Goalkeeping in Women’s Football

[@champagnerocker]

In the recent England Sweden match I noticed England goalkeeper Mary Earps catching a straightforward cross and then doing a Jordan Pickford impression that Alisson Becker would have been proud of. However, she only managed to waste 30 seconds before playing the ball upfield so it still needs a little work.

[@AdityaNema]

Time wasting by your own team hits different 😉😂

[@farhansubhan200200]

Did you see his bad the Sweden keeper was as well

[@igneousmoth4329]

didnt that game have a chip that got hit in by the sweden goalkeeper as well?

[@1998Cebola]

@@farhansubhan200200 she's just old at this point, she has downgraded clubs recently and is clearly not as good as she used to be, she has been our nr. 1 for almost 20 years and should really not be our first choice.

[@TheRobbo007]

Eccentric goalkeepers like Pickford and Earps are ironically reliable

[@Mak_Vintage]

As an additional note this improvement in goalkeepers was evident in the recently concluded African championships as well. Outstanding stuff throughout the tournament.

[@Crowned-Qwesi]

The final and the match between Nigeria and Morocco was electric. highlight of the tournament for me.

[@1310beth]

It's incredible how much the women's game improves over time, even in as little as year over year. Particularly in goalkeeping but all over the pitch technical quality is improving. This year's Euros is miles better in quality than the 2019 WWC which was a bigger stage and only 3 years ago.

[@justinwatterson3008]

Europe is tired of being embarrassed at WWC, so they’ve been improving their domestic leagues for the past 10+ years. Just look at the growth of WSL, laliga, Serie A, and bundesliga to an extent.

[@zoeysiddiqi1532]

@@justinwatterson3008 this statement makes no sense

[@justinwatterson3008]

@@zoeysiddiqi1532 I was just saying countries have started investing in their womens league more so the quality of the national team has improved.

[@BestBoyPatrick]

If we’re talking about keepers at the Euros, surely the highlight is Van Domselaar? Comes on in the first game for the injured captain, has an incredible game. Starts from there on in and pulls of miracle after miracle in practically every game. Incredible performance

[@somedonkus69420]

She was brilliant against France too, but so was Van der Gragt, clearing one ball from the line and saving another ball Van Domselaar missed, both in the first half. France but England as well vs Belgium got tonnes of chances but weren't very efficient with them in the quarter finals. She's definitely getting a transfer to a nice club after her performances. The general level of Womens football in Europe has gone up quite a bit compared to the last European cup, fewer errors and the games are usually pretty high in tempo and intensity, with less rolling around on the field by players compared to the men. I was pretty impressed! Too bad our (Oranje) new coach is a bit of a downgrade, Miedema and Martens were out of form and the team is sort of in between generations at the moment.

[@ehsanmoslehi4876]

I've been thinking about this whole week! So great to see a video going to detail explaining the reasons. Great as always guys!

[@Aeway100]

To me the problem is that the goal was originally designed for men's size and women improved much faster at shooting than goalkeeping. Here in Mexico during the first year of women's pro-football some years ago we had a lot of players scoring incredible goals from very far away, kicking the ball with great technique and strength but often leaving a feeling that keepers could have done better. Now a days it's not so common, shoots have improved but goalkeepers are now saving some of those amazing shots and it shows a real improvement in the quality of the professional game. Women's football is becoming a real thing here in Mexico, it's so fun!

[@Mitjitsu]

It's just a case of finding an abnormally tall women who can cover enough of the goal. Tennis has much the same problem where they didn't envisage men who were 6ft 7in thumping serves down from 12 feet.

[@dxfifa]

Goalkeeping at high levels is so reliant on size, reach, athleticism, reflexes and reaction time, which women on average are way way behind in. What women are not as far off in, is leg strength and thus goalkeepers in the women's game are never going to be as equipped to defend the goal as male goalkeepers with the power women can still shoot with

[@joshuataylor3550]

I'm very excited to watch the final this weekend. As a spectacle it's improved so much in the last 10 years, great that people are realising it.

[@thisdrinkinglife]

Really? England are the only team that look half decent, Germany are awful

[@IFAAFI93]

No mention of Holland's Van Domselaar? Great saves in every match, especially against France

[@samuelpraneeth5796]

Definitely! Her and Nicky Evrard have been two of the keepers of the tournament.

[@dermottobin9]

She was incredible given she was meant to be the 2nd best keeper

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

Given that this must’ve been recorded between the 19th 22nd, I’m not sure Joe can see into the future

[@jdjphotographynl]

@@akamiguelsanchez9985 Bit odd perhaps to make an item like this when the Euros are still ongoing then.

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

@@jdjphotographynl They always do videos in advance. Imagine writing, filming and editing a video of this quality in just a day

[@rikachu571]

The quality/technique has improved significantly and this is largely due to the impact of professionalising the game. The problem that remains is that people averaging 5ft 9 are being asked to do the same job, in the same size goal as male goalkeepers averaging 6ft 2. I pointed this out re Georgia Stanway's "screamer". A goalkeeper 5 inches taller has at least 7 inches more reach. Instead of that strike (which was nowhere near the corner) being a "screamer", it would have been saved fairly comfortably by even a poor male goalkeeper purely because of the height difference. I've been slated for pointing this out but I'm not blaming the goalkeeper or putting them down. Actually, quite the opposite, I'm pointing out that women GKs have a far harder task because of the height difference.

