Hamid played the same way this year as in the past. He isnt a good goalkeeper and makes for some of it with athleticism. He has the same issues that he always had. Those let him down at times resulting in unnecessary goals. He footwork isnt good, isnt set and prepared for shots, gets his angles wrong often, over commits, struggles on crosses, and has poor hands resulting in unnecessary rebounds. All of these can be seen in just two games from this season. He gave up 5 goals in games against Philly and NYRB and at least one issue is involved on each of them. The game against NYRB was rough like that one he had in Denmark or playing for the USMNT, accept this time there was no excuse about not playing. Having a horrible game every now and then is why people dont talk about Hamid. At the international level, his deficiencies would be exploited even more often.
But is he good enough for the CONCACAF level? I don't think anyone is championing him being no.1 but he's solid enough to be capable and be a viable no.3 or no.4 over the next cycle IMO.
Here's my problem with Hamid (and the same goes for any field player who falls in the same type of player category), I don't give a hoot if a player is ok to be a 3/4 team in CONCACAF. If they are not good enough to be a contributor to the full WC run then I much prefer any playing time they would get to younger unproven players that have some potential to be full contributors. It does the USMNT zero now or for the future to be plaiying Hamid. He isn't good enough for international play so give any minutes you think you might give him to up and comers. As far as I concerned we are set at GK for the near term. Its Steffen/Horvath followed by Guzan. No need to be looking for more short term help. Be looking to the future for the next star.
Why isn't he good enough for international play? He does better in MLS than players you are saying should be ahead of him on the depth chart?
No kidding. Right now we seem to have the two youngish guys that we're developing in Steffen and Horvath. After that its a completely open competition. [And I personally am not yet sure I know what Horvath is going to develop into.] We know Hamid isn't going to develop into Tim Howard. That's established. But can he develop into a guy that we're comfortable with should our top choices be unavailable? Surely. Kind of like a Nick Rimando in years gone by. All of the MLS vets have flaws. That's why they're in MLS and not bigger leagues in Europe. I mean, seriously..................Tyler Miller is in USMNT camp right now. I don't have any problem with Tyler Miller. But its not like he's gods gift to goalkeeping. Bill needs to re-ascend to the throne of best MLS goalkeeper next season. Let's not forget that he was top four in MLS goalkeeper of the year voting in three successive seasons from 2014 to 2016. Winning it in 2014. He was indeed one of the best MLS goalkeepers prior to his Euro adventure that didn't work out. If he's going to get back into USMNT contention he needs to re-establish himself in that pecking order. He's now 28, and that's prime years for a goalkeeper.
The very likely top 3 moving forward are Steffen, Horvath, Guzan. The two most promising options plus the experienced national teamer in the Rimando role. If those three are available for call-up, that will be the likely top 3 for Berhalter. That's not likely to change until Guzan doesn't start in MLS and/or retires from the national team. Who knows when that will be, it could be as late as after the 2022 World Cup, or as early as next year. Until then, he'll be included if he's available and fit. Eventually, that spot will be open for the taking, with Hamid as one of the candidates along with Johnson, Miller, Marcinkowski, Gonzalez, Bono, Yarbrough. Not clear who's the frontrunner, but if it's the case his feet are truly improved and combined with his known shot-stopping ability, I might be inclined to say Sean Johnson, who has been included in Berhalter's first camp. By then we'd also consider younger options in Klinsmann, Scott, Vom Steeg, perhaps even Las if they're playing for their first team. In any case, I feel quite confident in our group of keepers moving forward.
[QUOTE="ussoccer97531, post: 37390729, member: 214277"]Why isn't he good enough for international play? He does better in MLS than players you are saying should be ahead of him on the depth chart?[/QUOTE] Because he isn't a strong keeper and is too prone to major mistakes. You can disagree with that, its merely my opinion. When he has had but 6 caps in 6 years that tells the story. Yes I get we had Howard. Yes i get we had Guzan. Yes we had Rimando. Still he apparently hasn't been overly strong in the minds of the coaches of the MNT either.
Calling a keeper error-prone is a distraction from the topic. The best keepers are the least error prone and the worst keepers are the most error prone. Hamid is not error prone compared to other American keepers. Trying to appeal to authority doesn't help an argument against Hamid. He's done well in the majority of his caps, but you want to only remember an occasional error. Horvath is allowed an occasional error, but Hamid isn't. Why is there a double standard?
I figure Johnson will cover as a solid no.2 I do wonder why he hasn't had many more winter call-ups over the years. I don't follow MLS all that well, but how good is he compared to Hamid or Steffen or other top keepers in the league? I'm still pulling for Gonzalez to develop himself further along with Hamid (re-establishing himself) going back abroad.
