Interesting and informative thoughts. Yes I recall the days when English goalkeepers were accepted as being the best and there was serious strength in depth. Remember, our own late great John Jackson couldn’t even get in the England squad despite being one of the main, if not the only reason, why Palace managed to stay in the top division of English football for 4 seasons between 1969-73.
Also it was always considered poor form not to catch the ball on every possible occasion. Punching it away was virtually last resort. And that was when balls were heavy, slippery and there were no specialist gloves to help. Now with their foam palms and lighter balls the gloves ‘stick’ to even wet footballs and yet catching is far less commonplace. It’s one of the changes nowadays, like ‘keepers needing to adopt a ‘sweeper’ role and be more like outfield players. Maybe that’s something more coached abroad, though Joe Whitworth seems pretty adept at playing with the ball at his feet for Exeter!
But as has been pointed out, England goalies no longer seem to be the ‘gold standard’, unlike when Clemence and Shilton were playing for the top teams in Europe. How many major trophy winners in recent years have had an English player in goal?