[@djrensk]

To play devil's advocate, could the argument be made that the screamers in the women's game aren't struck as hard as the men's game and thus the keepers have slightly more time to cover the distance making the point moot?

[@deltaboy2011]

Don’t be surprise to see avg. height of goalkeepers at least 6 feet tall like Christine Endler. In NWSL most goalkeepers are around 6 feet tall.

[@karmaascendant3936]

@@djrensk that’s likely true but the power difference wouldn’t add much more than a few milliseconds to the flight time. It’s more about not being able to get close at all. I’d point out Bronze’s header against Sweden. The keeper was unsighted yes but simply by being taller she could save that because she can’t get across fast enough despite the relatively low ball speed.

[@torstenkaudt4793]

@@karmaascendant3936 True, but i think that makes the female game different and an interesting alternative to the males game. Due to the physical differences the game changes. Passes have to be more precise because the lower top speed, long range shots are more dangerous because the relative larger goal. Where in the mans game strikers have to aim for the corners and maybe miss more shots on goal, in the womens game you may profit of second balls. This changes offensive and defensive tactics. I think this is a good thing.

[@1bert719]

This is what correct and specialized training can produce. The keepers focus is better and technical agility is markedly improved. Mary Earps is an excellent example of this, her improvement in the last few years has been remarkable. Lindahl has been at a high level for 20 years, 1 poor game is an exception rather than a rule for her overall excellent career.

[@zxmoore1]

I myself am a former Division 1 and 2, current professional womens goalkeeper coach. I will say the biggest change in the womens game is athleticism. Where at one time, a womens college team like North Carolina won 21 National Championships in 30 years because they recruited the most athletic players they could find and outworked you, now hasn't won a championship since 2012. Because the game has evolved thanks to more soccer specific training and more focus on agility and strength training. So now there's a larger collection of athletic players that are more widely spread throughout the college game. Making it harder for a single team to dominate in that former fashion. In terms of keepers, athleticism is everything. Your height helps, but does not make you a quality keeper, instead your ability to move your feet to get into better position, and using body strength to get across the goal to make saves. My main focus has always been footwork through agility, while making the save after a selected set of cone work. Though their game has improved dramatically, there is still an issue revolving around high balls, specifically balls over head. I've found this to be an epidemic in the womens game, not because of their height, yet an issue which I feel might be related to depth perception, but this is just a theory. This has been an issue throughout my 20 years of coaching girls/womens soccer and see it all the time while watching college and professional womens soccer as well. I have found this goalkeeping issue in womens soccer from youth, high school, college, and even professionally. In my opinion, this is the major flaw in the womens game, which is why while watching a female match, you see more floated balls and shots headed towards the crossbar. You see many of these keepers incorrectly judging the height, speed, and spin of the ball which results in a high amount of goals given up through high shots. Instead of locating the ball, getting side on, and drop stepping to parry over the crossbar, I see keepers facing the ball, arms up, and dropping while their body weight moving towards the goal. This results in the keepers failing to tip the ball over and sometimes even falling over in to the goal. Luckily, I have noticed this issue and spend a good amount of time on high balls and the percentage of those types of goals has decrease quite a bit. That being said, the womens game will continue to improve as it has by leaps and bounds, which is amazing. Look forward to the next 50 years of womens soccer. Great video as always Tifo!!

[@Chango98]

I agree with Chelsea manager Emma Hayes. It's dumb to have goals be the same size for men and women when men and women aren't the same size. The same goes for the size of the pitch. If we want the women's game to be more exciting they need smaller pitches and smaller goals.

[@calsta619]

Unfortunately it'd be used as a negative of the woman's game. Neither end wins

[@StoutProper]

This is bollox. Do women play on smaller tennis courts with lower nets? Have lower basketball hoops with bigger rings? Have smaller hockey nets and pitches? There is no regulation size for a football pitch either, they vary depending on the ground

[@J03fifaFTW]

Spot on

[@abelabel3664]

@@StoutProper Your argument could be used to defend precisely these measures, right?

[@sidharthcj9493]

I agree with having smaller goal posts but why smaller pitch, does it have something to do with stamina??

[@OfficialScottR]

"But at euro 2022, not many people are talking about the goalkeepers" honestly I couldn't disagree more, if anything I've seen constant (unfair) criticism of goalies throughout this tournament, every single impressive goal has had many comments saying that the keeper should've saved it etc.

[@rikachu571]

There have undoubtedly been a few goals which would have been saved by a male goalkeeper (Stanways vs Spain springs to mind). Not because male GKs are automatically better but because they are taller and thus less of the goal is outside their maximum reach.

[@partyringsparty]

Absolutely! and then the same people complain that Pickford 'should've made that save' etc. etc. Just take whatever stance suits their argument.

[@backtothefifa1059]

@@rikachu571 there male goalkeepers who play Sunday league who are better than any women's keeper.

