“You have to know the type of goalkeeper you are dealing … 05.8 Frans...Frans Hoek...

42A complete soccer coaching experience

No. 8 - April/May 2005

“When I got to Barcelona, Robson hadjust left after a year of coaching theteam. He played in a 1:4:4:2 from thepenalty box and had selected Vitor Baíaas his goalkeeper. At that moment Vitorwas, in my opinion, one of the best goal-keepers in the world and he functionedwell within Robson 1:4:4:2 system.”

Confidence“After Robson’s departure Van Gaalbecame head coach and started playinga totally different system of play.Consequently Baía changed from a big,strong, confident goalkeeper to the exactopposite. Afterwards I realized he wasplaced in a concept in which he did notfeel the least bit confident. He now hada lot of space in front of him in which heplayed a role and was forced to becomepart of the build up. These were not hisstrongest assets. A goalie like RuudHesp does feel comfortable playing inthis system and he was therefore askedto join the team. This turned out to be agreat choice.”

Test“The same thing happened to Edwin vander Sar. He was the best Dutch goaliewhen he went from Ajax to Juventus, butwas not able to perform at the samelevel at Juventus as he did at Ajax.Logical as he did not get tested on his

stronger assets, but rather on his wea-ker assets. Van der Sar does not belongin a team defending close to the penaltyarea. Is that Van der Sar’s fault? Of cour-se not. It is a mistake of the people whohired him.”

Analyses“I started analyzing this and came to theconclusion that there are two goalkee-ping extremes at the ends of the spec-trum. All other goalkeepers fit within thisspectrum. On the one extreme we havewhat I call the R-type, also known as areaction goalie or line goalie. This type ofgoalkeeper is an absolute winner. He willgo to any extreme in order to win, is phy-sically strong and has a high muscletone. This type of goalkeeper might notbe overly athletic, but is very strong andhas quick reactions. This does notnecessarily mean he is a sprinter, he ismore like a block of concrete with a lotof muscle strength and great charisma.”

Frans Hoek revolutionizes goalkeeping

“You have to know thetype of goalkeeper youare dealing with”

“You have to know thetype of goalkeeper youare dealing with”

“I was thegoalkeeping coach at Ajax foryears and there was a set way on how

to train the goalkeepers. After a while Igot used to this type of

goalkeeper. At Barcelona I was all of a sudden confronted with another type of

goalkeeper. There I had to work withfantastic keepers who were unable to

function within our playing style. I haveanalyzed this throughout the years and

have come to the conclusion that thereare 2 extremes in goalkeepers.”

SoccerCoachingInternational talked toFrans Hoek, former (assistant)

goalkeeping coach of AFC Ajax, FCBarcelona and the Dutch national team.

By: Paul van Veen

Frans Hoek revolutionizes goalkeepingFrans Hoek revolutionizes goalkeeping

SCI 05.08 opmaak 11-04-2005 09:55 Pagina 42

Reaction“A reaction goalkeeper is in general capable of leading hisdefense, but this often comes down to coaching after a situa-tion by means of screaming and blaming. During set plays theyare able to coach the situation, because they have the time tore-organize. This is usually done by standard agreements madebefore the game.”

Goalkeeping tasks“When we look at the tasks of a R-type, we notice that he isgood at stopping shots on goal. Generally speaking they willstop about 80-90% of the shots on goal. They are less suc-cessful in the 1v1 situations. In those situations they scoreabout 70% and they almost always act in a set way: look, comeout of the goal in a fierce, strong and aggressive manner andalmost always throw themselves in front of the opponents feet.Due to this method they are not always on time and frequentlycommit a foul. The possibility of a penalty kick or card is veryhigh. An R-goalie is generally poor with crosses and very poor incalculating and intercepting through passes.”

Goal kick“With ball possession they usually only see one solution: a longpass down the field. They can generally reach large distanceswith the goal kick or throw. Their throwing precision is usuallygood, although their goal kick tends to be poorer. They usuallyjust kick it into the space. They are not big fans of back pas-ses, as this usually creates a problem for them, resulting inanother long pass down the field.”

Choices“To summarize a reaction goalkeeper has difficulty with proces-ses in which he needs to think or make choices. In situationswhere they need to react, or direct shots on goal, they are verycapable. Hence the name reaction keeper. Examples of reacti-on goalkeepers are in general most traditional goalkeepersfrom the past, such as Van Beveren, Piet Schrijvers, Dino Zoff,Hans van Breukelen, Ray Clemence and Gordon Banks. Ormodern goalkeepers such as Kahn or Vitor Baía.”

