Division 1: Goalkeeper of the Season

With three games remaining in our inaugural season, smaller (Bundesliga !) numbers in each division meaning less fixtures, having a goalkeeper that plays above his ability is a likely a key to success




Let's take a look at how the Division 1 keepers have performed to date at Home, with a ranking methodology applied:

Division 1 Goalkeeper performance through Week 19 of 22  (HOME)

The performance of the keepers across their respective teams Home Fixtures are shown above.  I have ranked (in order of best to worst) the following stat's:

=>  Clean Sheets  (most to least)
=>  Goals Conceded  (least to most)
=>  Average Match Ranking  (highest to lowest)
=>  Man of the Match  (highest to lowest)

And to come up with a Blended Rank, I have simply taken an average of the four stat's above to represent a 'best overall' ranking.

The 20yr old 78 rated Unai Simon from Cercle Brugge has been an absolute monster between the sticks for John Harman at Jan Breydel Stadium this season.  Having faced 54 shots on target, he has only conceded 9 goals, with an incredible 7.9 avg match ranking.  With Cercle Brugge fighting for their Division 1 survival his performances have been pivotal so far.

Victor and Bizzarri from Djurgardens and Wolves respectively have had very solid seasons (with both teams fighting for the title), with another struggler, ACS Poli Timisoara and Diego Lopez performing in a similar but not quite as strong manner as young Simon.  A familiar name rated 5th in Gigi Buffon, who has not lived up to his reputation as advertised for Marco De Angelis, but has been solid nonetheless.


Switching to the Away fixtures, let's look at how these keepers have performed away from their adoring fan's, free donuts and generous refereeing calls when a breath of air knocks them over and a foul on the nearest defender is called ....

Division 1 Goalkeeper performance through Week 19 of 22  (AWAY)

Using the same ranking methodology as described above, it is Djurgardens IF keeper "Ice in his Veins" Victor (knowing Beddows and his history as assistant procurement manager of the US Postal cycling team during the reign of Lance Armstrong .... maybe that was not a kind choice of words).

Victor has conceded less than a goal a game away from the Tele2 Arena, and taken six clean sheets along the way.  Bolton's Frederik Ronnow was shaded into second place, but only just, with strong performances away from the Macron.  This is in stark contrast to his performances at home where he has not been performing at all for Greg Bilbao which has probably cost Bolton a run at European football and a pay day next season.  Wolves keeper Bizzarri comes in third, followed by the outstanding Simon and Gigi Buffon in fifth place.

Another young keeper, Coventry City's Alex Rizzotto, who was given his chance after 8 games to supplant Per Bratveit, who has put in some good away performances.  He will get his chances in Division 2 next season to cement his #1 spot.


So ... looking at the season to date:

Taking the averages across the Home and the Away fixtures, the table has Victor from our current league leaders ahead of Bizzarri from Wolves, with my pick for GK of the season Unai Simon back in third place.

At the other end of the table, fingers are being pointed at Robert Almer in Vienna as probably the main reason for the faded title challenge.  Gino's outfielders carried his poor performances as best they could in the hope that he could turn around his poor run of form but that didn't eventuate.  Do not be surprised to see a change before the start of next season in Vienna ...

Signing off from Molineux, your's in statistics tragedy ....

Mike T 👲