With rotation now becoming all the craze at the goalkeeper position in modern football, today we are going to take a look at five teams who have used this strategy. How has it worked, or failed to work, and where did it lead the teams in the end?
Barcelona
Prior to the last season or so, Barcelona was famous for swapping out its two goalkeepers. Following the departure of Victor Valdes, they opted to sign two big money goalkeepers in Marc Andre ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo.
Initially, Bravo was the league goalkeeper, while ter Stegen was the cup stopper. Eventually, this all was washed away as Bravo moved to join up with Manchester City. This move helped build up ter Stegen to be better than he was as he now is the unquestioned #1 for the Catalans.
United States
The US National team has had a rotation policy for the best part of four years now at the goalkeeper position. Brad Guzan and Tim Howard, both Premier League veterans, began the rotation when Howard decided to take a break from the team.
Jurgen Klinsmann was the manager at the time in 2013, and it has even carried over into Bruce Arena’s second spell now. The results have been mixed in truth, but a lot of that can be blamed on both men going downhill in form.
Jurgen Klopp
Another Jurgen, also German, that loves to rotate his goalkeepers is the current Liverpool boss. Although, his rotation policy is one that makes no sense. Unlike that of Luis Enrique’s mentioned above, Klopp has no set plan in mind- or at least it appears that way.
He changes between Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius at random, even saying Mignolet needed a rest for a recent match. This is in spite of the Belgian improving rapidly of late. The rotation of the goalkeepers at Liverpool has proven to only unsettle a defence more and more, which is something they can ill afford given how poor they perform on occasion anyway.
At the end, of the day, the goalkeeper position has not fared well when rotated. A goalkeeper needs to be set so that his team are confident in him and his abilities. While competition is nice, and a goalkeeper shouldn’t be afforded dozens of mistakes without losing his place, a known quantity is always best when it comes to most match days!
