In July 2022, Netherlands captain and goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal fell awkwardly trying to claim a cross and injured her shoulder during the opening game of the Euros against Sweden. Her injury thrust Twente goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar in at the deep end as she took the gloves from van Veenendaal unexpectedly. Van Domselaar excelled during the tournament.
In truth, van Veenendaal’s career had been on a downward trajectory for a few seasons. After leaving Arsenal in 2019, she spent a season with Atletico Madrid before joining PSV in the summer of 2020. Her form had been a source of concern but it was felt Netherlands did not have an obvious ready made replacement to oust her and her leadership was considered important too.
There was hope for van Domselaar but but aged 22 at that Euros, it was felt to be too early for her to take over the number 1 shirt. Her performances at the Euros dispelled those concerns and van Veenendaal retired from football altogether that summer. It meant the path was clear for van Domselaar internationally and she has been virtually unopposed as the Oranje goalkeeper ever since.
In the summer of 2023, she opted to move to Aston Villa. The option to join other truly elite clubs was there but she prioritised playing time, which was a sensible decision at the age of 23. After a season at Villa and in the WSL, she has taken the decision to make the leap to Arsenal after the club activated the release clause in her Villa contract.
Sabrina D’Angelo will travel in the other direction. The Canadian is a free agent and van Domselaar had a release clause, so it isn’t a swap deal. But the departures of D’Angelo and Marckese have long been anticipated and Arsenal have been working under the assumption they would need a new goalkeeper this summer for some time.
The level of conversation and innuendo around a potential move for Mary Earps in the summer of 2022 far outweighed the actual level of activity. Arsenal awarded Manuela Zinsberger a new contract this spring which spelled the end for D’Angelo. Zinsberger has improved immensely over the last 12-18 months, modifying her game to meet the challenge Sabrina D’Angelo provided by improving in the areas that D’Angelo excelled in, such as long distribution and command of her penalty area.
But Arsenal have had a model whereby two international goalkeepers compete for the number 1 spot going back to the signing of Siobhan Chamberlain to compete with Emma Byrne in 2014. When Chamberlain left, Netherlands number 1 van Veenendaal arrived and ousted Byrne. Then France’s first choice goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin ousted van Veenendaal.
Since then, Austria’s number 1 Manu Zinsberger has seen off Peyraud-Magnin, Australia’s Lydia Williams and now Canada’s Sabrina D’Angelo. The Austrian has always responded very positively to competition for her place but van Domselaar is a different type of competitor. D’Angelo was almost 30 when she signed, Peyraud-Magnin was 28 when she departed and Lydia Williams was 32 when she arrived at the club.
Williams was seen as a good training ground mentor for Zinsberger, who was 25 when Lyds was signed. Now about to turn 29, it is Zinsberger’s turn to become the mentor in the goalkeeper group for 24-year-old van Domselaar. The Dutch goalkeeper still has a lot of development yet, Zinsberger caught almost double the amount of crosses as van Domselaar last season for a start.
There will be a stylistic shift at Arsenal that will mean van Domselaar, whose short distribution is very impressive, will need to do more ‘sweeper’ work outside her area. When the Gunners defeated Aston Villa at the Emirates last October, Jonas Eidevall told Arseblog News that Katie McCabe’s late equaliser, lifted high into the net, was a result of a conversation McCabe had with Kelly Smith and Arsenal goalkeeping coach Seb Barton pre-match.
‘Our goalkeeping coach Seb Barton and Kelly Smith, they work with our forwards to see the goalkeepers we are playing against and what types of finishes that would be most effective. Without exposing too much, the goal and the finish is a prime example of that work when a great left foot like Katie McCabe takes on the information.’
In short, van Domselaar remains a work in progress and this is the first time since she unexpectedly broke into the Netherlands team that she will have to compete with a goalkeeper of the quality of Zinsberger for her place. However, she has an exceptionally high ceiling. Objectively, Zinsberger is probably the better goalkeeper for the time being but it isn’t difficult to envisage van Domselaar reaching and surpassing that level.
