History will record that Pep Guardiola changed football in England. But it took Ederson for him to do it here. As the Brazilian departs Manchester City, it is a chance to acknowledge the role of one of the most significant footballers of the modern game.
There are better goalkeepers than Ederson. Not many, but there are. The statistics suggest that he prevented more goals than might have been expected throughout his Premier League career. That tallies with an athletic figure, capable of the spectacular.
But he does not top the list. That honour goes to Alisson Becker, his compatriot and long-time team-mate and rival. Alisson is the better shot-stopper. But even his signing by Liverpool could be seen as a response to how Ederson was evolving the game.
Guardiola had already tried and failed to introduce the ball-playing goalkeeper with the acquisition of Claudio Bravo upon his arrival at City, immediately ousting Joe Hart. But the Chilean struggled to impose himself on the Premier League. Ederson was different.
He oozed composure, unnerving crowds and commentators but never seeming to skip a beat himself. His ability with the ball at his feet became the foundation stone of City’s success in the coming years. Guardiola was the architect but he needed the materials.
Speaking to Ederson at City’s training ground back in 2023, it was an opportunity to ask him where this extraordinary passing ability came from. “Futsal really helped,” he told Sky Sports. “You have to be calm, make the right decisions, pick the right passes.”
In futsal, as a child, Ederson was part of the game, not merely standing between the posts watching it unfold. “Because it is a small-sided pitch, you are playing under pressure a lot of the time. It makes that feeling of calmness more natural,” he explained.
“You sometimes hear the crowd taking that deep breath when play becomes a bit risky. But I cannot break my concentration. I have to maintain my cool. That helps me make the right decisions when the opposition are pressing and my job is to find the free man.”
And there always was a free man for Manchester City because of Ederson. He became the extra defender and that was all City needed. Guardiola’s positional game was too good for the pressing structures established in the Premier League back in 2017.
Speaking to one respected coach, he said: “I remember Edwin van der Sar starting the play in goal, but not in the way we see Ederson.” Another, the great goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, who worked with Van der Sar at Ajax and Guardiola at Barcelona, agreed.
Speaking to Hoek about Ederson last season, he showed a video clip of City in action. “Is this 4-3-4 or 3-5-3? Whoever would be thinking 15 years ago that the goal player would be in front of the two central defenders? The game is always the teacher.”
But the short passing was only part of the puzzle. A conversation with a coach who was then working with a rival Premier League club comes to mind. “With Ederson, you could drill the ball 70 yards behind the defensive line and create a new dynamic to build up.”
Guardiola had recognised this from the outset. It separated Ederson from the rest. Other goalkeepers were beginning to emerge who were comfortable enough passing the ball to the nearest player. Here was someone who could find the furthest player too.
“Guys, what is that?” Those were the words of Guardiola when he began watching the analysis his team had prepared for Bayern Munich’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Benfica in 2016. He was witnessing Ederson’s kicking ability for the first time.
The following year, the pair were together at City, Guardiola having belatedly recognised Bravo’s limitations. “Now we have the chance to put the ball in the other box,” he explained. It has brought six Premier League titles and one Champions League trophy.
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Watch Ederson’s Premier League assists for Manchester City
Ederson’s long passing has led to seven Premier League assists, more than twice as many as any other goalkeeper during his time in England. Like a fast bowler’s bouncer, it remains a weapon in his arsenal, the threat of it shaping the opponent’s movements.
If the scouting reports when he was at Bayern alerted Guardiola, it was an assist to Raul Jimenez in Ederson’s final game for Benfica, winning the title for the Portuguese club, that confirmed why City needed him. There was once a chance to ask about that too.
“Raul was always on the last man, looking to go really fast in behind,” replied Ederson. “I was always looking to get the ball to him quickly so I was happy to do it in such an important game that won us the title. I am always happy to contribute with assists.”
Under Guardiola, he worked on it often. “It is something that we practised a lot, particularly in that first year when I arrived. In the second game against Tottenham in that pre-season, Sergio Aguero hit the post. It was a good sign of things to come.”
It has added a new dimension to the game. “It is really useful against teams that press high because they leave space in behind that we can exploit. It is a great weapon to have because it means we are really varied. We can play it short, medium or long.”
All good things come to an end and Ederson has stuck around long enough to see his style of play aped by others in the Premier League, including James Trafford at City, although never really bettered. He is gone. But his legacy in English football endures.
