Anyone know what Irelands GK situation looks like? I think Meara looks at the likes of Rimando,Johnson, Hamid, and Macmath and decides he would have a easy time trying to break into the Ireland squad
At the moment a lot clearer spot to #2. Its Shay Given and everyone else. Most recently they had backups at Milwall and West Ham as their 2 & 3.
Meara was a beast against LA. He commanded the penalty box, went after all the crosses, caught all the balls in the air and made save after save.. Remember LA controlled possession He's the Manuel Neuer of the MLS/USA(nowhere as good obviously)
There is an outside chance, and it gets better each time he performs well. Plus, imagine the experience he could get by performing well next month and earning a call up to the Euros. A month learning from Shay Given would be amazing. Long run, missing him for part of the summer could be a huge plus for NYRB.
Ireland has already announced their squad for the Euros.......................... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-continues-for-Sunderlands-James-McClean.html The keepers on the squad are Given, Westwood of Sunderland, and Forde of Millwall.
This guy is gonna be something special. Don't know if he'll reach international quality, but he's going to have a very nice pro career.
I'd say his odds of developing into a USMNT-worthy GK are as good as any of the young ones we have in the pool. His distributing is so-so but that's pretty common for a young keeper. He's a very good shot stopper, and there doesn't seem to be an issue with his hands. He already seems to command the box pretty well. So far, so good.
thus far hes shown better than Seitz, Hamid, and Sean Johnson in their first real starting seasons.......so far so good. I think he beats out any of the aforementioned right now.
Not sure about that. Hamid has been on the bench, but Johnson has been starting and playing extremely well for the Fire. He has made few mistakes and his distribution has gotten better. It doesn't matter how they did in their first season, it matters how they are playing at the time of the call up. It's not his fault that when that time comes he's had less experience, but it still puts him at a disadvantage.
I would call Meara up to Camp Cupcake because i rate him higher than MacMath, Hamid, and Johnson, and i believe he is more valuable than others would like to believe. Hopefully, he's not Irish or bust.
I'm very high on the guy, but I want to see how his entire first season plays out. I felt the same way about Tim Ream.
i guess the real reason i included Sean Johnson in that was his extremely high profile cough up in the Olympic quals. That aside i think you make a fair point. Pretty unjust to throw him in that heap just yet i suppose in retrospect. As far as young goalkeepers go in MLS right now its gotta be Sean Johnson and Ryan Meara. I think it was really last weeks game that showed Meara was for real. He had great command of the area and made some outstanding saves that frustrated LA. as others have said, lets see over the course of the year but like SJ......Meara has all the hallmarks of a good keeper that deserves looks if he doesnt switch to ireland
Of course. The point being that Meara is looking like a prospect at least as strong and promising as Johnson. My gut feeling is actually that he might even be the strongest-looking GK prospect (the others I'd consider would be Johnson, Hamid, and Macmath). Of course what matters most is how you finish a race, not where you are when it starts, but in any case it would mean that we would be reluctant to simply let him walk to Ireland without making a bid for him. Though honestly, I'd be surprised if Meara, finding out that USSF considers him a real option for the future, still would prefer to go with Ireland. I'm guessing that was a pure issue of Ireland contacting him first and USSF not having taken notice of him initially. I'd be very surprised if they're not taking notice of him now, however. One cool thing about his Irish eligibility though, of course, is that getting an Irish passport would allow him to play in the UK at some future date without a work permit. Which would be very cool, especially if he stays in the US player pool.
He's been excellent all season. I don't care what the GAA says. None of the goals that have been conceeded have been his fault. He might have done a bit better on 2 of them, but until recently the NY defense has been atrocious. The LA game helped him because it was on the heels of a prior clean sheet, had a higher profile, and a national audience.
and to be fair, prior to that wonder-blunder, Johnson had quite the solid half. Not sure why Porter felt the need to play Hamid over him. Johnson has his strengths and his weaknesses. Meara has shown a solid 1/3 of a season so far. Both are promising young gk'ers (as you state below).
The thing that I noticed about tonight is that the backline and everyone else for that matter was willing to pass the ball back to him. And he always seems comfortable receiving it even under minor pressure. He also started throwing the ball as a means of distribution. He still needs to work on that though. But it did seem to be better. He is still young and it has only been a couple of games so it is hard to call him the real deal, but damn if he is not making a case for it.
If Dane hadn't screwed it up royally that one throw would have turned into the Donovan vs. Algeria goal.