Scouting Report: Should Arsenal Sign Netherlands Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen?
Arsenal need to sign a goalkeeper, so could Netherlands international Jasper Cillessen from Ajax be a feasible target during the summer transfer window? To cover that scenario, here is a scouting report on Cillessen, a 25-year-old 6'2", 181-pound goalkeeper.
Grading Cillessen vs. Spain
- Grade: B+
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Cillessen outperformed Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who committed another error in a big game, this time allowing Dutch centre-forward Robin van Persie to score.
A turning point in the game was Cillessen denying Spanish left attacking midfielder Andres Iniesta a goal with the score at 1-1.
Three minutes later, Dutch centre-forward Arjen Robben scored the decisive second goal, as Louis van Gaal's team steamrolled to a 5-1 win.
Yes, Cillessen was steady, but here are the reasons why he received a B+ grade, instead of a higher grade.
Cillessen did not stop Spanish defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso's penalty, which has been a reoccurring theme at Ajax.
Cillessen went the wrong way when AZ centre-forward Aron Johannsson took his penalty.
Red Bull Salzburg centre-forward Jonatan Soriano's spot-kick wrong-footed Cillessen.
Celtic right-winger James Forrest and Barcelona central midfielder Xavi also put penalties past Cillessen.
Another factor which diminished Cillessen's performance against Spain was his passing.
He only completed 54 percent of his passes, per Squawka.com, which was 19.1 percent below his average for Ajax.
Van Gaal prefers a ball-playing goalkeeper, a point emphasised by Dutch football writer Elko Born.
"Van Gaal wants his goalkeepers to be good at distributing the ball," Born told Bleacher Report [1]. "They need to be able to use both feet, so that they can pass to either flank."
| League Only | Jasper Cillessen | Kenneth Vermeer | Michel Vorm | Tim Krul |
| Pass Completion % | 73.1 | 86.9 | 65.7 | 51.1 |
| Passes Per Game | 30.5 | 26.8 | 15.2 | 22.1 |
| Long Pass Completion % | 47.4 | 68.4 | 33.3 | 41.7 |
| Long Passes Per Game | 6.8 | 6.5 | 2.5 | 7.2 |
Cillessen is a more dependable passer than Vorm and Krul, the two other goalkeepers in Van Gaal's World Cup squad.
Cillessen's Ajax teammate Vermeer is a metronomic passing outlet, so what happened to him?
He is an erratic Heurelho Gomes-like shot-stopper, who lost his starting position to Cillessen at Ajax.
"Van Gaal has a rule about not playing players who don't play at their clubs," Born said. "He's forcing himself to go with Cillessen."
Yes, Cillessen's passing against Spain was hoof-and-hope, but he has range.
Take a look at Cillessen's passes against NEC Nijmegen, Twente and an effortless diagonal pass to Ajax left-back Nicolai Boilesen.
This suggests Cillessen can make significant gains in his passing over the next few years like Manuel Neuer, who upped his 63.2 pass completion percentage (2009-10) to 87.2 (2013-14).
Cillessen is a novice on the international stage, yet Casillas, a World Cup winner, cracked under the pressure.
If Cillessen can continue to produce B+ performances, Van Gaal's team will contend for the World Cup.
Positives
Cillessen, 6'2", possesses the standardised height expected of a first-rate goalkeeper.
He is comfortable with the ball at his feet and is less slapdash than Vermeer.
What Cillessen excels at is being a compact shot-stopper inside the penalty box, as evident when he stifled the shot of Heerenveen's Heracles Almelo loanee Mark Uth.
Cillessen blocked Chelsea's Vitesse loanee Christian Atsu in a one-on-one and then caught Vitesse right-forward Renato Ibarra's muffed shot.
Feyenoord centre-forward Graziano Pelle's snap-shot was palmed over the crossbar by Cillessen.
Cillessen snatched the ball away from Gent's Heerenveen loanee Yassine El Ghanassy, who was put through on goal.
Cillessen led the Eredivisie in clean sheets (14) and save percentage (84), per Michiel Jongsma at BeNeFoot.
Negatives
Cillessen has only started 25 league games or more twice in his career, so his inexperience is a concern.
His unsteady positioning in reacting to long-range shots is a red flag.
He was exposed by an audacious long-range effort from Soriano.
Cillessen was flat-footed when Heracles Almelo central midfielder Simon Cziommer scored a free-kick.
Utrecht centre-forward Steve De Ridder's swerving volley bypassed Cillessen, who was bailed out by the crossbar.
Bottom Line
Cillessen is a promising goalkeeper, but he does not have the upside of Udinese's Simone Scuffet and lacks the penalty-saving prowess of Bayer Leverkusen's Bernd Leno.
Given Cillessen's rapid rise from Ajax reserve to the Netherlands' starting goalkeeper at the World Cup, he has the potential to transition into an elite shot-stopper.
Arsenal should consider signing Cillessen to fill Lukasz Fabianski's void.
[1] Allan Jiang is the Transfers Correspondent for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations in this article were obtained via email interview.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
