As Jonas Eidevall almost (in a sly way) hinted that Arsenal Women were keen to strengthen the team to give the maximum push towards a title charge, the rumors of Mary Earps, one of the and usually makes a case for the best in her position intensified.
Following arrival of Alessia Russo in the summer, this could possibly represent the 2nd player from rivals United to make the jump to North London’s red side, who have set a standard amongst women’s football. So, in what sense does Mary Earps makes sense for Arsenal and what can the gunners faithful expect from her?
Profiling Earps as a Goalkeeper
Vid 1: Mary Earps Goalkeeping profile ( via YT: @matrixcomps2)
Mary Earps is a traditional Goalkeeper in terms of her positioning yet she has the knack for a more modern GK game that depends a lot on her reflex game. Her keeping in 1v1 situations is top notch, able to keep balance when facing strikers and angle opponents to shoot more to near post, able to win these duels in a precise way.
Earps is also an exceptional penalty stopper, and on more than one occasion with country and club has showcased why when against the spot, she’s one of the best in the business in women’s football. These qualities when summed up make sense why Arsenal want her.
For Eidevall’s side, there’s not much better keepers you can find to complement the side and push them to the title. For United, they won’t very easily find a replacement but tbf, this was a writing on the wall that was long due.
With her feet though, Earps’s prophecy comes down largely. Despite being good enough to pass to the nearest CB, her passing range is too inconsistent to rely upon for teams that plan to more on possession. This is one area where Gunners fan would have to keep a cautious and albeit Earps shot stopping which probably is always a Keeper’s asset, being adept with feet is more important.
A keeper, whose passes especially at areas in her own half more often than not ending up at the opponent’s hands is a very cause for concern. This isn’t something to hold Earps back against but it’s important to understand the pros and cons of any player and for a Goalkeeper, their shot stopping and ball playing are their bread and butter. This would be an important point when verdict would be eventually written for.
Comparing Mary Earps with Manuela Zinsberger – A statistical Timeline
While Pic 2 isnt a definitive conclusion, it adds a lot of weight in terms of setting the expectations for Earps and why she’s expected atleast statistically as a better option than Zinsberger, who with all due respect is also a great keeper.
PSxG (Post Shot expected goals) is a very good metric to measure how likely a goalkeeper is expected to stop a particular shot. On an aggregate, it’s a metric that proves useful when comparing to goals conceded/against.
Here we aggregate Both Earps and Manuela’s numbers over a season to see how both of them performed on a pure shot stopping basis. With Goals against – PSxG being negative a good sign (meaning you concede less than what you are expected to, it’s clear to see the red line (representing Earps) shows how she has consistently been kept here line below 0, meaning she’s always performed above expectations wrt stopping shots. More often than not, Zinsberger’s line (Blue) has gone above 0, indicating her conceding goals more than expected.
PSxG again isnt one truth, but it’s definitely one of the most important underlying metric for measuring Keepers and the shot quality they face. In that context, Earps ability as a shot stopper is impressive, meaning Arsenal fans have a guarantee that in terms of getting a shot stopper, they are getting a bloody good one.
Mary Earps to Arsenal – The Verdict
Pic 3: Mary Earps stopping a Penalty in her England duty
Earps by far should represent a step up and at the least serve as a strong competition for both Zinsberger and Sabrina. While Arsenal can boast 3 international keepers at their ranks, it won’t be a surprise if Earps makes immediate impact. Unlike Alessia Russo where the dynamics of the systems are different, for Earps, Eidevall’s system should give her ample opportunity to showcase what she’s all about.
A signing that should have happened in summer, losing Earps now for United could also be counterproductive to them, so do expect that it won’t be an easy negotiation for the Gunners, but if everything goes smmoth, they get a top keeper that definitely fan push them to the title, sooner or later.
