Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo are two prime examples of reality vs perception. Not long ago, both were considered essential to the successes of one of the top footballing sides in the world, FC Barcelona.
Times change. One is now a bum who can’t stop someone’s grandmother from scoring goals, the other a bum who can’t make a pass or hold an offside trap, a sucky defender who should be offloaded soonest, bettered even by … Eric Garcia per some folks.
So what happened? Hansi Flick’s side was off to a gangbusters start in league, winning their first five matches in relatively stress-free fashion. The horrible keeper pulled off some sterling saves, and somehow that defender managed to not concede every time an opponent charged up the pitch.
It’s worth looking back at the goals Ter Stegen conceded this season. The exercise was interesting mostly because my memory isn’t what it was and horrors always need refreshing. Up until his injury against Villarreal, Barca conceded five goals:
1-2 win over Valencia: Open header after Balde and Martinez figured the offside trap was on. It wasn’t. Nice header across goal. Ter Stegen was screwed.
2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao: converted penalty, courtesy of Cubarsi challenge.
1-2 win over Rayo Vallecano: Beaten at his near post. Culpable.
1-4 win over Girona: Came out to play the attacker, rounded and poor cover. Offside call missed, however.
1-5 win over Villarreal: Skinned alive by his defense. Sitter for Villarreal.
Now, those matches all included saves, ranging from solid to excellent. Among the outstanding ones were against Villarreal when the tie was in doubt, a key stop to stymie Girona at 0-2, an acrobatic move to hold out Athletic Club in a narrow win.
After Ter Stegen went out with his injury, things took a turn. Inaki Pena came in, a no. 2 keeper still untested and growing into a role he initially appeared unprepared for. His team went from top of the table to third, looking up at Real Madrid and Atleti and a quality keeper came out of retirement to assume the no. 1 shirt.
Oof. Now, perhaps it would have been worse. Ter Stegen, the worst keeper in history according to many culers, could have kept fit, landing normally after that routine play against Villarreal. Or perhaps a rumble took root and became something it shouldn’t have.
Ter Stegen has been maligned for years, the kind of player greeted with silence when he does something good, as supporters sit in wait for an error, to pounce. Some say he isn’t the kind of keeper who saves matches for his club, despite abundant evidence to the contrary. But what people see, what they remember and what they seize upon to prove a point that doesn’t fully exist are quite different things.
Others say he is 32 and past it, despite turning and lavishing praise on a retired, smoking Szczesny, who is 34. Manuel Neuer is 38, Courtois and Oblak the same age as Ter Stegen.
The German keeper wants to return this season, as his recovery from a torn patellar tendon is ahead of schedule. Reaction among the Barcelona fanbase is, as expected, ranging from chagrin to horror. Suffice it to say, it isn’t something supported by any reality other than that you don’t want a player just off a serious injury, coming back into the side at the part of the season when matches are more important. The team could be fighting for a Liga crown as well as a Champions League title, and it will take time for him to regain match pace.
And his club should be in the market for another keeper over the summer, a young lion ready to test, because Pena isn’t good enough, Szczesny is retired, and stepped away from the game for a reason, and Ter Stegen now has had three serious injuries, all requiring surgery and significant time off.
Ter Stegen and Araujo suffer the identical things at the hands of a fanbase that wants its players to be things that they aren’t. They want defenders to be attackers, attackers to be better attackers, goalkeepers to pass like Pedri and stop shots like Courtois.
Ter Stegen is a passing goalkeeper. Only the successes of the Guardiola teams saved Victor Valdes from the same fate, but nonetheless he was compared unfavorably to shot-stopping whizzes such as Kameni or Casillas.
Araujo has a different problem, stemming from a wayward pass against Paris St.-Germain in last year’s Champions League. His team was on top of that match until Araujo’s pass was intercepted and the PSG counter resulted in a direct red for the Uruguayan. The subsequent comedy of errors leading to the elimination, history tells us, rests with Araujo instead of missed chances, a Cancelo disasterclass over two legs including missed opportunities, leaving Dembele alone to shoot as well as a penalty.
But from that moment on, Araujo became suspect on the ball, a cement-footed doofus who couldn’t be trusted. After his injury, Inigo Martinez came in and Flick had his offside trap dialed in, and culers began viewing a tactic as a proper way of defending.
Araujo returned from injury, was hit with a bad onside call and it went from bad to worse for him. “Can’t pass, can’t hold an offside trap, the club needs to sell him soonest.”
And so it goes. Just as a fit Ter Stegen is the best keeper on the current roster, Araujo is the best defender on the current roster, who proved it time and again upon his return from injury. Because at times, a team indeed has to actually defend when that line drawn across the back of the defense fails.
Araujo has pace, can physically prevent attackers from gaining position without fouling, significantly improved as a passer over the off season. But in Barcelona supporter land, that he could run, win aerial duels against anyone, close down forwards and defend physically has switched from positive to a negative. “He relies on physicality too much, which isn’t good for the defense.”
It’s a crazy world, CulerLand, and one that isn’t looking to get any more sane any time soon. Meanwhile, what of two excellent players who have a perception problem? That issue isn’t going away, but my advice for people is that they go back and watch matches, with an eye toward the performance of both players.
For the time-constrained, there are compilation videos of both Ter Stegen and Araujo.
Ter Stegen is, barring a move to the Saudi League, on his last big contract. Araujo however, is 25 years old and one of the best defenders in the game. His clause is purported to be 60m and he will have no shortage of suitors should he decide to move on in the summer window.
For Ter Stegen, that time is approaching, due to a confluence of age and injuries that diminish a keeper in those physical areas necessary to sustain excellence. The selection of a replacement will need be very careful, because finding a keeper with Ter Stegen’s shot stopping ability and distribution skills will be difficult.
Araujo will be a significant loss that will leave the team poorer as opponents figure out the Flick offside trap, something we are already seeing with second runners and exploiting consistently open wings.
Both will leave the club as victims of perception and a herd mentality that eschews nuance and perspective in favor of a binary judgment that erroneously, to my view, finds both players not up to standard and surplus to requirements.