Best Inter GK of the Modern Era

[ADRossi]

Inspired by a random post on Instagram of a dude asking people outside San Siro. Modern Era meaning 1985 forward. You can use whatever criteria you'd like.

 

[brehme1989]

The only question is who is #2 behind Zenga.

 

[Strale]

Never watched Zenga unfortunately. It was between Toldo and Handa for me, but I chose Handa because imo he was more consequential.

 

[IM21]

Didn't watch Zenga, and i remember very little about Pagliuca (especially his Inter years)... So from the ones i know its, Toldo, Handa, Cesar, Onana, Frey... I also wanna see more from Sommer to really rank him.

 

[Pimpin]

Modern era and Zenga? Is adrossi older than brehme?

for me it's handanovic, maybe recency bias or what not, but he was more secure than Cesar, and i always thought penalties were 50/50

 

[ADRossi]

Modern era and Zenga? Is adrossi older than brehme?

for me it's handanovic, maybe recency bias or what not, but he was more secure than Cesar, and i always thought penalties were 50/50

No, I'm not 70.

 

[Il Drago]

From the ones i have watched i am biased as fuck and i will pick Toldone.

Objectively it can only be Zenga.

 

[brehme1989]

Julio Cesar ironically felt like the weakest of the four (Pagliuca, Toldo, Handanovic and himself). He had a few special moments and was part of the tripleta but he was the main culprit of several howlers and there's a reason we shipped him at 31. Love the guy and saw him a couple of times in the neighborhood in London, but that's the harsh truth.

I don't get why Onana is there, or Sommer for that matter, if Peruzzi isn't.
I can't even consider these guys. Sommer needs 3 full seasons at this level to get into consideration.

Strongest reflexes: Pagliuca by far. Zenga and Julio Cesar follow. Handanovic and Toldo not far behind.

Strongest goal presence: Zenga. Then it's Toldo, followed by Handanovic. Then Pagliuca > Julio Cesar. This is probably the most important aspect if everything else is equal.

Wins you games: I'd say Handanovic and Zenga are the ones here. The rest had some special moments but not as many. Helps Handanovic that the team sucked and he had more chances to prove this. Pagluca was this guy at Bologna though and he looked better than both Toldo and Buffon at times.
I'd rank Toldo ahead of Pagliuca based on Inter performance and Julio Cesar loses that battle vs Pagliuca overall, but had some displays that won us important titles.

Cross ball awareness: Toldo first and Pagliuca second here with Handanovic 3rd. Zenga's weakest point but still better than Julio Cesar who falls behind.

Shooting ball awareness: They were all great but Julio Cesar is the weakest, which explained his bad positioning and anticipation, but he had the body in his 20s to use his physical attributes and reflexes to save some and make it look spectacular at times.

Agility: Pagliuca and Julio Cesar. Toldo and Handanovic were the weakest here.

PK saving: Handanovic, Pagliuca and Toldo are all time greats. Julio Cesar and Zenga saved a few but it wasn't their thing. I'd say Zenga is the weakest of them all but the era plays a role. Less video available to study takers and peers.

Positioning: Zenga. Then Handanovic. Julio Cesar seemed a bit lost here, whereas Pagliuca and Toldo were solid. I'd rand Toldo over Pagliuca

One on ones: Zenga for sure. Then maybe Pagliuca. Julio Cesar was slightly stronger than Toldo and Handanovic here imo

Long distance shots: Zenga made them look like practice sessions at times. Pagliuca and Toldo folllow. Handanovic marginally behind them. Julio Cesar's kryptonite.

Outnumbered in the box- Reaction: This also has a lot to do with the defense. But it's the toughest thing to deal with as a goalkeeper. Pagliuca and Zenga take the nod. Toldo suffered a lot from this. Julio Cesar slightly ahead of Handanovic.

Inter factor: Zenga is synonymous with the club. Handanovic was the captain of the club, which puts him ahead of the other three, whereas Pagliuca was acting captain at times. And Julio Cesar helped reach the greatest height. Toldo was probably the most beloved character. Based on years of service and status it goes Zenga, Handanovic, Julio Cesar, Pagliuca and Toldo. Yet everyone loves Toldo, which speaks volumes of his character and performances.


Still, I cannot give a proper rank of who's #2.
Zenga is definitely the #1. He's a top 3 Italy GK of all time and spent almost his entire career at Inter.

If I had to go peak:
#2 Toldo
#3 Handanovic
#4 Pagliuca
#5 Julio Cesar

If I had to go overall performance over the years and say average it down to a season:
#2 Handanovic
#3 Pagliuca
#4 Julio Cesar
#5 Toldo

Mostly because Toldo ended up being benched and had some issues with Zacheroni (Fontana played ahead of him ffs) and only gave us 2 solid seasons out of several he was here.

But yeah, nothing beats Zenga.

 

[IM21]

just watched that video about this and 90% said Cesar.

 

[varmin]

I voted for Pagliuca, but I'm biased. Most probably is Zenga.

 

[delaurentis]

My favourite is Pagliuca, and Toldo 2nd.
Zenga is in my mind the best of them all, although it's very hard to judge among so many great GK's.