[@rikachu571]

@MB If you are 6ft 2, all other things equal, you can cover far more of the goal. An impossible to save shot would have to be within a couple of inches of the post/crossbar. If you are 5ft 9, that makes the impossible to save area much much larger. Women are on average shorter than men yet have to play in the same size goals so clearly their job is more difficult. Surely not that hard to understand?

[@rikachu571]

@@backtothefifa1059 that may be true but whats your point?

[@virkanwar5187]

Ironic that the Spain Germany match is mentioned when just in the first half Germany scored their opening goal due to an error from the Spanish keeper.

[@vitalgreenspace]

Exactly what I noticed when this video made me check out the highlights of that game. I understand the motivation and love this channel but let’s be balanced.

[@steven_uk]

@@vitalgreenspace Can't be balanced when they have an agenda to push.

[@saveligulas5847]

And finnlands goalkeeper has also made massive errors

[@saveligulas5847]

And when there is a corner most teams just stack all their players infront of the goal bc the goalkeeper cant save a shot from that distance

[@JamesWhite-gk9jp]

I was expecting the exact opposite video especially after there was so much criticism of the Swedish keeper in the past week. I've even read articles in the past week talking about how much the goalkeepers are struggling and whether bringing in smaller goals for the women's game is the right way to go forward. It's weird that analysts watching the same games can come to such different conclusions about the overall quality.

[@r4h4al]

Yeah I think smaller goals might be the way to go.

[@tomsweeney7922]

@@r4h4al then you’d make it harder at the grassroots because you’d need to swap goals in/out, which I reckon FIFA would want to avoid

[@r4h4al]

@@tomsweeney7922 Good point. I meant ideally they should have smaller goals but realistically it can’t happen.

[@ranndino]

Exactly. Goalkeeping is the weakest part of the women's game and it's been obvious for years that goals should be made smaller. There aren't a lot of almost 2 meters tall female keepers with a reaction of a cat out there. But it's not surprising that the video is positive. You can't say anything negative about the women's game these days or you'll get eaten alive and accused of all sorts of nonsense.

[@studio0ne621]

@@ranndino Or maybe because of the lack of investment that the women's game had for decades it's taken up until now for the standard to improve? There's no need to change the rules of the game for the smaller goalkeepers, its a different style of goalkeeping which is far more focused on positioning than reflexes. Most promising men's goalkeepers will have specialist goalkeeping coaches since they were a child, while most female goalkeepers haven't had that kind of coaching until well into their careers which has only started to change recently, the standard at this tournament has been great, just because Sweden had a tough time in one game doesnt discount the dozens of other great performances at the euros. Which at the other end in both the Spain and Sweden game for the first 20 minutes was Mary Earps making quality save after save. The answer to "fix" goalkeeping in womens football is to invest in the game and coaches along side it not change the game to make it even harder for young girls to start playing.

[@primarybufferpanel9939]

I'm so glad the quality of women's football is getting better. Didn't really enjoy the 2019 World Cup, but apart from a few dire games I'm really enjoying this Euros. Helps that England is one of the best teams, ngl.

[@Kutsuhimo8]

It finally came home

[@alexcoyg3281]

I do think that because most people base their goalkeeping on the mens game, men do tend to be taller and stronger, its a physical fact, it is then easier to judge womens goalkeepers based on that

[@sohamdas3488]

All I need is a tifo energy drink

[@paulquaife7974]

This was clearly made before the quarter finals and semi finals, erps performances in those games were another level, multiple world class saves made

[@andrew_l1900]

Yes having 1-2 semi decent goalkeepers removes the need for this……🤦🏼‍♂️

[@nickchivers9029]

"World-class" the sort of bog standard saves I'd expect Watfords backup keeper to make.

[@jehvanmontieth1292]

@@nickchivers9029 world class for the women's game and that's fine.

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@@jehvanmontieth1292 That's about average u15 boys keeper quality

[@nickchivers9029]

@@jehvanmontieth1292 why should women not strive to be the best they can be? Ive got no issue with womens footie and I will treat them with the same criticism and standards as the men as that is what they all clearly want. That being said, the goalkeeping in womens footie is poor at best.

[@ganju_san2675]

Women are generally smaller than men. So I don't understand why we have the same exact goal measurements. Up until its adjusted, women's goalkeeping will continue to be slow in improving.

[@namansarawgi3813]

Love that Frohms Thumbnail

[@JanAnneAmelink]

Great analysis, however, missed opportunity not mentioning Van Domselaar, probably the best keeper & biggest discovery of the tournament.

[@batetv3920]

The best goalkeeper at the tournament was Mary Earps, conceding the fewest goals, and making top class save, after top class save.

[@86kickass]

Oh man bro. I am a referee and have reffed the highest standard of Woman’s soccer and the goalkeeping errors I have seen have often been ALOT more frequent than the mens game. Honestly just like 10x more errors in the woman game in general but no one wants to admit it and I won’t publicly as I don’t want to get fired

[@Silphwave]

We've got to deny reality so people don't get sad.

[@86kickass]

@@Silphwave it’s ok man I don’t mind they aren’t the best but they work really really hard and enjoy themselves. I almost pity them sometimes when they make individual errors because they really are trying but some of the errors also leave me dumbfounded

[@spicyturbocans5848]

Is this whole video based on one interview with Rachel Brown-Finnis? Disappointing ‘analysis’ from Tifo on this one.

