England goalkeeper coach Martyn Margetson takes an in-depth look at the techniques of Gareth Southgate's shot-stoppers Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope and Dean Henderson
Wednesday 11 November 2020 12:11, UK
Jordan Pickford is England's No 1 goalkeeper, and last week Gareth Southgate suggested there was no one "challenging seriously" to take his place. But that hasn't stopped debate about whether Nick Pope or even Dean Henderson would make better alternatives.
In a fascinating insight ahead of England's friendly with the Republic of Ireland and Nations League games with Belgium and Iceland, England goalkeeper coach Martyn Margetson has analysed the techniques of all three 'keepers in Southgate's squad.
Speaking with former England goalkeeper Rob Green - who he coached at West Ham - Margetson gives a detailed evaluation of the techniques of Pickford, Pope and Henderson…
Jordan Pickford made a smart stop against Tottenham on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, parrying a shot from Dele Alli which was going over his head. But Margetson says that while the save was a sharp one, Pickford's starting position made his task harder…
"If you look at his final set position, he's got virtually a 90 degree knee bend, which then makes his hands too low.
"The goalkeepers I work with, your hand position is absolutely key to your success. They're the quickest things that can react and if your hands are too low, sometimes the distances they have to travel - like in this instance, [when] the ball is struck above Jordan's head...
"His knee bend is too great, which means his hands were virtually by his ankles. If he starts with his hands a bit higher, then that save becomes easier.
"As much as he's made a brilliant save, and that's the primary concern here, if his hands start [higher] that makes that save a touch easier.
"When you get to Jordan Pickford's level, that type of detail, your final set position when attackers make ball contact, are the choices as a goalkeeper that win you and lose you games."
Margetson also picked out a small detail in a save made by Pickford for England against Denmark when a fierce shot was struck at shoulder height - the goalkeeper's hands didn't move together.
"Again, his hands are a touch too low but what I've picked up with Jordan over the time I've known him is sometimes his hands are not quite symmetrical. He has a tendency for his left hand not to be doing the same thing as his right hand is.
"His left hand now is lower than his right hand. Again, he makes a great save. But when your hands are symmetrical, again we're talking about how to make difficult saves that little bit simpler.
"When you look at that type of detail about hand positions and them working together, I always coach about seeing your hands in your eyeline because it's easier for your brain to recognise what your save choice has to be."
Pickford had a bad night in Everton's Carabao Cup win at Fleetwood Town earlier this season, with one error coming when he couldn't keep out a close-range overhead kick after initially coming to claim a cross he couldn't reach. Margetson explains what went wrong.
"I always say to my goalkeepers, 'don't go looking for the ball, don't go inventing work. The ball will find you, you don't need to go searching for it' - like he did on the cross.
"Straight away he's made the situation more difficult. It's a ball the defender can and should be dealing with. Now he's not in a good tactical position because he's gone looking for the cross. But he's braked and now he's dealing with a cutback.
"The first thing I will look for is his final set position on ball contact, which is the foundation of every goalkeeper save, and where are Jordan's hands. At the ball contact, you can see the hands are not in Jordan's eyeline.
"It's a fantastic bit of skill [the overhead kick], the ball is travelling towards goal and Jordan's hands are probably not in the game. You look at the right hand opposed to the left and they're not symmetrical.
"Straight away the save is far more difficult. The hands haven't worked together and it's an unfortunate handling error more than anything. Jordan will understand that detail.
"I equate it to if you're a boxer and you drop your hands, your opponent is going to have a good chance of knocking you out. It's the same thing as a goalkeeper, of keeping your hands in the game, in a good position."
Nick Pope is a taller goalkeeper than Jordan Pickford, and as a result he naturally takes on a more upright starting position. Margetson - using a save from Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister - explains how that helps the Burnley 'keeper to pull off impressive saves.
"This is the key point of what we've just been talking about, the benefit of a goalkeeper who's not too low in his final position. Because Nick's such a big physical presence, if his final set position is too low he'll really struggle to move that body.
"He's in a good position with his feet and on ball contact his hands are above his knees, which I call the neutral position. And they look like to me they're in his eyeline which makes his save choice easier.
"That save, for any young professional, any young goalkeeper, that is the hours of repetition on the grass. When somebody strikes a ball at goal as hard as they can and you're prepared to present your hands and keep the ball still when it hits the glove, that's the key.
"So he's presenting his hands forward - and the message is, when it hits the glove don't move your hands, don't turn your wrists over and the ball will stick."
Pope's more upright starting position also has the benefit of allowing him to jump quickly to save high, close-range shots, as he did against Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.
"There's top quality players shooting at the goal and if you take your hands out of the game you're making your job much harder. If you're looking at Nick's feet in this position, and you look at his knee bend, it's not as deep as we discussed earlier with Jordan, and that enables you to get your studs out of the grass and take the micro step.
"Also, when you're not too low, you can get your feet out of the grass to make the save with your feet as an emergency one.
"But Nick takes that step and he's into the save. He's such a physical presence as a goalkeeper, he's 6ft 5in, he makes an unbelievable save."
Margetson describes Man Utd 'keeper Dean Henderson as "a super athlete" and suggests that his agility makes up for some technical issues.
"One thing Dean is, he's a super athlete in the goal. He's got superb spring. But sometimes for me his final set positions can be a little bit low, and sometimes his hands, he has to find them again to make the saves.
"We talk about simplifying the role, and if Dean keeps his hands in his eyeline, the saves will become a little easier for him. But at the end of the day, he's making them."
Henderson pulled off a flurry of saves against Luton in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, and followed up one save with the K-block, where he has both arms out, one knee down, and tries to use the calf and foot on that leg as a barrier. It's a technique Margetson doesn't like - but is growing in popularity among some modern 'keepers.
"The K-block is not a save I'm particularly a fan of. When I played the game many years ago, it was a save we didn't know.
"From the brilliant first save Dean's made, when the ball's not in your gloves, the next save was always [getting] your hands to the ball.
"This save has evolved over the last decade but it's not a save I coach. For me, the goalkeepers I work with, if on the first save the ball doesn't stick in the glove, with the second save the hands go to the ball.
"That will open up a whole massive debate around the goalkeeping world but my philosophy is the position that Dean's in - it's his choice, and if he makes it we all say brilliant - but for me the percentages to make that save are to get your hands as close as you can to the ball. They work too hard to rely on the ball hitting them."