The questions are, firstly, how van Domselaar copes with potentially fractured game time. Unless she is so good so quickly that she absolutely cements the number 1 shirt, she will spend some time on the bench which might interrupt her progress. That plays into the second question, around which I hold fewer doubts, as to how much Zinsberger can take on the senior role in the goalkeeping group at Colney.
Any shortfall in game time for van Domselaar can be made up, by some extent, to a quality training environment at a club like Arsenal with Zinsberger, who recently won her 100th international cap, and experienced goalkeeper coach Seb Barton. I have to say that van Domselaar was very much my favoured choice to come into the squad and take part in the annual battle royale of Arsenal goalkeepers with Zinsberger.
It provides a different challenge for Zinsberger, who has seen off all her other competitors to date. Having played for Twente and Villa, Arsenal really ought to be a step up in terms of environment for van Domselaar. However, her experience as Netherlands number 1 ought to mean it will be far from a culture shock. It’s a really interesting blend to have a young goalkeeper who has some development points but is already the first choice for an elite international team like Netherlands to compete with Zinsberger.
It is unlikely both Zinsberger and van Domselaar will still be at the club after 2026. That is the simple reality of two established, international goalkeepers fighting for one spot. There will be a clear loser in the long run. In the short term, both players ought to benefit from the competition and renewed stimulus and Arsenal ought to benefit from having two quality goalkeepers pushing one another on.
Fascinating piece, especially, given being a relative newbie to following the women’s team, the section about Arsenal’s tradition of having two top ‘keepers duke it out for the number one spot. Will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
As I think I previously mentioned it would be good to have a podcast / interview with a goalkeeping expert about goalkeeping in the women’s game, how it’s progressed, how it can move forward and any differences with training male goalkeepers, given it being the position which seems to have the lowest quality.
I think “lowest quality” is a little unfair. If you are comparing against male keepers I would say the women are further behind in that position but my belief is the physical demands of the position suit the men better than the women. In general the men have a longer reach and a more powerful spring which there is not much the women can do about in the short term but as time goes on and women’s football grows bigger and provides the opportunities for the players to be professional sportswomen, I wonder if the game might not start to… Read more »
I always used to say, years ago, that scouts should hang around netball and basketball tournaments and recruit some of those girls. They already have the key skills. Also gymnastics – a lot of girls end up being too tall to make it in gymnastics but have tremendous athleticism and agility, and a fantastic strength to weight ratio. However, nowadays GKs have to be able to really play as well. My take on the gap is that until recently there has been no dedicated GK coaching for girls and women. As that changes, the standard goes up. Obviously they are… Read more »
Vic Akers spotted Emma Byrne playing Gaelic football…
Well, there you go! 😄
It’s interesting how the history, visibility and culture of different sports leads to young people choosing which one to participate in. It’s been rare for girls to see themselves as goalkeepers. One sport I really like watching when it occasionally appears on television is volleyball (indoor not beach). There was a brilliant match at the Olympics yesterday between the USA and Serbia. I thought this is the perfect sport for tall girls who are great ball players , and can jump and move athletically – could make brilliant goalkeepers! In the USA college women’s volleyball is very well supported. I… Read more »
Do you know I’ve been watching the volleyball and it didn’t dawn on me what transferable skills those player have to becoming a goal keeper. Tall, athletic, diving, punching crosses, distribution passes (ok with hands not feet)! Even the ball is a similar size. I wonder if any of them can catch though 🙂 !!!
It was meant more a statement (poorly phrased) about the lack proper goalkeeper training for full time professionals combined with good training at youth level for such a specialist position until recently. It’s been like that for women players and I think it’s stood out far more for goal keepers. Think we are seeing the green shoots of that with Keating at Man City and hopefully with DvD.
Totally fair. No-one was having a go.
We have another DVD at the club. I like this signing, there isn’t much difference in the some of the stats, DVD probably edges it in the long ball aspect 104 v 65 (Manu) accuracy being 48.4% v 48.9% but saves made % and claiming high balls are similar, we may see a bit more long ball overcoming the press on occasion, making use of the pace out wide. It’s an area where competition hasn’t been greatest and it’s testament to Manu for upping her game in the absence of that. Jonas now has another selection quandary to deal with,… Read more »
Such a great signing, for all the reasons you say. She has a confident, fun personality as well, it seems.