[@FoxStar99]

I presume this was recorded before England - Sweden?

[@witchbreed9079]

Was this video written before the Sweden/England game? Swedish keeper had a mare. The whole side were poor after a bright start but the keeper was left isolated and didn’t help getting punished for every mistake.

[@cshaffrey3438]

Yeah Kirby's goal wouldn't have gone against a single male keeper. Even against a decent female keeper that shouldn't have gone, couldn't have seen Earps conceding that. The 2nd and 3rd England goals were also saveable fairly easily

[@glenvance6737]

Women's football (much like WNBA) would improve greatly in terms of quality if they would just let go of the EGO and make the goal frame smaller in relation to the average goalkeeper size, no shame in the fact that women aren't as physically dominating as men 🤷‍♂️ well explained video TIFO 👍... I never thought about it like that, however my point still stands

[@kswiftthelegend2816]

For the wnba it makes sense lowering the hoops as it would increase the amount of baskets scored and allow for dunks for smaller women. However in football, FIFA previously increased the size of goals to allow for more error and goals as there were too many boring 0-0 games. It also encourages long range effort "screamers". One advantage of the women's game is more goals which makes it a more entertaining spectacle. I think making goals smaller would diminish the overall entertainment, the men's game might benefit from slightly bigger goals.

[@tren3220]

I like KSwift's comment but would also add Women's soccer might just evolve to have a slightly different flavour than men's which may make it fun in a different way. Smaller keeper, more chance to lob them. Slower running, better passing to beat defenses, less power on strikes better placement or close-contact play in the goal square etc.

[@Chango98]

@@kswiftthelegend2816 as it stands the WSL averages 1.5 more goals per game than the premier League. Because the goals are larger relative to player size and so is the pitch. Women have more time and space on the ball and larger target to aim for. If we want to assimilate it with the men's game we should adjust the sizing. This is also the opinion of Chelsea women's manager Emma Hayes.

[@glenvance6737]

@@kswiftthelegend2816 yeah I get your point and agree with it actually, however im talking quality (as in watching from a purist POV, the men's game has less calamitous errors) and you're talking entertainment... I guess it depends on what direction womens football actually wants to take the game, at the end of the day as imo it will never match the quality of the men's game due to the difference in athleticism

[@glenvance6737]

@@Chango98nice stat, good point.... I suppose its a compromise between quality/purism versus entertainment/number of goals

[@rahulsamant2003]

Good to women football is getting better, I love watching them. I was surprised how fun they can be...i started watching in 2019 world cup.

[@JK_JK_JK_JK]

I didn't know woman could play football until this summer! 🙄

[@spooked2104]

@@JK_JK_JK_JK how does that basement smell btw

[@brandoncazares6095]

@@spooked2104 bro he's speaking facts

[@speedking7224]

Fun, more like funny

[@bigzubber]

@@spooked2104 you watch womens football on a regular basis? Don’t include the Euros or World Cup 😂

[@gonufc]

I absolutely agree however in the past goalkeeping was mentioned in regards to women's football because it was the one part that hadn't progressed to the level of the rest of the game for whatever reason- it WAS the standout issue. It was only mentioned because the rest was generally of a very good technical level. I think we've gotten past that point now though. Mistakes are anomalies which are highlighted (rightly- a mistake shouldn't be glossed over because of gender) because you expect better now- just like in every other element of football, whether men or women.

[@mistergray9664]

Generally a very good technical level? We must have a different idea of what that means. These women competing in the world cup routinely get rinsed by teenaged boys

[@ProducoesBatata]

Interesting topic.

[@kreush7329]

Women’s foot has come an incredibly long way in the last 10 years. From sometimes comical , to now sometimes more entertaining then the men’s

[@perro4996]

The swedish keeper was a disaster in the semifinal against England.3 huge fails.

[@chrissao_502]

I think the main thing that USA always had that really pushed them above other countries was the GK position and GK depth. The USWNT has basically always been a little, to a lot, better everywhere else on the pitch but the GK position was what I always thought kept them a head above the rest and lead them to so many World Cups and CONCACAF Women's Championship. The gap closing should make things even more interesting.

[@joaodejesus3762]

This video feels kinda weird as I looked up the Spain X Germany highlights to see the great save and the first highlight is a clear unforced error by the goalkeeper that lead to a Germany goal...

[@MrJorge3010]

I don't see the issue in reducing the size of the goal though. In volleyball they play with a lower net, which just makes complete sense, because on average they are significantly smaller and that'a unavoidable.

[@andrewpalmer1873]

Dude most people who yell about goalkeepers have never been in goal. Everyone looks stupid in goal when it goes in.

[@southwestkinema9149]

There is more money in womens football now. Expect taller keepers who would have taken up other sports like netball and basketball in the past. To start being developed for football in the future

[@phakamanikhoza4159]

Women football should surely be supported so that it grows and reach its maximum level of success in terms of the output, the other thing it should never be compared to men's game because it certainly cannot reach that level, all the politics of equal pay with men while we know they don't give us an equal output is just a joke and shifts the focus on growth and development... When it comes to women goalkeepers abilities it certainly needs to improve but it will take time and one can see some improvements.

