I can only really count the NT games I saw. But did Keller ever have a NT appearance as good as any of Howard's WC games (like against England/Belgium)?
Considering the state of the club and the fact that we are going to start with long stretch of road games to start the season it makes sense for him to leave after this deal is up. Bill is my guy but if he gets an opportunity he needs to seriously consider it.
Keller had, perhaps, the greatest goalkeeping single match display ever by a USA player. http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...ey-keller-reflects-on-1998-win-against-brazil This is distinct, of course, from his overall career, where I would rank him third, behind Freidel and Howard. Here is a good list of the outstanding single match performances by a USA keeper. This site lists Brad Freidel's match against South Korea in WC '02 as the Number 1. http://www.everybodysoccer.com/even-the-goalkeepers-like-to/top-10-usmnt-goalkeeper-performances
Hamid only has 3 caps right? But he's trained a few times with Everton and West Brom. I do wonder how a move to the PL might work. Or if he might go for Spain or Germany.
I was thinking pretty much along the same lines. Keller never had epic WC performances like Friedel and Howard. Keller's version of Friedel's '02 Korea game or Howard's '14 Belgium game was that GC game against Brazil. So, that puts Keller behind the other two for me. He might have been just as good as Friedel in '02, but he didn't get the chance to prove it.
Keller had some epic WCQing performances.......................... If we're talking just the world cup, the Friedel in 2002 and Howard in 2014 are top of that list for me. Another thing about Keller. Most folks didn't see AT ALL what he was like in his prime. His best years were probably at Leicester and Rayo Vallecano. [Even prior to that, way back in 1992, he was playing in the Premier League with Millwall. One of the first players US-born players to play in the Premier League.] HIs coach at Rayo was Juande Ramos, who'd go on to coach clubs like Real Madrid. Those of us around at the time recall that reviews of Kasey's performances were so good there that he started getting connected to "big" clubs around Europe. Nobody really saw the games, though. He did move from there to Spurs. When Keller played for the USMNT in the 2006 World Cup..................he was already ~37 years old. So I think there's a younger generation of fans that only knows that older Kasey Keller, and have no idea about his play in his prime late 20's/early 30s. You know you're old if you remember watching Kasey Keller games in which he had hair. Nice hair, too. In terms of sheer talent I put Keller behind Howard/Friedel...................but the gap isn't as great as some on these boards make it out to be. He was an outstanding keeper that plied his trade in the Premier League, Bundesliga, and La Liga.
I'm sure @ChuckMe92 is well aware of him, but most others may not be. Damian Las ('02) is becoming a really big name quickly. There are tons of good keepers in the US system, but at 15, Las might already be the best goalie prospect we have. He just turned 15, but he plays like he's 20, looks like it, acts it on the field with his leadership, as well. I can't find his exact height, but he must be like 6'2 or 6'3 by now. He's a real force in the air. Most keepers his age struggle when challenged on a corner kick or free kick, he looks like a 15 year pro plucking them out of the air easily. He possesses very good reflexes as well, I've seen him make some incredible saves. He is okay with his feet for a goalie, not Garces with his feet, but he's not a liability in that area. Maybe the most impressive part of his game is the lack of mistakes. Probably every American player in his age group is guilty of numerous mistakes playing positions where players usually mature a lot earlier, yet IMO the current best and most mistake-free '02 in our player pool right now is a keeper, which speaks to how advanced Las is. For example, Justin Garces the current U-17 starting keeper was like a fringe player in his age group with huge mistake potential at this time two years ago, yet he's made some great improvements to become a much better keeper now and one of the best prospects in his age group of any position. Thats a normal progression for a young keeper, which makes it so incredible that Las is this mistake-free having just turned 15. He's still way too young to factor in anywhere for the NT, but within 5 years? Might be a possibility. Las recently was named the keeper of the year in the U-16 DA Central Conference as one of the youngest players in the league, playing mostly against players a year and two years older than him. @ChuckMe92 has noted that he has trained at Barcelona before, and its also been noted that he might have access to an EU passport, which could have him moving to Europe within the next year.
Damian's father, Jozef Las, has a Twitter account. Based on certain accounts Jozef follows, not to mention his first name, it's a good guess that Jozef may be from Poland and thus Damian may well have access to an EU passport. Not saying he's going to be the next Gianluigi Donnarumma or Alban Lafont, but yeah, you have to wonder how it may not be too far away before he goes pro. He's currently #3 among all players in the 2020 class by TDS's judgment, only behind uber-talents Efrain Alvarez and George Bello. https://twitter.com/las_jozef
Watched some videos. Very good kid. Agile, good feet. I don't think he is 6'2. Probably 5'11"- 6'0". #15 must be Reyna and they are about the same height.
Here's a different picture. U-15 #USBNT XI vs Russia: Scally, Judge, Nielsen, Bello, Stroud, Atencio, Fuentes, Reyna, Ocampo Chávez, Mangarov.https://t.co/cj8xrX2UKf pic.twitter.com/s8bISQxam5— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) April 26, 2017 #4, 13 and 17 are all listed at 5'11 by US Soccer, #25 is listed at 5'10, he has at least a few inches on all of them, and I'd say that these listed heights are probably off, given they aren't from this year. Regardless, we don't need to argue over his height, its certainly not a problem, he's the tallest player in his US Soccer age group for the most recent tournament, so unless every player has a height problem, he does not.
US U-20 goalkeeper Brady Scott will be on FC Köln first team roster for its German Cup match on Saturday vs Lehrer— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) August 10, 2017 He just joined Cologne about a month ago.
