USA goalkeeper discussion thread - Episode IV: A New Hope

Nah,we're just going off vibes at this point.
See above.

 

A second call up for Kochen? He's not with the U-20s who will be in Spain

https://www.ussoccercollective.com/us-youth-national-teams/u20-usynt-november-2024-roster-analysis

 

I've done it, if he is good for the NT I might be as well.

 

guess we start with PSxG +\- and list them all out with all leagues together …

 

Freese

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PKs Celentano vs Freese, winner starts the January camp friendlies

 

Both saved multiple penalties (it went to round 9!), but there were also some absolutely shocking takes.

 

Too bad Pochettino was in Orlando and not at this game.

 

Not the reaction you'd hope for from his club's own fans...

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The ability to "save" PKs does not much relate to goalkeeping quality.
I believe that any goalkeeper needs to play regularly but the stats are nearly meaningless. Look at Brad Guzan's stats at Chivas USA. He leaked goals but he also learned to play pretty good goalkeeper. It was not his fault that Chivas was so horrible but he really shown once he left that garbage dump. Also he is worlds better than Turner even now. But he was never particularly good at PKs.
Goalkeepers, as I said need to play regularly, they also do not develop unless tested to some extent but the ability to save a lot of PKs is not a skill that should ever be used to select goalkeepers.
BTW: Almost all of the statistics so many people swear by are not directly indicative of goalkeeper performance. The thing that turns a good goalkeeper into a great one is the ability to read the game and no stat I have ever heard of can show what kind of "game reader" any given goalkeeper is.
I have watched several of the 'keepers in the current pool and not one seems to read games well. But I only get views that TV provides so some of them might be better than I think they are. In fact it is mostly only goalkeepers on poor teams that get a good amount of camera time.
From my point of view we just need to give a good number of 'keepers two, or more, games with the USMNT and see what happens. But Turner has solidly proven he is NOT good enough. So the search should begin and, as soon as the coach is comfortable with the pool of field players, no keeper should get two matches in a row.

If we can find them a pair somewhat like Keller and Friedel (I doubt that relative level will be reached again, and rotate them as much as possible so if one is hurt we lose very little.
Our current coach may do something like that but the one weakness I see is that he keeps running the failed Turner out rather than trying to find a decent 'keeper.

 

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Not saying he should get called up but he’s playing well as of late

 

I believe he retired from international soccer some time ago. He is also on the upper side of age for 'keepers. I think he could, if he wanted to, be a value for the USMNT for a few years but he is not the future. As much as I want Turner out of the USMNT I do not think Guzan is the future of the USMNT goalkeeping, except as a coach, maybe. But he is an example of players on bad clubs growing through abuse.

 

I don’t think he ever actually retired from international play but I believe the last time he was on a US roster was the 2021 Gold Cup. And he’s had some major injuries since then.

The main reason I don’t think he should get a call up is because he’s 40 and this is unlikely to last through the World Cup. But he’s been very good as of late.

 

I just did a deep search for "Greg Guzan retirement from international soccer" and I found nothing except some articles discussing his injury and return. So my memory is again proved to be faulty. Thanks, I think.
I do think he could be a step up from what we have right now but as you age after 40 declines can happen very rapidly, I know they did for me. (I went from a 5 minute or so mile to 6-7 minutes between 41 and 43.) So he might be an asset right now but each year he ages makes him a lot closer to becoming a liability.
I do think he would have a 50:50 chance of being better than Turner from his death bed.

I do think US Soccer should pour money into a cloning program. Having a number of Kellers or Freidles or Guzans all at about age 20-25 would give us a pretty deep goalkeeper pool.

 

The WC is about 19 months away. How much could Guzan go down hill in that time? Probably not much. But 2030 is a stretch.

 

In a year and a half some people can completely age out of any chance they can compete at high levels. The human (or super human) body can develop age issues very rapidly after 40. It is an unfortunate fact of ageing. But everybody's body ages differently and, maybe, he could be a real asset even up through age 45-47. I just don't think he will but, even if he is only able to play club ball, I hope he continues playing for as long as possible.
As good as he is playing right now I kind of suspect that he has been offered a callup but declined. However some coaches just do not believe a goalkeeper over 40 is reliable enough to warrant using up a limited spot for experimentation.

As a bit of an aside, I think goalkeepers are not harmed by splitting time in matches (say 1/2 each) so we could call more to friendlies and get a wider view of the pool. But soccer, in general, almost never does that so goalkeepers get actual evaluations only in club ball or practice. And if Guzan does not get called then he only has club ball and many National Team coaches just do not want old 'keepers unless they are so good they cannot be ignored and Guzan just ain't "that" good at this time. I hope I am wrong but I doubt he will ever be called again before he really retires.

 

Matt Freese has not been bad as well

 

We've heard thru the grapevine that Kochen will be there.
He's not listed with the U20s after all.

So Turner, Schulte, and Kochen will suffice for this camp.

Turner was fine in the last camp. In fact, he saved our bacon against Panama at times.

If we REALLY needed a #1, I'd call Guzan in an emergency. But not to bring in as second/third string. Not for this kind of camp anyway.

 

His form kinda makes me wonder if he might have been able to save his career in the PL. He was the no.2 at Middlesbrough when they were relegated and he came home to star for Atlanta.

 

Only weird one is the continued Steffen interest, and no Freese. Great to see Kochen in, Turner earned it, Schulte continues to be one of the two best MLS options. At this point just got to hope Kochen locks in, and Schulte doesn't leave an opening for Steffen to jump in due to small sample size bias.

 

Turner will likely start both games.

Kochen has never played a first team club game. If we have an absolute injury crisis with both Turner and Schulte going down, then Steffen is the "break the glass in case of emergency" plan. Nothing more.

 

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I think we’ll see Freese January. When I think Pochettino will take his first look at the MLS options.

 

Wait I could have sworn someone previously posted Serie C

 

Delpace

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