Inspiriation for Kinsky? Four keepers who recovered from disaster debuts
Antonin Kinsky can take inspiration from an ex-Tottenham goalkeeper as well as England, Scotland and Spain stoppers as he looks to bounce back…
Kinsky was replaced 17 minutes into his Champions League debut when Igor Tudor decided his keeper needed putting out of his misery after two errors gifted Atletico Madrid two goals in a 5-2 defeat for Spurs.
Is there a way back for the Czech stopper? There could be if Kinsky follows the lead of these lads who endured horror starts…
David De Gea
De Gea was one of the first to publicly stand up for one of his Goalkeepers’ Union mates. And the Spaniard should know what it’s like to flounder upon your big break.
De Gea was at fault for goals on his Manchester United debut against City in the Community Shield in 2011, and again on his Premier League bow a week later.
Indeed, Eric Steele, his goalkeeping coach at United who lobbied for his signing, admitted his first six months were ‘horrendous’, and the press revelled in his struggles.
The Spanish teenager was described by James Ducker in The Times as ‘a kid who won a competition to play in goal for Manchester United’, while Patrick Barclay went even further: ‘The goalie is like a jelly. He isn’t physically capable. He’s Heurelho Gomes without the shot-stopping.’
Mick Dennis was equally as damning in the Daily Express: ‘He’s called David de Gea Quintana. But don’t bother learning all those names. There will be another chap along soon. There has to be.’
There might have been had Anders Lindegaard stepped up. But Sir Alex Ferguson stuck by De Gea – if it’s good enough for Fergie, Igor Tudor… – and United were rewarded by the Spain stopper becoming one of the best in the world for a time.
READ: David De Gea: From ‘horrendous’ to hero in six years at Man Utd
Erik Thorsvedt
If Kinsky is looking for an inspirational story of a goalkeeper recovering from a nightmare start at Spurs, he will find one if he goes back to 14 years before he was born…
That is when Thorsvedt turned up at White Hart Lane having been signed from Gothenburg for £400,000 when Terry Venables was looking for a replacement for Bobby Mimms.
The then 26-year-old, already with 51 Norway caps, was given a baptism of fire, against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in front of The Match cameras back when we were lucky to get one televised game a week.
So the whole country saw Thorsvedt blunder on his debut, letting Nigel Clough’s 25-yarder squirm through his grasp, allowing Forest to leave the Lane with a 2-1 win.
“The first match was an absolute horror,” Thorsvedt recalled to the Spurs website. “I just held my hands up and said: ‘Sorry, I let people down’. It was no use coming up with excuses.
“English football didn’t shock me but I struggled early on and people were asking: ‘Who is this guy?’. It was hanging in the balance for a few matches but then we started to win and everything was fine.”
Indeed it was. Thorsvedt went on to play 200-plus games for Tottenham, getting his revenge on Forest by becoming the first Norwegian to win the FA Cup in 1991.
Aaron Ramsdale
Ramsdale’s Football League debut was every bit as bad as Kinsky’s Champions League bow. Except there were only 1600 people at Accrington to see it.
Ramsdale, then 19, moved to Chesterfield on loan from Bournemouth on the first Friday in January 2018. A day later, he was given his senior league debut. It did not go well.
The teenager could do little to stop Accrington’s first two goals, but their second two in a 4-0 win for the hosts were down to the young goalkeeper.
Especially the third, a Ramsdale own-goal after he made a hash of a simple low cross.
It got better for the youngster at Chesterfield – but not much. He could not help the Spireites avoid relegation, that being the first of four currently on his CV.
But three and a half years after making an arse of his debut at Accrington, Ramsdale was signing for Arsenal as an England goalkeeper.
READ: Liverpool, Man Utd keepers among six who never recovered from Kinsky-like calamities
David Marshall
Ask a Scotland fan what their abiding memory of Marshall is and, almost certainly, you’ll hear again about his penalty save in Serbia that sent the Tartan Army to Euro 2020. It’s very unlikely anyone will bring up his own goal on his Scotland debut.
That came as a Celtic player in August 2004 in a friendly against Hungary. The Scots were thumped 3-0 on their own patch.
Rounding off a miserable maiden appearance, Hungary’s third came after Steven Pressley smashed a clearance off Marshall’s back and straight into the goal.
From such humbling beginnings, Marshall amassed almost 50 caps on the way to playing at the European Championship 17 years later.
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