His distribution is, to my mind, the key. He's a fantastic keeper in himself, which is brilliant, but his distribution allows us the play the way we do.
When he has the ball, say at a goal kick, basically we have three options: play it short, chip it into midfield or hit it long into the final third. His ability with the ball means there is a very good chance he will hit his target whichever of these three options he takes. His short range passing is so good that - as we saw last night and on Saturday - he can receive the ball again after a short goal kick and keep a passing move going in a way that even facing a high press in numbers, he can combine with the back four to pass through them and get onto the front foot. His mid-range passing is very good, too. It is rare that if he hits a ball out to one of the full backs playing out wide in the middle third that it will not find its target. And his long range passing is unbelievable - he can find one of our strikers at the edge of the opposition with a goal kick (no offsides from goal kicks).
Crucially, this means that however the opposition try to defend against us, we have options to by-pass them. The back four cannot play a high press because we can go over their heads if they do to a forward who is (a) a deadly finisher, and (b) is one-on one with the goalkeeper with no defenders within 20 yards. But if they drop deep, and their forwards are attempting a high press, it means the middle third is basically empty. Also, if the opposition forwards do try to press we can go over them either to midfield (if the back four are sitting deep to avoid a long goal kick) or over their heads if not, or we can play through them, and once through them we are on the front foot. Then again, if the opposition forwards drop deep to make their defence very compact, we can pass from the back, and move them around until we find a way through. So Ederson's range of distribution makes it incredibly difficult for the opposition to defend because they can't be in two places at once. Whatever defensive system they choose to set up, we have options to go over, through or round it.
He is the one player who, to my mind, is absolutely pivotal to the way we play. He's only been here two months, but I fear a long term injury to Ederson more than I do to any other player.
