Are these guys really better than Jussi Jaaskelainen?

Sunday February 8th, 2009

: Image via Wikipedia

Why was Bolton’s keeper not included in best keepers list?

The Daily Mail completed its countdown of football’s 50 greatest goalkeepers on Friday, and there was no place in the list for Bolton’s Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Of course, these things are fairly arbitrary, but just glancing down the full list I was struck by the number of keepers on it who are inferior – or at least equal – to Jussi. Here they are:

- Kevin Pressman (a good keeper as far as I remember, but nothing special)

- Rene Higuita (this guy was a total liability and is only on the list because of one moment of extravagance, his scorpion kick against England)

- Fabien Barthez, pictured (a World Cup winner, yes, but nowhere near as good as Jussi in the Premier League)

- Brad Friedel and Shay Given (both good goalkeepers, but arguably on the same par as Jaaskelainen in recent years)

- David James (overrated, inconsistent and certainly inferior to Jaaskelainen in my opinion)

There are others on the list that could be disputed too, these were just the ones that stood out for me.

What do you think? Is this another case of a Wanderer being overlooked by the national media because he plays for Bolton?

Would Jaaskelainen have been left out if he played for Liverpool or Arsenal, or even Newcastle or Man City?