[@alexspogonz]

Excellent vid.

[@lamb4887]

Some fantastic goalkeeping in the tournament so far, but I still get frustrated with the lack of aerial dominance that we see the men's game. The ability to punch away or gobble up crosses/corner kicks needs to improve. Too many whiffs or poor clearances when goalkeepers are surrounded by bodies in the box. Still exciting to see the game is headed!

[@dannydevito5729]

The thing is generally women are shorter than men and play with an 8x24 ft. goal like the men. It's historically been so easy to get chipped

[@dislexyc]

I guess I'll take your word for it since I can't find any highlights for the matches you mentioned and I only had the displeasure of watching Portugal's keeper's work

[@BorgusBingo]

The graphics on this vid are quality, keep it up

[@jameslancefield9810]

Talk about melodramatic, "Bad goal keeping has been used to undermine the woman's game" So do you think the same about the mens game when they show bad keeping. What should they of done, hide it? The reason they have got better is because of those video's. It seems like you read way to much into stuff like that, but it only comes from white nights thinking they are protecting their princess.

[@TheDeathJesters1337]

The improvement in the game is visible from a few years ago. Hopefully the game will continue to grow and develop.

[@stephenlines1013]

I have really enjoyed the tournament and I thought over all the standard was excellent. Which is why the Sweden keeper stood out against England for me. But now it feels like we attribute it to having a personal howler rather than the standard overall which I guess is a big improvement.

[@tdyerwestfield]

I'm so glad the goalkeeping has vastly improved. This Euros has been the best football tournament in years, across men's and women's football. The build-up play and incisive passing has been better than men's which is a joy to watch, the atmosphere is very enjoyable and the coverage isn't just a barrage of clichés. The standard of goalkeeping had been letting women's football down, but that no longer appears to be the case.

[@CJSteib]

Bad defending prob

[@jamesasker3846]

we'd probably do a better service to the women's game if we stopped making claims like "no one at the tournament has looked vulnerable" and were just honest about what the product is right now and the room for it to grow. It's actually a bit condescending for us to claim these evidently dodgy statements in the face of performances like sweden's keeper in the semis...

[@yamazaki997]

as a regular critic i was very impressed. The standards will continue to raise as more money will be pumped in. Keep the same goals size and ball size. Humans are getting taller and taller anyway

[@MarkLaw13]

That being said. A goal keeper mistake will cost either England or Germany

[@bobhopemaryjane2]

Saves so outstanding we used cardboard cut outs and animation instead of showing them. Great Video!

[@myopiniondoesntmatter7068]

Not many people are talking about the keepers? Did you not see that stupid backheel goal that would never happen in a mens game?

[@TheBrunobrogueira]

Criticics are not especially harsh on women, women are especially susceptible to critics...

[@SmtN]

3 out of 4 goals during the England Sweden games were goalkeeping errors, no?

[@stephenpalmer9375]

maybe - but pretty sure you'll see the first two errors all the time in top men's football. A headed ball making it's way through a tangle of legs.. and an unexpected backheel .. yes they are mistakes, but hardly unique to the woman's game. The final goal looked awful, but don't underestimate just how early Kirby hit that ball. But across the tournament, I think the keepers have looked way better in terms of saves, and distribution.

[@EbenezerSeattle]

I"m impressed that Tifo and The Athletic support the women's game so much they bought an advertisement behind the net at the Germany-Spain match!

[@barrygallagher3306]

Did you ignore the shocking Sweden goalkeeper performance

[@NTK94.]

Shes past her best tbh I would expect to see her at another tournament. That's why Emma hayes shipped her off a few years back

[@joshuataylor3550]

Because they focused on every other goalkeeper who was fantastic. Across the board improvement in the last decade is the point. Especially in what was the weakest areas.

[@The1stJesusMachine]

@@joshuataylor3550 every other goal keeper has not been fantastic. I just went back and watched all highlights and more often than not they should have done better

[@peach-tea]

While on average female goalies are shorter I don’t think anyone considered that they still aren’t short. Women can often grow to over 6ft. There are a lot of male goalies in the 6-6.1 range. I guess what I mean is women aren’t too short they meet the minimum height requirement it’s just that men are sometimes way over the height requirement and that’s actually where the advantage is.

[@cshaffrey3438]

They don't "often" grow to over 6ft though. There are only single digit players over 6 ft in the whole euros. A 6ft women's keeper is the equivalent of a 6'6" mens keeper i.e. a rarity. Your average keeper is about 5'9" - but for example none of England's keepers are even that tall

[@donnyjepp]

When I watched Germany Vs France, both keepers pulled off some sick saves 💪💯

[@joebden950]

That was one international game, generally goalkeeping is poor.

