Knave
26 Sep 2003, 03:56 AM
I'd never seen Doug Warren play before tonight. But what I saw tonight was damned impressive. I didn't know what to expect from him when Rimando had to come out and I'll admit that I was a tad nervous when he took over at goal. That nervousness faded quickly, however.
As is known, I've never been totally comfortable with Rimando in goal. There's something about his style of play that always makes me feel like disaster is looming around the corner. That's not to say he's a bad keeper, just that for some reason he makes me uneasy. I like a keeper who inspires trust. Garlick did that back in the day.
When I saw Warren tonight I thought to myself, there's a keeper who I might grow to trust. There's something about his whole manner of play that I really liked. He's so calm and poised. His style of play is deliberate and measured but then he's also capable of outstanding Howard-esque reaction saves like the one block he made with his foot. Sure, he had a bad distribution or two but that you can work on. But his demeanor. That calm confidence, that's what I like to see from the guy in goal.
Indeed, I thought his time in goal was even more remarkable when you consider the tough situation he was in. The starting keeper goes down injured. You're playing away from home against the team's biggest rival and you're ahead and needing to preserve a lead. I couldn't believe it though, none of that seemed to phase Warren. He didn't look nervous at all. He was totally cool and calm. Indeed, it was he that slowed things down and brought the team back to order after the near chaos right after he came in. I don't know what else to say but that I'm damned impressed.
It's never a good thing to lose your starting keeper. But if Rimando is going to miss who know how many games then I'm glad we've got someone like Warren to step into the job. Judging by his performance tonight he looks up to the task. And what's more he looks like a keeper that I could come to trust and that's a pretty rare thing.
As is known, I've never been totally comfortable with Rimando in goal. There's something about his style of play that always makes me feel like disaster is looming around the corner. That's not to say he's a bad keeper, just that for some reason he makes me uneasy. I like a keeper who inspires trust. Garlick did that back in the day.
When I saw Warren tonight I thought to myself, there's a keeper who I might grow to trust. There's something about his whole manner of play that I really liked. He's so calm and poised. His style of play is deliberate and measured but then he's also capable of outstanding Howard-esque reaction saves like the one block he made with his foot. Sure, he had a bad distribution or two but that you can work on. But his demeanor. That calm confidence, that's what I like to see from the guy in goal.
Indeed, I thought his time in goal was even more remarkable when you consider the tough situation he was in. The starting keeper goes down injured. You're playing away from home against the team's biggest rival and you're ahead and needing to preserve a lead. I couldn't believe it though, none of that seemed to phase Warren. He didn't look nervous at all. He was totally cool and calm. Indeed, it was he that slowed things down and brought the team back to order after the near chaos right after he came in. I don't know what else to say but that I'm damned impressed.
It's never a good thing to lose your starting keeper. But if Rimando is going to miss who know how many games then I'm glad we've got someone like Warren to step into the job. Judging by his performance tonight he looks up to the task. And what's more he looks like a keeper that I could come to trust and that's a pretty rare thing.