We have two really well thought of young keepers on the U17 World Cup team. Las at Fulham (formerly of the Chicago Fire academy) and Odunze of Leicester (formerly of the Whitecaps academy). Two names to keep an eye out for. We've had a couple of "down" youth cycles in a row in terms of youth keepers. That's resulted in a pretty weak group overall for the U23s as they approach Olympic qualifying. Hopefully we're picking up the pace again with these two. 1183779673425285122 is not a valid tweet id
We never had a keeper with ceiling as high as Odunze. Yes, including big 3. How come he's chosen soccer is a mystery. He is NBA level athlete. Fast 6'7" small forward with a huge wingspan and great reflexes. How close he gets to his ceiling is a question as with the most 16 years olds. Little boys next to him are Gio and Pepe.
we had one with incredible upside that flatlined hard that was close to that youth upside; that was Dom Cervi. I hope this kid is the total opposite of Cervi
positioning, flailing on corners, lack of communication with his back line, and fumbles o'brien. Its more like what wasnt wrong
I'd encourage you to go look at the average height of MLS's most played goalkeepers. We have tall goalkeepers through the pipeline every year. No correlation with height and success to be found.
Thank you for the advice. I can, probably, tell the height of every American professional keeper that played in the last 20 years. There are plenty of tall stiffs here and everywhere. This kid has quickness and reflexes of 6'0" keeper. Watch his clips, check the first PK that he stopped.
Yeah, you know, those tall gks like Nick Rimando, Jon Busch, Matt Reis, Tony Meola, Luis Robles, Evan Bush, Dan Kennedy, etc. etc. I've watched the highlights. Some nice saves and wishing him the best but if you look at the top goalkeepers in the world and compare them to our college system, we have faster, quicker, and more explosive gks than what David de Gea and Marc ter Stegen have to offer. Athleticism is not something US gks were ever short on yet we've hit a standstill in our developmental. So to say we've never had a gk with a ceiling as high as Odunze... I mean... very hard to take seriously after that. Feels very out of touch.
Why are we supposed to put weight in an award that never recognized the league's greatest goalkeeper even just once? pic.twitter.com/EsmKJrmraQ— Everybody Soccer (@letsallsoccer) October 15, 2019
I am personal friends with him and better friends with his brother. He wasn't pure hype, he was legit good. However, there are a TON of legit good players that aren't cut out for professional soccer. It sounds like a trope but he didn't like the weather and the women in Scotland so he tried to move to Spain but it didn't work out. The grind and pressure to perform made him hate soccer and he moved back to the states with a significant (mid-six figures) salary offer from LA Galaxy and declined to go back to school and get into business. He seems pretty happy with his decision though I know his family wanted him to give LAG a try.
So you know it better probably. Has he ever played anywhere? I mean anywhere besides Oklahoma college team? And of course I don't buy mid six figures from Galaxy. There wasn't anything close to that in MLS period. Not for the guy who never played. https://extras.mnginteractive.com/l...ober 1, 2012 Salary Information - By Club.pdf
The only full pro games he played, as far as I know, were the 10 or so appearances he made for Celtic where he didn't exactly cover himself in glory. As you said, he had some bad bobbles, didn't communicate well, and generally looked fairly shaky. However, he was still pretty highly thought of when he left and did have some other decent offers when his contract ran out. He had shown well on the reserve teams and was young enough that many still wanted to take a chance on him. Regarding the Galaxy thing, this is from memory but I believe that was the year they lost Donovan Ricketts without an apparent successor and they still had Beckham, Keane, and Donovan and all the expectations that came with it. LAG was shelling out some serious cash in those days and I can assure you the offer he had in hand was in the six figures with incentives on top of it that could have made him the highest-paid keeper in MLS. It does seem crazy, especially after seeing the list you provided, but the number I know would have put him right in line with the top keepers of that era.
Six figures possible, mid six figures isn't. Although Galaxy thought that anybody could play in goal.
Explaining for those who don't understand. With everything else equal big keeper is better than a small one. Usually smaller guys are quicker and have better reflexes. To find a big guy with reflexes of a small one is very difficult, especially here where those guys are aiming for NBA. Whether you take seriously isn't my concern.
As we figured out he never played for Celtic. Had 7 appearances for a team from the second league in Scotland.
Steffen not going to be the pass out of the back keeper. I will be honest and I don't want any of our top 5 keepers if you say Johnson, Hamid, Horvath, Guzan, or Steffen are the top 5, taking and playing with their feet. Its very interesting to see if Gregg will alter his approach to suit Steffen who is a good stopper, and allow more of a possession after a longer goal kick or still try to force it on him. If it was his club coach, I think over time with consistent coaching it would sink in, but Im not sure there is enough time to get it in at the NT level as he continues to develop.
Even the top GK's in the world struggle adapting to the playing out of the back modern day fascination coaches have. Yeah, some get it, but the are also practicing day in and out doing so with their clubs (key word.) A National team coach is asinine forcing a keeper to do so, unless they do so with their clubs and have established that comfort level.
Maaaaybe he would have counted as a DP and someone was just willing to foot the bill then? Idk just trying to think of possibilities on this one. Also maybe six figures was spread out over X number of years?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...to-mannone-voted-allstate-mls-goalkeeper-year Hamid comes in 2nd.