Everton, for long parts of the season, finally looked like they were going to break into the top-four. However, as the season went on their strength in depth became apparent and they had to settle for a seventh place finish. Goalkeeping duties were shared over the season by Maarten Stekelenburg and Joel Robles, with both having played in exactly 19 matches each. We take a look at their fantasy football performances and how they rated.
Maarten Stekelenburg joined Everton in the summer of 2016 becoming Ronald Koeman’s first signing as Everton boss. He started the season as first choice keeper and in his 19 starts, he managed to keep just 3 clean sheets. Over the course of the season, he conceded a total of 25 goals and conceded 3 or more goals on 3 occasions. His worst defeat came in a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea, and in both matches against them, he conceded 8 in total. With a value of 5.5M, he earned just 2 fantasy football points and finished the season with a price/performance ratio of exactly 0.0. There is certainly room for improvement in those statistics, and whether or not he will be the first-choice goalkeeper next season remains to be seen.
When Maarten Stekelenburg was ruled out through injury, Koeman turned to reserve goalkeeper Joel Robles and the youngster didn’t disappoint. Like his colleague, Robles featured in 19 matches, but his performances in goal were far better. Robles kept 10 clean sheets in his 19 starts and conceded 20 goals, that’s 5 fewer than his rival for the goalkeeping shirt. At one stage in the season, Robles was rated as the second best keeper in the league, with just David de Gea posting better statistics than him. He had kept 3 clean sheets in 4 games and had saved an incredible 80% of shots taken against him. He is valued at 5.5M and accumulated a total of 51 points over the season, giving him a season-end price/performance ratio of 8.9.
Whether or not either of these players start the new season as the first choice is in doubt as Everton have dipped into the transfer market and signed highly-rated Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford. With a fee rumoured to be around 25M, there will be huge expectations on the young keeper who was on of the few players that came out of that relegated Sunderland squad with any credit. Although Pickford managed just 4 clean sheets last season for Sunderland, he can’t be solely judged on those numbers as he had a truly dismal defence in front of him.
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