Not every goalkeeper can be inspirational, or an all time great. That’s understandable, but there are some goalkeepers who even struggle to be good and just about become professional shot stoppers. Since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, we have seen some legendary goalies.
The likes of Peter Schmeichel, David Seaman, Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar will go down in history for being legends of the game in England, but there are others who are so appalling that it might actually be a criminal offence.
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Also read: 5 of the most overrated goalkeepers of the modern era
Here are the 5 worst goalkeepers in Premier League history!
#1 Manuel Almunia
If you’ve managed to play over 100 games in the Premier League in your career for a club as big as Arsenal, chances are you’re quite a good goalkeeper. Somehow, Manuel Almunia defied logic.
The Spaniard made his debut for the Gunners in 2004 in a 3-0 home victory against Birmingham City, and then went on a run of only two losses in nine games, until the return of first choice goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. However, Almunia somehow managed to take the goalkeeping jersey off of the legendary German, and was a part of the Arsenal team who managed to bottle many a title challenge.
Some goalkeepers inspire confidence in their defences and actually give the defensive players a boost knowing they have a reliable shot-stopper behind them, but the Arsenal defenders at the time knew they would have to put in the extra work to prevent anything reaching Almunia. The now retired 39-year-old successfully saw the transformation of Arsenal from consistent title challengers to top 4 contenders and was actually a huge part of that.
171 appearances in the red of Arsenal and 157 goals conceded may show that Almunia had a decent goals conceded to games ratio, but stats only tell half the story. Almunia becoming Arsene Wenger’s first choice goalkeeper spoke volumes about how far the Gunners had come from the days of Lehmann and David Seaman. They now relied on a man who spent the first four years of his career in North London on the bench.
#2 Heurelho Gomes
Surely this couldn’t have shocked anyone? Gomes was touted by Arsenal legend Tony Adams as “the best goalkeeper in the world” when he was at PSV Eindhoven in Holland, but Adams couldn’t have been further from the truth. Gomes had incredible shot-stopping ability, but it was everything else in his game that let him down.
No matter how hard he tried, Gomes just simply could not be trusted during his time at Tottenham, and whilst he has regained some sort of form recently at Watford, he will forever be remembered for his horror show with the North London club.
For Spurs, Gomes conceded 149 goals in 135 games, with 105 of them coming in the Premier League and it’s safe to assume that most of them were savable, at least for reliable goalkeepers.
It wasn’t until he left Spurs that he started to get his reputation back, but even at Watford, he hasn’t been the most solid of goalkeepers.
Gomes will go down in Premier League history as one of the worst goalkeepers since the league started in 1992, not only for Spurs, but in the history of the Premier League.
#3 Roy Carroll
It really does boggle the mind when you realise that Roy Carroll was a starting goalkeeper for Manchester United and Northern Ireland. What is more shocking is that he is a Premier League winner and an FA Cup winner!
Carroll was the first choice for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and somehow managed to dethrone World Cup winner Fabian Barthez in between the sticks.
Carroll will go down in Premier League history for being the goalkeeper who let in that Pedro Mendes “goal” that wasn’t given. The Tottenham midfielder took aim from the halfway line and Carroll dropped what seemed an easy catch over the line, only for the linesman to controversially rule out the goal.
Not only that, when Carroll was once playing for Notts County, he somehow managed to kick the ball off the defender’s back, and just watched it trickle into the net. Carroll was just a very bad goalkeeper that managed to make a career at one of the biggest clubs in the world with seemingly no ability whatsoever.
Over the course of his Premier League career for Manchester United, Derby and West Ham, he somehow played 94 games, yet conceded 114 goals, which is a stat that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The 39-year-old is actually still playing in his home country for Linfield, and with retirement looming, not many people will look back fondly at the career Carroll had. Error after error, Carroll remains one of the worst goalkeepers Manchester United have had for many years.
#4 Stephan Bywater
When you’re a part of a team that has the least amount of points in Premier League history, chances are you’re not very good. That’s certainly the case for former Derby County goalkeeper Stephan Bywater, who featured for numerous clubs over the course of his career.
The likes of Rochdale, Wycombe, West Ham, Hull, Coventry, Derby, Ipswich, Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall, Gillingham, Doncaster, Burton Albion and even the Kerala Blasters have all had the unfortunate pleasure of having Bywater in goal for them and at least half of them would have been glad to see the back of him.
Despite his many clubs, Bywater will likely be remembered for his time at Derby County where he was a part of the infamous 2007/08 season where Derby only managed 11 points and conceded 89 goals, the most for a team in a 38 game season in Premier League history.
What makes it even worse was that Roy Carroll, who’s also on this list, eventually replaced him! Bywater may only have 24 Premier League appearances to his name, but after conceding 49 goals in that time, it’s easy to see why he’s rated so poorly.
No matter what he did, he always managed to do it badly. He didn’t really make mistakes because he never got close to the ball to make a mistake at all, instead, he would just let the ball fly past him into the back of the net. Bywater will go down as a Premier League legend, but for all the wrong reasons.
#5 Massimo Taibi
After Peter Schmeichel left Manchester United in 1999, Sir Alex Ferguson found it incredibly difficult to find a suitable replacement for such a legendary player. However, Sir Alex felt he had a great replacement lined up in the form of Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi, who he had managed to steal from Milan on a free transfer.
It all looked to be going well for the Italian after his performance at Old Trafford against Wimbledon, but that was the only highlight in what was a completely forgettable time in the North West of England.
Four appearances in the Premier League, 11 goals conceded. Two against Liverpool, one against Wimbledon, three against Southampton (including one of the worst goalkeeping mistakes ever) and five away at Chelsea meant that Taibi’s career in England was over before it had even really begun.
Taibi will always be remembered for his shockingly bad mistake against Southampton where he let a harmless Matt Le Tissier shot spill through his hands and through his legs, and then a horrible performance at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea where he conceded five goals, all of which were avoidable.
Fans of the Premier League during the late 90s and early 2000s will all remember Massimo Taibi, and they will remember the classic joke of “What time is it? Oh, it’s five past Taibi.”
