Goalkeeping: Scouting the opposition

If you are fortunate enough to play at a good level, then you will also no doubt have ample opportunities to take in a few of your opponents matches. There are a lot of football leagues now that arrange mid week games, especially as the unpredictable weather makes the fixture secretary pull his hair out towards the end of the season!

I think that any footballer that is serious about his game should watch other matches of his level. He can learn so much about his game by watching others that it is criminal to let these opportunities pass him by. Why wouldn’t you want to see how other goalkeepers behave to discover whether there is anything that you can incorporate into your game|? What a golden learning opportunity in just 90 minutes…

If I was Manager at that level, then I feel that for a player to earn their wages they should also act as Scout for the Club. They could be despatched to watch a potential transfer target, watch a forthcoming opposition or even just to learn his position – all are great ideas to strengthen his Club, and all are ways to develop the player.

As a Goalkeeper Coach, my duty often included travelling to watch the opposition and I was always left with a very vague description as to what the Manager wanted me to discover. I felt as though the opposition were being scouted purely because the Manager thought it was the done thing….

So I developed my own criteria, I noted things that would help my Goalkeeper and therefore the Team. I drew on my memories of playing and clarified what aspects of knowledge I thought would help me, and here are just a few that I came up with:

How did they deliver the Kick Off? (Did they look to play a particular wing for instance?). Obviously in some games, I may have only seen one kick off per team.

Who was the Captain? How does he react under pressure? What happens when things go wrong?

Which players take the corners? Any indicative signals? Where are they delivered into? Inswing or outswing delivery?

Which players take the Free Kicks in final third? Right Footed/Left Footed? Player movement?

What is the movement of their forwards? How is the supply to them? Do the midfield make runs, and where?

I would have a notebook full of scribbled passages of play, and memory jogging abbreviations, all of which I would write up in time to run through with my goalkeepers before the game. I would also discuss with the Team Manager, just to make him aware for his tactical preparations. There is infinite information you can gleam by taking an analytical approach, so rather than a simple “What formation do they play” or “Who are the danger men?” it is much more beneficial to be able to say “They will do this…” and “Number 7 does that...” Be objective with your scouting, and think what details you would want to know if you were playing.