[@HerrZeus]

@@joebden950 keep hating man, they are improving each day

[@thisdrinkinglife]

"sick saves", a grown man, lol

[@samwiseshanti]

One thing that's very glaring is that a lot of the social media criticism of female goalkeepers is clearly coming from people with a much more shallow understanding of football than they'd have you believe. Even just basic points, like 'they could have got that if they'd jumped', or worse 'a male keeper would have got that', is from people who don't realise how positioning your feet and distributing your weight before the shot is 99% of the save- which is why you can leather a ball in the top corner, and keeper can save it, and then 5 minutes later you can roll it into the bottom corner and it'll pass the keeper 3 inches away from their foot and there's nothing they can do about it. A good striker will see how a keeper is lining up, they'll know what they're anticipating, and they'll just do the opposite and if you can execute it'll work almost every time. As a rule, if someone's analysis of a team comes down to 'the striker is terrible', 'the centre back is terrible' or 'the goalkeeper is terrible', its probably because those are the 3 positions than any numpty with 3 or 4 minutes experience watching football feels they can judge- they're the positions where mistakes are most obvious. A current example would be Raheem Sterling- someone who consecutive international managers have called on heavily, and who has played very consistently with arguably the greatest ever Premier League side under arguably the greatest club manager ever- and yet your mate Dave from down the pub reckons he's rubbish because he misses a lot of shots. Those same types of ignorant, uninterested and overconfident people also tend to be the same people who want to put down women's football (probably a coincidence, right?), so they'll isolate and latch on to things that look funny, like goalkeepers failing to save shots that pass close to their body, that they wouldn't even notice in a Premier League game (until the 2nd or 3rd replay, at which point they'll invariably say 'keeper should save that').

[@nochepatada]

The 1st goal in Spain v Germany was due to the keeper with a poor clearance that led directly to a goal

[@gking08]

Fr. second goal was saveable too. Spains keeper was def a weak link.

[@sukhdevr3489]

Exactly. This video is just lies. That 'wonder save' was a slow shot in the centre of the goal that was saved too.

[@joefifa8415]

Your sexist! You're not allowed to question this video and give an original opinion

[@robbiebalboa]

Spot on, in my limited experience of the woman’s football that was the feature I thought “ jheeze they’re poor” difficulty to catch regulation crosses etc. this video shows what professionalism does.

[@samlaw9938]

The women’s game has improved exponentially, it’s just a shame they keep comparing it to the men’s game and getting bogged down with PC grandstanding. It’s now strong enough to stand on its own two feet and doing that would be the greatest form of respect.

[@stephenpalmer9375]

100% agree. To me it's a different game. It's still exciting, but you can see it maturing so much - so many teams with totally different styles of play.

[@jdog2597]

Whatever you say or FIFA say it’s just plain dumb. MAKE THE GOALS SMALLER! It’s all very well saying they need to work on power and agility but that can only get you so far when you are 5ft9 in a massive goal. I’m sure male keepers work on agility and power constantly as well. Still puts women keepers at a huge disadvantage. There is a reason why womens tennis is over 3 sets not 5. Just adjust the goals, it’s won’t make anyone think any less of womens football just a better game (this is why rules evolve and think this should too)! It’s like genetically handicapping the keeper before they’ve even walked on the pitch.

[@danielraeburn3718]

Making the goals smaller would make it harder for woman's football to exist. The uniform size of the goals means stadiums, clubs and parks don't need to make a decision about which size of goal to use. You would have a club like Everton having to choose between priortising their boy's academy (over 15) or their women's team. Also you have to remember the men's and women's games are not identical in every other way there is a slower shot speed meaning you that their "genetic handicap" also applies to those trying to score and balances everything back out again. The goal size isn't especially tailored to the Men's game either, its size was set back in 1863 because it seemed about right; as such the average goals per game has halved over just the past 100 years so this is just the women's game's natural evolution

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Thankfully that'll never happen. Why not just go the whole hog and instead of playing just give each team a predetermined score, then they won't have to go through the difficulty of playing.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Incidentally, it's time women's tennis changed to five sets, (at Grand Slams) - it should have happened when they began receiving equal prize money.

[@rikachu571]

I know people say that this is impractical but with all the money in football I don't see why height adjustable goals can't be a thing. I coached youth football for nearly 15years and so often the goalkeepers were picked purely for size rather than technique- the lanky early developer because they had to cover full size goals. Smaller pitches and smaller goals would equalise the differences in physiology both for youth and ladies football. Women plus U18 boys and girls make up the overwhelming majority of those playing the sport so should be at least a consideration.

[@rikachu571]

@@danielraeburn3718 indeed, I read that actually the issue is that men's goals are too small rather than womens goals being too big. In the 1870s, average male height was 5ft 5 and given the relatively poor diets etc of the working classes in that time period a 5ft 9 male would have probably been one of the tallest on the pitch. Making the goals bigger purely for professional male players would alleviate the resource argument. Every professional club could afford it and perhaps could purchase extendable goals that stay at current size for everyone else but can be extended to the new professional size for their mens team.

[@stellaliu7690]

A long overdue video! So happy a video is made on it and is specific on the development especially since goalkeeping has improved significantly. Also van domselaar was outstanding for such a young Gk to step up like that.

[@HeavyDave997]

let's be honest here, the only reason anyone from England is watching the women's euro. is because it is the only way that some of em will ever see their nation win a tournament, not one person is watching to see quality football

[@degradedanimationandgaming6722]

Northern Ireland had the worst run in the tournament losing all their group games with 4-1, 2-0, 5-0 and only scoring one vs Norway in a 4-1 defeat. The highest scoreline in the tournament was 8-0 England vs Norway the group stages. overall everyone didnt do bad. Northern Ireland dont have many full time womens players i dont think.

