The work of the modern goalkeeper coach extends well beyond the penalty box.
Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger; these are all legendary managers who wrote their names into the annals of all-time coaching greats.
Each of them revolutionalised the game of football with their tactical nous at different points, and carved a stylistic niche for themselves in the dugout.
However, for every Pep Guardiola that won a treble with Barcelona in the 2008-09 season, there was a Juan Carlos Unzue, tasked with training first-team goalkeepers: Victor Valdes, Jose Pinto, and Albert Jorquera behind the scenes. For every Sir Alex Ferguson, there was an Eric Steele or Tony Coton, keeping Edwin van der Sar primed and helping David de Gea adjust to the Premier League. Klopp had Achterberg at Liverpool. Mourinho had Silvino at Chelsea and Real Madrid.
These are not household names to the everyday fan - and that statement is no reflection upon these coaches' accolades. But the consistency and fluency the games of Alisson, Cech, and Casillas were not just technical abilities. They were cultures, and stemmed from atmospheres of trust, confidence, and empowerment on the training pitch.
Their work behind the scenes is invaluable, but goalkeeper coaches rarely get the accolades their input deserves. Current FIFA goalkeeper specialist, Pascal Zuberbühler highlighted the disrespect that goalkeeper coaches receive in some lower leagues.
“In many countries, it is not even known if the teams have goalkeeping coaches. Also, many are treated disrespectfully, they don't even say hello to them. This is a situation that must change.”
A football team is the sum of its parts. Every well-functioning team shares the responsibility for achievement. There will be standout players, naturally, but at the elite level, high performance is a team effort on and of the ball. It's no different between the coaching staff - when done right, of course.
Just as Ederson was one of the most unique and offensively impactful cogs in Pep Guardiola's seemingly unbeatable Manchester City sides of the last near-decade, goalkeeper coaches are no longer limited to optimising the last line of defence. Their remit has moved up the pitch, off-field, just as the goalkeeper has on it.
When Tony Roberts headed up Wolves' goalkeeper department, he was responsible for this part of the game alongside keeping then-custodians Jose Sa, Louie Moulden, and John Ruddy sharp.
His perspective was valuable in strategising offensive as well as defensive actions during Bruno Lage's tenure in charge at Molineux.
‘I played in goal for 20-odd years, I know set pieces are dangerous and if you can impact them by putting our team in certain situations to take people out of the box, that gives me (as a goalkeeper) more of a chance to come and get the ball. So as long as they’re marking properly…’ he said, in an interview with the Athletic, discussing how he influenced Wolves' set up along with the analyst team in 2021.
Manuel Neuer highlighted how goalkeeper coach Toni Taplovic, who held the role between 2011 and 2023 at Bayern Munich, was ‘not just there for me. Of course, we work closely on my performance, but he also shares his thoughts on our defensive shape and set-piece strategies with the coaching staff. He’s a big part of our preparation.'
Pep Guardiola's rhetoric was similar regarding Xabier Mancisidor, his goalkeeper coach, in 2019: ‘Xabier does an exceptional job. He looks after the goalkeepers, but he also helps us a lot when we talk about how to defend in certain situations—corners, free kicks, and how to distribute from the back.’
In the modern day, goalkeeper coaches have broadened into sports science, acting as de-facto psychologists, and utilising data to inform scouting and performance. They work closely with other staff members as part of ‘multi-disciplinary teams’, something Coventry goalkeeper coach Aled Williams discussed speaking to Goalkeeper.com.
"Without the multi-disciplinary team (MDT), you can't function in Championship season. How do our goalkeepers recover physically? How do they recover mentally with a psychologist?
“The analysts are a massive help with the workload, and they'll get the next game ready, especially if it's a quick turnaround, so we utilise them as much as we can. And then sometimes, I'll take the decision off the keeper, where they might recover indoors rather than on the pitch if they've had so much to do in the game.
"There are lots of different strategies to achieve that mental reset where they can go on the bikes or do something with their feet, but also talk to their teammates about the game that they just played."
In the modern game, the goalkeeper coach is a perfect candidate to double up on roles where the coaching staff budget may not be plentiful enough to employ specialist situational coaches. Set-pieces are one area that goalkeeper coaches are increasingly utilised to advise upon throughout the footballing pyramid - even where the resources may be adequate enough to bring in an external candidate.
Goalkeepers have evolved from being just shot-stoppers and goal-kick takers, and each of these paradigm shifts in goalkeeping duties increased the workload and responsibilities of their coaches. In the past, you'd scarcely see a goalkeeper coach and shot-stoppers turning up to training to just do that; stop shots leathered at them for the duration of the session.
In the modern game, a goalkeeper who cannot effectively partake in a rondo is - at many levels - increasingly seen as an exception to the rule.
But goalkeeper coaches are becoming increasingly involved in the wider tactical set up of a team, even away from set pieces. Ipswich Town goalkeeper coach Rene Gilmartin, talking to Goalkeeper.com explained how, when he worked with the Republic of Ireland U21s, "When I'd go there [to international camps], I didn't want to be the isolated goalkeeper coach. I'd like to be involved in tactical conversation more generally.
“Jim Crawford [Republic of Ireland U21 Manager] is excellent on that front. Often, when he asked me to do presentations on the opposition, he might even ask me to do full team presentations as well. I liked that - being challenged”.
Gilmartin's colleague at Ipswich, Lee Grant, made a switch in the opposite direction. Having played between the sticks for Derby, Manchester United, and more, he moved into a coaching that few would have expected: helping strikers score, rather than goalkeepers save.
During Ipswich's promotion to the Championship in the 2022/23 season, the Tractor Boys were the highest scoring team in England. Grant was one of the masterminds behind it, explaining how ‘On the outside it probably looks a bit of a strange one for a ’keeper to be coaching strikers, but it certainly doesn't feel like that for me.
'I spent a long time working on how to stop the ball going into the net which gave me insights I can pass on to the forwards to help them combat goalkeepers' mindsets. Half of my work is talking to the forwards about defending, their back-to-goal work and out-of-possession game. It (shooting) is really only the final action of the third phase.
'I'd like to see more and more goalkeepers realising they've got the potential to go on and do things outside of the realm they exist in. I believe we have plenty to offer as outfield coaches.
'A lot of goalkeepers have that leadership gene where they love to coach, manage, drive and really push people on. I've always enjoyed that sort of role and for a long while I've been interested in management.'
Willy Caballero is another who has taken on a more general coaching remit, following Enzo Maresca from Leicester City to Chelsea. Goalkeepers see the entire picture of the game, giving them a unique tactical perspective on the one hand. On the other - as Grant alludes to - goalkeepers are the natural second captains in the dressing room. Their leadership abilities have suited them to managing at the highest level. Nuno Espirito Santo, Julen Lopetegui, Nigel Adkins, Dino Zoff, and more all inhabited the goalposts during their playing careers.
Goalkeepers are integral to their team’s success and it is practically impossible for any side to achieve their objectives if they do not have a solid shot-stopper between the sticks. Arsene Wenger highlighted this when he said, “There is no history of teams winning things without having a great goalkeeper".
“I’m now 30 years in the job and…you learn over the years that the goalkeeper is the most underrated position in football – and maybe the most vital one for winning things.”
Goalkeeper coaches play a more crucial role than they are given credit for. And that's precisely what, at Goalkeeper.com, we try to do.
