Season certification 2009/2010 – pt. 1 Goalkeeper
With the match at Freiburg the successful season 09/10 ended. Teams like Stuttgart, Hamburg or Wolfsburg were surpassed and the team of Jürgen Klopp ended up on rank 5 which grants us a place in the Europa League Qualifiers next season. Of course this is the result of the entire team´s effort and a great success. But as always some players had a greater and some a lesser share in this success. Some players arose from the unknown and some stumbled. How different the individual performances were perceived is reflected in our season reviews. Three editors (from our german page) looked at each player and valued his performance over the entire season. Our grades range from 1 to 6, with 1 representing an absolutely outstanding and brilliant performance throughout the season and a 6 marking a player, who has only delivered rubbish all year.
Roman Weidenfeller:
Sascha: From candidate for the fistball national team he almost became third keeper in Germany´s World Cup squad. On the line “Weide” has always been a good one, but he showed long known problems when he had to act outside the goal. But he must have worked hard on himself during the season since his unorthodox saves were replaced by an experienced and secure goalkeeping. He also grew as leading player. Early in his career one could not avoid the feeling, that he could barely avoid to kick his players in the butt after a defending error but today he acts much calmer and tries to drive the players. It appears to be true that goalies around the age of 30 are in their best age. Under the line grade 2.
MalteS: I never expected him to develop that much forward with 29 years. But under coach Jürgen Klopp just that happened. As always a silent and secure backing but now no one has to hold the breath any more when he tries to pick the ball from crosses. No big errors during the last season but some real great performances like the match against Leverkusen, so a nomination for the World Cup squad would have been well deserved for him. With his experience he is also a secure backing behind the mostly young defence. Carry on! Grade 2.
DvB: I have to admit that, during past seasons, Roman Weidenfeller scared me sometimes. And also in this season he wasn’t always as secure as he should be. A strange feeling always came up when the ball was kicked towards our goal. Either you could expect a world-class save or something you would call bumbler. But how he managed to enhance his performance was absolutely remarkable. After his injury he returned stronger than before. During the last third of the season he developed to an absolute backing for the team and sometimes was unbeatable. And when the ball was in Borussia´s goal it was never his fault. As BVB supporter you can finally feel secure with our number one, a feeling which a long time seemed to be gone for good. His great performances came too late though, to be nominated for the World Cup squad. But: Roman Weidenfeller showed a very good performance and was, at the end of the season, the best keeper of the entire league. Period. Grade 2.5.
Marc Ziegler:
Arne: It is a long known term, but who cares: Marc Ziegler was the perfect number two behind Roman Weidenfeller. This is also true for the past season, even though he played a lot less than in the earlier seasons. His performance was not at the top of the league, but good performances, a real good routine and, most of all, the capacity to be there, when help was needed, outshone his little weakness, reigning the box. Offside the pitch, the almost 34 year old is beyond any suspicion. Pleasant when in contact with the fans and – much more important – an important contact person fort he younger players. That will be missed in the next season. Grade: 2,5
Vanni: As Arne said before Ziegler was often called „the best second goalkeeper in the league“. He simply is. If he is needed, he is there and if there is no place for him in the starting line-up, he remains calm and takes his place on the bench. There are a lot of other goalies who couldn’t live with such a situation. So it is sad to see, that Ziegler will leave us for Stuttgart and that he will be just number two in Stuttgart, too and will have to take his place on the bench. O.k., he is not the youngest 
player, but if Lehmann played until he was 40 Ziegler could also play to that age and I consider Ziegler to be stronger than Ulreich. But that is to be discussed in the future. The few chances he had to show his strength there was never anything negative to report and that is enough for a goalkeeper to be judged positive. Grade 2,
Sascha: Perfect number two. A player who you, without any suspicions, place in the second line of the team. Of course the new Stuttgart citizen had some hopes to become number one in the goal over the years but he always remained loyal. When he was needed, he was there and performed well, but also showed that more than being a replacement for the regular number one was not possible, due to the weaknesses he showed. So his performance against Cologne was o.k., but he let a few too many balls bounce directly forward and didn’t act hard enough against his opponents when Cologne scored. A typical match for Ziegler. O.k., but no more. So Ziegler receives a 3 from me and best wishes for his time in Stuttgart.
translated by: kha
editors, 29.05.2010
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