Goalkeepers claim new ball makes everyone a Beckham

Arsenal's Jens Lehmann is one of a growing band of goalkeepers who has been left red-faced after recent howlers. Former stars Ray Clemence and Bob Wilson claim the new ball being used in the Premiership is the reason so many shot-stoppers are dropping clangers this season.

Former stars Ray Clemence and Bob Wilson claim the new ball being used in the English Premiership is the reason so many goalkeepers are dropping clangers this season.

But England's No 1 goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, has urged the modern generation to simply work harder.

Arsenal pair Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia, Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek and Manchester United's Roy Carroll have been left red-faced after recent howlers.

Clemence, who coaches England's goalkeepers and who kept goal 61 times for his country, says the ball is to blame.

"I certainly feel the ball is a major factor in mistakes happening," he told the Daily Mail. "But you will always get the very best keeper making the odd error and, of course, they are always highlighted."

He said Nike's new Total 90 Aerow Hi-Vis ball favours the forwards because its flight path moves in the last couple of metres.

Wilson, who kept goal in Arsenal's league and Cup double team in the 1970s, says Papa Bouba Diop's goal for Fulham against Manchester United in midweek highlighted the problem.

"We are not talking here about the ability of a David Beckham or a Roberto Carlos to actually bend the ball but lads who just welly it for goal.

"The ball now goes either to the right or left, or up, or down, and there's no way you can judge which way it will go," Wilson said.

And he believes today's game of crowded, pushing-and-pulling penalty areas forces the keeper to make quick decisions.

"Despite the improvement in gloves you can't be certain you will actually catch the ball and more often than not goalkeepers take the soft option and parry it."

But Shilton feels that is only part of the reason.

"The modern ball has made it more difficult but I also feel goalkeepers should work that little bit harder to compensate," said the man who kept 60 clean sheets in his 125-cap international career.

"There were people who used to wonder why I trained so hard when I was a player," he said.

"I liken it to modern golfers like Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. They practise so much and so intensely that they don't have any weaknesses. It makes the difference between winning the tournament and finishing in the top three.

"Goalkeeping is the same."

And he is not impressed by the current crop of keepers.

"There isn't one goalkeeper I can look at in the Premiership and say that he's the finished article," he said.

"You can be good at stop-shotting but if you can't punch the ball then you will eventually be exposed."

One man who is happy is Arsenal's Thierry Henry.

"I don't think goalkeepers will be happy but for an attacker, a midfielder or a defender I think it's good news," he said at the pre-season launch of the new ball.

Nike disagreed with Wilson's claim the ball moved but admitted the ball was helping to make the game more entertaining.

"They are more accurate and faster and the mission with that is to bring more excitement to the game," said a spokesman.