Goalkeeper Rob Green has been talking to FourFourTwo about why the goalkeeper is the bedrock of any football team – and how a team's confidence revolves around the man between the sticks.
Green – who played for the likes of Norwich City, West Ham, Chelsea, QPR and Leeds United – appears in the new BT Sport documentary, The Special 1, which takes a closer look at the position of the keeper. The film features many top custodians, including current England no.1 Jordan Pickford – and Green revealed that having a strong custodian was invaluable to any side.
"I think on a psychological level, having a good one as opposed to having one that you don’t have confidence in as a team, there’s nothing the same in football," Green said. "If you have an out-of-form striker, someone else will create other chances. If you have a goalkeeper who falls apart when the ball comes towards his goal, it has a greater effect than any other position."
Green himself suffered bouts where he suffered with confidence during his time as a keeper – but he remembers one specific game that he watched as a spectator that sticks in his mind as a moment in which a team capitulated, thanks to their no.1.
"The one that sticks in my mind was Roberto for West Ham against Spurs," Green said of his former side. "West Ham came out of the traps, battering them, were 2-0 up and Roberto made a mistake and you could see the whole confidence of the team drop – they ended up losing 3-2.
"That’s the sort of thing that really highlights that you can be in a game and working hard – but if you know a goalkeeper behind you is shot on confidence, it can really affect you."
BT Sport will premiere The Special 1, the latest documentary from BT Sport Films, on BT Sport 1 on Tuesday 8 February at 10.45pm and is available to watch via the BT Sport website and App thereafter.
