“De vuelta. Part of the process is patience. Happy to be back with the team”, that is the message that the German goalkeeper posted on his Twitter account along with two pictures of his training session, provided by FC Barcelona.
His last match was the famous 2-8 against Bayern. He underwent patella tendon surgery on August 14th due to increasing discomfort. He did not compete for two months and a half, until the end of October.
Despite the fine performances of the Brazilian goalie Neto, we missed Ter Stegen. He performed especially well against FC Dynamo Kyiv, where he made it clear that he was back to be the best!
When we think about Ter Stegen, we all inevitably think about his footwork and how it perfectly fits his play out from the back. However, if we are talking about defence, we are definitely dealing with one of the top three goalkeepers in the globe because of his textbook tactical methods in the goal.
HE NEVER LOSES SIGHT OF HIS GOAL LINE
After watching all the actions that we have gathered: what thoughts does this clip provide?
- If the ball goes beyond his chances of intervention (cross/long back-pass, impossible to anticipate-intercept), his response is to correct his positioning without losing sight of his goal line by moving back or performing lateral movements on the goal line. This way, he gets enough time and space to intervene, always keeping his eyes on the game and considering the different options when facing an upcoming shot.
- Speaking of shots… Have you ever noticed that he never loses his balance? This is a key factor when facing fast short distance shots, since the action catches him with the proper feet and arms body balance.
This is the evidence once again that the success rate in the game depends on how the goalkeeper interprets, not just the technique or the physical condition (although we cannot forget about them). What is clear is that we will breaking down tactical patterns in detail in next posts, so we can go in depth in this excellent tactic we have become accustomed.
