Van der Sar, Superstar
Edwin Van der Sar - the best keeper in England?
Peter Schmeichel had both hands on the European Cup in 1999, ending his Manchester United career with a historical Treble. The Great Dane, as he was affectionately known, had a fabulous career with United, winning a whole host of trophies in his eight years at Old Trafford. Five league titles, three FA Cups, one European Cup and one League Cup, a total of ten honours. How were we ever going to replace him?
Van Der Gouw was our second choice keeper at the time of Schmeichel’s exit, but there was no way he was going to cut it as our number one. So in came Mark Bosnich and Massimo Taibi. A year later, Fabien Barthez. Then Roy Carroll, followed by Tim Howard. Andy Goram and Ricardo were another two keepers bought in the four years following on from Schmeichel’s deparature. Nightmare.
Then in the summer of 2005 United spent £2 million on a 34-year-old Dutchman.
United were apparently “in decline” at the time and in desperate need of a decent goalkeeper. Howard, who had been named the PFA Keeper of the Season in his first year, ahead of Jens Lehmann in Arsenal’s unbeaten season and Chelsea’s Carlo Cudicini, suffered from lacking confidence, whilst Carroll was never going to make the grade. Finally we had a seasoned pro in Edwin Van der Sar, although feelings were mixed amongst the red following over whether a man at the end of his career was the right move.
We won the League Cup at the end of Edwin’s first season as the resurgence began, finishing second in the league after our third placed finishes of the two seasons before. In his second season we had the second best defensive record in the Premiership, winning the league for the first time since 2003. In his second season we had the best defensive record in the Premiership, winning the league again, as well as the Champions League.
Van der Sar has been a crucial part of United’s recent success, most notably, last season’s Champions League final. As Nicolas Anelka approached to take a penalty for Chelsea, knowing he had to score to keep his team in it, Van der Sar did all he could to put the Frenchman off. Obviously having watched plenty of footage on Chelsea’s penalty takers before the game, Edwin knew Anelka would be striking the ball to his left. So, his arms outstretched, our keeper started pointing to the opposite corner, daring Anelka to try something different. ‘I know where you’re going to kick it, soft lad, go on, try the other corner.’ Anelka couldn’t hold his nerve though and struck the ball to VDS’s left, our keeper palming away the ball and winning the European Cup, earning him his second winners medal in the competition. He was pretty f**king happy about it too!
With him in goal, we’ve won a further two penalty shoot-outs, beating Chelsea and Portsmouth in the Community Shield.
Against West Brom on Tuesday night, Van der Sar earned something else to brag about, scooping a Premier League record for the longest time since conceding a goal. Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Wigan were amongst the sides he’s kept out, with each of those teams having a player in the top five scorers in the league this season (the other player being Cristiano Ronaldo), in Anelka, Robinho, Agbonlahor and Zaki.
It is important to note that Rio Ferdinand has been missing for large chunks of this time period, with John O’Shea, Gary Neville, Richard Eckersley, Jonny Evans, and the da Silva brothers rotating alongside Nemanja Vidic for the defensive positions.
Petr Cech was the previous holder of the record, going 1025 minutes without conceding, which has now been beaten by 6 minutes… and counting.
Back in December, Van der Sar signed a year extension on his current contract which will see him at the club until 2010.
“Manchester United is a great club to be at,” he said after signing. “I have enjoyed every minute of the three-and-a-half years I’ve been here so far and I’m looking forward to playing an extra season after this one. There is a great atmosphere in the dressing room, the boss is fantastic and you play at the best stadium in England.”
Ben Foster is likely to give Edwin tough competition for the starting place next season, something I’m sure the Dutchman will welcome, however there’s no denying what a great buy he’s been. Following our steal for the greatest keeper before Van der Sar, signing Schmeichel for just £530,000, the £2 million we spent on Edwin is one of the best deals our manager has done.
Here’s to the next 1,000 minutes……..
What always struck me about Van der Sar is that while you can name better shot stoppers (Reina, Lehmann, and even Gomes are/were his superior), or stronger keepers who dealt with crosses better (like Cech), Van der Sar stands out because of his confidence, his decision-making, and his sure-handedness. I can’t think of too many times where he made an embarrassing howler or gave up a goal because he hesitated between coming off his line or staying put. After Carrol, Howard, Barthez, and all the other mistake-prone keepers, Van der Sar was exactly what Manchester United needed. I’d still take him over almost any keeper in the world.
He’s been a great buy! Just a point on the golden gloves award. Reina has won this the last 3 seasons but the formula is flawed. Essentially Reina has won it by staying fit. If you miss some games like VDS and Cech you miss out.
I would propose that it is based on the clean sheets to games played ratio but with a minimum number of games required (say 40).
I agree with all of the above, and I’m delighted that EVDS has come good again after a frankly appalling first 3 months of the season.
Suspect Foster and TK are less delighted, because it will mean there will be another “transition” season – whereas in November it looked like EVDS would be gone after this one.
One a different note, I think Fabian Barthez gets unfair stick in that list of failed keepers. For his first season, he was a superstar and looked like the solution – nobody had a bad word to say about him, and the only example of the dreaded “Bartezade” that we saw was against West Ham in the FA Cup. Obviously the next season it got worse, and in big games.
But through it all, Barthez retained something that cannot be taught – the ability to make absolutely stunning, how-the-fuck-did-he-do-that, you-have-no-right-to-be-anywhere-near-that saves.
The one that stands out most in my head (although because of context rather than quality) is the one he made from Hamann in the last minute of the Liverpool game where Forlan scored twice.
Am I the only one who thinks Van der Sar was actually the best keeper of 2008? I think he was even better then Casillas. He was good in the premier league, and great in both Champions League and Euro 2008, with Euro 2008 the only competition that he didn’t win
Great article.Kudos to van der saar and fergie.I remember being dissappointed when United signed EVDS,thought they had resorted to him after failing to sign a quality keeper.I thought it was a sign of United’s decline after the disastorous champions league campaign where they failed to make it past the group stage.How wrong i was!
I always rate Van Der Sar very highly!! What will united do when he retires!!!
I rate Van De Sar very highly, but even as a United fan, can’t honestly say he has been better than Cech and Casillas who have both kept their teams in the game in several occasions, I honestly cant recall Van De Sar doing that. Although he is an expert in calming the game down with back passing, taking pressure off the defence and is a commanding presence in the box during a corner. But Ben Foster is the future, his kicking and throwing is first class and Fergie has faith enough to call him the best keeper in the league, I am always nervous with Kuscak in goals though.