We've gone over this before. Steve Cronin is a goalkeeper in his mid-20's with 5 years or so of professional experience and even more beyond that as a US Youth International. In short, he's had professional level coaching and experience for close to 10 years. Brad Guzan was 22 years old and fresh out of college. Steve Cronin is no Brad Guzan. You'd expect somebody with Guzan's background to peform as he did that first year. He was a rookie goaltender for goodness sakes. Steve Cronin should have been able to do better, but he was mediocre at best and he cost us points on several occasions due to his silly errors. Also, at his age I would speculate that he isnt going to develop much further. Arena appeared to think the same thing. I can't say that I am not happy that Bruce has decided we needed to move on from Cronin. At this point I wouldnt hold my breath on Wicks either. To tell you the truth I've prefered Saunders since I first saw him last year after it became apparent that Wicks was no better than Cronin. We havent seen Ricketts much though so we'll see.......
You'll be docked 4% for fault of poor Galaxy results Pegasus503 gets another 4% I myself get another 4%...I was still sick Saturday and not my usual self of yelling at the ref for a poorly officiated match...he was certainly in mid season form.
OK, seriously...I'd rank the keepers as follows: #1 Ricketts (based on absolutely nothing!...how's that for a start?) #2 Saunders #3 Cronin #4 Wicks No doubt, all these guys are good guys but this is professional sports. Wicks needs to find another line of work. Period. His mistakes were quite glaring compared to Cronins errors last year. I hope Cronin is able to sustain his career further to try and get back to MLS (whether it is with LA or someone else). I'd imagine that a move to Portland might be a bit depressing and at 25 years of age, will he really be able to raise his game another level? I think it is possible...especially when a keeper matures and peaks much later than any other position. It probably depends on his mental strength at this point. Saunders isn't even on the roster (not even MLS web site roster)?!? How old is he? Wikipedia says 27...I'll go with that. Older than I thought...still...only has had minimum chances in MLS. MLS player register shows he was at least on the SJ bench in 2003 but only got 3 starts/appearances in his career last year. I'd like to see more from him if Ricketts doesn't cut it. So lets see what Ricketts can bring. Some familiarity with him due to being Jamaican Nat but that is not saying much as Jamaica has not been very strong since qualifying for France '98. His resume is not that impressive either (based on Wikipedia)...Bradford City??? I hope he brings more to the team than Pavon. Bradford City???? Perhaps his experience will help a young defensive backfield. Bradford City??? I'm not too thrilled about our GK situation at this point but a better defense will hopefully make life a little easier for the keepers.
Josh Saunders was very popular during his time here. Infact when Joe Cannon went abroad after the 2002 season and Jon Conway got hurt, we were actually looking forward to the possibility of him starting, but Frank didn't see it that way. He was our back up most of the season. He won a championship with us in 2003. We were going to re-sign him for 2004, but he didn't want a developmental contract which is understandable and wanted the chance to play somewhere so that was the story why he didn't stick with us and we got Cronin. Despite Saunders never getting a chance to show what he's got, he's won 2 rings. He also won a ring with you (galaxy) in 2005. He was 3rd string behind Hartman & Cronin. I personally thought the games he played last season were better than anything Wicks & Cronin brought to the table. To be fair Cronin was thrown in front of a train. Going to Portland will be nothing but positive for him. Gives him a chance to play and develop. Wicks how ever... bad deal. Hopefully the backline problems are sorted out this season. I've enjoyed watching and fallowing most of the pre-season stuff for the Galaxy this year. I'm hoping they can at least return to a "dominate" force eventually. Good luck this year.
Saunders is still hanging around it seems: http://thelagalaxy.blogspot.com/2009/02/ppc-final-notes.html There's a short audio interview with him. I'm not sure if he's just stuck around for the tournament or with the departure of Cronin, Bruce recalled him to LA. Either way, I think he would be a good choice - he did a pretty good job with the lackluster backline and essentially being thrust into the starting position towards the end of the season. If Ricketts can't deliver, I surely hope Saunders can.
