  Depressed fracture of the skull; hospitalization; surgery; Cech out of the game for a long time.

His replacement Carlo Cudicini goes for a cross and punches it clear.  A forward in the air collides with the goalkeeper and flattens him, concussed.  You can see that the forward had no chance to reach the ball at the height that Cudicini (almost six feet two, plus his arm length) punches it.  He was challenging only to distract or perhaps take out the goalkeeper.  He succeeded with a clear foul.  Result?  Concussion; out of the match, but Cudicini is now training again.

So here are the techniques for referees.  For the Cech incident, notice the phrase “it is obvious that the goalkeeper is going to get to the ball first”.  Players know it; referees must be skilled enough to know it.  If you look at the videotape, can you tell who’s going to get there first?  If you can’t, you are not ready for skilled soccer at any level.  Watch a lot of videotape until you can always tell who is going to get to the ball first.  If a player follows through after losing the race for the ball, he has committed a foul.  I will guarantee that the Reading forward knew; in which case, he should have avoided contact by swerving aside or jumping over the goalkeeper.

When you see a player avoid such contact, let him know.  “Thanks for not killing the ‘keeper, number eight” (or John or Fred, if you know his name).  You can change behavior by positive reinforcement, but also you are letting players know that you are watching and aware.

The second incident is a bit more difficult to deal with, because far too many referees are not aware of what is going on.  Goalkeepers are trained in, and regularly practice, the art of reaching a high ball at the maximum height of their jump, either to catch or punch a ball.  Forwards are trained in, and regularly practice, the art of heading a ball at the maximum height of their jump.

Cudicini is at least six feet one, and even if he can only jump eighteen inches, he can reach a ball that is almost ten feet in the air.  Most forwards cannot come close to that height in trying to head a ball.  Even if six-foot-seven Peter Crouch of England could jump two feet upwards, he could not outjump Cudicini for the same ball.  Get the picture?  Forwards rarely collide innocently with goalkeepers in the air, because if their challenge were honest, they would not be in the same place as the keeper.  And in the Chelsea-Reading incident, the forward hit Cudicini AFTER the goalkeeper had played the ball; it was a clear foul.  The forward’s motion took him into the goalkeeper, as he knew it would.

In competitive soccer at any level, pay attention to these skills until they are part of you.  Learn to identify who is going to get to the ball first in any race for the ball.  Know the difference between a ‘keeper jumping and a forward jumping for the same ball.  Reward fair play (the forward avoiding unfair contact), and don’t hesitate to punish careless or reckless challenges, as these two incidents surely were in the game between Chelsea and Reading.

*******
I wrote a story about Maradona, Boca Juniors and their stadium La Bombonera on my Tribune blog (link on the right).  The stadium I wrote about is nicknamed La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) because of its rectangular shape and its depth.  (Those terraces are very steep!)

Comments

[Matt]

After watching both clips several times I'm going to have to disagree that either was intentional.
During the Cech incident you can see Hunt try to get out of the way, but due to the wet nature of the pitch (watch how far Hunt slides after the contact) Cech slid out further than he expected. Could Hunt have done more o avoid contct? Absolutely, but I don't think there is any intent.
As far as the Cudicini incident I understand your point about keepers being able to get to balls higher in the air than forwards, but forwards also have a right to play a ball that is free. Cudicini gets clipped by a Reading player in front of him, but the knockout blow (no pun intended) was delivered by the player behind him who was in the air in case the keeper misses the ball. It's obvious that the first contact led to the second, but there was nothing the forward could do to avoid contact as he was already in the air.
Both of these injuries are unfortunate and scary, but my eyes fail to see any malicious intent in either case.