Life between the sticks dictates that the odd mistake will be made, but the Reds have seen their chosen shot-stoppers drop more clangers than most
It is often said that goalkeepers are wired a little differently to your average footballer.
Life between the sticks can be lonely and unforgiving, with a special kind of character required to pull on a pair of gloves.
As the last line of defence, a tightrope between praise and scorn is walked each and every time said individuals take to the field.
Those to have graced the books at Liverpool during the Premier League era know that better than most, with the Reds boasting an unfortunate history when it comes to costly clangers.
With the club’s most recent outing seeing them add another entry to that list, Goal casts an eye over some of the performances from recent memory that those at Anfield would rather forget.
GettyDavid James
Picking up the nickname ‘Calamity’ tells you all you need to know about a man who was still considered good enough to earn 53 England caps. James’ spell at Anfield was littered with high-profile gaffes, with his flap to Eric Cantona in the 1996 FA Cup final costing the’ Spice Boys’ dear. A trio of errors during a classic meeting with Newcastle in 1997 would see James make his infamous excuse of playing too many computer games, telling reporters: “I was getting carried away playing Tekken II and Tomb Raider for hours on end.” A matter of weeks later and James was still clearly distracted as he strayed off his line during a meeting with Manchester United to wave a seemingly harmless cross onto the head of a grateful Andy Cole.
AdvertisementGettySander Westerveld
With Liverpool looking good to take a point from a trip to Bolton in August 2001, a dramatic late error from their Dutch goalkeeper ultimately saw them head home empty-handed. Dean Holdsworth fired in a speculative drive from distance which dipped in front of Westerveld. Unable to get his body behind the strike, the Reds’ No.1 could only watch on in horror as the ball squirmed underneath him and into the back of the net. Then Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier had seen enough and within the space of a week Chris Kirkland and Jerzy Dudek had been signed, with Westerveld never to be seen again as he was initially benched and then moved on to Real Sociedad before Christmas.
GettyJerzy Dudek
Manchester United fans to this day still sing about the time Diego Forlan made the Merseyside natives cry in December 2002. Reds supporters were left aghast after seeing Dudek make the most stunning of errors during a meeting with their old adversaries. The Poland international – who enjoyed plenty of highs at Anfield, including the 2005 Champions League final – for some reason endured one of those days against United. The lowest point on afternoon of painful lows came when Dudek allowed a ball nodded back to him by Jamie Carragher to slip through his arms, out between his legs and into the path of Forlan to roll into an empty net. He also rather flapped at a fierce drive from the Uruguayan frontman which wrapped up the points for the Red Devils.
GettyScott Carson
Will forever be remembered for his mistakes on a greasy Wembley pitch during a qualifying clash with Croatia which cost England a place at Euro 2008, but Carson has made the odd error elsewhere as well. He was an emerging talent when on the books at Anfield and faced fierce competition for places, which restricted him to just nine appearances. One of those came against Juventus in the Champions League back in April 2005, with Liverpool en route to a stunning European triumph in Istanbul. The first leg of a quarter-final clash with Juve saw them move two goals to the good, but Carson – who had performed admirably on the night up until that point – allowed a Fabio Cannavaro header to slip through his fingers and make the end result a little closer than it should have been.