(UPDATE: FALL 2025) A happy day to everyone! I truly hope that your week has been filled with a lot of different footy experiences on and offline. Did your team win? What position are they in? What do you think about your overall performance so far? Feel free to answer these questions in the comments section below. I should also inform you that we have a brand new group on Facebook called ‘Soccermanager Tacticians’ where we come together and discuss every thing tactical about our beautiful game. Here, take a look: https://www.facebook.com/groups/556742639723147/?ref=share
(Group no longer exists. I repeat, the group no longer exists)
In today’s episode, we turn the final corner as we take a look at the first role of the guys between the sticks: The ‘Keeper’ role.
Make no mistake, every team is essentially incomplete without a proper goalkeeper. Not only do they primarily keep the ball out of the net, they also possess some of the mental attributes required for victory within a single match, as well as the entirety of a grueling season.
The ‘Keeper’ role is played by Goalkeepers who are a bit of a throwback due to them only having the responsibility of being a shot stopper that doesn’t get involved with their team’s build up play in no way. If the ball was to be passed to them, a ‘Keeper‘ won’t hesitate to hoof it back up the pitch.
The one thing that ‘Keepers‘ are quite exceptional at is being fantastic shot stoppers since they enjoy the aggressive nature of getting a ball flush in their face or colliding with an opponent who is in on goal. They like to impose themselves on attackers by constantly playing mind games or using their commanding vocals in order for their presence to be felt by the opposition.
ATTACKING PHASE
Well, this is awkward, lol… What can I say about the actions of this role when your team is in possession? Nothing, quite really. They simply don’t have the ball playing skills to get involved. But don’t get me wrong, if they receive a back pass when they’re not under pressure they will attempt to make a forward pass, but anytime there is an opposition player in pursuit of the ball they won’t take any risks whatsoever and simply kick the ball as far up the field as possible. It’s safe to say that if you play a more possession based style then you shoudn’t be looking to sign a ‘Keeper‘ as your No.1 between the sticks.
DEFENSIVE PHASE
Now, here is where ‘Keepers‘ come alive. When it comes to the defensive phase of a match, A ‘Keeper‘ will try to impose himself on the game as much as possible. He’ll start screaming commands, redirecting his defenders positionally, becoming aggressive whenever the ball is around his area, and he’ll be 100% eager to show off his shot saving skills since most ‘Keepers‘ understand their limitations on the ball but make up for it by being brilliant between the sticks.
POSITIONAL TRAITS
A Keeper puts the ‘special’ in the word ‘specialist’ as this is the only position in soccer where each player can only play in one specific role. And that role, obviously, is as a GK.
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM26 and beyond)
Goalkeepers and outfield players are two completely different positions so they also have two different kinds of attributes list. Here is a reminder of the Goalkeeper’s attributes:
And with that, here are the key attributes for the ‘Keeper‘ role
Command of Area
Handling
Shot Stopping
Positioning
Aerial Ability
Strength
Aggression
Concentration
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER WORLDS
Here is a list of the best players of the ‘Keeper‘ role within Soccermanager Wor- (UPDATE: Woap, hold up, hold up… So yeah, we’re not just gonna bypass the fact that we’ve got 15 ‘Keepers’ to run through! 🚉 This list will be a testament of the fact that despite the understandable hype around GK’s who can pass it around the gaf, the representation of the “Old School Keepr” still has some of the best that the beautiful game has to offer! 🎺 🙌)
Without Freddie Edu (who was actually never a Goalkeeper #iykyk), here are the 15 best GK’s of the ‘Keeper’ role within Soccermanager, according to me…. The S.M.E… do you see what I see- okay, enough of the bad jokes:
Thibaut Courtois 🇧🇪
Jan Oblak 🇸🇮
Gianluigi Donnarumma 🇮🇹
David De Gea 🇪🇸
Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷
Hugo Lloris 🇫🇷
Wojciech Szczęsny 🇵🇱
Édouard Mendy 🇸🇳
Rui Patrício 🇵🇹
Péter Gulácsi 🇭🇺
Yassine Bono 🇲🇦
Jordan Pickford 🏴
Unai Simón 🇪🇸
Giorgi Mamardashvili 🇬🇪
Alex Meret 🇮🇹
Matz Sels 🇧🇪
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Lukáš Hrádecký 🇫🇮
Nick Pope 🏴
Álex Remiro 🇪🇸
Guglielmo Vicario 🇮🇹
Marco Carnesecchi 🇮🇹
That’s one Goalkeeper role down. On to the next one coming up… 👐
The Soccermanager Experience 