Super Gomes goes ballistic… he used to be atrocious

It has been proven repeatedly throughout the years that you have to be a sandwich short of a picnic to stand between the sticks every week and have leather balls kicked at you from all angles.

But as they always say, there is a fine line between genius and madness.

We have seen an infamous scorpion kick by Columbian, Rene Higuita…  genius, who then went to prison for his part in a kidnapping… madness.

Centre back, Laurent Blanc used to kiss Fabian Barthez on his bald head before games for both France and Manchester United, madness, but the pair went on to win just about everything on the international stage.

So it is fair to say that a little bit of insanity and a pair of gloves go hand in hand.

But there is one goal keeper who has come through the dark times of fumbles and gaffs to re-invent himself as the ultimate example of keeping the faith.

Gum shield wearing eccentric, Heurelho Gomes has turned his Tottenham career from a catalogue of catastrophes into an index of innovative goal keeping.

The Octopus as he is known, for apparently having the longest arms in football, is in the form of his life and could quite possibly be in the running for goalkeeper of the year.

Gomes was written off by all and sundry in England after blunders at Fulham, Villa and Stoke last year cost him his reputation and manager, Juande Ramos, his job.

But we should have known from his 60% clean sheets stats at PSV that this guy was far from finished.

When Harry Redknapp arrived at Spurs he immediately identified the Spurs number one shirt as needing some improvement and Carlo Cudicini was brought in from Chelsea.

This seemed to galvanise Heurelho, who has continued to fight for his place ever since, highlighted in Spurs’ 1-0 win over Chelsea last year.

England captain, John Terry arrived onto the ball in the 90th minute to plant a header goalwards.  

Terry was already wheeling away in celebration as Gomes clawed it out; trust me it is worth watching.

Since that moment, Gomes has been unbelievable. World class save has followed world class save. And with no small part played by the Brazilian, Spurs found themselves in a run of seven games without conceding. And the ironic cheers at White Hart Lane have disappeared.

But it is not unheard of for this sort of transformation for the net nutters.

Brad Friedel was cast aside after a torrid time at Anfield. But the big American has become one of the top keepers in the Premier League after he resurfaced at Blackburn Rovers before moving to the Villains.

And not to mention poor old Shay Given, who has to triumph over adversity every week of his career behind the dodgy defences of Newcastle and Manchester City.

So, a message to all you managers who fancy a replacement onion net tender this January, just remember, a goal keeper is for life, not just until after Christmas.

Joseph Bill

January 20, 2010