The figure of the goalkeeper has acquired a new dimension in football. “Just stopping is not worth it, even if it is the most important thing,” he said. Luis Llopisgoalkeeping coach for Real Madrid in a discussion he held with Adrián San Miguel and Toni Doblas at the VI FSI Conference on High Performance in Football held at the Betis stadium this past weekend. “The game patterns have changed and this invites us to also change the training sessions,” added the specialist.which had the support of the two Betic goals to analyze how the work around the goal has changed.
The talk also served to Adrián made self-criticism. That goal conceded against Celje was still on the goalkeeper’s mind. “Many fans think I couldn’t do more, but Maybe I could have done it to be closer to the ball. My fall is backwards and my body is balanced. Maybe it wouldn’t have arrived either…”, Adrián acknowledged. The play is also based on a poor collective defensive action. Neither the ball holder is put under pressure nor the defense calls the offside correctly, but the Betic goalkeeper did not comply with one of the maxims of Llopis, when backing towards the goal line.If he stays still, they won’t score that goal. If it is braked it has the capacity to react. But this is a game, with mistakes and successes,” said the experienced coach. “It becomes small by going backwards,” added Doblas, who reviews all the actions of a match with his goalkeepers.
“The most important thing to stop is braking and body balance. It is the key to success in the defensive phase,” Llopis had pointed out, relying on images that served as examples of how a goalkeeper should act. But Football has also changed and today it is required that goalkeepers also participate in the offensive phase. “You must improve the goalkeeper’s game to improve the team’s game. You must also have great knowledge of the game to participate without the ball,” said Llopis, who prepares the training exercises to adapt to this new reality. “The goalkeeping coach has to know his main coach but also adapt to him,” he added regarding the different styles of play.
“85% of a goalkeeper’s work is in the offensive phase, although the 5-6 he has in defense are key,” he said. You foldwho explained how he approaches his work in Betis’ day-to-day life. “We work on technique in the defensive phase, but also on offense. Before it was hitting the ball upwards and now it is looking for the third man, the free man… Now you have to convince your goalkeepers, who are very prepared and are going to tickle you,” added the Betic coach.who also considers it key to work in harmony with the first coach.
Doblas also stopped at the figure of Rui Silva, who has established himself this year as the Betic team’s LaLiga goalkeeper. “Before arriving at Betis he played differently and here I told him some items that he should change. He should not play on the line to reach coverage; in the game with his foot he was going to be required more (he has improved 15%) ; and I also had to know the stage I was going to be in. A Betis goalkeeper who plays in front of 55,000 people has to transmit, be a leader and have personality. I am proud that he is now the second goalkeeper in Portugal,” he explained about that improvement. of the Portuguese.
Precisely, the third leg of the colloquium was Adrian San Miguel, who has returned to Betis this season and, for now, is the one chosen to play in the Conference League. “The goalkeeper position is the one that has evolved the most, as has the goalkeeper coach.. You have to adapt to the coach and the style of play. I came to West Ham from Betis and it was different; Then when I went to Liverpool it was also different,” he explained about his particular case that served to clarify how the work of the goalkeeper has been transformed, a different figure in football in recent times and that also requires more specialized preparation.