 

[Pimpin]

Julio Cesar ironically felt like the weakest of the four (Pagliuca, Toldo, Handanovic and himself). He had a few special moments and was part of the tripleta but he was the main culprit of several howlers and there's a reason we shipped him at 31. Love the guy and saw him a couple of times in the neighborhood in London, but that's the harsh truth.

I don't get why Onana is there, or Sommer for that matter, if Peruzzi isn't.
I can't even consider these guys. Sommer needs 3 full seasons at this level to get into consideration.

Strongest reflexes: Pagliuca by far. Zenga and Julio Cesar follow. Handanovic and Toldo not far behind.

Strongest goal presence: Zenga. Then it's Toldo, followed by Handanovic. Then Pagliuca > Julio Cesar. This is probably the most important aspect if everything else is equal.

Wins you games: I'd say Handanovic and Zenga are the ones here. The rest had some special moments but not as many. Helps Handanovic that the team sucked and he had more chances to prove this. Pagluca was this guy at Bologna though and he looked better than both Toldo and Buffon at times.
I'd rank Toldo ahead of Pagliuca based on Inter performance and Julio Cesar loses that battle vs Pagliuca overall, but had some displays that won us important titles.

Cross ball awareness: Toldo first and Pagliuca second here with Handanovic 3rd. Zenga's weakest point but still better than Julio Cesar who falls behind.

Shooting ball awareness: They were all great but Julio Cesar is the weakest, which explained his bad positioning and anticipation, but he had the body in his 20s to use his physical attributes and reflexes to save some and make it look spectacular at times.

Agility: Pagliuca and Julio Cesar. Toldo and Handanovic were the weakest here.

PK saving: Handanovic, Pagliuca and Toldo are all time greats. Julio Cesar and Zenga saved a few but it wasn't their thing. I'd say Zenga is the weakest of them all but the era plays a role. Less video available to study takers and peers.

Positioning: Zenga. Then Handanovic. Julio Cesar seemed a bit lost here, whereas Pagliuca and Toldo were solid. I'd rand Toldo over Pagliuca

One on ones: Zenga for sure. Then maybe Pagliuca. Julio Cesar was slightly stronger than Toldo and Handanovic here imo

Long distance shots: Zenga made them look like practice sessions at times. Pagliuca and Toldo folllow. Handanovic marginally behind them. Julio Cesar's kryptonite.

Outnumbered in the box- Reaction: This also has a lot to do with the defense. But it's the toughest thing to deal with as a goalkeeper. Pagliuca and Zenga take the nod. Toldo suffered a lot from this. Julio Cesar slightly ahead of Handanovic.

Inter factor: Zenga is synonymous with the club. Handanovic was the captain of the club, which puts him ahead of the other three, whereas Pagliuca was acting captain at times. And Julio Cesar helped reach the greatest height. Toldo was probably the most beloved character. Based on years of service and status it goes Zenga, Handanovic, Julio Cesar, Pagliuca and Toldo. Yet everyone loves Toldo, which speaks volumes of his character and performances.


Still, I cannot give a proper rank of who's #2.
Zenga is definitely the #1. He's a top 3 Italy GK of all time and spent almost his entire career at Inter.

If I had to go peak:
#2 Toldo
#3 Handanovic
#4 Pagliuca
#5 Julio Cesar

If I had to go overall performance over the years and say average it down to a season:
#2 Handanovic
#3 Pagliuca
#4 Julio Cesar
#5 Toldo

Mostly because Toldo ended up being benched and had some issues with Zacheroni (Fontana played ahead of him ffs) and only gave us 2 solid seasons out of several he was here.

But yeah, nothing beats Zenga.

Idk about Zenga but yeah, this is pretty spot on.

 

[brehme1989]

There are a few small clips of Zenga, this is the longest I could find

 

[ADRossi]

I don't get why Onana is there, or Sommer for that matter, if Peruzzi isn't.
I can't even consider these guys. Sommer needs 3 full seasons at this level to get into consideration.

People voted for Sommer in the Instagram post, so of course he's included here. Would I vote for a keeper with less than a season with us? No.

 

[RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot]

Gotta be Zenga, and then (for me): Handanovic, Toldo, Pagliuca, Cesar/ Sommer (I think they are about the same level give or take but one has a much bigger legacy for inter at present), and then Onana. Not because I thought Onana was bad, far from it, but we’ve had some excellent keepers over the years.

 

[Conan the Barbarian]

As a 46 yo Interista my top 3 is

1 Zenga
2 Julio Cesar
3 Sommer

 

[Jane The Virgin]

1. Julione
2. Handa
3. I dont have one.

 

[sdvroot]

Pagliuca was absolutely monster class goalkeeper

 

[CraigM]

As an older fan I would favour more the keepers of the past. I think that while Francesco Toldo is technically overall the best keeper I have seen at Inter and Pagliuca was the best shot-stopper, I would favour Zenga who was excellent but also had a force of personality that the others lacked.

Also, while both Toldo (9 years) and Pagliuca (5 years) had lengthy careers with Inter, I do tend to think of them more as greats for Fiorentina and Sampdoria.