Would he even get in a Pep Guardiola team?

Are Premier League greats David Seaman and Peter Schmeichel good enough to meet the demands of the modern goalkeeper?

Goalkeeping has been adapted over the years through a number of rules, one most notably the change to the back pass rule. Where the rule prohibits the goalkeeper from handling the ball in most cases when it is passed by a teammate. But there are so many more reason as to why goalkeeping is nearly unrecognisable from the past.

The biggest change for me in goalkeeping has come from the change in playing style in the Premier League. Where the goalkeeper is now considered as the first attacker in the team. Which might sound a bit odd for those who believe a keepers job is only to keep the ball out of the net. But it is obvious when analysing the statistics that they have developed into the role of the first attacker. When looking at a ten-year comparison, there is almost a 5000 difference between the number of passes made per season. Therefore this highlights how important distribution is in todays game, and that they have almost become a playmaker; and now their abilities have gone beyond that of some of their outfield team mates.

This is evident when looking at the current best keepers in the world, with the likes of Ederson and Alisson known for their ability with the ball, rather than their abilities as a keeper. But then when you look at the statistics there is a focus towards clean sheets and number of saves. Does this therefore show that although their passing is important, should they be judged on their handling and saving abilities? Or are these fundamental skills now expected from the modern day fan?

Asmir Begovic argues, “it‘s the fundamental base. At the end of the day, as much as goalkeeping has progressed, it’s still all about keeping the ball out of the net.” (Tighe, 2018). But as football fans we don’t always value the fundamental skills, we want to be entertained; it is no different with outfield players. It's now a rainbow flick over a simple pass, and for keepers it's running out sweeping with a diving header over goal kicks. This doesn't mean we should devalue the importance of the fundamental skills, you only have to look at Loris Karius in the Champions League Final from a couple of years ago.

So to answer the question, would David Seaman and Peter Schmeichel have a place in a Pep Guardiola team? In short, probably not. This comes down to their abilities with the ball at their feet. In todays football it is not as simple as hoofing the ball up the pitch, rather the goalkeepers have to have every type of pass in the locker. As well as being able to cope under the pressure of a high press. Therefore in many ways goalkeeping hasn't developed, in terms of keeping the ball out of the net. However in just about every other way it is unrecognisable from when Seaman and Schmeichel were in their prime.

It would be great to hear what you have to say about this, do you think they are capable of playing in a Pep Guardiola team? Or has it just changed too much?