Anticipating“At the other extreme of the spectrum is the A-goalkeeper, alsoknow as the anticipating goalkeeper. They are usually winners,but in a lesser form than reaction goalkeepers. Generally spea-king they are more athletic: with an athletic posture and lessmuscle tone. They are also less charismatic.”

Vision“From an organizational perspective they are very good at rea-ding the game. They have vision, which makes them morecapable of coaching before the situation. The fact that defen-ders do not always listened has to do with their personality, gai-ning respect and guts.”

Goalkeeping tasks“They are not as good with shots on goal as the reaction goal-keeper, but do score an average grade. They use a very diffe-rent method in the 1v1 situations. They keep their eye on thesituation and look at what the opponents can and will do.

43The complete soccer coaching experience





In general they try to get close to theopponent and leave the initiative up tothem, causing them to initiate the actionin order to create a scoring opportunity.They have a lot of patience, remain intheir position and will go to ground at theright moment in order to intercept theball. When they posses these skills theywill have a high winning ratio.Furthermore, they do not take risks, sowhenever they make a mistake it doesnot lead to a penalty or card right away.”

Cross“Crosses seem to be a problem for anytype of goalkeeper. Generally speakingan anticipating goalkeeper is not any bet-ter or worse at this than its reactingcounterpart. The situation is totally diffe-rent and does not only have to do withvision, there are other factors which playa role in crosses.”

Player“The anticipation goalkeeper turns out tobe a goalie who is able to think and par-ticipate while in possession. They oftenknow where things are going wrong and

where they are working. So they do notalways opt for the long pass down thefield. They have the ability to play thelong ball, but also take time to play theball in a way that will have the largestpossibility of retaining possession. Theyalso have many methods on how toplace a ball. They have a falling pass, a straight pass and a lob pass. Generallyspeaking they do not reach the distanceof a reaction goalkeeper. Anticipationgoalkeepers could be easily used as fieldplayers, as they are able to function asthe 11th player. This means they love aback pass.”

Comments“The prototype for A-goalkeepers are goa-lies such as Stanley Menzo, Edwin vander Sar, Maarten Stekelenburg andFabien Barthez. They are real anticipa-tion goalkeepers. They try to eliminatedangerous situations by means of posi-tioning, coaching, leadership and timelyactions. They try to avoid line goalkee-ping. This is hard for people to differenti-ate amongst, so reaction goalkeepersusually receive better comments/criti-

ques. Reaction goalkeepers are easier toevaluate: someone shoots on goal andthe goalie makes a spectacular save.”

Difference“As a coach you need to be able to differentiate between the two extremes.When we go back to the 1974 WorldCup, the late Dutch national team coachRinus Michels did not have a good under-standing of catching and falling techni-ques of a goalie. However, he did knowwhich goalkeeper would work best withinhis system of play. To the surprise ofmany Michels opted for goalkeeper JanJongbloed instead of Van Beveren,Doesburg or Schrijvers who were percei-ved as the ‘real’ goalkeepers. Howevertheir qualities did not correlate with thesystem of play and Michels needed andopted for an A-type goalkeeper instead ofa R-type.”

Line“When you look closely at the goalies,you will see a different type of A goalkee-pers and R goalkeepers. But all othergoalkeeper also fit somewhere along the




spectrum. There are plenty of goalieswho are not A-types or R-types, but canbe places somewhere in between thetwo extremes. Where they are on thespectrum is very important as it has con-sequences for a) their education. How

will you educate the goalkeepers in gene-ral (from youth to pro)? b) a coach needsto determine what effect the goalkeeperhas on the system of play and c) if thegoalkeeper is a certain type, how do youtrain him. I believe you should always

educate a goalkeeper as an anticipatingtype. More on this in future issues ofSoccerCoachingInternational.”

REACTION GOALKEEPERREACTION GOALKEEPER ANTICIPATION GOALKEEPERANTICIPATION GOALKEEPER

Key:Key:++ Excellent+ good+/- poor - average- Poor- - Very poor

Articlecode: 266a6ec7Articlecode: 266a6ec7

GeneralMentality ++Charisma ++Physical (strength) ++Coaching/Organizing (after) +/-

Possession opponentShots on goal ++1 v 1 +/-Crosses +/-Through passes --

PossessionMaking choices +/-Goal kick +Back pass -

GeneralMentality +Charisma +/-Physical (athletic) +Coaching/Organization (before) ++

Possession opponentShots on goal +1 v 1 ++Crosses +/-Through passes ++

PossessionMaking choices ++Goal kick +Back pass ++

Illustration courtesy of ‘Nieuwe Revu’

Illustration courtesy of Jan de Koning (KNVB)


“You have to know the type of goalkeeper you are dealing … 05.8 Frans...Frans Hoek...

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