As Football Manager games continue to adapt and evolve, finding more ways to fully immerse the player in the process of running a team, the individual staff members behind the scenes become more crucial. Without the right coaches, there will quickly be problems arising in the style of play, weaknesses will develop on the field if the staff off the field isn’t right for the job.
A goalkeeping coach used to be considered merely the person who got goalkeepers ready for a match, but they have become so much more than that in the game as strategy evolves. Now, these coaches can be vital in setting an entire team up for set pieces. As such, it is hugely important to bring the right people in to take on this important role.
7 Franck Raviot
It is vital to ensure that a goalkeeping coach is well-rounded, can handle every aspect of the game, and can improve the overall ability of the goalkeepers on the team. However, it is also important to note that the best goalkeeping coaches cost a lot of money, and it can be very helpful to find one that is available.
Most of the best GK coaches are taken and will need to be poached in Football Manager 2023. However, Franck Raviot is available. He is currently only the coach for the French national team, and is even a potential youth GK coach choice, which is rare for such a coach with such high-level capabilities. Not only is he excellent in every aspect, but Raviot is also 48, young enough that he has many years left in his career.
6 Adalberto Grigioni
While Grigioni is a much older option at 68, there is nothing for a young goalkeeper like an experienced hand with some incredible statistics. With some especially enviable stats at GK handling and shot-stopping, Grigioni will help create well-rounded goalkeepers and has experience in doing great work with the rest of the team as well.
Grigioni is currently at Lazio, and his wages are 3.9K per week. While this is a fairly hefty price for a GK coach, there are several high-level operatives who demand much more in wages and don’t have as much experience as Grigioni.
5 Hugo Oliveira
This Fulham-based goalkeeping coach is another excellent all-rounder with great stats across the board. Not only does he have great statistics and is youthful, only in his early forties, but any big club would have a chance of poaching him despite the very fair wage of over 5k per week he is currently receiving.
Oliveira is a huge piece of the staff at Fulham, and they will be loath to release him, but in football, money always talks. If a manager is willing to go hard by offering a great deal of money, they can likely bring him in to elevate their coaching staff hugely.
4 Toni Tapalovic
By far the most expensive coach on this list, Tapalovic is a huge piece of the coaching staff over at Bayern Munich, where he has been for quite some time. At 9.5k per week, he is making a huge volume of money for his services, and it would take even more to lure him away from his long-running home.
He has great stats and a huge reputation, having worked with some of the best goalkeepers in the world at the highest level. Tapalovic brings the height of excellence in terms of both coaching and experience for any young up-and-coming goalkeepers who need nurturing.
3 Claudio Filippi
While being slightly more affordable, Filippi might have the best overall stats across the board of any goalkeeping coach available. He is currently signed by Juventus, and is one of the coaching envies of the world as far as the Italian team is concerned.
While Filippi is excellent at every step of the process, he is also expensive. Though not nearly as much as the most expensive coaches on this list, he still takes home over 4K per week and will require more than that to come over to anywhere different from his native Italy.
2 Flavio Tenius
Another option is a complete free signing. Tenius will not be quite as expensive as other options, but still brings the sort of high-quality stats across the board that managers will be out looking for. If money is an issue, Tenius is a great choice as he can be relied upon for quality coaching at a slightly more modest rate than many of the more well-known choices.
Tenius can even be employed as a youth GK coach. This can be hugely useful for a high-level team looking to back up an aging GK coach with a young one that could be moved to the adult team in the future.
1 Alan Fettis
Another big-team player, Alan Fettis is the current goalkeeping coach at Manchester United. While he is less expensive than some other big names, only getting paid a little under 2k per week currently, he is a major name who has worked with some of the best goalkeepers in the world.
It is easy to imagine Fettis will be difficult to lure away from such a huge historical club with a lot of monetary backing. But if players want somebody with a huge volume of experience that might be even better than initial stats suggest, this could be a great option.