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+----- Thread: GRADED: Academy Goalkeeper Rankings (S27) (/showthread.php?tid=10262)
GRADED: Academy Goalkeeper Rankings (S27) - SoySavant - 2026-07-26
I'll preface by saying these rankings aren't meant to be taken very seriously, as my knowledge of ball is quite low. Like, I literally found out most of these stats existed as I was typing this up, and now here I am weaponizing them to push the Cheese Agenda using them to put together some premature GK rankings that may or may not make any sense. Something else to note is that I omitted the Legend goalkeepers from this ranking for a few reasons. For one thing, it would make this article humongous with how much I tend to yap. There's the fact that some of them have been retired as new player GKs show up, and also that... I mean, come on, does anyone even want to read about the bots? Did anyone click on this just desperately trying to find out how LEGEND Neuer's performance in his 3 games affected his legacy? It might be funny to do some Legend rankings someday, but not today.
Tier 1: The Ampharos Tier
Ahmad Ampharos - Ahmad's been fantastic through 11 games, head and shoulders above his GK peers in a few different aspects. As far as average match rating goes, there's a bigger gap between Ahmad and 2nd place (Slim Towered) than there is between 2nd and 8th. He also has the most Player of the Match awards (2), tied for most clean sheets (5), and the highest save % with 78.33%. It isn't just his defensive line being great either; Ahmad's had to put in some work for this placement with 18 saves parried and 23 saves held, both of which rank 4th and 1st among all academy GKs, respectively. Overall, it's been a very, very strong start to this guy's career. No notes, just keep doing what you're doing (except against Stockholm please).
Tier 2: The Not Ampharos Tier
After Ampharos, the difference separating these GKs becomes MUCH slimmer in a lot of respects. 5 of them have an average match rating ranging between 6.94 and 6.98. There's a bit more differentiation in stats like save %, but not really any large gaps until you get towards the worst Academy GKs (who are all bots, so don't worry about them).
Bastien Deschamps - With 8 games played, I'm looking at these games with a small grain of salt given the smaller sample size, but even then I feel like only 3 fewer games isn't too big a deal. What is a big deal are the commendable stats Deschamps has posted in those 8 games. Only 9 goals conceded compared to 30 recorded saves, a 76.92% save percentage, 3 clean sheets, and 1.87 XG prevented. Unfortunately for Deschamps, these stats haven't translated to wins more often than not, but it's been an impressive individual performance by the goalkeeper so far. Keep up the good work and hopefully your luck will turn around.
Slim Towered - Boasting a 6.98 average rating, 5 clean sheets, only 11 goals conceded (lowest among academy GKs who have played every game), and a save % of 71.79%, Slim measures out well in just about every stat recorded in the index. The one thing that puts Slim a bit below the aforementioned goalkeepers in my eyes is an XG Prevented of -0.92. Not a bad enough number to be a serious problem, but it does seem worth taking into account when there's not much else separating this tier of keepers. Something else that stands out is that Slim currently has 28 recorded saves, which is a shockingly small total compared to his peers. Among goalies that have played all 11 games, the 2nd lowest total is 43 saves made by Ciaphas Cain. This is probably more of a "Jarkata is really good" stat than a Slim Towered stat, but I found it interesting. Either way, all this put together shows that Slim has done his job well when called upon, helping keep Jakarta's net clear en route to an excellent season thus far.
Tier 3: The Enigmatic Tier
The players in this tier are still quality goalkeepers, even better than the ones listed above in some respects. However, they also have a few rough stats that make it difficult to group with the others. Are these stats a big enough deal to make a whole separate tier for these goalkeepers? I honestly have no idea, but my uninformed gut instinct told me they might be, so that was enough to convince me.
Swiss Cheese - I'm trying my best to be non-biased when ranking my own player, and that probably won't be very difficult because I don't know if I even understand my own player. Cheese is excellent in some stats, but kind of awful in others. The Good: Swiss Cheese has 1 player of the match award (one of 2 non-Legend academy GKs to get one so far), 3 clean sheets, which is about average, and a save % of 74.67% (3rd best). Cheese has also recorded a total of 56 saves, which is the 2nd most in the academy behind a Legend player. Now we get into the Bad: an average rating of just 6.83 (only higher than 2 Legends) and 19 goals conceded (2nd most among non-Legends). What makes Swiss so confusing to me, though, is one stat that seems really bad and another that seems really good. The really bad part is that Cheese has made FIVE mistakes that led to a goal. That's easily the most in the entire academy, among ALL players, and just kind of astounding considering the next highest total is 2. Then you have the really nice-looking stat, which is Swiss' XG prevented: 5.25. Not only is that the highest among academy GKs, but that's higher than the next 3 goalkeepers COMBINED. The only explanation I've got is that Swiss Cheese is really hot or cold. They'll either allow the softest goals you've ever seen in a 2-5 blowout loss or stand on their head for 90+ minutes with some superhuman saves. For better or worse, there's never a dull moment with Cheese in net.
Ciaphas Cain - Cain is another goalie that kind of hurts my brain. He could very well belong in a higher tier than this, but I just don't know what to make of this guy. Similar to Cheese, some stats look really good, and some look less than ideal. On one hand, Cain is tied for the 2nd highest average rating among academy GKs (6.98), paired with a respectable 43 saves and 4 clean sheets. On the other hand, among non-Legend keepers, Cain has the lowest save % (68.28%), most goals conceded (20), and lowest XG Expected (-2.09). Looking closer at Victoria Falls' games paints a picture of another goalkeeper who has been very hot or cold this season. Sometimes Victoria Falls will end the game with a clean sheet; other times they'll need about 3 goals to win. I think Cain is, overall, a good player who's just plagued by a few unfortunate outings that drag him down a bit. Cain's average rating tells me there's more highs than lows with him in net and that the goals allowed certainly aren't just his fault (as is the case with any keeper). It's just odd to see a keeper with such a good individual rating and yet such a dubious trio of stats to be struggling in.
Tier 4: The Just Got Here Tier
Kazeno Kagenori - Yeah, I don't think there's any way I could rank Kagenori against the others in good faith. Well, I guess I technically am anyway, but I'm thinking of this tier as an "incomplete evaluation" tier rather than being a bottom-of-the-academy player. Kagenori actually has a really nice average rating right now of 6.97, a save % of 72.41%, and a clean sheet through 4 games. He's also allowed 8 goals in those 4 games, which would be higher than average if extrapolated out. That's the thing though: do I actually think he's gonna stay on that pace with more games played? Nah, but I don't know if his rating and save % are going to stay that high either. I mean, it's the Academy, I don't know where any of these players are trending, but even for an article like this, it just feels too early to rate Kagenori. He's off to a fine start, though, and I expect he'll continue to perform well. I just want to give him more time to cook.
RE: Academy Goalkeeper Rankings (S27) - lemonoppy - 2026-07-28
Tier 2: The Not Ampharos Tier, aura
1478 words