Goalkeepercan be a problematic position. Very few teams achieve success by chopping and changing.
There is often a clear number one, and then an understudy, and in my experience, having two competing and swapping the shirt leads to confusion. We saw it in the 2021/22 season, when Josh Griffiths got injured and Jordan Wright came in. Jordan was okay, but we never looked solid.
No, a keeper should be trusted, through tough times, and we’ve done well in the past. Think about it – Lukas Jensen making a £500,000 move, Alex Palmer going on to play Premier League, Carl Rushworth expected to do the same. We’ve had some real good luck, and while comparison is the thief of joy, I’m about to steal some joy.
How have our keepers got on since the 2020/21 season? I was asked to do this by Patreons, and so have looked at some key statistics, including conceded goals, clean sheets, saves with reflexes and a host of other metrics.
The results have surprised me a little.
Conceded Goals
| Goalkeeper | Minutes played | Conceded goals | Conceded per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Jensen | 4902 | 41 | 0.75 |
| Carl Rushworth | 4435 | 42 | 0.85 |
| George Wickens (2) | 2493 | 26 | 0.94 |
| Alex Palmer | 5449 | 66 | 1.09 |
| George Wickens (1) | 3624 | 44 | 1.09 |
| Josh Griffiths | 3450 | 49 | 1.28 |
First up, an obvious one, conceded goals. Now, I appreciate George Wickens secind season (Wickens 2 on the chart) has fewer matches, so I thought I’d look at goals conceded per 90 minutes, in League One action only.
I’m not surprised by Lukas being first, or Carl Rushworth being second, but this season’s George Wickens is currently third. It’s also clear he’s grown as a keeper, conceding fewer this season than last. Interesting that last season, he matched Alex Palmer from 2020/21, despite us being one game from Wembley.
Conceded xG Difference
| Goalkeeper | xCG | Per 90 | xG difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Jensen | 53.56 | 0.98 | 12.56 |
| Carl Rushworth | 52.45 | 1.06 | 10.45 |
| George Wickens (2) | 27.95 | 1.01 | 1.95 |
| Alex Palmer | 66.95 | 1.11 | 0.95 |
| Josh Griffiths | 49.06 | 1.28 | 0.06 |
| George Wickens (1) | 39.03 | 0.97 | -4.97 |
This is a nice stat that maybe needs explaining. Conceded xG is the expected goals the opposition have created against us. I’ve had to do it across 90 minutes, but interesting that last season, Wickens only faced 39.03 xG – that’s an impressive number and reflects well on the defence.
You then take the actual goals conceded, and can work out a rough goal prevented ratio. It’s not a hard and fast rule, for instance, a player might shank a penalty into the sky, and that would be xG of 0.76 without a concession, but it does show Carl Rushworth and Lukas Jensen, again, as the top dogs.
Marginally, once again, George is third, and considering the competition, Josh Griffiths as England Under 21 and Alex Palmer later to play Premier League, it’s a good number.
Saves
| Player | Shots Against | Shots Against per 90 | Saves | Saves per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Jensen | 206 | 3.78 | 165 | 3.03 |
| Josh Griffiths | 159 | 4.15 | 110 | 2.87 |
| Alex Palmer | 229 | 3.78 | 163 | 2.69 |
| Carl Rushworth | 174 | 3.53 | 132 | 2.68 |
| George Wickens (2) | 89 | 3.21 | 63 | 2.27 |
| George Wickens (1) | 135 | 3.35 | 91 | 2.26 |
Maybe, just maybe, the most important of the lot. Passing, sure, it’s important, as is coming off the line, commanding the area (hard to put a stat on) and a host of others, but as Roy Keane would tell you, a keeper is there to save shots, pure and simple.
This does tell a different picture, in that George Wickens doesn’t have to make as many saves. We know Josh Griffiths came under pressure a lot, and he had to make more saves than most.
Of course, this needs pairing with the other data. To simply look at it you’d say ‘Wickens makes the fewest saves’, and that is right, but when you look at conceded xG, and conceded goals, his numbers stack up.
Passing
| Player | Long Passes per 90 | Long Passes Accurate | Short Passes per 90 | Short Passes Accurate | Goal Kicks per 90 | Short Goal Kicks per 90 | Long Goal Kicks per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Wickens (2) | 16.86 | 68% | 9.64 | 96% | 7.00 | 1.23 | 5.74 |
| Alex Palmer | 6.24 | 67.70% | 12.37 | 97.50% | 7.71 | 5.19 | 2.53 |
| Josh Griffiths | 5.82 | 60.50% | 15.86 | 98.20% | 8.32 | 5.32 | 3.00 |
| George Wickens (1) | 10.21 | 59.60% | 8.97 | 98.10% | 5.61 | 1.84 | 3.75 |
| Lukas Jensen | 9.84 | 59.50% | 9.24 | 97.40% | 7.07 | 1.63 | 5.43 |
| Carl Rushworth | 12.01 | 59.80% | 13.92 | 95.90% | 8.10 | 1.75 | 6.35 |
Passing? For a keeper? Damn right.
I hear all the time that Wickens’ distribution isn’t good, but it is, even when compared with our top-class loan keepers, and big Lukas. His long passing is more accurate than any of our number ones since 2020/21, and he plays a lot more than those keepers as well.
It’s interesting to see the change between Appleton / Kennedy and Skubala. Look at those short passes – 15.86 for Griffiths, per 90, whereas modern-day Wickens plays six fewer per game. Same with those short goal kicks – get it forward, as I hear from behind me, really is the new philosophy.
Conclusion
I’m not going to make a conclusion about who is better. I would imagine Wickens would be perfectly happy being compared to Carl Rushworth and Lukas Jensen, and stoked to be above Josh Griffiths and Alex Palmer, both established in the Championship.
It is striking to see differences in their stats, which reflect on our style of play and the players in front of them. I always felt Griffiths struggled because we never had a settled defence, and that is how it looks.
Conclusion? Our recruitment of keepers, both loans and permanent players, is spot on.