De Gea or Henderson? Is Kepa criticism fair? Leno over Martinez: were Arsenal right?

With big questions about some of the goalkeepers in the Premier League this season, we asked a man who knows all about that sort of thing…

One theme running through the Premier League in this nascent season is goalkeepers.

Manchester United have to choose between David de Gea and Dean Henderson, Arsenal chose Bernd Leno over Emi Martinez, who has now signed for Aston Villa, while questions continue over Kepa Arrizabalaga’s form at Chelsea.

So who better to dial up than Ostersunds goalkeeping coach and all-round glovesman guru David Preece for his assessment of the issues.

On whether Arsenal were right to choose Leno over Martinez…

“I think possibly in the long term. When it comes to Bernd Leno coming back from his injury, which was quite serious, it’s a big risk to leave themselves open, depending on who they bring in to replace Martinez. But at 28-years-old, you’re looking at tens of games that he’s played at first-team level rather than hundreds, which he should have been looking at sort of this age and this time of his career. For Arsenal, as long as they replace him, then it’s not a huge risk for them losing him.”

…and on Villa’s decision to buy him…

“For Aston Villa. I think the outlay, £20million – he’s still unproven even at his age. And regardless of how you look at his performances and he’s performed very well and consistently well and the games he’s played going to Aston Villa, a team you’re not expecting to be great shakes in the Premier League this year, he’s going to be under a lot of pressure, there’s going to be times in the season when the team isn’t performing and perhaps he isn’t performing. It’s how he handles and deals with that situation – for me, that’s the big question mark at the moment.”

On whether the criticism of Kepa is unfair…

I think it is. I wrote a piece for the i paper a couple of months back and took a long look at him the last few days since that game against Brighton. When I look at a lot of his game, there’s a lot right there. I’m a big fan of his passing ability, he’s got a great right foot, he’s got a great feel for his mid-range passes, dropping into fullbacks and into forwards. That goal from Trossard at the weekend was far from a routine save. It’s OK that the very top keepers, the Oblaks and people like they would deal with that shot. He’s not at that level yet, and we can’t put that expectation on just because he’s a £70million goalkeeper.

You have to look at him for the base factor of his goalkeeping and he’s not making the difference at the moment. He’s not in that flow: every action he takes, every decision he takes, he’s thinking over it. He’s not in the he’s not in the game flow, and he needs to get to that point. The only way to get to that point is through hard work and minimising these errors.

…and on why the Trossard goal wasn’t the routine save you might have thought it was…

If you look at the trajectory of the shot, it’s not a trajectory where you can you can predict where it’s going. If you stop the ball halfway between Troussard and Kepa, it’s at head height and from there on the dip’s vicious. At that point, Kepa’s already made his decision to push off, and from that point he’s maybe thinking it’s going to be shoulder-height level and that’s what he’s going for, so he’s got to adjust in mid-flight. It’s not an easy thing to do. If the shot is going across you and it’s dipping, you’ve got to get everything absolutely perfect. One thing that you can always say about him is that his physical attributes don’t help him because he’s not that six foot four, six foot five goalkeeper where his armspan is going to get him out of trouble. From my point of view, it was far from a routine save.

On whether Manchester United should have David de Gea or Dean Henderson as their first choice goalkeeper…

[Big sigh] I’d still go with David de Gea. It’s his shirt to lose. We talk about the mental challenge that the Kepa is facing now: it’s a different one for De Gea. It’s something he hasn’t faced since he first came in. He came in with Anders Lindegaard at the same time, and they were chopping and changing for a couple of times in that first season. He overcame that, and now he’s got to look at this in the same way, the same challenge, and he’s got to rise to it.

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