This is a good summary of how he did. Excellent first half with some very good saves (one I'm not sure Guzan would have made), worse second half with two bad mistakes (the article mentions only one of them) that could have easily led to goals; they both hit the frame. Outside of those mistakes he did seem to command the box well, as the article talks about. I think at this point, in Klinsmann's mind, Horvath has usurped Rimando and others to be the third GK for the US. http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2016/10/7/13205640/usa-cuba-2016-ethan-horvath-debut
ESPN FC gave him an 8/10, which I think is a bit high: http://www.espnfc.com/team/united-s...ath-star-as-united-states-edge-cuba-in-havana MLS gave him a 6.5/10, which I think is more fair with his two mistakes: http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/...ngs-julian-green-among-standouts-cuba-victory Not perfect, but good signs overall. Good shot-stopping, aggressive aerially, and good distribution. As one of the comments in the ESPN article says, he bailed the defense out a few times in the first half. He had only one or two long goal kicks (I think) the entire match and the rest were short kicks or throws. Some of his throws were decently far and they were all spot on.
Those two shots that hit frame, especially the second, were predominantly on the backline not him. He played well. Had some impressive saves. His distribution was good. Commanded the the box well and wasn't afraid to yell at his backline. Having said all that it's hard to take away much from this game. I haven't seen such a disinterested display by a team since we put up 5 on Scotland during their vacation.
I thought he repeatedly looked tentative on balls in the box. There were the two balls off the frame where he was beaten. I know there was at least one other where I thought he was beaten pretty clean, but the shot missed wide. I remember one diving save, but even on that I felt like he committed earlier than a top goalie would've and was a bit lucky the attacker shot it into his dive. No complaints about his distribution. No expert on goalkeeping here and I haven't re-watched the match, just my impressions watching it live. A 6/6.5 out of 10 feels a lot closer to what I saw than an 8 out of 10.
Looked good to me for the most part. It is not easy to just come in as a newbie and take command of players you have barely played with before. I think he will be fine.
i thought he was pretty good. i agree both shots off the post were due to defensive breakdowns, but theres two sides to that- on the one hand thats what your keeper is for, and on the other a shot off the post isnt a goal . almost a goal isnt a goal, a clean sheet is a clean sheet. i think criticizing his play (on this ridiculous pitch in this ridiculous game) is just trying too hard to find something to criticize. i thought his distribution was really good- got rid of the ball quick, usually a short roll right onto a defender/bradleys foot. our keepers tend to give away possession playing long so i liked that part of his game.
Watching some of the replays, I think fair to say the defense was primarily at fault on those two plays that Cuba hit the post. The first one, Horvath's reaction with his left foot was a tad late, but Johnson and Birnbaum were not really even trying to defend on that play (I sympathize with them, the whole match was a joke) and Cuba wouldn't have gotten a shot off if the defenders had taken things seriously. The second one, Horvath should have been more aggressive aerially, but Chandler wasn't defending. All in all, Horvath did pretty well under the circumstances. He will likely be our third keeper for the rest of this 2018 WC cycle, and eventually might become second depending on what Howard chooses with his future (I do hope Howard chooses to stay through '18).
I thought he was okay for a younger player, he did have some predictable jittery moments, this is the perfect sort of game to break him in though. Hes our best chance at a GK that can at least hold Howard, Keller, or Friedel's jock strap if he develops correctly. He could become a "safe" bet.
I thought he showed potential, but needs more seasoning/experience. It is consistent to what I've thought when seeing with Molde. He had three plays that give me concern. The shot that went wide to the right went under his hands, weird play where he dove to his right and shot went off knee into hand, the far post cross that he wasn't aware of attacker. I think the two from first half were a combo of nerves and field. There is no excuse for not knowing that attacker was there on the cross. He's going to want to jump to a to8gher league after another year or two.
I think he did all right; it was the right type of game to break in to the national team. A worrying mistake he made was when he & a Cuban player went up for a ball at the far post. It looked like he backed off - either from the contact or thought he couldn't get the ball, not sure which. However, he could have punched it if he'd kept coming. The Cuban had a free header because he stopped. I thought his distribution was very good. Funny how he could roll it out to players just fine, but we couldn't play a passing game because of the field?
I'm in agreement with the plurality here, it seems. Pretty good first half, jittery second half, good distribution.
our no3 has arrived though I'd peg him as a no2 come the World Cup. I don't see Howard joining our squad unless he's a no3 and I'd prefer Hamid or someone else brought instead.