Also just turned 18 about a month ago. Very impressive how quickly he's rising at Cologne. He's not overtaking Timo Horn, but when Horn likely goes to play for a bigger club, it would seem like their plan is to give over the reigns to Scott. Why else would you go so far out of your way to give an 18 year old such a high spot in the pecking orders? They have tons of other options.
Absolutely, and in fact I had been re reading my post that you quoted and wondering if I shouldn't have put Friedel as T1 for Yanks play alone based purely on the 2002 WC, even if his overall body of work for the US wasn't as impressive as Howard's has been
I think Howard suffers a little from a bias against "recency." Friedel was in nets for significantly fewer USMNT wins that the other two. Half basically. Howard 61 Keller 53 Meola 37 Guzan 30 Friedel 27 Yes, Friedel's performance in the nets for WC02 was massive. Can't underestimate that. However, one can argue that Howard's performance was just as impressive in 14. He just didn't save the penalties. And when it comes to other important events for the USMNT............WCQing, Gold Cup, Confed Cup, Copa America............Friedel is a distant 3rd. Maybe even 4th behind Guzan. I think folks completely gloss over some of Guzan's great performances for the USMNT. Who was in goal for the critical 2014 WCQers against Costa Rica (Snow Bowl) and at the Azteca? Who was in goal for the Copa Centenario wins against Paraguay, Costa Rica, and Ecuador? That list goes on. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about talent or overall club/country careers. Friedel has an argument for #1 in terms of talent.
One could ask why didn't Friedel play for a bigger club in the PL? though he did play for Liverpool when he finally got to England, he just didn't last very long. Had Spurs not gotten Lloris, he may have started until he retired in 2015.
I'm not sure if Bernd Leno (seems somewhat mistake-prone with Leverkusen, and he was particularly poor against Australia in the Confed Cup) and Kevin Trapp (has not been a full-time starter at PSG) are German national team material. They are obviously good goalkeepers by a normal standard, but it's questionable whether they meet the very high German national team standard. Statistically, Horn has been better than both of them, and he's younger. I'd hope he can surpass both of them soon and be one of the top few DFB keepers moving forward, leading to more attention, and hopefully a transfer out of Cologne to a bigger side, opening an opportunity for Scott.
In Friedel's prime years it was a question that was asked a lot. There were a lot of rumors about moves to "huge clubs" like Arsenal but they never seemed to be particularly serious. However, its worth noting that the Blackburn of the mid 2000s was a different team than the Blackburn that's been around since. When Friedel was there they were a top half Premier League side for most of the time, finishing 6th in 02-03. That was right in Friedel's peak after the 02WC. They were ambitious, thinking about returning to former glory as they'd won a Premier League title in the 90s. And newer fans may not realize what a huge club Aston Villa is. The biggest club in the 2nd biggest city in the UK. At the time, under Martin O'Neill, they were an ambitious club. They finished 6th in 08-09 and 09-10. They were playing in Europe, and did have ambitions to return to former glory days. [They of course won the Champions League under Alex Ferguson.] When Briedel was at Blackburn and Villa in those days................................he was playing at a more successful club than say Beasley and Reyna were when they played at Manchester City. England is so frickin' topsy-turvy. "Big" clubs are competing in Europe in one season and only 5 years later they're in the third tier. So the definition of big clubs in England seems to change quite a lot. An example? Leeds. Leeds were a big, big, big club. In the early 2000s they were in Europe 5 years in a row. There in the semifinals of the Champions League as recently as 2000. This was a top 5 club in the premier league year after year after year. 5 years later they spent three years in a row in League One. That's how quickly the definition of a "big" club can change. When I think of Eddie Lewis at Leeds (The Beckham of Dairy Valley!), I think I view that differently than newer fans. To me Leeds is a big club. Its a much, much bigger club than Fulham.
Oh, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking. I actually do know what I was thinking and its embarrasing................... I was thinking about Ferguson's success in 1982 at Aberdeen when they beat Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, etc to win the European Cup Winner's Cup. [Or whatever it was called.] Pffffffft. So I confused Aston Villa and Aberdeen in my head................... Anyway, the point about Aston Villa being a "big club" stands.
How do you view it "differently"? I would think both new and old fans alike would understand he was a decent Championship level player playing on a mediocre Championship club (one that went on to get relegated in his last season there). Seriously, what does the club's past have to do with how one views a players tenure there?
A younger fan who only knows Leeds as mismanaged League 1/Championship team would view them differently than somebody who remembers watching them play in the semifinals of the Champions League with a pretty damn stacked roster. So Eddie went there during their decline (and past his prime, which was at PNE), but to me they were still a "big club." Anyway, my point was that younger fans might view Friedel's time at Blackburn/Villa as work at middling clubs based on their current status. When he was there, they were often top half teams...............................maybe equivalent to today's Everton or Southampton. Teams that were quite often fighting at that 5th-7th place level. Not only did Friedel win the League Cup with Blackburn in the early 2002, he was named Man of the Match in the game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Hardaker_Trophy That 2002-2003 stretch for Brad Friedel is probably the best overall performance level by a USMNTer for both club & country regardless of position. He was named to the PFA Team of the Season as well.................
Eh, leaving aside the fact that when LouisianaViking* was talking about "big" clubs he was clearly talking about teams fighting for league titles/CL spots, I still fail to see how Eddie Lewis' situation is in any way comparable to Friedel's. *I remain shocked at how many people respond to this particular posters queries, which usually could be answered by him/her with a simple google search.
Friedel does seem to have indeed a high ranking/regard for someone who wasn't starting for a CL club during this period