How goalkeepers became orchestrators from the back

Manchester City's treble-winning campaign last season had many architects on the field: Erling Haaland with his lethal finishing, Ruben Dias with his composure at the back, Kevin De Bruyne's ability to unlock the tightest of defenses, Rodri's calm presence in the middle and many others. As is characteristic of any Pep Guardiola side, City dominated the ball throughout the season and rarely had trouble creating scoring chances.

At first glance, goalkeeper Ederson's contribution to City's success wasn't particularly striking. In fact, his save percentage in the Premier League last season –  58.97 percent, as per the Premier League website – was among the worst in the league.

Sometimes, numbers tell only half a story, and in Ederson's case, his importance to City requires some contextualization. The Brazilian goalkeeper is today among the best in his position, primarily because of his ability with his feet. There are few goalkeepers in the world today with the passing range of Ederson.

His passing stats, as well as those of his compatriot Alisson, who has been one of the most key members of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool since joining the Reds in 2018, highlight the evolving role of a goalkeeper in modern-day football.

In 230 Premier League games, Ederson has a staggering pass completion rate of 84.65 percent. Alisson, in 186 league games in England, has similarly had a passing accuracy of 83.52 percent. Compare this to Chelsea great Petr Cech's 57.53 percent in 443 games and ex-Man United keeper David de Gea's 63.16 percent in 415 games; it illustrates that the modern-day goalkeeper playing for a top team today prefers to go short and be more involved in build-up play rather than booting it long beyond the halfway line.

The ability to initiate attacks, distribute the ball with laser-like precision and even venture off lines to defend have become necessary attributes of goalkeeping at the elite level.

Moreover, it's not just ball distribution but also the quality of decision-making that counts, as Guardiola noted. "It's not always the quality of the pass, it's the moment you have to do it," Guardiola told the Man City website in 2021.

Guardiola, Ederson's boss at City, has played a key role in the tactical evolution in the goalkeeping role, with his philosophy essentially requiring the goalkeeper to play as the 11th outfield player, helping give the side an edge in the battle for possession.

While such a philosophy carries a fair amount of risk, Guardiola's side usually manages to overwhelm opponents because of the team's dominance on the ball. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss himself believes the benefits outweigh the costs. "After he (Ederson) makes some mistakes like his mates, we can't blame him because he gives us in that process many good things."

Liverpool's Alisson himself has spoken about how Guardiola influenced his own playing style during his younger years. "I have the skills that are needed but I worked a lot on it when I was playing for my youth team. I had a manager once who loved the Guardiola team from Barcelona which used the goalkeeper a lot, so he tried to do that with his team in the U20s and it helped me a lot," he told Liverpool's website in 2021.

While the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992, which prevented goalkeepers from handling direct passes by teammates, necessitated that goalkeepers be more adept on the ball with their feet, the foundations of the role go a long way back. Rinus Michels famously employed Jan Jongbloed in a role similar to a modern-day sweeper-keeper at the 1974 World Cup. Johan Cruyff, a Michels prodigy himself, would prefer goalkeepers with more flexibility in passing and movement.

However, it is only in recent years that this philosophy has gained wide currency among football managers. Manuel Neuer's ability on the ball and his role as a sweeper-keeper, which was further developed during Guardiola's reign at Bayern from 2013 to 2016, also had notable influence on the game, as described by Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois.

"It was with Neuer that there was the biggest change. What he did at the 2014 World Cup had a huge impact on what came next. The goalkeeper was no longer just the guy who had to stop the ball," Courtois told L'Equipe last year.

At the same time, goalkeepers today need to adapt to the heightened demands and scrutiny that come with the expanded role. Balancing traditional shot-stopping with playmaking requires considerable mental fortitude.

Andre Onana, whose impressive passing range made him a highly sought-after player at Ajax, from where he moved to Inter in 2022 and then to Manchester United this past summer, has had a season to forget so far in England.

While Onana's adventurous positioning has come under criticism, some of his mistakes, like a nightmarish spillover that led to a goal at Galatasaray last week, haven't had much to do with his tendency to venture out of goal.

With United struggling to find a coherent structure or style of play, manager Erik ten Hag hasn't managed to get the best out of his goalkeeper's ability with the feet, nor has the team's poor form helped Onana's confidence.

Nevertheless, as the game continues to evolve, the trend is getting clearer: ability with the feet is becoming increasingly as important as that with the hands for an elite goalkeeper.