There are some players that are content just being the back-up and train. It's a mental thing sometimes. If you're the type of player that wants to be playing all the time, and you're talented to do so, you'll let it be known to the right people. However, there are players that don't want all that pressure every week. I think Saunders might be that type of player too, just a feeling. I certainly don't want to bring in someone that doesn't want to fight to be in the starting eleven.
Saunders went thru a lot this season and the organization stood by him. They will give him another shot
I do not agree with this. Saunders is shaky at times and absolutely piss poor coming out for crosses and corners. He has always had trouble commanding the penalty area but has had the benefit of a very good central defense in front of him. He reminds me of Fabian Barthez in the way that he makes some very good, and even some extraordinary saves, but is shaky and can make mistakes to let easy goals in.
If Saunders reads this thread, expect him to have a relapse. I thought he had, overall, a pretty good season. But, I'd love to have him and Kennedy fight for starting GK, with Perk as a 3rd.
Barthez made his own problems by trying too hard to be 'eccentric'. At United he'd frequently wander way out of his box for no other reason other than he liked to showboat by trying to play as a sweeper. Then there was the time he tried to put off Paolo Di Canio (with whom he was one-on-one) by raising his hand, pointing at the linesman and trying to make the player think he was being flagged offside. Needless to say, Di Canio just shot anyway and Barthez was in no position to stop it.
Agree for the most part, but the thing that most annoys me about him s his seemingly pathological obsession with punting or kicking the ball long. The top keepers you see in top leagues around the world seldom do this. They play the ball short to a back and start an orderly build up through the misfield.
I like Saunders. I thought during the cup, if Omar didn't win the MVP he should have. He made some great saves and kept the game close. That's what you demand from your keeper and he does an exceptional job at this. Unless you're really going to upgrade the GK position, for me he is still viable moving forward.
Agree with the criticism except that it doesn't go far enough. His kicks are all over the place and often relatively short and out of bounds. They seldom if ever go to a player who can actually make a play on the ball.
It’s little harsh to make a call on Saunders based on this season, clearly he had some issues early on, and let’s be honest until Omar came back there was a case to be made that the entire back four were having a bad season. I seem to recall a couple of instances where he started a counter attack that lead to a goal (first round against Seattle?) and while he did give up a slightly soft goal in the Cup, he kept us from going 2-0 down and from letting Houston tie it up late on. That being said Josh didn’t win games single-handedly this year, he did in 2011. If we were able to acquire Kennedy and keep Omar for 2013 we’re going back to MLS Cup in 2013.
You could see it in Beckham and even Donovan's eyes when his kick went way off target, they weren't exactly happy about it
I have absolutely no problem with Perk as the backup. I'm just not sure he's good enough to start for the champs.
Does no one really rate Perk? What is it about him that people see holding him back from starting? Size? Physical tools?
I like Saunders, but I don't think he's a high level keeper in this league. I don't really have an issue with him remaining our #1, but it all rests on what sort of salary we'd be able to re-sign him for.~$90k? Seems fair, but your value diminishes quickly after that. I really don't want to go in with Perk as our #1, however. I don't feel he's good enough yet to make up for his diminutive stature. That's not to say he couldn't be a good keeper for us, but that'd be far too much of a risk going into the CCL knockouts. I'd toss a one year $100k contract at Hartman and see if he bites.
I think Josh was excellent for us in 2011 and 2012 was a rough year for him, made much, much, much more difficult by our overall poor team defending, our loss of Omar for most of the season, and the general malaise that made us ineffective overall for half of the year. Clearly he really took it personally, it went to his head. I like that the guy cares that much. I don't like that he wasn't as in command this season and didn't have confidence. I agree that his distribution is often lacking (though not nearly as bad as Joe Cannon), but if you had a back line that was as shaky as ours was for most of the season, wouldn't your instinct say that playing the ball out of the back is asking for it? I think there's a decent argument that having gone through a year as tough as this and the team still winning the cup, that could be the kind of test that could make him permanently better, could harden him and give him that final bit of confidence he needs. Or he could go the other way. I'm not ready to throw him overboard. He's got a great deal of capacity, he cares a LOT about this team. He really needs to work on his distribution over the break. Constantly. I think that the kid is talented, but I think that size is an issue.
I doubt Perk can be our #1 this upcoming season, but I do think a lot of the mistakes he made during his appearances can be easily fixed by watching some film and realizing the mistake/implementing a solution I specifically remember the game he has against SJ (3-2) as one where his lack of quick decision making really bit him/us in the rear. If he can improve on that, I think his size becomes less of an issue.
Did everyone see the goals scored on Saunders during the playoffs? Houston1st - Falls down way too early and shot goes over him. Seattle (2nd leg)1st - Caught leaning the opposite way of the ball and unaware of where he is in relation to the goal. (Not to mention he dove out of the way of a shot from a barely called offside EJ) 2nd - Ball goes by hand, a tough save though. San Jose (2nd leg) 1st - Again, lack of explosive power stops him from actually diving and just falls over, missing the ball. San Jose (1st leg) 1st - Dove over the ball. (Deflection from wall does not matter when you dive over a ball, fyi.) Vancouver 1st - Lack of explosive + really good shot stops him from making a play on the ball. Several other MLS goalies get a finger on that. To expect him to save all of those would put him on elite goalies status but he clearly can do significantly better. His lack of explosiveness comes from his inability to foresee unfolding events and is surprised by several shots. Of those six goals he needs to save at least three of those.
if we don't pick up some DP's next year, i would expect an upgrade at GK...especially if we lose Gonzo..we'll need it. josh did the best he could for us, and that includes two MLS cups. elite gk? nope, but he was there when we needed him!!
You're being sarcastic, right? I have never seen more balls into touch than when Ricketts would boom them out. I think he was much worse than Cannon in that regard, which is really saying something.
At the risk of inflaming Big Soccer, I think the best distributor (@GK) we've ever had was Steve Cronin. Everyone else just blasts the ball downfield.