Sep
7
Peter Gulacsi: challenges for 2009/10
Filed Under Liverpool FC, Reserves | Leave a Comment
Peter Gulacsi has signed a new contract which keeps the young goalkeeper with Liverpool until 2013. So what are the challenges ahead for him?
The first challenge is holding down a place in the reserve team. Last season he was rotated with Dean Bouzanis and Martin Hansen. Bouzanis certainly looks to be a very strong player so Gulacsi, the Hungarian, will need to prove himself day in and day out in training and then make it as difficult as possible for John McMahon to drop him.
He will want to demonstrate what he learnt during his three months at Hereford United where he impressed the fans, despite the club suffering relegation. Martin from fan site Bulls News said of his performances :
“He has single handedly stopped us from being repeatedly embarassed throughout his twelve games so far. He’s conceded 21 goals in those games, any bog-standard League One keeper would have let in 40. He pulls off, on average, two or three top class saves every game.
“We’d love him to be here next season, but when Coventry reserve team boss Steve Orgizovic was seen at Scunthorpe (in the away end) we expect him to be snapped up by someone higher up for next season.
“He is, by some distance, the best 19 year old keeper I’ve seen – and we see a lot of the ‘prospect’ keepers at our level. He will go far!
Gulacsi’s strengths appear to be:
- His raw shot-stopping ability. He has already shown this on a few occasions this season and it’s one of the things that stand out from the match reports about his time at Hereford.
- His agility. In the last reserve team game against Bolton he pulled off three saves in quick succession, although Bolton ended up scoring.
- His distribution is also strong. As with the other goalkeepers at the club he is keen to get rid of the ball quickly, particularly from set pieces and this is one area where the integration of the players from across the age-groups, under Xavi Valero, seems to be having an impact.
- Gulacsi’s concentration appears to be good, which is hard for a young keeper and even harder playing for Liverpool when you don’t see much of the ball. However, I’ve always been impressed at his ability to stay focussed and be alert when he’s called into action.
I suspect he needs to carry on working at:
- His dominance in the air and his ability to clear his lines quickly with strong hands and a strong punch
- His speed off his line and ability to narrow down the angle
- His ability to be vocal and command his area. From what I’ve seen, he often gets quite crowded out with defenders dropping into the six yard box and he’s not always as vocally dominant as what you might like from a keeper
And as Jan Molby told LFCTV the big challenges for any young player are their attitude and the way they manage disappointment.
I’m sure, though, that all of this will come over time. Another loan move may help, and it’s good that he appears to have shown the right attitude playing for a club like Hereford.
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