Pressure on Ederson to solve Guardiola’s goalkeeping puzzle
City are gambling on the Brazilian adapting quickly to English game, writes James Ducker
Manchester City do not need to look too far from home to appreciate the perils involved in trying to replace a goalkeeper with a big personality who formed a central pillar in a multiple title-winning team.
Sir Alex Ferguson could seldom have imagined that it would take six years before he eventually found a worthy replacement for Peter Schmeichel, who left Manchester United in the wake of the club’s historic Treble in 1998-99. By the time Edwin van der Sar joined in 2005, Old Trafford had become a revolving door in goalkeeping terms, from Mark Bosnich to Tim Howard via Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez and Roy Carroll, with each failure intensifying the spotlight on the man between the posts in the process.
City, of course, are nowhere near that point and Pep Guardiola may never come to encounter the sort of exasperation that gripped Ferguson during that painful search for Schmeichel’s heir apparent. But, as City close in on a world-record £35million deal for Ederson Moraes, the Brazil Under-23 goalkeeper, from Benfica, the manager will hope he makes a better fist of replacing Joe Hart at the second attempt than he did with the first, knowing that he can ill afford another false step in that department.
Hart may not stand comparison with Schmeichel in the pantheon of goalkeeping greats but, like the Dane at United, he was a strong character in the City dressing room – not always universally popular but a big figure all the same – and a key contributor during the title wins of 2011/12 and 2013/14.
That does not mean Guardiola was wrong to jettison Hart last summer and the England No1’s woeful showing at Euro 2016 and subsequent struggles on loan at Torino only reinforce that point, even before fans consider that the Catalan has differing demands of his goalkeepers than many coaches. But Claudio Bravo proved a wholly inadequate substitute, with the Chilean dropped by late January when Guardiola finally ran out of patience and now braced for life as an underwhelming deputy to Ederson. The Brazilian, 23, who is due to have a medical at City this week, certainly appears to have the tools and has earned rave reviews in Portugal, where he joined Benfica from Rio Ave in 2015.
For all Guardiola’s insistence that his goalkeepers are very good with their feet, Bravo’s consistently poor handling and shot-stopping made him a liability. By contrast, Ederson’s two seasons at Benfica have, according to those who have watched him closely, showcased a well-rounded goalkeeper with rich potential: commanding in the penalty area and in the air, tall and physically strong, a reactive shot-stopper with intelligent decision-making and distribution.
And, yet, after the failed Bravo experiment, the move for Ederson still constitutes a gamble. Playing in the modest Primeira Liga in Portugal will have done little to equip him for the hurly-burly of the Premier League, just as he will not have had to deal with the level of pressure about to be heaped on his shoulders, both as a consequence of City’s problems in the position and his impending status as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper.
Again casting an eye towards Old Trafford, David De Gea’s struggles in his first 18 months underline the unique demands of Premier League football for even the most gifted of young goalkeepers.
However Ederson fares, he will almost certainly be marshalling a new-look City defence next season. Guardiola is chasing two new full-backs and a centre-half and is not hanging around. City certainly intend to hit the ground running but whether Ederson does will be one of the big questions facing the club next term.