Prememento #109: Season 3 Episode 33 - Jussi Jääskeläinen

Given the fickle and cut throat nature of football in the Premier League era, there’s something to be said for the players that simply kept on playing. Years upon years of service, racking up the points and the minutes as everything else changed around them. In that time, the rise and image of the foreign mercenary became ever more prevalent. Someone who loyalty doesn’t mean anything and they don’t “get”it – whatever it is. For that alone, Jussi Jääskeläinen is a unique type of player.

Over the course of nearly two decades, playing for just two clubs his career – and ultimately fates and fortunes – are tied to one man. A contentious manager and a player who was anything but, yet tethered together by choice for so long. Once that connection was initially severed, it wasn’t so much about what the goalkeeper himself could save, but rather saving the club itself.