The debates can be the same from the playground to the ordinary working office, who is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League?
Manchester United’s David De Gea cannot escape being in the mix, stunning the watching world on a weekly basis with some nigh-impossible saves that often defy superlatives.
The Spaniard acts as the Red Devils’ Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card, and there’s certainly legitimate reasons why he’s the record holder for most player of the year awards at the club.
There were also plaudits this week for Manchester City’s Ederson during their midweek league game against Everton at Goodison Park.
The 25-year-old has proved to one of Pep Guardiola’s more astute purchases, although he does not the world’s most expensive defence in front of him.
Ederson contributed some decent statistics to his CV after the Brazilian increased his tally to three chances created in the Premier League this season, after contributing to City’s 1-0 win that saw them climb up to the top of the table, temporarily at least.
That contribution is however still one behind Watford keeper Ben Foster, who has produced a startling four in 201810. Foster is however neglected in the chatter, despite his long and respectable career which can now be marked out as one of the most successful from England.
Foster’s career has more often than not sailed under the radar; his admirable repertoire undermined by his earlier questionable career when he was deputising for Edwin van der Sar at Old Trafford (including a disastrous Derby appearance), a series of intermittent loan spells, and neglected in the pecking order of the England squad.
This season with the Hornets, Foster has registered the fourth highest saves in the league and recently generated further fan fervour after denying Brighton & Hove Albion to snatch the spoils in their last league fixture; a truly man of the match performance that we should have come to expect.
His recent series of performances has now seen his surpass Petr Cech at the top of the pile for the most saves ever made in the Premier League, with a mind-boggling 1012 (only he and Cech have broken the thousand mark).
Maybe, after so long, it’s time to give Foster the respect he deserves.
Ben Foster (4) still with more than any other goalkeeper, however. 🐝
