Serie B Goalkeeper Of The Season
2021/22: The fans had their say. It’s time for the stats.
The smoke has cleared on a fiery Serie B campaign which culminated with Monza clinching the final promotion spot, joining Lecce and Cremonese in Serie A, while Bari, Modena, FC Sudtirol and Palermo were all elevated from the third division.
It’s time to comb through the League and create our very own Hottest 12 Calendar. Yes, we realise that there are only 11 players in a team. You’re forgetting the coach, who we’ll name as Mr. December and perhaps dress him as Babbo Natale.
Before we start, here is a link to the Lega B TOP XI as chosen by fans on Twitter.
This article is dedicated to choosing the best Portiere in the Italian second division.
Criteria
Must have played the whole season in Serie B and a minimum of 25 games (roughly two-thirds of the 38 games).
So that narrows us down to 16 possible contenders to guard the goal. However, we will rule out the following names based on personal and/or club performance: Samuele Perisan, Matteo Pisseri, Marco Festa, Matteo Grande, Nicola Leali and Antony Iannarilli — thanks for coming.
Like anyone else, Lega Football loves a bit of real-world data to guide us to a conclusion. This statistical analysis is only possible thanks to the fbref.com website.
Let’s deduce our way to glory.
GA90 (Goals Against Per 90 Minutes)
From the remaining ten contenders, the first thing we will do is eliminate the goalkeeper that conceded the most GA90. Federico Ravaglia of Frosinone conceded 30 goals over 27 games for a 1.11 average.
Save % from Shots On Target (SoTA)
Gabriel’s shot-stopping percentage is the lowest of the bunch at 67.2% and therefore must be culled.
Matches Played (MP)
Apologies to Gigi Buffon fans. And yes, I am one of them. The World Cup winner only featured in 25 games throughout 2021/22 whereas the other contenders were tested in at least 32 Serie B fixtures.
You may scowl at that decision but the level of difficulty to perform at high levels increases with every match.
So, with 7 goalkeepers remaining, there’s clearly a big difference between the best four performing shot-stoppers and the rest.
Kudos to Elhan Kastrati and Jesse Joronen for their tremendous campaigns, however, the pair only received 115 Shots On Target Against and must be omitted.
Cue the Trash Can sound.
Marco Carnesecchi (Cremonese)
Yes, the fans voted Marco Carnesecchi as Serie B’s best goalkeeper. It’s understandable why considering the amazing season that the Italy u21 international played, guiding Cremonese up into Serie A.
But the data speaks for itself.
Of the top five goalkeepers, Carnesecchi conceded the most goals (38) and achieved the lowest percentages of clean sheets (25%) and number of saves made (72%).
Therefore, contrary to what the fans picked, Carnesecchi ranks as the 5th best goalkeeper in Serie B at best.
The Top Four Goalkeepers
Di Gregorio, Paleari, Chichizola and Nicolas all featured in at least 35 games during the regular season and all took part in the Serie B PlayOffs.
Statistically speaking, this is the best of the best. Let’s dissect their differences.
Michele Di Gregorio (Monza)
Experience: At 24 years of age, Di Gregorio has played in Serie B (105) and Serie C (67) since 2017. Born in Milan, he is owned by Inter.
Di Gregorio assisted Monza to its PlayOff victory over Pisa and subsequent debut Serie A promotion. *That’s a bonus point.
In addition, Di Gregorio has 19 wins to his name — more than any other — and we can add Clean Sheets (15) and Clean Sheet Percentage (40.5%) to this extraordinary list.
Issues: Di Gregorio conceded the most goals (37) and with that comes the worst Goals Against Per 90 Minutes title. Di Gregorio also conceded 6 goals over the 4 PlayOff games at a rate of 1.5 per game.
Nicolas Andrade (Pisa)
Experience: At 34 years of age, Nicolas has played in Serie B (181) and Serie A (39) since 2012, and has finished as a Serie B runner-up on two occasions.
Marginally edged out for best Clean Sheet Percentage (40%) by Di Gregorio, the Brazilian restores parity by nudging in front of the Monza goalie with his better Save Percentage (78.6%) and GA90 (0.92).
