In the photograph of Arsenal’s two goals on Tuesday evening, Gianluigi Donnarumma once again displayed his fragility on the European scene and displayed his shortcomings in the aerial field, despite his large size. A problem of culture, but also of work?
Imperial in Ligue 1 since his arrival at PSG in 2021, Gianluigi Donnarumma has made several big mistakes in the Champions League in the Parisian jersey. If he is not the only one at fault for Arsenal’s second goal on Tuesday evening, he is however responsible for Kai Havertz’s opening goal after a late and failed aerial exit which allowed the German to victoriously heading a good cross from Leandro Trossard.
Despite his 196 centimeters, Gianluigi Donnarumma has difficulty in the air and this is nothing new. Very good on his line and capable of quickly getting on the ground despite his size and weight (sometimes fluctuating…), as he proved again against the Gunners, the Italian is often out of time in the air, whether on corners or on crosses, like that of Trossard for Havertz.
Air trips abandoned by Donnarumma in Paris?
A problem with gathering information and anticipation according to Christophe Lollichon, former Chelsea goalkeeper coach: “In this competition, everything goes faster, so you need more anticipation and when you don’t have that, it’s more complicated, he estimates in Le Parisien. We have the impression that he is not taking in the information. There is a need not to focus only on the ball but on the movement that there is in the axis and opposite the ball to have the best possible placement and give yourself the possibility of going out or not. »
Another element to take into account is the culture of Italian goalkeepers, who are excellent on their goal line, but are not specially trained to go far from their goal. Le Parisien explains, however, that during his last two years at AC Milan (2019-2021), Donnarumma had worked on aerial exits. An area that he would then have abandoned when arriving in Paris with Toni Jimenez, Mauricio Pochettino’s goalkeeper coach.
“He has all the qualities to progress in the air”
Since the arrival of Luis Enrique and his staff in the summer of 2023, Donnarumma has worked with goalkeeper coach Borja Alvarez Buedo, who worked for Almeria and FC Andorra. With the Spaniard, the Italian has progressed a lot in his kicking game, so dear to Luis Enrique. To the detriment of the air domain? “If there’s a problem, it’s not just himestimates Jérôme Alonzo, still in Le Parisien. I dare to hope that everyone has identified the underlying problem which leads to this type of outing (…) Through his footwork and his size, he has all the qualities to progress in the air. He has to work a lot more than that. You start empty, you bring him in after the sessions and you have to repeat the centers: fifty on the right, fifty on the left and he will unlock something, disinhibit himself. »
A status threatened at PSG, really?
According to L’Equipe, Donnarumma’s performance against Arsenal has in any case brought back questions internally concerning the Italian goalkeeper’s number 1 status. If Luis Enrique has not announced a hierarchy to his goalkeepers and wants his Italian international not to feel settled, he has always trusted him this season when the latter was available.
Without having made any mistakes, Matvey Safonov did not shine especially during his three matches played against Girona, Reims and Rennes, and undoubtedly did not do enough to shake up the established order. If Luis Enrique and his staff retained Arnau holds this summer, despite loan offers, the Spanish Olympic champion has not yet played this season and seems to be starting from afar.
