IT was always a joy to see John Collins in full flow. It still is, as we found out while recording the Big Interview with the former Monaco, Fulham and Scotland player. Whether it was with a ball at his feet during a career punctuated by intrigue and success or, in this case, a microphone pinned to his polo shirt, Collins was capable of something positive, something captivating.
All it took was somebody to get the ball rolling.
My role in this Big Interview was not too dissimilar to that of a sweeper keeper; getting the conversation going and keeping Collins engaged on subjects like Monaco, player development and the challenge of getting the ball off Zidane. That analogy seems apposite, too, given that the subject of ball-playing goalkeepers proved particularly fruitful in this podcast.
We got there by discussing the development of youth players, a little give and go which Collins used to create an opportunity for his wonderful appraisal of the role of the goalkeeper at FC Barcelona under Pep Guardiola and, now, at Manchester City, coached by the Catalan. His demand that a goalkeeper contributes to attacking moves by passing out from the back has proven controversial in English football, with the position – often occupied by poor Claudio Bravo at City – scrutinised relentlessly this season.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen at FC Barcelona has been lauded for his ability to pass the ball under pressure, helping his team to create chances to score. There was one such opportunity in the Clasico just last month; Ter Stegen fed the ball to Sergio Busquets, who flicked it neatly to Sergi Roberto; he carried the ball to Lionel Messi, who then swivelled to find Andres Iniesta. His pass allowed Neymar to cut inside and clip a shot inches over the crossbar. In the space of 20 seconds, there had been five passes and a shot at goal. And it was all started by Ter Stegen.
But the term ‘sweeper keeper’ continues to be a punchline in the Premier League. “Players, pundits, journalists, they aren’t getting it. They are not getting it. Pep Guardiola doesn’t want a goalkeeper – he wants a goalkeeper and an outfield player,” Collins says in the podcast.
“That’s where it all starts. He’s behind that back four, he’s making angles constantly, moving so they’ve got another outfield player. Once he gets it right – and it’ll take time – it’s going to blow them all away.
“I hear pundits saying: ‘His job is just to catch the ball and make saves’. Well, hold on, he’ll touch the ball eight times with his feet to two with his hands. Maybe even more. So what do you think he should be working on? His hands? Or his feet? He’ll make one save in a game, but he’ll start 50 moves.”
He states his case passionately. And why not, given the supporting evidence. Let’s call the video below Exhibit A. In it Manuel Neuer is integral as his Bayern Munich side mount a series of attacks, positioning himself on the halfway line – and, at one stage, on the edge of the opposition penalty area – always looking to start another move. It is the very embodiment of what Collins argues in the podcast.
The 48-year-old’s testimony is a firm rejoinder in an argument which has regularly seemed one-sided when it comes to Guardiola’s City side. Regardless of how successful the practice has made other major European sides, when a goalkeeper makes a short pass to his full-back or into midfield at Etihad Stadium, it is often seen as too big a ‘risk’.
Collins argues that they do not know the meaning of the word elsewhere in Europe. “I hear it on the television: ‘Oh, he’s taken a risk . . . what is he doing playing there?’ Risk is a word we use in Britain but we don’t use it so much in France, and I know they don’t use it in Spain,” says the former midfielder, who won a league title in his first season with Monaco.
“Playing from the back is called taking responsibility, using the ball and not being scared when a player gets close to you. Every now and then you’ll get caught and concede a goal, but big deal if you’re creating 20 or 30 goals in a season.”