Howard is my #1 right now. Time is against him, but Guzan isn't in a great spot to get his form back, and am not sure a year in a half for any of the other guys to raise their game.
Hamid is finally getting a look for NZ. I don't see Jurgen straying from Howard/Guzan for Mexico and Costa Rica, but Hamid is our best keeper at the moment IMO. If he gets a fair shot and stays healthy (both huge ifs), he's our #1 come next March or so.
Agreed with multiple comments -- Howard is still our #1 right now (IMO), will almost certainly start at least one of the upcoming Hex matches, but it's far from a guarantee he'll be on the WC squad come 2018 at age 39. Whoever Klinsmann chooses to start vs. New Zealand might be an indicator of who'll go with Guzan and Horvath to Russia if Howard isn't fit by then.
Too many issues with his game right now. He has some great aspects to his game and a lot of potential, but I'd take Howard over him in an international game we need to win in the next 6 months.
what issues? Howard is great for the near now but we need Hamid and others to fully stake their claim. Howard is already too old.
If you are good enough, you are young enough. Some times the experience is more valuable than the physical decline. It will be interesting in Tim's case as he has always relied on his. He makes too many mistakes. Search for some of my posts in threads where an individual is claiming he hasn't gotten looks unfairly (probably the MLS flavor thread). The things I've noticed are that his hands aren't great, his angles can be off, isn't always set for shots, and he goes to ground too easy/over commits. It is possible he cleans some of it up with experience at higher levels but not sure. Here's 3 games from last month. I'd say at least he should have done better on at least 4 of the 7 goals. He had some great saves, but that doesn't make up for the soft ones you let in. http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/01/highlights-new-york-city-fc-3-2-d-c-united http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/11/highlights-new-york-red-bulls-2-2-dc-united http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/16/highlights-chicago-fire-2-2-d-c-united
Dude needs to find himself a move this winter. Belgium or Netherlands. Though if a 2 Bundesliga comes calling, he shouldn't turn it down.
I haven't had a chance to see him play in-game other than the Cuba game, where I'd generally agree with the reviews here. What concerns me is what I've seen of him in the videos the USMNT has posted of keeper workouts - every one is the same to my eye: definitely the best of the three with the ball at his feet, but his shot-stopping is by far the worst of the three. If you're boxing around balls in basic workouts that doesn't tend to mean that you're going to be sticky-fingered when the shots have some anger behind them. I know the new mantra for keepers (see Pep and Joe Hart) is that they must be able to play the ball at their feet very well, but if they're giving up rebounds on shots they should be catching cleanly there's no amount of ball at foot skill that can make up for that. What's odd is usually what I've seen from keepers is that they have almost naturally soft but strong hands and then develop the foot skills later; it'll be interesting to see if Horvath can develop the hand skills to match his foot skills. For the record (IMO), you can contrast that with Howard - it looks like he's catching a pillow, there's no stress or strain in catching and holding the ball, almost like watching baseball players catch a casual throw. But equally so Howard's skills with the ball at his feet are passable at best - sometimes it looks like he's fighting the ball off. As for commanding the box and coordinating a defense, I think he did far, far better in the second half. He certainly doesn't have the command, control, and experience that Howard does, but there's no way he could at his age. A related thought: you never know from our position how much of a defensive breakdown is also related to bad or lacking direction from the keeper. If the defense is working the way he wants and there's a breakdown or if he doesn't give the needed communication that's on the keeper; if the defense ignores him then there's not much he can do about it. I'm sure some of this sounds harsh, but hey if you're going to have standards they should be high eh?
A little late for me to toot my own horn, but I'm happy for Ethan Horvath that I was able to forecast which league he may end up in. U.S. goalkeeper Ethan Horvath seals move to Belgian champ Club Brugge Club Brugge are arguably the 2nd-most successful club in Belgium, so good for Horvath. The great thing about playing in Belgium, relative to norway, is that the Belgian league gets 2 Champions League slots. The Belgian winner automatically goes to the group stage, the runner-up in the 5th round. The Norwegian league winner plays in the 2nd round, which means they have to survive 3 round to even get the chance to play in the 5th. Same thing for the Europa league - the Belgian cup winner automatically qualifies in the group stage, while the Norwegian cup winner has to survive 3 rounds to even qualify for the group stage. Horvath now has the access and visibility of playing in a bigger stage, and I hope he succeeds.