"SuperVorm" - How Michel Vorm has dazzled the EPL.

Here to save the game.

“…and in other transfer news, Swansea, the new inductee into the English Premier League, has confirmed the signing of Dutch international Michel Vorm as their goalkeeper for a fee of 1.5 million pounds.”

..said the news reporter, informing the public of the arrival of Vorm into the premiership stage. A little known chap then, has today, apart from being the best buy of this season, become one of the best goalkeepers in the league. Not only does he have an eagle’s eye for the ball, tracking it wherever it goes, Vorm also has the ability to read the game and the players pretty well and, for a team like Swansea which doesn’t really boast of a strong attack, Vorm is the reason why they aren’t languishing anywhere near the bottom of the table.

Vorm being congratulated for saving a penalty against Wigan and hence earning their first ever EPL point.

In a league where score-lines are starting to sound more and more absurd, Vorm has truly been a breath of fresh air. In the past 16 matches for Swansea, Vorm has kept eight clean sheets which includes the 0-0 draw last evening with Newcastle, a match where on the other end of the ground was his fellow countryman and equally outstanding goalkeeper, Tim Krul.

Vorm and Krul, safe pair of hands.

He started his career with FC Den Bosch, an Eerste Divisie (Second Division) Dutch football team, on loan and ended up playing 35 matches for the team. He was then returned to FC Utrecht, Eredivisie (First Division) and played for them from 2005-2011, a period in which he left an everlasting effect on all penalty takers who tried and failed to trick him. It was here that the tag of the ‘penalty killer‘ was bestowed upon him.

Vorm in FC Utrecht colours, directing the players.

Since then, Vorm has furthered his stature as the penalty killer in the EPL playing for Swansea, his latest victim being Clint Dempsey of Fulham who was humbled in a match which ended in a 2-0 victory for The Swans. The man himself estimates a saving efficiency of almost 60 per-cent since he has gone pro. A reporter got chatting with him one day and asked him what his secret to saving penalties was and he was as modest as ever,

“I try to wait until they take their final step and see what corner they are looking at. They are looking at me and waiting to see where I’m going so they can put it the other way; I’m looking at them to see inside their head and know where they want to put it. The eyes tell a lot. When I think I know, I go across with all my life. If it is a good penalty, right in the corner like the ones Scott Sinclair takes, then you cannot stop it. If not, you have a chance. Yakubu beat me at Blackburn – he waits a long time before looking and that makes it hard. In this regard, homework is important. Normally a penalty taker has a corner he goes to. I saw Stoke play Spurs. Adebayor almost always goes to the goalkeeper’s left, something like five times out of six. Where do you think he is going to shoot? The goalkeeper goes to his right and the ball goes the other way.”

His first match in the Premier League was against the rampaging Manchester City. Although Swansea lost the game 4-0, Vorm made eleven saves in the entire match, more than any other goalkeeper in a single game in the whole of the 2010-11 season. From then on, spectators have been witness to countless spectacular saves from his side. Penalties, headers, long range strikes, case in point Newcastle striker Ba who couldn’t believe how his sweetly struck volley was stopped.

On the international front, his performance has been equally impressive. He was part of the winning Netherlands team in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and was appreciated for his performance in crucial matches en route to the trophy. He has been regarded as a worthy replacement to Martin Stekelenburg. Some critics may even consider Tim Krul as an option but age and experience being on Vorm’s side make him a more probable and able candidate.

Vorm in Dutch colours

Vorm has really brought out the essence of goalkeeping with his efforts this season and the timing couldn’t have been any better. In a year where the Harts, the Reinas, the De Geas and the Cechs of the world are not living up to their well established names, Vorm has become the saving grace for an otherwise goal-friendly season.