Do Goalkeepers Need Protection?

I knew this would happen, call it a gut feeling, or an instinct.

The uproar about the incidents which unfolded this week at the Madjeksi Stadium. I don't mean to be rude or disregard the solemness of last weekends incident, in fact I'll be the first to tell you that I was outraged and was one of the many concerned as to the well being on Chez goalkeeper Cech and his substitute counterpart Carlo Cudicini. The unfoldings in Reading that day were both peculiar and totally unexpected, as a Chelsea team found John Terry in goal to close the match.

However, as there always is with a situation of this sort, there has been a large uproar as to the protection of goalkeepers in general. This could be labelled as over exaggerating by, the FA, UEFA, and all other associations. All of the organisations have been panicky about safety since the beginning of football, and I for one know that I was less than impressed at some of the decisions made by officials in regard to foul play over the course of the World Cup. It seemed all it took was a bit of physical play for a card to be drawn.

It seemed there was more break in play then you would see when watching a game of rugby. The FA has been very constant in its attempt to wipe out injuries as much as possible in the modern day game. The Cech incident was not only shocking due to the injury, but also due to the fact that the events which had unfolded were extraordinary. Now that Mourinho has aired his views on the injury, action is likely to be taken. And as well as this, Arsenal manager Wenger has also said greater measures should be put forward to help ensure the safety of goalkeepers, and if these two can agree on something, it seems everyone else must be thinking the same. The fact is that over the course of this weekend and what is likely to be stretched over the course of this week, most football managers up and down the tables and divisions will be curious of the safety of their goalkeepers.

However, I do not want to see a sport where every player has fear inside of diving in to a tackle as they might receive a card because quite frankly, that is the way football is accelerating towards. I for one do not want to see the day where goalkeepers wear helmets! The goalkeepers are already protected from chest to toe and have a lot more protection than outfield players who will be under a lot more physical contact.

The game is heading towards a period of time in which the rules are turned upside down. The rules on celebrating goals are already restricted with players not allowing to throw their shirts in to the crowd like they used to be. However I share a feeling of fear for goalkeepers and feel measures should be taken. Four incidents as Wenger said, is too many in the period of time in which the incidents took place.

There needs to be changes, but they shouldn't be so drastic that they clamp down the flow of the game.

Article by: By Mehul Purohit - For his blog - click here

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