It's been hard to watch Horvath and now Hamid play absolutely horribly. Hamid may have actually been worse. Guess we ride with Steffan unless someone else emerges. I'm fine with crossing fingers and hoping he steps up internationally and plays as strongly as he does in MLS, but I do miss the days of having multiple goalies playing and starting in big leagues all around the world. Last failed WC cycle was the first where I feel we can definitively say the US did not have the best goalies in CONCACAF. Looks like that trend is likely to continue for a while. Would be nice to see Steffan go abroad as long as he can actually get playing time.
He was absolutely atrocious. Damn shame too. I pray it was rust but I can’t remember seeing a pro goalkeeper play that badly. The shame is that both Hamid and Horvath problem is mentality and not ability.
How the hell did we get ourselves in the predicament where we project to have a really solid team, except there is zero hope in goal. Think about it.... RB Newcastle United RB Eintracht Frankfurt RB Levante CB Tottenham Hotspur CB Chelsea CB Manchester City CB Wolfsburg LB Everton CM Schalke CM Red Bull Leipzig??? CM Chelsea CM Benfica RW Paris SG FW Werder Bremen CF Borussia Dortmund GK ????
Yeah, it suddenly looks like one of our weakest positions. I remember when we all thought it was the one position we never had to worry about..... insert some gobbledygook about how Americans use their hands so of course we have great goalies all the time... Now, not so much.
Not on topic for the thread, but when I saw the roster release for these games with the game affiliations, it kind of made me do a double-take. If you took away the player names, the clubs made look like it could be Belgium's roster or something. Of course, most of our guys on the books at the biggest clubs won't end up there, but it made me feel optimistic that better times are on the horizon, and maybe sooner than we think. Of course, then I actually watched the Ireland game, and that put a bit of a damper on things.
American goalkeepers are great shot-stoppers, generally. They're shit with their feet though, which makes them lousy goalkeepers in the modern game.
I hear ya, but to be honest, I wasn’t too dismayed by the Ireland match. Ireland is still a competitive squad and this is a new group, without a real coach, and away. To me, the real test is the rebound from adversity.
I wanna blame Bradley and JK (especially JK) for not giving the younger guys much looks beyond winter friendlies. Hamid should have had double his caps by the time he finally left MLS. Though a lot of that was due to his injuries at the worst possible time. He trialed with several PL clubs.
I recall some years ago that Hamid and Sean Johnson were potential future no.1's Our guys need to go abroad. They can't be spending 5-8 years in MLS. 3 years should be Max for those who have the talent.
For my current hypothetical 2022 World Cup squad, just three current MLS field players (Adams, Durkin, Carleton -- all of who could well be in Europe by then) make it of the 20 field players. Carleton made it due to his potential as a #10 but just barely squeezed in. And I had to leave off a lot of foreign-based players who I don't dislike including Taitague (yeah, it's shocking to leave him off, but when you have Pulisic, Weah, Amon, and de la Fuente on the wings with Saief as veteran depth...), Novakovich, Hyndman, Gall, Moore, Olosunde, Fossey, Green, Zelalem, K. Scott, and more; any of them could move up. There were obviously young MLS field players I left off who I like as well, but I included just three on the final roster, and I felt it was pretty fair. Meanwhile, two of the three keepers I have selected are currently in MLS, and it could have easily been all three.
RB Newcastle United --> yep. RB Eintracht Frankfurt --> rotation guy since early March. RB Levante --> actually Levante in 4th division. CB Tottenham Hotspur --> actually, Championship player. CB Chelsea --> top 6 Eredivisie, so it's ok. CB Manchester City --> mid-table Belgian league. CB Wolfsburg--> injured, always injured. LB Everton --> Championship relegation fodder. CM Schalke --> yep, may have earned starting spot too. CM Red Bull Leipzig --> not yet. CM Chelsea--> really? CM Benfica --> actually, Benfica B in the 2nd division. RW Paris SG --> they couldn't find a pic of him for the one game he started. FW Werder Bremen --> injured, always injured. CF Borussia Dortmund--> yep, still there. GK Horvath Brugge --> Got three starts in the Championship Playoff, not too shabby. Still, I don't trust him. So he's more or less in synch with the rest, when we're honest.
We should have worried about keepers 2 years ago. That's when we hit the bottom. Now we have 5-6 serviceable keepers in MLS. This isn't the weakest position anymore.
I would guess because very few play abroad now. And the 2 that do havent played as much as was hoped. So, we need proper challengers to keep everyone sharp.
There are a lot of folks really high on Brady Scott of Cologne in Germany. He's probably the starter for our U20 World Cup team, and is probably going to be in contention for our U23 Olympic team. Its rare that we've had an Olympic team with as wide open of a competition in goal as the current 2020 squad. Steffen is too old. So......................... Last cycle there were some real problem positions as we entered qualifying. The dearth of talent in those positions had consequences for the full national team years down the line. For instance, it was a really thin U23 team in terms of forwards. After Jordan Morris it was slim pickins. So while there are some options, a thin pool at keeper is a problem. There are other positions like CB and CM that are deep this time.
https://www.everybodysoccer.com/eve.../2015/8/15/bill-hamid-outsanding-or-overrated Some of the stuff in this article are still happening to Hamid. He just has not gotten better at his deficiencies in a way that inspires confidence. It's not rust, that's who Bill Hamid is. Great saves at times, boneheaded mental errors and poor technical problems at others. I think we have a pretty clear top 5 for now that can change as we move forward in the short term Steffen Melia Bono Guzan Horvath Then a drop to the next tier, and young players trying to prove themselves. It will be interesting to see who cracks the top 5 over the next year. I really believe the gk position is as open as it has been in a while. Some good prospects, some veterans trying to break in. Going to be fun to watch and since theres no real games for a while, perfect time to find out what they have.
There's Jonathan Klinsmann too, although his last game played in the Regionalliga (4th division) was in March 25th (@ Nordhausen, 2-2) and since then is reported with a shoulder injury. He had a ligament injury last summer that took him out until the middle of October, so this season he's only played 10 games for Hertha II and the game vs. Östersund in the Europa --only game for the main team, of course by then Hertha was already eliminated. So, not very promising, and he seems injury-prone.
Lastly, those five shutouts in May gave Steffen a league-leading seven shutouts in 13 starts this season. Well done, @zackstef_23! 💪 pic.twitter.com/I69G2P7srt— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 6, 2018
Can we all agree that our best goalkeepers need to be playing abroad. And need to be starting for their clubs abroad. 10 years ago, we had 4 starting keepers in the PL. Seems like forever ago and doesn't ever seem likely again for us. Our boys need to be challenging themselves.
That error was rust. Arguing otherwise is pretty laughable, but I get it. There are some of you who dislike Hamid and this is your moment. If you want to go after Hamid with any degree of seriousness, make the point when he's played more than once per month the last 9 months.
I think it speaks poorly of Hamid that he hasn't been able to crack the Midtyjlland lineup, and I've always liked Hamid.
When was he given a chance? The starter played so well this season he nearly made the Denmark WC team. All of the keepers Denmark took to the WC would start for us. Regardless, I just think it makes little sense to further a narrative when a player is clearly out of form because of a lack of games. Blame Sarachan if you want for calling in Hamid, but drawing serious conclusions or furthering narratives about what Hamid can do in regular form during a time he's clearly out of form is irrational, IMO.