Benching versus developing

One of the interesting things about hockey is that they hardly ever have a reserve goalkeeper sitting on the bench. In England they seem to only carry an incumbent (as in the first choice who isn't going to be replaced any time soon and does not have much competition for that 'no 1 jersey'!) and a second goalkeeper is very rarely taken to a game. Much like the Olympics where they only have a goalkeeper staying in the Olympic village in case they are ever needed, allowing the team to field an extra player, whilst some teams have even got their outfield players to train as goalkeepers in case their goalkeeper is ever needed and they have no-one else to do the pads! I have seen footage on Youtube of Moritz Furste (probably spelt poorly!) do this for Nicalos Jacobi (again, need to check spelling!) in a club game in the Bundesliga.

Anyway, the point being with regards to a goalkeeper's development is much more important than providing a 'spare pair of hands' just in case, and arguably the way hockey operates facilitates this. I think a reserve is carried more so in Belgium, Holland and Germany as I am aware of, so perhaps it is just unique to England. Whereas football or ice hockey, they have a reserve compusorily, a hockey team does not and this is intersting (for purely nerdy reasons perhaps!). A team would rather develop their youngsters in the 'minors' in say ice or football (in football the up and coming prodigies will be loaned out to gain much needed game experience) in order to grow, biding their time until they are ready to make the leap to the big stage. So as a result, this sees goalkeepers having to prove themselves in order to get the chance than just being a part of the first team squad (which is good for bragging rights and an experience in learning professionalism etc. anyway!). In hockey you have the seconds playing on a Saturday and the national league on a Sunday in general, so this does offer the opportunity for a reserve goalkeeper to do both at a weekend, .


Really, in my opinion, it's better to develop than bench. Whilst I'd rather see competition for places, if you have a clear cut first choice as long as they are pushed in training and have to perform well in case they are dropped (see Mancini's treatment of Hart and Pantilimon regards making a statement about first team selection for example!), it may be good enough. There is no point swapping and changing like Ferguson throughout an entire season because it unsettles the defence and they have to adapt to the goalkeeper's style each time. Though this is tangental thinking, ultimately, it is important for a youngster to develop enough so that they challenge and keep the first choice 'on their toes' and competitive to get the best performances (even if that generally depends on the goalkeeper's mentality because they may get rattled at being dropped!). Random thoughts but reflective of the goalkeeper's position within the team as a whole, nonetheless!