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Van der Sar: hailed as the best
goalkeeper by Ferdinand.
Rio Ferdinand has hailed Edwin van der Sar as the best
goalkeeper he has ever played with. Van der Sar cemented his
reputation as arguably the best keeper in the world at the moment
with a record 11th successive Premier League clean sheet in
Tuesday's 5-0 rout of West Brom.
And Ferdinand predicted the 38-year-old Dutchman - who has a
year left at United after this campaign - can play on past his 40th
birthday in October 2010.
"Edwin's the best keeper I've ever played with, it's as simple
as that," said centre-back Ferdinand. "The calmness and assuredness
he brings to the back four in front of him is great. "He's got
another year after this one and I'm sure he has the capability to
go on and do it again. I also don't think I've seen a goalkeeper
with better feet than him."
The importance of Van der Sar to United in their bid to be
champions for the third time in a row is highlighted by him being
one of only two players to feature in all of the 11 shut-outs, the
other being Nemanja Vidic.
While the defence has had a reshuffle after injury and
suspension, Van der Sar has provided continuity and stability,
enhancing his standing with his formidable form. For years, Sir
Alex Ferguson failed to find a keeper with the presence and
reliability to match that of United legend Peter Schmeichel, who
left Old Trafford following the 1999 Treble success.
That problem ended with the recruitment of Van der Sar, who
joined from Fulham for a bargain £2million in the summer of 2005.
And the United boss admitted he blundered by not signing the former
Holland keeper earlier.
"We came close to getting Edwin in 1999," said Fergie when Van
der Sar finally joined, after going through 10 keepers in a bid to
find Schmeichel's successor. "But we just weren't quick enough. I
wish we'd got him then. It just goes down as one of those things
you look back on and regret."
Ryan Giggs, who played alongside Schmeichel in United's all
conquering spell in the 1990s, believes comparisons are unfair but
admitted Van der Sar deserves to be ranked alongside the Dane.
Giggs said: "Is he as good as Peter? They're both great keepers
but you can't really compare them. They're brilliant keepers who
have had great careers at club and international level.
"Right now, Edwin gives a calming influence throughout the team.
He has great calmness on the ball when we play back passes to him
and in general his goalkeeping is sound. "And he's getting better
with age. Obviously he has great players in front of him, but when
he's called upon he never makes a mistake."
Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak were expected to fight it out to
be United's No.1 next season, but are unlikely to dethrone Van der
Sar, whose sustained brilliance has raised the prospect of him
carrying on beyond his current contract.
Van der Sar clutched the match ball to his chest following the
Albion game as a memento of his new Premier League record of 1,032
minutes without conceding.
And although he could be forgiven for feeling invincible, he
admitted the fear of seeing his incredible run come to an end was
driving him to such extraordinary heights.
"The moment you start thinking you're invincible is the moment
you start losing," said Van der Sar. "I decided to keep the match
ball. A lot of players do it when they get a hat-trick, so I
thought I should take it home.
"I had a couple of records in Holland, 10 games without
conceding, as well nine successive clean sheets in the Champions
League, so it's always nice to achieve these things.
"But it's easy to play behind this defence, whoever is in the
back four, because they're so good. Everyone has qualities that
complement each other, which is a credit to the players the manager
has assembled."
