Brad Friedel has claimed that one Manchester City player is not that good compared to some other Premier League players in his position.
The 52-year-old made 450 appearances in the Premier League during his career, representing Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in doing so.
Now though, the American has been sharing his thoughts on some of the current players in the Premier League, with one City figure getting a special mention, but not necessarily for a particular positive reason.
Friedel says one Man City player isn’t really that good
Speaking on talkSPORT, Friedel had this to say when asked to name the best goalkeeper in the Premier League at the moment.
He said: “I would say it’s a joint between [Emi] Martinez and Alisson. [Becker]”
The former Tottenham shot-stopper was then asked why he doesn’t consider Ederson to be in the same category, to which he gave this reply.
He said: “For Man City’s team, he is brilliant, for Man City’s team, but he is not, no.”
City signed Ederson back in the 2017 summer transfer window from Benfica in a deal worth a reported fee of £35m.
Since then, the 30-year-old has made 326 appearances for the Manchester club in all competitions prior to today’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
Across those appearances, the Brazilian, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £100k-a-week, has kept 151 clean sheets and won numerous trophies.
How does Ederson fare compared to other Premier League goalkeepers this season?
In the Premier League this season, Ederson has saved 49 of the 74 shots on target he’s faced, leaving him with a save percentage of 68.9%, the 13th highest in the division.
This percentage is lower than Alisson’s (75.3%), who has saved 58 of the 77 shots he’s faced in this campaign, but higher than Martinez’s (65.1%), who has saved 85 of the 126 shots he’s had to deal with.
In our view, while saving shots is just one aspect of a top-flight goalkeeper’s job, we are surprised that Friedel doesn’t have Ederson on the same level as the likes of Martinez and Alisson.
