Being in frame

Louie concedes his second goal of the day playing against Eastern Suburbs AFC in Round 2 of the National League. Auckland City FC win this game 4-2.

This is not written using AI, it is original content. I live rurally and spend long periods of time in the car, so dictate this to my phone before drafting and publishing.

A long time ago a goalkeeper coach told me that even if the opposing team scores, you should still be in the photo of the ball going in.

Imagine there is a photographer there at the very moment of every goal you concede.

As a goalkeeper, you should be in the frame.

This saying sort of stayed with me, it stuck.

Many goalkeepers would agree with me here, it would be a real a challenge to do this every single time at team training, during warmups, team shooting practice…

In a game of football it should be done every time, without question.

It isn’t something that I have always done, especially as a younger goalkeeper watching older goalkeepers at various clubs who had poor habits.

I watched them and wondered if it was OK to be casual sometimes about conceding a goal.

Maybe they knew the game so well that it was pointless to dive, maybe they were lazy or maybe they’d just finished a 12hr work day and didn’t have it in them.

‘Pushing’, ‘Taking Off’, ‘Going’ or as I like to say ‘Buying a ticket’, is a muscle that you can train.

If you train yourself into a state where you never dive for those shots, you are drilling that into your mind.

If you train yourself into a state where you always dive for those shots, you are also drilling that into your mind.

Recently I conceded a goal from a header just outside the 6 yard box, it was a decent header.

The ball arrived from my right, and I knew the correct decision was to sit on my line and react.

I set my feet for the shot, but a moment before it arrived at the strikers head I seemed to re-set once more, slightly to my left.

Watching it back I felt like I was almost anticipating the header going towards my left, but I stayed disciplined and didn’t start leaning that way.

The ball went right, and flew into the goal.

Despite knowing that it was out of my reach and I was beaten, I gave everything in the push and extended my arm.

I felt like I got kind of close, but wanted absolutely to confirm that it was out of my grasp anyway.

That is what being in the frame gives you, proof.

Proof that you either could or couldn’t make the save at the end of the day.

If you fail to put yourself in the frame, you will never know.

Our job as a goalkeeper isn’t to decide whether we can save the ball or not.

Our job is to do everything we can to prevent the ball going in the goal.

It either flies into the goal or is diverted by one of our body parts.

The ball doesn’t care what our opinion is, nor does it care how experienced we are.

The best habit you can get into, especially younger goalkeepers, is to go big and go often.

I promise you, speaking from experience, some of the best saves you will ever make in your life will come when you fly, and you genuinely think you are beaten.

Then you get a finger on it.

Teammates, opposition, even the referee say “How have you saved that?”

While you’re just as surprised as they are.

Those moments only come from being in the frame.