What does a goalkeeper have to do to nail down the No. 1 spot at Crawley Town?
In the last few seasons, goalkeepers have been a big talking point at Crawley Town.
After Corey Addai’s brilliant season in the historic 2023/24 campaign, you need more than two hands to count the number of keepers Reds have had. In the 2024/25 season they used six goalkeepers.
And this season three keepers – Vito Mannone, Nick Michalski and Jackson Izquierdo – have all made appearances.
It appeared player coach and former Arsenal stopper Mannone was Colin Kazim-Richards number one choice, but a broken hand in the first league against Crewe has ruled him out for a while.
Michalski, who is on loan from Blackburn, replaced Mannone in that opening game and then started against Rochdale and Bristol Rovers before former Crystal Palace keeper Izquierdo played against Northampton and Accrington, the latter where he was criticized by fans for being at fault for a couple of the goals in the 3-2 defeat.
Ahead of the Cheltenham game, Kazim-Richards was asked by BBC Sussex’s Robin Grey ‘how does one of them nail down the spot this season in your eyes?’.
“That's a complex question, right?,” he said. “Because a goalkeeper, only one can play at one moment. I just thought at one time it was a lot for one, and then they're both young up-and-coming keepers. No-one would have thought that Vito would have broke his hand.
“It's something that I could take it on the chin and hold my hands up. Vito at 39 would have pulled a hamstring, would have pulled a quad, would have pulled a groin. He's never had a broken bone in his whole career.”
“But in terms of the two young keepers, we've got two young keepers that have very good qualities. I think both of them have a different type of qualities.
“I still have confidence in both of them that can play at any moment. Now, what does one have to do to solidify his position? For me, it has to be a consistent game, and your super strength has to outweigh the mistakes that we feel that you're making, right? Or that you've made, which is fine. Everyone's going to make mistakes”.
“We've seen both of them now in a competitive game, and come Saturday, the decision's on me again to make a choice.”
Listen to Robin Grey’s full interview at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p8x34x.