Pep Guardiola has described him as the 'perfect' goalkeeper for how Manchester City play, and he's won the Premier League Golden Glove for the last three seasons.
Ederson has redefined the art of being a goalkeeper, but there appears to be a growing concern among City fans over whether he should be Guardiola's first choice at all.
Some are even pointing to arch rivals Manchester United and Liverpool to suggest a goalkeeper more like David de Gea or Alisson would give City a better chance of winning the Champions League. But what has sparked this seemingly-sudden U-turn over a player City fans sing is 'f------ brilliant' every week?
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For a start, it appears there have been grumblings over Ederson for some time, although they are growing in volume in recent weeks as City struggle for consistency and only have 12 clean sheets in 12. It could be dismissed that Ederson is being scapegoated for City's form, or that it's simply a social media trend that doesn't reflect the wider fanbase.
Still, it's worth investigating as opinions are strong about a player who is integral to City's success under Pep Guardiola. When MEN Sport asked fans where the Ederson debate stemmed from, there was no shortage of passionate responses on both sides of the fence.
The main criticisms of Ederson appear to be his shot-stopping ability - in short, that he doesn't save enough and it's costing City.
Two statistics kept cropping up and one has more merit than the other. Firstly, that Ederson has conceded his first shot on target in the last four games, where City have dropped points twice. Can he really be held accountable for Nottingham Forest's back-post goal a penalty, and two one-on-ones, though?
He did concede that penalty, but from a challenge that goes unpunished up and down the country every week, while defensive mistakes contributed to the other three long before Ederson could get involved.
So that argument appears to be a lazy one aimed at supporting a pre-conception about Ederson rather than proving he is a poor goalkeeper. Next, Ederson's percentage of shots saved is the second lowest in the Premier League at just 57.9 per cent. That feels like a much fairer criticism to aim at the Brazilian.
From 57 shots on target, Ederson has saved just 33, with 24 goals conceded, and only Southampton's Gavin Bazunu has a worse rate. He averages just 1.4 shots saved per game despite playing every minute of the league season, and his eight clean sheets so far feels lower than it should be. City need to know that if the ball does get through the defence, their goalkeeper is capable of bailing them out. It seems fans are concerned that Ederson lacks the headlines saves of, say, De Gea or Alisson.
The general feeling among Ederson doubters seems to be that he simply doesn't make enough saves, so when the opposition have just one shot on target, they are able to take points. Could he have done anything about Demarai Gray's stunner for Everton, or Chris Wood's tap-in, though?
Both Alisson and De Gea are frequently named as goalkeepers able to produce more 'important' saves at crucial times, keeping their sides in games. With City inviting the fewest shots on target in the league, but Ederson having the second-lowest save percentage, those opposition efforts take more significance. If Ederson's role in the side was to simply save shots, those numbers don't look too good.
It must be said, however, that among the debate are plenty of Ederson supporters. Maybe he could have done better with some recent goals, but there is an acceptance that his role in City's system is far more than saving shots. No goalkeeper in the division has a higher passing success rate, or number of passes per game, and that is why Guardiola has called him a 'perfect' goalkeeper.
“We cannot have a better goalkeeper than Eddie,” Guardiola said in 2021. “He suits perfectly our way [of playing]. The impact he has on the team is massive. His composure and the way he faces the good moments and bad moments is remarkable."
That composure allows City's defenders to trust Ederson under pressure and the occasions where that backfires are minimal. In fact, it has probably prevented more goals than caused them, and is one reason why City allow so few efforts on goal. Ederson's role in City's build-up is clear, and doesn't go unnoticed by supporters, even if it's harder to prove with a handy statistic.
Finally, Stefan Ortega's good cup performances have appeared to add to the argument in favour of replacing Ederson in the side. His showing at home to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup was one of the best goalkeeping displays seen at the Etihad in years, and his ability to produce a flying save or a stop he had no right to make is exactly what Ederson detractors seem to be asking for.
But Ortega was brought in firmly as number two and has a mistake in him, as shown at Southampton in the Carabao Cup. Ortega has nowhere near the composure and passing range of Ederson, and the win over Arsenal in the FA Cup showed that City's build-up suffered by having to play long rather than out from the back. Ortega might make more unexpected saves, but it comes at a cost.
City's 'problems' are always exaggerated - just look at Guardiola's calmness after the Forest draw as he knew the chances had been created. Ultimately, though, there are far more pressing matters in the current squad than even considering dropping Ederson.
Ask Guardiola, and he will likely take the risk Ederson brings every day of the week (except if there's a cup game) and demand his strikers score more goals instead.
As Ederson so succinctly put it after his Tottenham mistake: "Sorry for my mistake, but that doesn't change my way of playing. Always living with risk."
Riyad Mahrez replied: "No risk no rewards," and that probably sums up exactly the dilemma that dropping Ederson would bring.
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