Player Focus: Forster Return Re-establishing Saints' Solid Foundations

It’s feasible to suggest that Arsenal could have continued to play beyond the regulated 90 minutes on Tuesday night and they still would not have scored. The Gunners mustered 22 shots in total against a resolute Southampton side at the Emirates Stadium, 11 of which were on target. 10 of those were saved by the returning Fraser Forster, with the other cleared off the line by James Ward-Prowse. 

No goalkeeper has made more saves in a single Premier League match this term, with Jack Butland matching the 10 stops when Stoke travelled to north London earlier in the campaign. The difference being, however, that Butland’s Stoke side fell to a 3-0 loss. Nevertheless, the 0-0 draw at the Emirates was a timely reminder of Forster’s goalkeeping quality. 

The former Celtic shotstopper sustained a serious knee injury in the win over Burnley almost a year ago. It was, therefore, a relief to supporters of the south coast side to see him return between the sticks in the 2-0 home win over Watford last month. In the four league appearances Forster has made, Saints have kept four clean sheets. Given they had kept just six in the previous 18 top-flight fixtures, his recovery from injury could not have been a bigger boost to Ronald Koeman and the club. 

Now sitting pretty in seventh place following a run of three wins and one draw, much of that has been down to Forster’s return to the pitch. His influence behind his defence can’t be overstated either. With the erratic Maarten Stekelenburg filling the gap, so to say, until Forster had fully recovered, the Saints backline was far from solid during the England international’s absence. 

This clearly had an adverse effect on summer signings Cedric Soares and Virgil van Dijk, who were brought in to cover the departures of Nathaniel Clyne and Toby Alderweireld respectively. With Jose Fonte’s defensive outings also suffering, the trio, along with Ryan Bertrand, will have breathed a huge sigh of relief when Forster made his first league start of the campaign against the Hornets. Indeed, the goalkeeper’s return to action will have benefitted Van Dijk, who despite impressing up until the win over Watford, has upped his game in recent weeks. 

The Dutchman has been shortlisted for the Premier League Player of the Month award for January and it’s no coincidence that his nomination comes following Forster’s recovery. The goalkeeper and Van Dijk are familiar with one another’s style of play following their time together at Celtic, with the pair crucial in a Saints defence that has now not conceded a Premier League goal in 373 minutes and counting. 

In fact, Van Dijk’s improvement in WhoScored rating between December and January - 6.86 to 8.11, an increase in 1.25 - was the second best in Europe’s top 5 leagues, behind Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino (1.59 increase), with the full list in WhoScored's latest monthly e-magazine. While the towering centre-back has gone above and beyond to improve his side’s fortunes, Forster’s towering presence as the last line of defence is once again providing the foundations for further success. 

Of goalkeepers to make three of more Premier League appearances this season, none are averaging more cross claims per game than Forster (2). Given Stekelenburg was averaging just 0.8 per league game this term, the additional solidity at the back is a welcome reprieve to Saints, particularly when up against teams that deploy a more direct approach or when Koeman’s team are under increased pressure as the minutes tick by. 

Only a handful of goalkeepers have claimed more crosses in a single Premier League match this season than Forster managed in Tuesday’s draw with Arsenal (5), which was a prime example of a goalkeeper remaining calm despite the Gunners’ best attempts to pile pressure on the Englishman. This contributed to a WhoScored rating of 9.86 and secured Forster a spot in the Premier League team of the week. 

Despite his hulking 6’7” frame, though, Forster’s shotstopping ability is perhaps his strongest asset. The rapidness of which he can get down low to deny the opposition defies belief at times, as was most certainly the case on Tuesday night. Of goalkeepers to have made four or more appearances in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season, Forster boasts the best save success rate (92.3%), reinforcing his statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘shot stopping’. 

It’s clear Saints are a much stronger outfit with Forster in the XI. Their win ratio with him (55.9%) is far higher than it is without him (28.6%) in England’s top tier since his arrival from Celtic 18 months ago. If Saints are to enjoy a return to European action this season, chances are Forster will have a big part to play.

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