Our Goalkeepers

It's an open-ended contention one hears every now and then: Australian football has nurtured a disproportionate share of excellent goalkeepers as opposed to outfielders. For a short time, Mark Bosnich was among the top four or five 'keepers in the world. Mark Schwarzer has been a consistent presence in the upper echelons of the EPL for many years. In the same competition, John Filan has defied his advanced years and lowly reputation to help Wigan climb within sight of the Chelsea billionaires. Zeljko Kalac has been the first Australian to be sign for a true giant Italian club, and doesn't he like to make everyone aware of it? Then there's the likes of Jes Kedwell van Strattan and Nathan Coe, biding their time in Italy and Holland. We've even got great out of contract goalies like Michael Turnbull, who surely deserves a chance in the A-League if a roster spot happens to make itself available. And this is not to mention the numerous number one's, many of them unheralded, plying their trade in the lower leagues throughout Europe, in Spain, Greece, Turkey, England, Holland, Germany and elsewhere.

One of the arguments going around is that potential shot stoppers thrive in an Australian culture congested with hand-oriented sports. Perhaps the proliferation of 'handball' codes in this country has contributed to the accelerated development of hand-eye coordination among our sporting elite. It's an interesting assertion, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Some people might even find a problem with the original contention and argue that we haven't created many truly great 'keepers after all. Bosnich couldn't adapt to wealth and fame. They might claim that Kalac is merely Dida's training partner, or that Schwarzer has never secured a contract with a top shelf club. Or that simply Gordon Banks they ain't.

What do the current crop of goalies in the A-League suggest?

On close inspection, it's very interesting that out of the sixteen contracted goalkeepers (and one emergency ring-in: Adelaide's Nick Crossley in the fifth round), all but three have featured in the thick of the action so far this season. Milan Jovanic, Justin Pasfield and Andy Petterson are the unlucky trio who have been relegated to bench roles behind their uninjured, unsuspended rivals. But it's quite a startling fact that there's been a fair degree of revolution among those named at the top of the team sheet.

For the Mariners, U-20 starlet Danny Vukovic brilliantly filled in for regular starter John Crawley in round six and has since claimed the starting job.

Glen Moss put the pressure on Danny Milosevic with a great debut for the Knights in round five, and looks set to steal more quality time (irony intended) if Milosevic's recent hip injury continues to be a problem.

Michael Theoklitos and Eugene Galekovic shared duties between the posts early on for Victory, but that elusive winning feeling coincided with Galekovic's turn in the rotation and he has remained first choice ever since. You'd have to think a two or three match losing run would once again turn the tables.

Adelaide's Robert Bajic has deputised a couple of times for Daniel Beltrame. Ditto Roar's Scott Higgins for Tom Willis (pictured). On each occasion the backups performed admirably.

There certainly does seem to be a useful amount of depth at the position. Further down the line, state leaguers like Jacob Rex, Ben Moore, Stuart Webster and Lupce Acevski are also extremely competent goalies. It's quite impressive that there's no room for players like them in the A-League set-up. It seems that even a reformed Mark Bosnich would find it very tough indeed to crack into a starting lineup. What coach in their right mind would seriously consider Bosnich over Bolton, Reddy, Petkovic, Willis or Beltrame?

Our domestic 'keepers may have their detractors. They've made some clangers at times and we're probably yet to see a totally dominating performance from any one of them, but surely they stack up quite well in relation to comparative international standards.

Are our GKs proportionately better than our locally-based outfielders? Well, the reasonably high 2.6 goals-per-game average in the A-League suggests one of two things: (1) no, or (2) yes, but only if there is a further asymmetry, this time in the outfield between defense and attack.

So, do Australian football players attack better than they defend? Perhaps that's something to mull over while watching the next Kevin Muscat-inspired 5-0 whitewash or Alex Brosque-complicated 0-0 draw...