Player Focus: Why Germany's False 5 is World Number One

Ball-boys can expect a call from Manuel Neuer. He won’t shout at them like Joe Hart did during England’s 2-1 defeat to Italy in Manaus. Instead, every now and again when the play is up the other end and he hasn’t been involved for a while, the Germany goalkeeper will ask the kid behind the goal for a pass, a quick one-two. Neuer misses contact with the ball. He needs to feel it. Otherwise the 28-year-old “gets bored,” acknowledged team manager Oliver Bierhoff. “He likes to play and be in the game.”

As a boy growing up in Gelsenkirchen and even now in training, Neuer likes to unfasten his gloves, toss them to the ground and go and take up an outfield role. “I have always liked to move as a player, not only as a goalkeeper,” he explained. “This is my style.”

It’s one of several reasons why Neuer has the admiration of Pep Guardiola, his coach at Bayern, and Jogi Löw at international level. “[He] has the same technical skills as the others, he could play in the midfield,” Löw claimed. One imagines he selected Neuer as one. After all, Löw’s squad list for the World Cup did give some observers the impression it was almost entirely made up of midfielders.

Following Germany’s 2-1 extra-time triumph over Algeria in the last 16, Kicker proclaimed Neuer Die Falsche 5 - The False 5. He made 32 passes. To put that into perspective only four Algeria players completed more. Among goalkeepers in Brazil, Neuer’s passing total that night in Porto Alegre has only been bettered by the 34 that Chile’s Claudio Bravo managed against Australia. Is it any wonder the latter has just signed for Barcelona?

But what made Neuer’s performance stand out in a tournament that - Igor Akinfeev, Iker Casillas and Jung Sung-Ryong apart - has so far been distinguished by great goalkeeping was his interpretation of the role. No fewer than 20 of his 59 touches were outside the box. Neuer’s sudden appearances from out of shot, those dashes from his area to get to a ball ahead of an opponent or to make a tackle - he covered 5.5km - provided us with some of the most exhilarating, up off your seat, heart-in-the-mouth moments of the World Cup.

Thrilling for some, it was uncomfortable for others. Oliver Kahn thought Neuer’s actions were borderline suicidal. “Das ist hara-kiri!” the former goalkeeper said as part of his punditry on ZDF. It was understandable. Come out a 100th of a second too slow and a challenge you make might result in a red card. Get caught out of position and an opponent might out-maneuver or humiliate you with a lob. Neuer is aware of these perils. “I perhaps have this instinct which allows me to distinguish between a dangerous and a terribly dangerous situation…” he said. It’s a chance Germany are willing to take.

“If a team tries to play high the way we did against USA and Algeria, the keeper cannot just stay in his box,” Löw insisted. “[Neuer] also has great awareness and that’s why we are happy for him to take these risks and that’s why he’s so valuable.” His goalkeeping coach, Andreas Köpke revealed: “When I see him come out off his box, I am very calm on the bench.” He described Neuer as “the national team’s best libero since Beckenbauer.”

Of course, sweeper-keeping is nothing new. Forty years ago, Jan Jongbloed was part of the Total Football-playing Netherlands team that reached the World Cup final only to lose to Der Kaiser’s West Germany. A friend of Johan Cruyff’s who helped run the family tobacco shop when he wasn’t turning out for FC Amsterdam, Jongbloed was short and far from outstanding with his hands. Presented with the No.8 shirt - numbers were allocated on the basis of alphabetical order though this did seem to underline the point that he was an outfield player as much as a goalkeeper - Jongbloed was picked by Rinus Michels not for his reflexes, authority or sense of positioning but because of his vision and ability with the ball at his feet.

Needless to say Neuer is so much more than a novelty. His presence, athleticism, physicality and reactions mean he is the complete package and he demonstrated it again in Germany’s quarter-final against France. His high-five iron fist stop from Karim Benzema in the 94th minute of that game secured his team a place in the final four for a fourth consecutive World Cup.

It was also Neuer’s 16th save from 19 shots on target faced in Brazil. Only Argentina’s Sergio Romero [88.2%], Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas [87.5%], Ecuador’s Alexander Dominguez [85%] and Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama [84.6%] have a better ratio [84.2%]. Neuer has kept four clean sheets in 90 minutes in five games this summer. He has been a wall and breaching it just got harder for Brazil following Neymar’s injury. Not one of their goals in the knock-out stages have come from open play. All have arrived via set-pieces [two similarly bundled home back post finshes from David Luiz and Thiago Silva from corners, and a direct free-kick via the former]. It’s a worry, particularly with Neuer in this indomitable form.

Right now, even amid outstanding competition, it’s hard to argue against Germany’s False 5 being considered anything other than the world’s No.1.

Has Neuer proven he is the best goalkeeper in the World? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below