1) Yes, unless it's loan. But I doubt it would be since we would then have to keep him on the roster. Before sending him to Portland we probably shopped him around, so I doubt there's a demand for him. 2) Yep. Amost all contracts are not guaranteed. I think this is a positive sign for Wicks. After all, Wicks came from Portland, so if we were going to get rid of him it would have been natural to send him back.
So is this a loan or is he cut from the team? I personally think he's better than Wicks, but I guess not by enough to carry his salary on the books. Saunders looks to me like a solid backup to Ricketts...assuming Ricketts is going to be a good keeper for us. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do.
seems clear that he's cut from the team. I have to believe that he'll end up somewhere in MLS before this season is over. The rosters are just too small to allow to keep someone on the roster and loan him out to another team.
SC still has bags of potential, but just needs to play everyday - and seeing how long it takes GKs to mature, he was really placed in the grinder with the 2008 defence in front of him .. .. Good guy who deserved better! Hope he plays every minute up there and he'll be back in MLS sooner than we all think .. .. GOOD LUCK STEVE!!
I thought that if we loan out a player they do not count against your numbers, isn't that what we did with Jordan (and those two defenders) last season? I would think it is like IR they are on the roster but do not count against your team roster numbers.
I'm pretty sure they count against your roster. Last year we had 10 dev slots so it was no big deal. If they didn't count against your roster you could just sign an extra 10 players and then loan them to the USL. It would be too easy to get around roster restrictions that way.
I think a move to Portland could be good for Cronin - steady playing time to help him with his decision making and a chance to gain some confidence in his play. I would guess that with the roster reduction and salary cap issues, having a backup keeper on $75k or so a year wasn't something Arena wanted. If we end up only keeping 2 keepers on the roster and have to choose between Wicks and Saunders, based on performances last season, I'd be more comfortable with Saunders. That said, he didn't look very good in the game Saturday night, so who knows how this will all shake out...
Unlike Wicks or Saunders, Cronin had almost the whole season to prove his ability yet he failed it over and over. I could not forget the game in DC when he was right in front of me and got the second goal in without doing anything. There were numerous debates in the past and I don't want to start this "Cronin sucks vs Cronin needs time" debate again. What's done is done. The guy is gone and I am not missing him. He's my least favorite player.As the last person in the defense, I want the goalie to be accountable and he's not. Look, I just stated my opinion. Don't jump on my throat because you don't like it. And don't get it personal.
SURELY you are not talking about the game from last June 29th? That was maybe Cronin's best game of the season! Yes, he conceded four goals, but I think DC had literally about 15 shots on target, and multiple one v. one chances. I remember the general consensus on these boards was that Cronin actually MOTM. If it wasn't for him we would have lost 8 or 9 to 1, easily. That game was the perfect example of our defense being to blame, not our goalkeeper. They (mostly Xavier, in one of his last games, I think) hung Cronin out to dry, time and time again. Just as Cannon was hung out to dry the previous year, and Wicks was later that season. The problem is our defense, not our GK's. Edit: I looked up the stats on the game recap. Cronin had NINE saves. That's ridiculous. Please tell me you were talking about a different DC vs. LA match.
Wicks sucks,Sounder so so,even Cannon had a chance but didn't take us to the p/o and I don't think he will take SJ to the p/o either Don't you think our D-men sucked big time. This year we have better D-men,things will change to better. Good luck Steve....
The last time we dumped a goalkeeper for salary reasons - Cannon - it didn't work out so well. Also, wasn't his contract renegotiated in January '09, possibly to a lower number? But I'm willing to believe there's more to this move than a salary dump, and Cronin must not be performing in practice if he can't beat out Wicks, or even Donovan Ricketts for that matter. Good luck to Steve & I hope Portland is good for him.
Right. We all upset when he went on to lead his new club to the playoffs.... Or did you mean it didn't work out so well for him, because SJE signed him to a new deal with a lower salary?
YUPEEE...thank you oh God...Christmas came early this year! That was the greatest news of the day; finally something positive out there....hopefully he can do these (and similiar of that sort) "tricks" in Portland now... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Iczxu83tMs"]YouTube - worst goalie ever[/ame]