In the Premier League and the top divisions around the world, the big money is spent on strikers and attacking players. If you take a look at the footballers who have been transferred for the most amount of money in recent years, the likes of Kaka, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo top the list. The first £1 million player was also a striker of course: Trevor Francis. This is because goals win you games and there’s nothing harder than putting the ball in the back of the net, as Chelsea and Liverpool flops Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll respectively have shown in this calendar year. However, the importance of having a top quality goalkeeper in between the sticks should never be underestimated.

Just as important as putting the ball in the back of the net is keeping it out. If you can keep in a clean sheet during 90 minutes, then if you can manage to sneak a goal somewhere then the three points will be yours. Sometimes top, top quality ‘keepers are taken for granted, but this shouldn’t be the case when you have a look at how costly some goalkeepers’ errors have been over the years. Everyone remembers former Manchester United ‘keeper Massimo Taibi letting the ball through his legs or ex-Aston Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckleman miss-controlling a throw-in and effectively handing the Birmingham derby to the Blues.

The importance of a good goalkeeper has been clearly shown this year at Old Trafford. While the fact that Manchester United are trailing their neighbours City in the Premier League and are out of the Champions League cannot be put down to one player, their lack of a commanding influence in between the sticks is noticeable. Edwin van der Sar did a sterling job for the Red Devils and David De Gea’s start to his Man United career has been shaky to say the least, and alongside an underperforming team in front of the Spaniard, this has been costly.

In the Premier League this year, certain goalkeepers have really come to the fore, with two in particular who are at very different periods in their careers. Tottenham Hotspur’s veteran ‘keeper Brad Friedel has helped to propel Spurs to third position in the table and the 40-year-old has rolled back the years in between the sticks at White Hart Lane. 17 years his junior, 23-year-old Tim Krul has been equally as impressive for Newcastle, with the Magpies themselves sitting pretty in sixth place currently, and the Dutchman clearly has a bright future ahead of him for both club and country.

While strikers are remembered for their goal scoring records and stunning strikes, for goalkeepers it’s their number of clean sheets and great saves they’ve made. Over the years there have been some incredible saves made both in international and domestic football. With Christmas just around the corner, weknowmoney.co.uk is there to help you make your very own great saves, but what is the greatest save in football? Here are five for you to choose from…

Click on David Seaman below to see the Top 5

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