I shared that Champions episode with my team immediately. I can't wait for Part 2.
I will now put you all to sleep.
@candylandriots I haven't seen a ton of Guaita, but what's always stuck out when I've seen him is how poorly he positions himself both in his angles and his body shape. He overcomes both to make some spectacular saves through sheer athleticism. This will seem like a cherry pick, but it stuck out in my mind as the first time I "noticed" him and it encapsulates both areas I think he needs to improve. The video:
View: https://youtu.be/B8kCl4L8Jfo?t=184
First, body shape. This is his ready position, which is pretty atypical.
Now, I will say, some of the best keepers in the world will do this based on their opponent. I hate to go to the Buffon well as he's an unfair comp to anybody, but you'll see Buffon change his ready position based on what he expects, especially in a one on one situation. Against a finesse finisher, Guaita's shape makes some sense. He can quickly spring low to either corner. However, he's incredibly vulnerable to a hard shot even a foot or two off the ground. He's only going to be able to get one arm across in time from that distance- the other has to swing up and over his body (note that in the video- it's essentially useless for this save). This is also a position strikers will identify and blast the ball directly at the keeper's head level, or just above. It will be absolutely impossible to get the arms up in time. Essentially, he's giving over half of the goal away just in his set position, and his legs are too far apart to generate much spring. He instead has to rely on torquing his body over his center of gravity, which is ultimately what he does to make the save. Note that he can't push off with his left (our right) foot- he has to throw it in the air to drive his body down. There isn't a lot of power to be had in that.
The second piece is his cutting of angles. He makes two errors here, in my opinion. First is the most difficult skill a keeper has to master, which is maintaining the angle as you shuffle side to side. He goes too far, Vardy identifies it, and very nearly makes him pay. It's subtle, but it's enough for the striker to see and nearly exploit, even in real time. Literally, the frame of him fully set in his final position is missing from the video (fast sport), but you can interpolate that he does achieve balance, has read the shot before it's struck, and is already in the process of starting his dive (great work there).
Ederson may be the worst goalkeeper I have ever seen on a top team when it comes to angles. It's tough to learn and it's tough to maintain. Differences in your own strength and speed over time will change your transitioning. Even pitch size all have an effect, as well as the ground you're on. You're relying on reference geometry (markings on the field, landmarks in the stadium, etc) as you don't have the opportunity to physically turn your head and check your post. I can't overstate how challenging this can be, even at the top levels, nor how much time is spent on it in training. You even work on this in your warmup, especially in an unfamiliar location.
The second thing I'd have liked to see him do is charge a bit. If Sakho beats Vardy to the ball, then it doesn't matter. A deflection from that distance is going to be a crapshoot, regardless. If Vardy wins the race, he's got a lot of goal to shoot at from a very close distance. You know he isn't going to chip the ball (again, Guaita has identified the striker bearing on him), so close him down, close the legs, get big, and let the ball hit you instead of reacting to a shot.
This is all hyper-critical, and all on one example. He made the save, right? He's young, he can learn. There's a reason goalkeepers have aged more gracefully, at least historically.
This is part of what has made Buffon the all time great. Look at his most recent work. There are a few spectacular reaction saves, but he does more in shot prevention (positioning his defense with a borderline clairvoyant accuracy), playing percentages (knowing his opponents tendencies ie. power, finesse, trickery), and "cheating" in his positioning to give himself an advantage (he's better to his right, so he skews to his left so it doesn't have to work quite as hard).
So, from what I've seen, Guaita has the athleticism. What he'll become is down to the strengths of his coach to help him with his angles and body shape, as well as his own ability to read the game and learn how best to cheat the percentages.