First of all, welcome to our first article! We will aim to upload 1-2 articles per week to supplement the podcast, which will provide you with all the news you need to know each week.
Last week, VFL Wolfsburg beat FC Barcelona (1-0) to reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League Finals, only to be defeated by Lyon (3-1). Some critics point out that Wolfsburg’s defence was not at the same standard as Lyon’s (or even Barcelona’s). In truth, Wolfsburg was very lucky to have gotten through the semi-finals against Barcelona. Barcelona had more than half of possession (61%) but was not clinical enough and failed to convert multiple clear cut chances. Whilst we might come back later to review some key matches in the Champions League, I want to focus on one particular aspect of Wolfsburg’s defence - their goalkeeper.
Friederike Abt started as their goalkeeper in the 3 knockout rounds played in Spain, beating Glasgow City (9-1) in the quarter-finals. Although she is not the first-choice goalkeeper for Wolfsburg (Almuth Schult, who is usually their first choice, is on maternity leave), one cannot deny that she has stepped up quite well. The goalkeeping role is a tough one, given that one single mistake can cost the whole team the game. At the same time, goalkeepers don’t get a lot of opportunities to perform and show how good they are. With that in mind, a lot of critics and fans do not see the value of signing an expensive goalkeeper, especially when there are other positions that can be improved in the team. This concept is valid, but if Wolfburg’s semi-finals and finals are of any educational value, it is that goalkeepers can influence the outcome of the most important games.
To start off, Abt did not play poorly by any standards - the goals she conceded were not mistakes of her own. Her defence certainly has to take some blame for the goals conceded, as should any defence - a goalkeeper is rarely solely responsible for the goals conceded. In the game against Barcelona, although she did not concede any goals, she was less than confident in dealing with floated balls into the penalty box. On several occasions, Abt was unable to catch crosses that were floated quite high. These mistakes led her to lose confidence later in the game, hesitating on whether to catch crosses that were rather close to her goal. Although none of these mistakes led to a goal, it did lead to numerous chaotic scenes in the penalty box. Had Barcelona been more clinical, they would have scored more than once simply from these mistakes.
In the finals against Lyon, mistakes were less glaring but nonetheless indirectly led to 2 of the 3 goals scored by Lyon. Again, none of these 3 goals was caused purely by a mistake from Abt, but she was (as most goalkeepers usually are) the last player that could have stopped the goal. Lyon’s first goal was scored by Le Sommer, who managed to convert the second time of asking after her initial shot was saved by Abt. If we look more clearly at the initial shot below, Le Sommer’s shot was headed towards Abt’s body (not towards the far post):
However, if we look at a shot for another angle, her legs are way wider than her shoulders, which would have been appropriate if she was facing a close 1 vs. 1 shot. This posture is used when the goalkeeper does not anticipate that she can catch the ball and is simply trying to close down as much space as possible:
At this point, her legs are way too wide for her to get down and actually catch the ball (or at least push the ball to the side). Hence, she is forced to use her legs to block the shot. To Le Sommer’s credit, although the shot was quite central, it was strong and rebounded off Abt and away from her reach.
Below is Manuel Neuer using a similar posture to stop a close one-on-one shot in the men’s Champions League. A few differences can be seen immediately. First, the striker (in this instance Suarez) is facing the goalkeeper on a 1 vs. 1 situation, where Neuer has to rush out off his line and spread his body (hands and legs) to cover most parts of his goal. Secondly, the striker takes the shot close to the goalkeeper, meaning that there is less time to react for both the goalkeeper and the striker. There is no realistic chance that Neuer will catch the shot, but at the same time, there is little chance that Suarez can reposition himself quick enough to get the loose ball and take another shot:
Again, this is not to say that the goal was the fault of Abt. There was a good chance (~60-70%) for Le Sommer to score in that position, and any good goalkeeper with a small chance to stop the shot. But here’s where world-class goalkeepers come in. They reduce the chance back to a 50-50 chance (or even a 60-40 chance) with their experience and techniques. Many people question why Bayern Munich needs to pay so much to keep Neuer when they already have a stellar defence, but one cannot deny his importance in the most important of games.
Similarly, at Wolfsburg, they performed very well in the Frauen Bundesliga (wining the domestic league) and the Champions League. But as many readers know, chances are rare in the most important games. The third goal of the finals came from a corner that was punched away squarely by Abt, resulting in another cross from just inside the box and allowing Lyon to secure their fifth consecutive Champions League title. One must wonder how the game would have ended had Schult, their first-choice goalkeeper, started the game. There’s no denying that Kumagai’s volley (Lyon’s second goal of the night) was a beauty, but the first and the third goals were (in my opinion) preventable.
If there is anything that we can take away from Wolfsburg’s defeat, it is to appreciate goalkeepers for their value and give them the credit they deserve when their team wins big.
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