by Old Man Andrews »
07 Jul 2020 18:01
Snowflake Royal Zammo Old Man Andrews Nope. Remember there is more to goalkeeping than saving shots. Shaka is not the best all around goalkeeper we have had.
Yes he is.
TBH it's pretty close between Shaka and Hahnemann and Martinez may eclipse them both - though it's worth remembering Shaka played a part in both seasons Newcastle finished 2nd in the PL - so he was up there as one of the best in the country at the time very shortly after he left us.
I'd probably fall the on the side of Hahnemann as the best FOR us, though that's maybe because I only saw Shaka for about 180 minutes for us, and 45 of that was a pre-season friendly.
All three keepers mentioned are excellent and were excellent for us interestingly in 3 different eras of football. Shaka as a shotstopper and presence was immense, by far the best in the league in his time with us and as you say he did well at Newcastle.
Hahnemann was at the start of the next generation of goalkeeping where distribution came into the game more. Very accurate kicking from his hands, decent enough shotstopper too. I think people tend to favour him slightly more than they should as he was part of the 106 side and the goalie in our golden era. That team were so good on the whole in Hahnemann's time, he was well protected. Not the best on crosses.
Martinez is the modern day keeper and has absolutely all of the attributes needed to play at the very top. His distribution is probably the best I've seen from a keeper live in person and his footballing intelligence is superb. Very commanding on set pieces, great shot stopper. He is excellent at everything which is why I consider him the best.