Goalkeeper
4 appearances (as of the end of 2008-2009)
1 clean sheet
Signed from Palmeiras in 2008 for 3.5 mil
BACKGROUND BEFORE LFC
There’s an old joke that Brazil win World Cups without a goalkeeper. Hopefully, Diego Cavalieri would disagree with that, because when he left Palmeiras, he was playing second fiddle to Brazil’s Marcos, who was their shot-stopper when they won the World Cup in 2002. Diego played over 100 matches for the Brazilian giants, ranging from 2002 until 2008. At 26 years of age, he is reaching the time where he’ll want to consider becoming first choice somewhere, meaning it was a bit odd that he signed for the Reds.
SIGNING FOR, AND SETTLING INTO, LFC
Diego Cavalieri was not brought in to provide competition for Pepe Reina in the middle of July, a time that is so full of transfer activiy that it was hard to even remember it happening. Rather, he was being signed as a suitable replacement, as it was clear Charles Itandje was not the man for the job. Similarly to Itandje, unfortunately, signing up younger back-up keepers is a bit pricy. As that is the case, we signed the Brazilian keeper for a hefty fee of 3.5 million pounds. Obviously he wasn’t going to get many matches, and his first exposure to the first team was in a 2-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra, where Cavalieri played “okay.” He might have done better with the goal, but those things happen. Regardless, he has done alright for himself and does not look like the nervous wreck that Itandje was when he got chances.
STYLE OF PLAY
Cavalieri is actually quite a bit like Reina, in that he is an athletic, sweeper-keeper type of player. He likes to come out and dominate the box, as well as stopping shots on the run rather than holding his ground. That makes him a great understudy for Pepe, because if he gets hurt (Reina, that is), then we’ll have a suitable replacement for him that won’t change things around a whole lot. Cavalieri is a bit taller than Reina, and not quite as fast, but like I said, he’s similar.
BEST MOMENTS
Statistically, you’d have to say that his best moment was in the 2-0 win against Preston North End in the FA Cup. He didn’t have a whole lot to do on the day, but clearly he didn’t blow it as we won with a clean sheet! Playing four times is victory enough, surely, for a player in the shadows of a man who has taken the Premiership clean sheet “title” for himself four seasons in a row.
TOUGH TIMES
Conceding 4 goals against Tottenham probably wasn’t the best feeling in the world, despite it being quite obvious that none of the goals were his fault. Sitting on the bench match after match also probably wasn’t the greatest feeling, but Diego took it all in stride and didn’t appear to be too broken about it.
2008-2009 SEASON VERDICT
Hard to say, really. How can one judge a player for only playing four matches because a player of absolute world class ability is ahead of him in a position that rarely gets rotated? Given that they are approximately the same age, as well, is probably not the best for him! All in all, you’d probably just say “good enough” for this segment!
LFC CAREER VERDICT
Cavalieri has not shown that he is great enough nor poor enough to be judged too clearly for Liverpool. Obviously he isn’t a muppet, like Itandje showed, but he also isn’t showing that he’ll contend Reina for the #1 goalkeeper… despite it being his squad number! Because of this, though, it is good for the club because it means we have stability yet a decent keeper in reserve. Maybe Diego will get more chances, maybe not. Either way, nobody is losing any sleep over it. Job done, then!
