5 of the worst goalkeepers to have played in the Premier League
Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson once stated that a great goalkeeper is worth 15 points over the course of a season, and United fans who were lucky enough to see the legendary Peter Schmeichel starring for their side would probably agree.
Things haven’t changed since Ferguson’s days; today the likes of Ederson, Alisson Becker and David de Gea star for their respective teams in the Premier League week-in, week-out, and are widely considered amongst the greatest keepers to ever grace England’s top division.
But what of the keepers who haven’t covered themselves in glory over the years? The Premier League has seen some tremendous goalkeepers – but it’s also seen some terrible ones, one of whom could be argued to be playing in the current season.
Here are 5 of the worst goalkeepers in Premier League history.
#1 Massimo Taibi (Manchester United)
When the aforementioned Peter Schmeichel departed Manchester United in 1999, it took the Red Devils years to source a genuinely great replacement for the Dane; it could easily be argued in fact that they struggled for consistency in goal until the arrival of Edwin Van Der Sar in 2005. During the interim period, United had numerous pretenders to the throne – the worst of them being Italian Massimo Taibi.
Taibi signed with United in 1999 from Venezia for a fee of £4.5m, and he was immediately thrown in at the deep end as the Red Devils’ other two keepers – Mark Bosnich and Raimond van der Gouw – were both injured.
Alarm bells should’ve rung when he dropped a routine cross on his debut against Liverpool – allowing Sami Hyypia to score – but when he later made some good saves and United won the game 3-2, he was actually awarded Man of the Match.
Little did we know that the Liverpool game would be Taibi’s high point at Old Trafford. Two weeks later he made an all-time terrible gaffe in a 3-3 draw with Southampton, allowing Matt Le Tissier’s weak shot to somehow squirm under his body and into the net.
Alex Ferguson decided to keep faith in Taibi – but only for one more match, as he conceded 5 goals in a horrible defeat to Chelsea.
The mistake-prone Italian earned the nickname ‘The Blind Venetian’ from Red Devils fans for his errors, and after his first four games, his United career was over. Two months later he was sent back to Italy in a loan move with Reggina, and made the move permanent in the summer of 2000.
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