Comments on: The Tuesday Portrait: Gianluigi Buffon

By: PeanutTheKidnapper

PeanutTheKidnapper — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:19:24 +0000

I do have to point out that what you described as "reflexes" aren't true reflexes. Meaning of course that they do not "bypass the brain" in any way. If your doctor hits you with a reflex hammer just below your knee or Achilles, however… You might know this already, but I couldn't help myself.

Not to detract from my favorite keeper's lightning responses. His sight-to-response latency must be close to nill.

By: Pitch Invasion · It’s in the (inter)net! (December 15)

Pitch Invasion · It’s in the (inter)net! (December 15) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:49:41 +0000

[...] The Goalkeeper stands alone (Run of Play) [...]

By: Henry

Henry — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:34:55 +0000

Everything I wanted and more. A great prize. Thanks.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:51:01 +0000

Positioning is more important, though. If you are in the right place, there will be a significant number of times in which you won't really need your reflexes.

I also played a bit of ice hockey, and that was very different. You can play angles on breakaways and the like, but the majority of saves are pure reflex.

Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope John Paul II) was also a keeper; we are everywhere.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:43:08 +0000

Ursus, I think that's what I find so fascinating about the position—the way these two seemingly unconnected skills have to support one another, each one kicking in at the right moment. The goalkeeper has to think and plan and anticipate so that when the moment comes he's in the best position for a reflex response that can only work if he doesn't think about it at all. He has to have the attributes of a general and of a jungle cat in roughly equal measure.

I didn't know you were a keeper, though! So was Pavarotti, I recently learned—but not for Juventus, as my Juve-loving barber was at pains to tell me.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:26:04 +0000

As a (very) old keeper, I particularly appreciated this profile, even if the man is regularly worth eight to ten points a year to a club I despise.

One of the keys to goalkeeping that many people who haven't played there don't get is that the "reflex/shot stopping" bit and the "positioning/marshalling your defence" bit are symbiotic. If your positioning is right, you see the ball better and have more time to react. And the fact that good keepers improve their positioning sense over time is what allows them to have such long careers, even as their instinctive reflexes begin to wane (as they must).

For me, Buffon is clearly the best keeper in the world right now, and a large part of the reason for that is that he excels in both realms (as well as not being shabby when it comes to distribution, which is the third bit of the triad of essential skills).