The role of the goalkeeper has changed at the Albion under Roberto De Zerbi – and that of the keeper coach too, as first-team goalkeeping coach Jack Stern explains…
Jack, we last spoke to you following Roberto’s arrival, so how’s it gone since?
It’s going really well. Where I was the assistant coach when Roberto first came in, I’m now the first-team goalkeeping coach, which has meant a big change for me. I have more responsibility, and I’m taking the lead far more across the board, such as with Bart Verbruggen’s recruitment and in the development of our younger keepers. Things have settled down really nicely in the goalkeepers’ department and everyone’s happy with how we’re working.
It looks like you have a good working relationship with Roberto, given he has only known you in his time here…
When Roberto first came in, my role was to maintain all the good work that had already been done before and to start facilitating all the new ideas that he was going to bring in. I was ahead of the curve in that respect as I’d already watched a lot of his games from his previous teams – Shakhtar, Sassuolo and Foggia. That gave me a really clear understanding of how he wanted his keepers to play and then, following his arrival, I also spent a lot of time in meetings, just listening to him and trying to be a sponge, soaking up all the information. As a result, I have built up a really strong relationship with him and that, of course, helps in ensuring the keepers know exactly what’s required of them.
So just how good is Roberto? We hear so many players speak so highly of him…
In my opinion, he is already one of the best coaches in world football, so to have this opportunity to work with him and develop as a coach myself is huge. You’ve only got to speak to our players and they’ll tell you how he’s changed their perspective on the game, changed their careers even – and I’m no different. I’ve learnt so much from him already; improving my knowledge of football and how the game works. That’s an ongoing process, learning from him and what he wants – and that’s only going to help me and our keepers, not just in the short term, but as we develop our goalkeepers and goalkeeping department over the next two, three, four years.
Roberto demands a lot from his keepers, so what has changed since his arrival?
Our keepers help us in possession; they help us retain possession and they help us find solutions from the back to create dangerous attacking situations – you have to be the first line of attack. Therefore, there’s a lot of responsibility for the keepers in Roberto’s system and you pretty much have to understand the game better than anyone else on the pitch. You have to spot everything; you have to spot whether there are overloads high up the pitch; you have to spot what the opposition are doing; you have to recognise where the free man is for our team; whether it’s better to play short or go slightly more direct to expose what the opposition have done; so the mental load and the tactical understanding for the goalkeepers is huge.
And that must have impacted on you as a coach too, to ensure everything is carried out how Roberto wants it…
Absolutely. Previously in my career, my main focus was helping the goalkeepers keep the ball out of the net. That’s not to say that playing
out from the back was new to me, keepers were already getting more and more involved, but what Roberto does now is on a completely
different level. But once you spend a lot of time in his company and you really understand why you’re doing something a certain way, it makes total sense and you share his passion for that way of playing. That then trickles down to the keepers and when they see things starting to fall into place, it creates such a positive environment.
Can we assume the keepers spend more time with the outfield players now?
Yes. After we’ve had our own time with the keepers, they’ll go over with the rest of the team and they will be fully immersed into the session; whether that’s working with their feet, with phases of play, or tactical work, they’ll be involved in everything. As a result, I’m no longer someone who is there just to help out after they’ve done their specific work with me; I have to be ready to step in and help the keepers, not just in terms of saves, but recognising the movement of the players in front of them, making the right solutions to a certain press, and much more.
You mentioned being involved in Bart Verbruggen’s arrival. What did that entail?
We had to build a profile of what a Roberto De Zerbi keeper looks like, a keeper who can perform that role but also who can maintain their position for us for a number of years, so it was a big, big project. There were in the region of 100 keepers we initially had our eyes on, and Bart was one of the very few who fitted our profile and the only one who fitted that profile exactly. We weren’t the only club who wanted him but we were really happy to get the deal over the line because he suits our style so well. He’s not just a ball-playing keeper; he comes
for crosses, he is a good shot stopper, and he is improving all the time. He’s only young but he’s got all the attributes to become the full package eventually.
You must have been delighted to see him make his debut for the Netherlands recently…
I went out for the game against France in Amsterdam and he had an excellent debut against, arguably, the best team in world football at the moment. He also kept a clean sheet in the next game, a [EURO 2024] qualifier in Greece, a game the Dutch really needed to win to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive. I was delighted to see him keep a clean sheet that night, so hopefully a place in their team can be a real target for him in 2024. Having spoken to the Dutch goalkeeping coach, I know they rate him highly, which will certainly be good for his confidence moving forward.
Let’s talk Jason Steele. He’s had a great 2023, hasn’t he?
He’s been fantastic, I can’t speak highly enough of him. I feel a really close connection with Steeley because our careers have followed a similar path at the club. When I first came here, I was the assistant goalkeeper coach and Steeley was very much the back-up keeper,
but we’ve both been on a journey together since Roberto arrived. I’m really proud of him; how he’s adapted and how he’s thrived under
Roberto. When we talk about Bart’s arrival, it was also important to consider that we already had someone in the building who was ready to play games and thrive in the Premier League as well. Steeley is a fantastic example to all the keepers at the club and it’s exciting for a coach to work with him, Bart and Tom [McGill] on a daily basis.
We don’t have a recognised number one – is that tough for Jason and Bart to deal with?
Roberto sat down with the goalkeepers in the summer and discussed the situation, so that they had clarity from the start. They were both told they would play games this season and that there would be no fixed way of rotating, meaning that both of them have to be ready to play at all times. Jason has proved he can play at this level, that he deserves to play at this level, while Bart has also shown already that he can play in the Premier League, so giving them both opportunities is something that we think is right and can help the team. There is rotation for every other position on the pitch so the mindset for the keepers is that they have to be prepared to do the same. It is a challenge for them, as probably deep down they want to play every game, but they’re strong enough mentally and good enough people to understand the situation and to embrace it. We want a high-performance environment and this contributes to it. There is complete transparency also; we communicate who is going to play in the next game as soon as Roberto has made that decision, and this helps with their preparation and maximises their ability to help the team.
Finally, how’s Tom McGill’s progress and that of the younger keepers at the club?
Tom’s improvement over the last two years has been fantastic, with Roberto noticing his ability to learn well and to play an important role for us on a day-to-day basis. To help in his development, maybe a loan will be the next logical step for him, like it has been for Carl Rushworth, who is doing well at Swansea and gaining plenty of Championship-level experience at a young age. We also have James Beadle on loan at Oxford United – who are doing really well in League One – and is one of the youngest keepers in the EFL at present, while we have Kjell Scherpen at Sturm Graz, who are top of the league in Austria, and playing Europa League football. We make sure we look after all
our keepers and give them the best development plans to suit them individually, so we’re in good hands as far as the young keepers at the club are concerned.