Nicolas shares the record for the lowest goals conceded in the League. TICK!
Pisa conceded only 35 times in 2021/22. The Nerazzurri’s phenomenal back four did much of the work and this is indicated by Nicolas’ SoTA and saves made (101).
Issues: To his detriment, Nicolas also conceded 6 goals in the PlayOffs in just 4 games, was victorious less often than Di Gregorio, made fewer saves and therefore received fewer shots on target.
That’s understandable considering he’d played two less regular-season matches.
With the two PlayOff Finalists at level pegging, it’s Di Gregorio over Nicolas for me thanks to the *bonus point of Serie A promotion.
Alberto Paleari (Benevento)
Experience: At 29 years of age, Paleari has played in Serie B (131) or Serie A (3) since 2016. Paleari is owned by Genoa following a €2m transfer from Cittadella in 2021.
While La Strega’s attack was the best in the League, her defensive performances were erratic. Finishing 7th during the regular stagione, Paleari endured the most Shots on Target Against (149) and made an incredible 120 saves at 80.5% (2nd) in just 35 matches.
That’s 23 more SoTA than Nicolas over the same amount of games (35). In three PlayOff appearances, Paleari only conceded once for a remarkable GA90 of 0.33 per game.
Issues: Paleari could only manage 12 clean sheets at a CS of 34.3% — the lowest of the top 4 goalkeepers — and didn’t block any of the five penalties awarded to his adversaries throughout the season.
Leandro Chichizola (Perugia)
Experience: At 32 years of age, Chichizola has played in Serie B (170), La Liga and Argentina’s Primera Division since 2010. Having played in the UEFA Europa League of 2019/20, Chichizola arrived at Perugia for free from FC Cartagena of the Spanish Segunda Division in 2021.
The Argentinian was the only Serie B goalkeeper to have played every minute of the regular season with a League-high 124 saves made accompanied by a League-high Save Percentage of 82.3%.
Of the top 4 keepers, Chichizola saved more penalties (33%) and led the way with a 0.84 GA90, while sharing the best record of goals conceded (32) alongside Nicolas, however, having played three more matches overall.
Ottimo.
Issues: Chichizola has the third-best Clean Sheet Percentage of the Top 4 (36.8%).
*Bonus Point: Perugia was freshly promoted from Serie C and Chichizola led the club to an 8th-place finish to qualify for the PlayOffs while conceding just 32 goals — that’s 5 less than Di Gregorio and 2 less than Paleari with Monza and Benevento portieri having played fewer games.
Adding to that, Perugia scraped into the PlayOffs in 8th spot on 58 points with the Head-To-Head advantage over Frosinone, largely thanks to Chichizola’s cool head during their two regular-season fixtures.
The first ended nil-all away at the Benito Stirpe just weeks after promotion from Serie C. Perugia then won the return match 3–0 at the Renato Curi with a three-man backline of Angella, Dell’Orco and Sgarbi. Who, you say? Exactly!
(A reminder to those debating why Massimiliano Alvini was brought in by Cremonese).
Leandro Chichizola enjoyed a brilliant campaign in Italy. Like I said earlier, the data speaks for itself.
To clarify, the green ticks are for coming first and the aqua green ticks are for coming second. Di Gregorio and Nicolas received two green ticks each. Paleari also received three green ticks but couldn’t manage a 2nd-placing.
Best Serie B goalkeepers for 2021/22
Leandro CHICHIZOLA (Perugia)
Alberto PALEARI (Benevento)
Michele DI GREGORIO (Monza)
NICOLAS Andrade (Pisa)
Marco CARNESECCHI (Cremonese)
Jesse JORONEN (Brescia)
Elhan KASTRATI (Cittadella)
GABRIEL (Lecce)
Gianluigi BUFFON (Parma)
Federico RAVAGLIA (Frosinone)
Although the statistics tell us that Chichizola is the elite goalkeeper, any one of the alternatives will do the job. Serie B has immense quality across the League.
Moving forward, we will examine the best defenders, midfielders, attackers and coaches of Serie B 2021/22.
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