From Ali Al Habsi to Gianluigi Buffon, goalkeepers are those we have no choice but to place our trust in as the last line of defence during our team’s relegation or promotion battles, cup runs and all important derby wins. Unfortunately, no matter the keeper, they’re all prone to the occasional hair-tearingly frustrating moments of buffoonery that can end up costing the match. As a video game, PES too can be a sufferer of this problem. Konami, however, introduced the manual keeper in an attempt to combat this some time ago. But why is it a useful tool to have? We asked PESFan referee Keenandinho, one of the strongest advocates of the manual keeper you'll ever find, why it’s such an important feature to have.
“Many of you will be reading this thinking, "What is Manual Keeper and why should I care?" and, frankly, you would be quite within your rights to do so, as it was something that Konami never really shouted from the rooftops about.
It was a feature in all previous PES games (but mysteriously removed from PES2009) and could be activated at any point in the match. As the name suggests, it allowed you to take control of your keeper and position him manually when you thought you could do a better job. It's something that's been well used within the higher skilled ranks for a few years now due to the huge defensive advantage it can give.
I have been for lack of a better word, campaigning, to have this reinstated all year (as shown here) and I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear of its inclusion in the final version of 2010.
Two examples of why this was so badly missed on PES2009
• The 'near post bug shot'
If players got to certain angles they could put the ball in the near post, and the keeper would just dive and let the shot go in without even attempting to save it.
• 1v1 – the 90 degree shot fake.
When 1v1 vs. the keeper and up close, you could 90 degree shot fake and the keeper would just dive every time, leaving you with an empty net.
Using the Manual Keeper, your keeper won't dive at the first sign of a shot fake and you can cover the near post angles like a normal keeper would, saving you countless goals all because of your own skill and ability to read the play - not because the AI would decide to 'just let it in' or save it due to being on superman pills.
Manual Keeper is something that goes back to the very roots of PES: It has to be mastered. You can’t learn it in one day; hell, you’ll be lucky to be good at it within a month. It is something of a culture shock the first few times you use it, and anyone new to it will understand exactly what I mean when the game comes out. In all likelihood you'll completely screw it up for the first weeks, but you will eventually learn to take control of the keeper; how to position him, how to out-think the striker, when to rush, how to narrow the angle, and so on. Once you've mastered these you can really show off by using it to cut out 'back post crosses' and 2 v 1 cutbacks to leave your opponent completely flabbergasted (my personal favourite).
Having this skill forces your opponent to think a hell of a lot more. They can't just go for sweet spots if you know how to position your keeper early enough. They not only have to think about how to get past your defence, but after they get past your defence they can’t just jog past your keeper, shot fake him, go near post or just shoot across the goal without thinking about where the keeper is positioned. Even human players become robotic over time and end up doing the same old things to score - Manual Keeper is 100% guaranteed to save you from more of these goals.”
As an example, here are three videos (PES06) of how manual keeper can be called upon to provide that extra level of defence you sometimes lack. Credit to Keenandinho and DukeGuy for recording them.
Credit : www.pesfan.com
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