[@suleimanmustafa1473]

If Trans women are allowed then the average goalkeeper's height could be taller and skills better

[@WaterCarrier07]

It still seems that the goals and pitch are too big for womens football, just as adjustments are made to kids football because they are physically smaller

[@WaterCarrier07]

A lot of midheight shots seem to go in during womens games because the goal is either too wide or the keeper isn’t large enough to cover the space

[@WaterCarrier07]

I’m also aware that the biggest argument against this is pitch availability as this would require more pitches to be available at different dimensions in an already underfunded area

[@charlesfairs1427]

I'm sure all the comments here will all be completely civil and not prejudiced or unpleasant.

[@tyroned1904]

Good day, I am an official wamen respecter.

[@FromCouchto]

Lots of women’s sports are great to watch and skill level is amazing, but the gap in football is just too big for me to want to watch it.

[@Adam-wl8wn]

Very good? It's been non-stop rugby scores this tournament!!!!

[@Mitjitsu]

If an outfield player makes a mistake like ball watching or failing to make a covering or supporting run, then not everyone will notice, but they most definitely notice if the goalkeeper does.

[@Jason-er1vf]

I think you can also credit genetics too. Women athletes were much smaller and slower back in the day, so I can imagine it would be tough for a goal keeper to defend a larger space than a male goalie would. Though nowadays seems the women are taller, faster and more athletic.

[@Bobby_sprinkles]

I think the England Sweden game showed both sides of keeping. Earps was amazing, while I thought Sweden's keeper was highly disappointing. That said, some of the saves this tournament have been immense. I'm finding corners particularly interesting with the average height being lower, and how goalkeepers (and defences) deal with that...

[@maxohrzen3106]

Lindahl was very dissapointing in the England game but performed fine in the previous games. She's also been really good in the past, but she's getting older.

[@alialwahaibi1234]

Look at Ter statue, dude concedes from anywhere from the first shot on Target, I still remember Van Aanholt trying to Volley against him from the sideline and nearly conceding, never seen a keeper concede from the first shot 8 games in a row

[@asparagusbrown]

This is great! I would love to see a breakdown of tactical differences in the top level of the men's and women's games - I've noticed some differences in set pieces but it's hard to tell from the highlights I'm limited to with time differences in Australia. Would love to know what to look for in tactics so I can follow my women's team in PL after the Euros!

[@JonathanRodriguez-nz9nw]

It will always look terrible compared to mens simply down to musculature, height and agility reasons. It often seems that too many easy goals are permitted, but i suppose the cannot reach or get in a position to leap in time

[@WhatforNameIsThat]

After this video am still puzzled why there are not more tall goalkeepers in womens football. Even though training is different, size is still a benefit for a goalkeeper. Women on average are shorter but that doesn't mean there are no tall women.

[@assassinscreed8597]

People only remember keepers for their mistakes. Just the way it is.

[@dancountyfc]

Tifo, do you think that maybe womens goal size should be slightly smaller than the mens game? I looked up that the average size of a mens keeper is 6”3 when a woman’s average keeper size is 5”9 which is a sizeable different. Surely there must be a way to calculate the percentage different and what a sight decrease in post size could be?

[@georgebaker3209]

Or just hire taller womens goalkeepers?

[@1bert719]

This is periodically put to the various women's governing bodies (as well as reducing pitch size) and is regularly defeated. Women prefer to play on conventional pitches + goals despite the physical limitations.

[@daye8734]

in here early and unfortunately all signs are pointing to a comment section that is going to undermine the topic and belittle women’s football as a whole. Truly disgusting to see. I’m not going to sit here and act like i’m the biggest fan of the women’s game but at the very least i can be cordial and respectful. It’s a shame to see many won’t/can’t

[@JK_JK_JK_JK]

🙄 Feminists! 🙄

[@daye8734]

@@JK_JK_JK_JK Or maybe I just have a brain between my ears, wouldn’t expect you to relate

[@MrBannystar]

Truly disgusting? I think there are many things more befitting of such a description than criticism of women's football. Not everyone has to like or watch it.

[@ldope3904]

Pick me comment vibes

[@daye8734]

@@MrBannystar “i’m not going to sit here and act like i’m the biggest fan of the women’s game” but sure i MUST be only defending it cause i’m super avid. Idiot.

[@alanmckay7454]

Although the level of goalkeeping has improved. It's still not great. This is an unfortunate consequence of womens genetics. They tend to be smaller than their male counterparts, but use the same size of goal. The average size of a male goalkeeper is 6ft 2/3 and the average female its 5ft 8 (according to WSL statistics). This puts the female goalkeepers at a massive disadvantage. They should reduce down the size of the goal proportionally to the average size difference. This is will improve the quality of womens football overall and reduce the likelihood of double figure games that are common at the highest level of the female sport. Although some will argue that by doing so "it's no longer football". I'd argue, they use smaller goals for juniors and teen levels. Are they not playing "football"? Thanks for listening to my TED talk

[@Goobtard]

Nice to see Tifo acknowledge that all the "trolls" criticizing the bad goalkeeping in previous years were right. Can we get an apology???

