UEFA goalkeeper coach, Antonio Ferraro translated from Italian:

In modern football, the problem is not only: “Where can I play?”

The question becomes: “When must I play?”

And it is a huge difference.

After more than twenty years on the pitch, I have become convinced that an important part of the goalkeeper’s evolution passes precisely through here. We cannot only teach him to recognize a solution. We must put him in a position to understand when that solution still exists.

The situation changes continuously. The teammate moves. The opponent closes down. A passing line opens and immediately afterwards closes. A central defender comes to meet. A midfielder gets free behind the first pressure. The goalkeeper can have two, three or four possibilities in front of him, but not all remain available for the same amount of time.

The modern goalkeeper must therefore learn to read not only the space, but the duration of the space.

This is where the timing of the decision comes into play.