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The Best of Backups: The Premier League's Greatest No 2's Ever
Blogs

The Best of Backups: The Premier League's Greatest No 2's Ever

Who are the best ever backup goalkeepers in the Premier League?

With Caiomhin Kelleher’s move from Liverpool to Brentford virtually guaranteed, it got us thinking - who are the Premier League’s best ever back-up goalies?

Of course, until today, Kelleher could easily have been discussed as a possible candidate, with his performances during various Alisson absences since 2018 being nothing short of inspiring. The Irishman won the Reds trophies, pulled off masterclasses in so many big games, and saved his sides skin countless times, despite getting just a fraction of the playing he would have been desiring.

So it is safe to say that his move to Brentford is deserved. For the first time, Kelleher will be defending the number one spot instead of pursuing it, presenting him with the perfect opportunity to show Premier League opposition what he’s all about. With Mark Flekken going out, Brentford have arguably made a huge upgrade between the sticks.

But what other sides have over the years failed to give their back-up stoppers the respect they deserved? Which sides had the best keeper lineups over the years? And which ones managed to land themselves a move that secured regular football?

Stefan Ortega to Ederson, Manchester City

Any goalkeeper that sits behind Ederson in the pecking order stands a serious risk of seeing their career stagnate. The Brazilian rarely gets injured, and barely ever makes a mistake. Plus, he can be a threat passing out from the back, with his seven Premier League assists the most of any keeper in the competition's history.

This makes the impression made by Stefan Ortega even more impressive. Brought in from Arminia Bielefeld in 2022 on a free transfer, a move which made little-to-no waves on the English transfer scene. Almost everyone saw him as squad depth and capable back up, but not someone who could be called on and relied upon regularly.

How wrong everyone was. In his three seasons at the club, the German has played 55 times for the Cityzens, more than many second string keepers would expect to play, and has risen to the task superbly.

He has earned winners medals in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield, a collection of which any player would be proud of, and in terms of his on field performances, his shot-stopping has exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations.

By far his finest moment came in the closing stages of the 2023/24 season, when he made a crucial save to prevent Son Heung-Min in a game which had huge ramifications on the title race - the huge one on one save helped City to a win, a result which took them to within a win of the Premier League trophy. He helped them secure the title a week later.

With a year still remaining on his contract, and at the sprightly age of 32, Ortega still has plenty of his career still ahead of him - but eventually he will become fed up of playing second fiddle, at which point he could pull a Kelleher in a bid to more regularly playing time.

Emi Martinez to Wojciech Szczesny, Bernd Leno and Petr Cech, Arsenal

It’s amazing to think that Emi Martinez, World Cup hero with Argentina and two time winner of the Yashin trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper of the most recent calendar year, didn’t play regular top flight football until 2020.

Brought on as a substitute after Brighton’s Neal Maupay infamously injured Arsenal’s then number one Bernd Leno, Martinez grasped his opportunity with both hands. His impressive form in a COVID affected season earned him countless admirers and even more plaudits, and as the 2020/21 season commenced, Aston Villa sent Arsenal £20 million in order to acquire his services.

Martinez has gone from strength to strength ever since. He boasts world class reflexes, superb distributions, and has an uncanny ability to wind up the opposition - remember when he asked Ronaldo to take a penalty instead of Bruno Fernandes?

There was good reason that Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta simply didn’t give him a chance - Petr Cech, Wojciech Szczesny and Bernd Leno were all high-profile shot stoppers that simply had to start most games for Arsenal, and although Martinez spent some time on the bench as back-up, much of his Arsenal career was spent on loan, including spells at Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday, Getafe and Reading.

Now recognised as the world’s best goalkeeper, Martinez has had the last laugh. A World Cup medal, FA Cup trophy, and a world famous reputation - all because Neal Maupay clattered into Bernd Leno, allowing Martinez some minute to show Mikel Arteta what he could do.

Carlo Cudicini to Petr Cech, Chelsea

Going back to the mid-2000’s now, when Chelsea’s Petr Cech was in his soaring prime. The Czech stopper asserted himself as one of the best in the world soon after his move in 2004, which had the unfortunate knock-on effect of sending previous seasons number one Carlo Cudicini to the bench.

The Italian had by no means done anything wrong - he had made 26 Premier League appearances for the blues the previous season as they romped to the Premier League title, and had made some outstanding saves along the way.

In fairness, he had been Chelsea’s number one since moving to the club permanently in 2000, and in total took to the field 216 times in West London. However, only 35 of these came after Petr Cech’s arrival. Cudicini still made useful cameos from the bench, and maintained his characteristic quality, but eventually, he grew impatient with his lack of game time, moving to Tottenham in the summer of 2009.

However, here too he found himself to be back-up, this time to Heurelho Gomes and Brad Friedel. He made a total of 37 appearances across four years at Spurs, once again growing impatient, knowing that a keeper of his quality deserved better.

In a final bid to finish his career with some games under his belt, he moved to the MLS, signing for LA Galaxy, and in the final season of his career, found himself back in the number one shirt as his side won the league. It was a fitting end to his career, and many were happy he finally received a small portion of the respect he deserved.

Interestingly, his lack of game time in the second half of his Chelsea career doesn’t leave a sour taste in his mouth, as Cudicini is now working at the club both as an ambassador and technical coach, passing on his wealth of experience to Chelsea’s young, ever revolving team.

Sergio Romero to David De Gea, Manchester United

Man United have boasted a great number of talented back-up goalkeepers over the years - names like Tomas Kuszczak, Tim Howard, Ben Foster and Victor Valdes were all superb stoppers in their own right, with Valdes in particular unlucky not to start more often for the Red Devils.

However, Sergio Romero takes the cake for us. Capped 96 times for Argentina, many will be surprised by the fact that the South American stopper never got a big break until 2015, when Man United snapped him up from mid-table Serie A side Sampdoria.

Upon the announcement of his move, United fans expected him to step in for David De Gea, who, while being capable of producing outstanding saves and performances, was inconsistent, and could be error prone.

However, De Gea took Romero’s arrival as a direct threat to his starting spot, and the Spaniard quickly became the best stopper in the league thanks to the presence of tangible competition. This meant that for the most part, Romero had to settle for cup appearances.

This proved an elegant solution, as with him between the sticks, United won the FA Cup, Europa League and League Cup, and he had an astonishing clean sheet record. But he only made seven Premier League appearances during his time in Manchester, a number which he will look back on thinking it could have been far, far more.

Amazingly, Romero is still playing at the age of 38. Currently Boca Juniors’ number one, Romero is proving age is just a number, and his impressive performances in his home country will only reinforce to United fans that he could have been a force to be reckoned with had his opportunities been more frequent.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Harry Pascoe

Lead Writer

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