After witnessing Edwin Van Der Sar's wonderfully caressed strike to assist Wayne Rooney last night, it got me thinking - just who is the King of the Ping?? In my opinion a goalkeepers distribution and kicking is what can make a good goalkeeper a great goalkeeper - and this should be judged on three attributes: Length, Accuracy, and Sexiness (all out of a football manager style 20) !! Technique out the hands, and off the floor will be considered.
In order to find out the King of the Ping, and acknowledge an individual with this prestigious award, I will present the nominations below:
1. Edwin Van Der Sar - Surely a huge contender. Right foot or left foot, the ball is getting pinged, and most of the time it is going to the requested target. Off the floor is where Edwin flourishes, as Rooney's goal last night proved. Out the hands I admit to being a bit unsure on Edders, as it is quite rare to witness such an event wih him usually choosing to roll it out to his feet or giving the easy throw. Ratings are: Length 17, Accuracy 15, Sexiness 12.
2. Pepe Reina - When you ask most people about a goalkeeping ping and distribution, their automatic answer is usually Pepe Reina -and rightly so. Reina's ability out his hands and off the deck are a joy to behold, and would be very difficult to find a flaw. For this reason I am going to keep Pepe's eulogy short and sweet. Ratings are: Length 17, Accuracy 16, Sexiness 17.
As stupid as this is I cannot find any evidence.
3. Joe Hart - Joe Hart is by the most confident and eager to impress goalkeeper I have seen in a long time.Always happy to zing the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, and ever so sexy in doing so. Out the hands, the way he tosses the ball up with a spin is just defines beauty, topped with the way he cuts across the ball giving it a flat trajectory. Unfortunately for Joe, for every seven that hit the spot there are three that miss out (this could be due to the fact that he is aiming for midget Carlos Tevez 90% of the time). But that does count against him. Ratings are: Length 14, Accuracy 15, Sexiness 20.
(cant find any videos of his technique out of hands, but this clip below should give evidence of Joe Harts confidence and his striking ability)
4. Paul Robinson - Whilst splitting opinion throughout his career, I have always remained a Robbo fan, even throughout that period where his head was missing! Regardless of what your perspective on him as an all-rounder, you cannot hide from the fact that his right foot is an absolute weapon! Robbo's distance is incredible, and is extremely accurate - with me once hearing that he can drop it in a 5 yard circle (and you wonder why Sam was such a big fan??). Only slight and petty criticism would be that the trajectory is ore of a looper than flat - marking his sexiness down. In my opinion, Paul Robinson is the original King of the Ping.
Ratings: Distance 20, Accuracy 19, Sexiness 10.
(You have no idea how much this clip pains me - but Ben became stronger from this......it happens mate!)
5. Ben Foster - let the bias begin. Big Ben has got one of the sweetest, sweetest strikes you will see. I personally compare his striking ability to that of a Tiger Woods drive, with the trajectory and outcome being similar. I'm talking about off the deck here, as I will admit that Fozzy's technique out his hands could sill be worked on - which does bring his accuracy down. Ratings: Distance 14, Accuracy 13, Sexiness 20.
(the clip below on 2minutes 40seconds shows you about Ben's Tiger Woods strike)
6. Huerelho Gomes - Eueeeeww - Ratings 1:1:1
I'm sure there are more to this list, if you are wondering about Khune the South African keeper - he is banned a he fall in to the category of African Clown, and is banned from these discussions (see previous posts).
In order to name a winner in this hotly contested battle, I will be opening the debate up to a poll - the winner will be announced at around the same time as the Brits Lifetime Achievement Award. Please feel free to comment.
