Ederson, a player whom Pep Guardiola has characterized as being “perfect,” has received mixed reviews from Manchester City supporters over his recent performances. Pep Guardiola has referred to him as the ideal goalkeeper for the way that Manchester City play, and he has won the Premier League Golden Glove for each of the past three seasons.

The art of being a goalkeeper has been reimagined by Ederson, but there is a growing question among City supporters as to whether or not he should be Guardiola’s first-choice goalie at all.

Some people even claim that if Manchester City had a goalkeeper more along the lines of David de Gea or Alisson, they would have a higher chance of winning the Champions League. These people refer to City’s fiercest competitors, Manchester United and Liverpool. So what has caused what appears to be a dramatic U-turn on a player that City supporters cheer each week as being “f——— brilliant”?

To begin, it would appear that there have been rumblings about Ederson for some time, however, the intensity of those rumblings has increased in recent weeks. This comes as City continues to struggle with maintaining consistency and only has 12 clean sheets. It is possible that Ederson is being made a scapegoat for City’s inconsistent performance, but it is also possible that this is just a social media trend that does not reflect the opinions of the majority of City’s supporters. Visit Seatsnet to purchase Manchester City tickets and show your support for the Brazilian. 

Despite this, it is important to look into the matter since there are strong feelings towards a player who is essential to City’s success under Pep Guardiola.

Ederson’s shot-stopping ability is not world-class

Most of the complaints about Ederson seem to be about how he does not save enough and that is costing City. Ederson has conceded from the first shot  on his goal in the four games in a row, in which City has lost two points. Can he be blamed for Nottingham Forest’s goal at the back post, a penalty, and two one-on-ones?

He did give away that penalty, but it was for a challenge that goes unpunished all over the country every week. The other three goals were caused by defensive mistakes that happened long before Ederson could get involved.

So, that argument seems like an easy way to target Ederson instead of showing that he is a bad goalkeeper.

Comparison with De Gea and Alisson

Ederson saves 57.9% of shots, which is the second-lowest percentage in the Premier League. Ederson has only stopped 33 of 57 shots on goal and has let in 24 goals. Only Gavin Bazunu of Southampton has a worse rate. Even though he has played every minute of the league season, he saves only 1.4 shots per game on average, and his eight clean sheets are less than they should be. City needs to know that their goalkeeper can save them if the ball gets through their defense.  

Most people who do not like Ederson seem to think that he does not make enough saves, so if the other team gets just one shot on goal, they can win the game. Could he have stopped Demarai Gray’s amazing goal for Everton or Chris Wood’s tap-in?

People often say that both Alisson and De Gea are good goalkeepers who can make “important” saves at key times to keep their teams in games. Since City gives up the fewest shots on goal in the league and Ederson has the second-lowest percentage of saves, those shots from the other team are more important. If Ederson’s only job on the team was to block shots, these numbers don’t look very good.

But it must be said that there are a lot of Ederson supporters in the debate. Maybe he could have done better with some of the goals he conceded recently, but everyone agrees that his role in City’s system is much more than just stopping shots. Guardiola has called him the “perfect” goalkeeper because no other goalkeeper in the league has a higher passing success rate or more passes per game.

Ederson’s calmness lets City’s defenders trust him when they are under pressure, and there aren’t many times when that doesn’t work out. Ederson’s role in City’s buildup is clear, and fans are aware of it, even if it’s harder to prove with a stat. But Ederson’s critics seem to want him to make a flying save or stop a shot he had no right to stop.

Is Ortega a ready-made replacement?

Stefan Ortega’s good cup performances seem to support the idea that Ederson should be replaced in the team. When he played against Chelsea at home in the Carabao Cup, it was one of the best goalkeeping performances seen at the Etihad in years. But Ortega was brought in as the clear number two. Ortega doesn’t even come close to having Ederson’s composure and passing range, and City’s FA Cup win over Arsenal showed that their build-up suffered because they had to play long instead of out from the back.  

Yet as the saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and there are several anecdotes of football players growing in stature when they haven’t been on the pitch, this proverb is certainly true. It seems that everyone has already forgotten that Ortega had a poor performance in City’s loss against Southampton in the Carabao Cup and that without Ederson starting the play, City looked like they were going to lose against Arsenal.

Although the goalie with the number 31 has certain weaknesses, it is difficult to think of another keeper anywhere in the world who could effectively take his place. Only a few players are good enough, and none are planning to switch teams soon.

City’s issues are always exaggerated

In Leipzig, Ederson proceeded to partially respond to several of his detractors. He not only broke the curse by stopping the first shot on target against him, but he also produced a series of superb stops in the second half when City’s backs were against the wall. The one from Andre Silva just before the hour mark was exceptional. The loud home fans thought they had scored, but his quick feet and even quicker hands punched away the close-range shot.

He kept the Blues in the game as Leipzig assaulted the City goal, but just when he appeared to be responding effectively to the criticism, he poured gasoline on the fire. The 29-year-old got lost going off his line to claim a corner and appeared to shrink beneath the gigantic shadow of a jumping Josko Gvardiol, who headed home. That was a bullet header that would have been tough to save even if he was on his line, and Ruben Dias shares some of the blame after being out-jumped, but the blunder has undoubtedly given the anti-Ederson side more ammo.

It is usually the case that City’s “issues” are overblown; just look at how calm Guardiola was after the draw against Forest since he was aware that the opportunities had been created. Yet, in the end, there are far more important issues with the present team than even pondering the possibility of removing Ederson from the lineup. If you ask Pep Guardiola, you can bet that he will take the risk that Ederson poses every day of the week (except for when there is a cup game) and instead insist that his forwards score more goals.