Interview with Leipzig keeper Péter Gulácsi: "Goalkeepers have to be smart"

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Leipzig goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi (on October 20th at the Champions League game against Istanbul Basaksehir): "The best goalkeepers in the world today are very intelligent and reserved people"

Photo: CLEMENS BILAN / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Gulácsi, it is said that goalkeepers must be crazy.

But you describe yourself as cautious and considered.

Does that make you a worse goalkeeper?

Gulácsi:

The saying that goalkeepers have to be a little crazy is ten years old.

You can't say that anymore today.

Goalkeeping is very much about positional play, about making decisions and reading the game.

You need inner calm and a cool head.

The best goalkeepers in the world today are very intelligent and reserved people.

SPIEGEL:

While hymns of praise are regularly proclaimed for other goalkeepers, they rarely take place in public.

Are you too boring?

Gulácsi:

For me, the most important thing is what I do on the pitch and I don't have to hide in a European comparison.

SPIEGEL:

Do unsuitable statistics also play a role in the public's perception, and do you feel that they are undervalued?

Gulácsi:

Yes, that is certainly often the case.

It's always difficult to compare goalkeepers.

Mainly because the teams have different styles of play.

Goalkeepers don't just have to hold the ball, they have many other important tasks within a team.

There is a big difference between attacking teams with a high line of defense and teams that are low but allow more shots from the second row.

Therefore it is difficult to compare held balls or percentages, for example.

Almost all statistics show that I am right with my actions.

For me the games to zero are the most important thing, although it is very team-dependent and old-fashioned.

Everything else comes after that.

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