German outlet Kicker is out with its midseason ratings of Bundesliga goalkeepers and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is way down the list.
The 39-year-old former German international sits eighth and in the third tier of Kicker’s grading system. Here are the full rankings, as captured by @iMiaSanMia_en:
Weltklasse (World-class):
None. (Ouch)
Internationale Klasse:
- Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund) — IK2 in the summer
- Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig) — IK1 in the summer
- Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim)
Nationale Klasse:
- Kamil Grabara (VfL Wolfsburg)
- Marvin Schwäbe (FC Köln)
- Robin Zentner (Mainz 05) — NK3 in the summer
- Nikola Vasilj (FC St. Pauli) — IK3 in the summer
- Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern) — NK1 in the summer
- Daniel Heuer Fernandes (Hamburger SV)
You heard it here — well, at Kicker — first. Manuel Neuer may be starring for a dominant Bayern team but he’s looking up at the
likes of Zentner and Vasilj when it comes to goalkeeper performances.
Now, no doubt there are individual metrics like save percentage, clean sheets, pass completion…the ratio of post-shot xG to shots-on-target…as well as the subjective eye test that goes into ratings like this. But for how Bayern plays, indeed how Neuer enables Bayern to play the way they do, you would be hard-pressed to find many Bayern fans who would prefer any of the other names on this list.
However, it is hard to argue with the top three, or the exclusion of the World-class category. Kobel, Gulácsi, and Baumann have consistently turned in class performances. What do you think, BFW readers? Let us know in the comments below!
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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