Football Special Report: 32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League (Part 7)
26. Edwin Van der Saar
The Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van der Saar is currently playing for the English club Manchester United. He is not performing for the national team of Netherlands; however, he still holds the record of highest number of appearances in the history of the Dutch
team.
The Dutchman started his senior career from the Dutch club Ajax as their youth academy has produced some outstanding goalkeepers; recently, the Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who is an extraordinary talent. After performing for 9 years at the Dutch
club, he went off to the Italian club Juventus but did not really settle in the Italian side. He was then transferred to the English club Fulham. He was then transferred to the English club Manchester United, where the peak of his career started. After winning
the UEFA Champions League with the Red Devils, he became one of the few players who have won the title with two different teams. He won it once alongside the Dutch side Ajax back in 1995 and then won it with Manchester United in 2008. He won the UEFA Man of
the match award in 2008 final as the two English sides Manchester United and Chelsea faced each other off and the match ended in a penalty shootout in which Manchester United emerged victorious. He also won the Best European goalkeeper award twice; once in
1995 when he was with Ajax and then in 2009, when he was a part of Manchester United. His first and second Champions League victories had a 14 year difference.
Manchester United are famous for their goalkeepers, as they have brought in extraordinary talent when it comes down to goal stopping. Manchester United’s former goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is an example of the “best” goalkeepers that they have had. When
he was about to retire, it was hard for them to find a replacement but it was Edwin van der Sar who managed to accomplish what Peter Schmeichel did back in his time.
Shmeichel always relied on the four defenders that were in front of him, while Van der Sar always took it easy and with his calm character helped the team by making fabulous saves.
The current Manchester United number 1 has the “know-how” of standing between the two poles and that is just reflected by his career. He is the most capped player in the Dutch team and he has also won the UEFA Champions League twice.
He also won 4 League titles with Ajax but later in Juventus, he couldn’t really settle because of the arrival of the Italian legend, Gigulani Buffon. After Buffon’s arrival, Van der Saar had to leave for the English club Fulham.
He was only 34 years old when he reached the theatre of dreams, Old Trafford in 2005. Even though he was too old and a father, his ambition of being a “big name” did not really leave. In 2007, he won the first league title with Manchester United and in the
decisive match against Manchester City; he made a great penalty save to help the team win the game 1-0. In the next season, he managed to keep 24 clean sheets in all competitions and it was Manchester United who were able to retain the domestic title and were
crowned as Champions. Later, Van der Saar also managed to make a fabulous save when he denied Chelsea’s Anelka in the final match of the UEFA Champions League and Manchester United were the ones who won the gold in Moscow.
Even though he performed extraordinarily well during the 2007-2008 season, he only became better the next season and he managed to break his own record by staying on the pitch for 1311 minutes without conceding a goal. This time spam was between Nasri’s goal
in November 2008 and Lovenkrand’s opener for Newcastle in March 2009. This was labelled to be a world record for a single season.
Later, the Red Devils were to travel to Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup and it was Edwin Van der Saar again who helped his team win it in 2008. While United were busy bagging the FIFA Club World Cup award, Van der Saar was busy being a dominant power in the
English League, as he effectively became the best goalkeeper in the English Premier League in 2009. He was also included in the PFA Team of the Year. However, he could not really help Manchester United retain the UEFA Champions League title as Barcelona won
the final match 2-0 in Rome.
During the first half of the 2009-2010 season, Edwin Van der Saar’s wife suffered a serious illness and he only managed to appear for 7 times. He returned in the New Year and helped Manchester United to make a comeback. The first match after his return was
won by United as they defeated Burnley 3-0 on 16th January.
Thomas Kuszczak was the player who was the “goal stopper” in the Carling Cup final and with him replacing Edwin Van der Saar that night; he missed out on a major honour during the year 2010.
Even though he could leave this year because of his age, he did not do so and decided to sign another year’s contract which helps him stay in the club for the whole 2010-2011 season.
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