Crotone was doing really well in the Serie B before Corona madness struck Italy. Right now there is no clarity about the league to be continued. Part of Crotone’s promotion-chasing side is the goalkeeper Alex Cordaz. The 37-year-old veteran has been instrumental in their promotion push. He has quite the track record with playing for a lot of sides over the years: Inter, Spezia, Acireale, AS Pizzighettone, Treviso, FC Lugano, Cittadella, Parma, ND Gorica and finally Crotone.
Crotone’s aim for the season is to progress to the Serie A by getting the promotion, where the last played in the 2017/2018 campaign before they were relegated. They are trying to get back ever since.
Right now they are second behind Benevento — who in all fairness are just too good with 69 points. The second spot means automatic promotion and Crotone (49 points) are closely followed by Frosinone (47 points), Pordenone (45 points) and Spezia (44 points). It is very close at the top for one automatically promoted place and the rest will play a promotion play-off — in the original scenario.
Cordaz came to FC Crotone in January 2015, on loan from Parma. After that the 2014/2015 season, Crotone signed him and he has not left the club since.
The 37-year old has a contract until 30–6–2021 and according to transfermarket.com, his market value is €400.000. As a goalkeeper, he functions as the last man standing and has played 28 games in the Serie B this season with 8 of those games being clean sheets.
In front of him usually is a back three, with Giovanni Strappo resorting to a 3–5–2 or 3–4–3 formation in the current season. The Crotone side plays a high press with their five-man midfield and instructs their full-backs to maintain a high line in the offensive phase of the game. Crotone want to be dominant on the ball and have as many numbers as possible forward, but are vulnerable in the counter-attack when the opponents escape the pressing.
This leads to dangerous situations with the three full-backs against an often quick attacking opposition and leads to shots on Cordaz’s goal. With the rest-defence often consisting of three or two defenders, the opposition will come forward and numbers, leading to 100 shots on target in 28 league games.
His statistics are above average with 33 goals conceded in 28 league games. In those 28 games, he has faced 100 shots on target, which is an average of 5 shots on target per game. Of those shots, he has saved 69 shots which is 69% of the targets faced. This is not an impressive stat, as this one of the lowest. A little context is needed; on average goalkeepers in the Serie B concede 120 shots in those 28 games, so his defense is doing a lot of the work as well.
What makes him a solid keeper is that he is strong on the line and does not force himself to go to a corner quickly. This leaves him with the advantage of anticipating a shot to the last moment, which gives him the opportunity to make crucial saves. He is rather exceptional with long-distance shots, which could be seen in the 2017/2018 season in the Serie A. Although Crotone were relegated, he had a lot of incredible saves.
Is hea shot-stopper only? His pass completion sits on 80% overall, which is relatively okay as a long ball isn’t as accurate as a short pass. His accuracy is 91% on his own half and 35% on the opponent’s half. If you look at the long balls, then 54% of the balls reach a teammate. You need to take into account that this a very strong league in the defence and that the aerial duels on the midfield are often won by the defending team, rather than the attacking team.
Conclusion
Cordaz is a very experienced goalkeeper with experience in both Serie A and Serie B. His composure, calmness, and his reactive saves play a great deal in the defense of Crotone. They have conceded 31 goals from 100 shots on target, which is rather average in this tough league. Crotone play an attacking, dominant style of football and that is full of risks. In the case that a turnover takes place in the transition from attack to defence, a goalkeeper like Cordaz comes in handy.
