PC troubles: decision making

As expected of this level of play, the main scoring chances at the Commonwealth Games have come from penalty corners. A high conversion rate at corners is what the sides should be achieving in any case, but the goalkeepers playing seem to have struggled slightly adding to this.

Here are some quick thoughts, from which I hope to follow up with in more detail:

• Pinner has gone the wrong way a few times, committing to the other side of goal and then taking himself out of the play, unable to make the save. His style is based around staying at his goal line and waiting as late as possible to react, but this is counter-productive if he is not making the 'read' properly as it means he can do little to make the save, if already going to the wrong side. Against SA he also failed to reach a high ball to his right, which isn't like him normally, and in the semi-final playoff, struggling to reach out low to his right - just above the pitch - which is a bit of a PITA for goalies in the first place.
• Cachia went down a little early against Australia leaving him out of the play on the follow-up. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28583104 From the outset it looks like he reacted wrongly totally, but is actually a great save getting across having shifted his body weight right (again, going the way wrong being the cause). The flicks against India he could do little about though, as they were pinpoint accuracy and out of reach. A lot like when Taekema was playing for Holland and on form, 
• Gibson seemed to really struggle against India especially; partly from decision making and partly on reading the flick itself.
• Carter has been pretty strong against corners, using his athleticism to his advantage. A few have got past him, but can be difficult to turn the glove during the dive for the save.
• Kettle was a rock for Wales, and generally excelled against corners. He seemed to have a problem reaching out mid/high to his rhp diving out in extension, but this could have been countered with the tactical decision to get a postman to his right post to cover the space visually from the drag flicker, and with great pace can be really difficult to get behind when reaching out.

Rocke: Trinidad's rock (thoughts on the big man himself)

Against England, Rocke faced about 39 shots (approximately as a guestimate), allowing only six. Quite something really if you think about it! Making him one of, if not, the busiest goalkeeper at the competition. If that wasn't a Commonwealth Games best, then it was surely a personal best for Rocke. Goals allowed, as used in ice hockey, is a pretty good stat count for analysing goalkeeping performances and would go a long way in showing how much Rocke is an asset to his team mates.

For the men's tournament, Kettle and Hafiz were in the same grouping for shots faced, given the defensive lineups they were playing behind. That says a lot about them as goalkeepers: that they have the capacity to carry their team in this way, and they can be trusted to come up with the goods. So many goalkeepers look great technically, but when it comes to playing on a team that can sometimes be outmatched (especially when facing the world number one like Oz - no shame in that!), the goalkeeper can crack under the mental pressure or just pack their bags and go home mentally; abandoning the effort to do all they can to help their team.

Whilst T&T managed only a single win against Malaysia, Rocke made sure they were in a position to compete with their opponents for every single game in the competition. Putting in man of the match performances game in game out, his consistency was in the .

A goalkeeper who looks self taught ; a raw talent like Tim Howard was in his breakout years before his switch overseas to Manchester United, with a similar level of acrobatics, athleticism and instinctive reactiveness. Given his size this is quite something, as pretty important for a goalkeeper; playing a lot like Simon Mason with a quicksilver approach besides his giantic frame.

What really stands out about him though, is how much of a battler Rocke is: he just simply doesn't give up on the play. Making triple sequence saves in various matches, he showed how much he wants to defend his goal and not to give up goals. This is something any goalkeeper at any age or level can learn so much from. The mental strength and battling instincts help you rise above the competition when it comes to impressing new coaches at trials, or in competitions where things really count.

Technical critique:

• Strong mentally and in awareness around his D
• Needs to work on elite rebound control: against Wales made the save, the save was made but he put the ball straight back to the shooter; without defenders to help him out, that would surely have been a follow-up goal for this level
• Strong angle work and baseline decision making for diving interception against passing option
• Alert and quick on secondary shots to chase down when alone
• Could do with working on his standing glove saves after getting beat high to the left against Wales
• Doesn't give up - fights for his team all game long - as shown against England, Malaysia and Canada

With some tweaks here and there, and perhaps some regular analysis throughout his domestic season with a video analyst specialising in goalkeeper, as well as meeting project targets, he would see vast improvements. Just as Sreejesh is upping his class in the world goalkeeping elite with the help of Martin Drijver, I'm sure Rocke could get even better with refinements and regular coaching by an elite GK coach (no bad thing either as he is pretty good already!!).