Edwin van der Sar

Van der Sar helped make the goalkeeper a dependable participant in Ajax's build-up during the 1990s. Receiving a pass was not simply a signal to clear the danger: it could bring another player into the team's possession and help it move forward. His later success at Manchester United gave that calm, technically secure model another prominent setting. He developed a tradition already established in Dutch football, rather than arriving as the first keeper who could use his feet.