[@rikachu571]

I think context is needed. Until recently women's football was largely amateur. Is it fair to negatively compare a goalkeeper who has no GK coach, does not train full time AND who is at least 5 inches shorter than her male counterpart? It would be like expecting a teenage boy playing for his local team to be as good as Manuel Neuer.

[@rikachu571]

@MB what's with the hate towards female sport? Yes even a great professional female tennis player/footballer etc may not be competitive against a decent amateur male. But thats why we have mens and womens sports separately. It's no different to weight categories in sports like boxing. By your warped logic Floyd Mayweather sucks because an amateur heavyweight could knock him out.

[@marco2sir523]

Without Daphne van Domselaar I doubt the Netherlands would've made it to the quarters. She had to replace former best keeper in the world Saari van Veenendaal and her performance was excellent in every game. She alone saved us from a complete humiliation against France and even almost stopped the decisive penalty in extra time. Daphne van Domselaar, remember the name!

[@batetv3920]

Errrr...with respect, Saari was never even close to being the best goalkeeper in the world, at any stage or point in her career.

[@whufc-essex]

Incoming Earps clean sheet on Sunday, siiiiu

[@DimBeam1]

0:33 because the strikers are just as bad. I played as a youth in Saturday and Sunday league. I was better than this lot.

[@derkaiser420]

I am a massive football fan and I like the women's game. They do not dive, they can ignore tackles, and it is fun to watch. Their goalkeeping is terrible but I am glad managers and players are stepping up. England would not have won the Euro if it wasn't for the keeper. She bailed them out and being a keeper myself when I used to play I can respect that.

[@vinipereira]

Nicky Evrard against sweden had an amazing performance, ABSOLUTE BALLER

[@samvangelder4201]

As a Belgian I want to point that Belgian goalie Nicky Evrard also did very well. She did have a lot of work in all 4 Belgian games in this tournament, and made some great saves. She also saved two (badly taken) penalties. I also watched some games from Netherlands, Germany, France and England. French keeper wasn't that great, Frohms did very well, I don't really remember the English keeper having to do much :-). I agree with other people here that Van Domselaar was excellent.

[@MrBannystar]

And yet, for that now "famous" backheel goal, the Swedish keeper had her legs so far apart you could drive a bus through them. Instead of being agile enough to use her legs to save the shot, she made the wrong decision. And as a result, the UK media is gushing with overpraise for a goal which looked nice, but should've been saved. I wish women's football all the best, but let's keep praise proportionate and let's not all get carried away.

[@WorldCupWillie]

England winning goal against Spain was in the middle of the goal, but the goalie somehow dived and missed it. It reminded of my sons u11 games.

[@nils7888]

as a male goalkeeper, I have to defend her. Those type of goals look bad but she just saw the ball very very late. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have saved that one either. If you have ever played in goal you will know how difficult such balls can be.

[@MrBannystar]

@@nils7888 She saw the ball early enough to try and grab it instead of instinctively using her legs to block it which would've stopped the shot.

[@sophiep.3490]

Interesting topic 👍👍👍

[@0ijm3409fiwrekj]

I was watching the highlights of the game and my first thought was, is the goal size the same in women's as it is in men's?

[@danpreston564]

For anyone who says a male keeper would never let that Russo goal in, search for West Brom vs Liverpool 1981. Bryan Robson does the same thing to the great Ray Clemence.

[@stavronkis3133]

Talk about picking and choosing examples🤣 over 40 years ago

[@danpreston564]

@@stavronkis3133 'a male keeper would never be beaten through the legs by a back heel like that'. Well, there it is. It's rare, because that situation is rare. But there it is.

[@stavronkis3133]

@@danpreston564 never said male keepers wouldn’t let that in just funny that you’d use such an old example

[@danpreston564]

@@stavronkis3133 it’s almost as if nutmeg back heeled goals are rare.

[@QUSAI1996_]

Talk about Morocco women team

[@Iamgilly95]

The goal keeping for women's football will never look attractive because the women are smaller. The average male keeper is 6'3 and the average female keeper is 5'8, That's a difference of 7 inches and it matters to the appearance of quality. Stanways goal was great vs spain but in the male game that is saved every time but it doesn't go down as a goal keeping error. women's Goal keeping has the same problem the WNBA has. In the WNBA the basket's are 10 feet off the ground the same as the NBA. The average height of a female player is 5' 9, a male player is 6'6. So if they're playing in the same size basket they are going to appear a lot worse. If you want to improve the appearance of female keepers the goals must be smaller for them.

[@vickjr98]

Glad someone is talking about this lol

[@natewunderman4597]

No mention of Belgium's Nicky Everard?!

[@siowamamako5927]

Feeling bad that you had no highlights from the recently concluded WAFCON ☹️☹️

[@Seanymurph15]

Great and valid video! I think a video in the next coming weeks you should look into is the situation at Barcelona, sports fans need more understand and would like TIFO X The Athletics opinion on their financial backing, where it’s coming from, their contractual issues with Frenkie De Jong and Gerrard Pique, and player registration

[@snoov7477]

Why don't they just decrease the goal by the average percentage difference between men and women goalkeeper heights. That sounds like that would be fair ?. Also arent the balls smaller so it's a smaller target to aim for in a keeping sense.