Football Food For Thought / Dan Fitch / 09 March 2010 /

With Chelsea's Hilario currently looking like a stranger to the goalkeeping position, Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch looks at the difficulty of keeping a decent reserve keeper interested.

Back in the day, a substitute bench was actually a bench with a substitute on it, rather than collection of heated car seats filled by several unmotivated millionaires.

In those days injuries disrupted teams, as they suffled the pack, sometimes forced to swap a crippled right back for a striker.

The disruption was never more obvious than when a goalkeeper picked up an injury. Such an event would lead to the glorious sight of an outfield player nervoulsy donning green jersey and gloves, before flapping about for half-an-hour.

Such situations were welcomed with glee, as there was rich potential for comedy or drama. Either the outfield player would turn out to be terrible between the sticks, or they would look the part and surprise the baying crowd with decent saves.

For example, Chelsea's Dave Webb came on for the injured Peter Bonetti against Coventry and did so well, that with their two regular keepers injured, he started the next game in goal against Ipswich and kept a clean sheet.

Carlo Ancelotti must be tempted to pick up the phone and ask Webb if he wants another game as a keeper next Saturday. With Petr Cech injured, his deputy Henrique Hilario has been far from inspiring since taking his place.

Ancelotti's other option is Ross Turnbull, a young English keeper who failed to fill Mark Schwarzer's gloves at Middlesbrough in their relegation season.

Chelsea have got an abundance of quality international players in their squad and are well covered in pretty much every area of the pitch, except when it comes to the position of goalkeeper.

We all know that the reason isn't lack of funds. The simple reality is that it's actually very difficult to find a decent reserve goalkeeper who can be replied upon when needed. Even if you're not a first choice outfield player, the chances are that you will get a regular trickle of opportunities to show what you can do.

A reserve goalkeeper though, is reliant upon the regular shot stopper picking up an injury or really losing his form, before they get a shot at the first team. It's no wonder then that few are willing to wait in the reserves for long periods of time.

Chelsea are now behind Manchester United in the league table and the betting for the title, at [2.76] compared to United's [2.66]. If they are not to fall further behind, then their defence will need to keep the hapless Hilario well protected.

Alex Ferguson has the luxury of two quality keepers providing cover of Edwin van der Sar. Keeping both Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak happy is a tricky business and you suspect that the only reason they're both still around is because the current number one is getting on a bit and his crown is up for grabs.

Over at Arsenal, they will this week try to turn around a deficit against Porto, for which their stand in keeper Lukasz Fabianski must take a large portion of the blame.

Arsene Wenger doesn't just have the problem of finding a reliable reserve keeper, as Manuel Almunia is equally rubbish. He's now back in the Arsenal team that can be backed at [1.71] to beat Porto.

You do have to wonder why any keeper would be happy to sit on the sidelines, but sometimes patience is rewarded. Newcastle's Steve Harper had to wait for Shay Given to leave before finally claiming the number one spot and has even been tipped for England this season.

Harper for England? He might make a good reserve.

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