5 of the most overrated goalkeepers of the modern era
Over the course of time, we have been treated to some outstanding goalkeepers in football. The likes of Lev Yashin, Dino Zoff, Oliver Kahn, Peter Schmeichel, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon and Manuel Neuer will go down in history as few of the greatest goalkeepers we have ever seen, but some will go down for being not quite as good as the hype around them may have suggested.
Playing in some great sides doesn’t automatically make you a great player, and as we will see here on this list, some of these players aren’t so great after all. Some were just incredibly lucky to be a part of superb teams, whilst others were just average.
Here we list the five most overrated goalkeepers in the world.
#5 Thibaut Courtois
No one can doubt that Courtois is a good goalkeeper, but to suggest that he is amongst some of the best goalkeepers on the planet isn’t justified. His time at Atletico Madrid showed that he does have a lot of ability and his potential meant that his parent club Chelsea had the perfect replacement to Petr Cech.
Courtois is on course to win a second Premier League trophy of his Chelsea career, yet he hasn’t been the goalkeeper that everyone expected him to be. He is a safe bet between the sticks, but he’s not someone who could be pushing Neuer or Buffon for the status of the best goalkeeper in the world.
(Video Courtesy: EH10 SKILLSTAR YouTube Channel)
With Courtois trying to play out from the back a few times, an aspect he isn’t comfortable with, which has worked against him at times, including a few seasons ago where his awful first touch put the ball into the path of an oncoming Hull player to equalise.
The Belgian is not outstanding, he’s not special, but he can do a job. Overrated? That certainly seems the case.