Maybe having a new coach will jar Gonzalez from complacency but he likely needs to get away from home to take the next step. He also needs to light a fire under himself as he can go from on to off pretty easily between games and his distribution needs a lot of work. I'm encouraged by Johnson getting singled out by Berhalter for improvement in that regard as a possibility for any keeper who really puts in the work.
Yup, Berhalter highlighted Sean Johnson for putting in the work under Vieira to improve his feet and distribution, while he didn't really say anything about Miller and the others called in. Johnson is already well known as a shot-stopper. I haven't watched much of Johnson for NYCFC lately but my hunch says he's the very early leading candidate for non-Guzan #3 behind Steffen and Horvath.
A lot of times coaches want a player who knows their system early on and to also send messages to other players about what they need to do to get chosen. I would think any keeper not called in better work hard on their distribution.
Not sure how I can be more clear on my thinking. My OPINION is that Steffen/Horvath are #1/2 and Guzan is #3. I do not see Hamid as a future role more than depth. I would prefer to give any time in camp/friendlies/matches to younger guys up and coming than Hamid. If you think Hamid should get those minutes then fine. I just prefer to find the next great keeper and giving minutes to younger untested guys might find one. Shoot you have every right to think he should be the #1. Just not how I see it. I certainly don't think Hamid is bad by any stretch. I just don't see him as anything more than depth.
Building depth ain't bad. And he isn't so intremched in past managers that he's tainted (ala Howard). I kinda prefer we only use Guzan as an emergency. He's more than capable. But we have so many options as worthy no.3's. Hamid or Johnson or Gonzalez (eventually) or Bono or JK. All can duke it out for that ceremonial role. I wanna build forward with younger dudes.
It's been a topsy turvy 2018 for ole Hamid. Only 3 appearances in Denmark during the second half of last season. Has a horrid performance against Ireland that pretty much gave Steffen the opportunity to start (and excel) against France. Got the loan back to DC where he was among the best in the league again. Now, where does he go from here? He's loaned until the end of 2019. I kinda wonder how things might have been if he had gone to Frankfurt. Their no.1 left for Leverkusen last summer. They brought in a Danish keeper but then also brought in the former no.1 at PSG so either way Hamid would have been no.2 had he chosen Frankfurt. But the question is would he have gotten a few games in the BL season (like march or April) to showcase himself? And he chose the Danish club because he felt assured he'd be no.1 where he'd have been no.2 at Frankfurt until last summer.
I dont think that is an opinion many hold. Many coaches prefer to use the third spot on veteran. I dont necessarily agree, but when your top two are so young and inexperienced it makes more sense to me. January camps and friendlies where the top guys arent available are the best times to try out new guys. Johnson, Bono, and Miller are in camp and may get minutes. I personally think it is a waste of minutes as I dont think any of them are close to international quality. Depth doesnt do you anything for you if it isnt good enough.
Yup. Bill Hamid is only 28. Meaning in terms of a goalkeeper, he'd still be in his prime for 2022. He'll be in the mix if he EARNS the opportunity based on his play in MLS next season.
Have I been watching a different national team over the last 8 years? Since when does a US keeper need to have good feet and distribution (see Brad Guzan)? Is Berhalter planning on turning the team into a version of Man City or the Brazilian National Team? Don't need good feet to clear the ball to midfield.
At the least, I do think a US keeper needs to have better feet and distribution than Guzan. And I think that was true 8 years ago too. If for no other reason than you need good enough feet to consistently clear the ball to midfield and not have it come right back your way immediately in the form of a goalscoring opportunity
You kick it to midfield and it comes right back for a scoring opportunity, it has nothing to do with the keeper. In that case, at least half of your field players have their heads up their hineys.
None of the keepers currently in contention for NT are any better than average with their feet. We heard for years how good Rimando was with his feet, but he wasn't. He was above-average with his feet. Great compared to most US keepers, but that isn't a high bar. We have some keepers in the youth teams who are good with their feet, so maybe some of them will emerge for the NT.
Howard also spoke highly about new U.S. No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who will join Premier League champions Manchester City in July. "I think he has the physical tools, he's shown that, he's still very young, and he's growing and only going to get better. "When you go over to Europe, and we all dream of doing that and playing in the Premier League and all that, but you have to be careful what you wish for because there are some dark days. Myself and Kasey [Keller] and Brad [Friedel] and Brad [Guzan] all lived those and we came out the other side better for it. "The question for him will be can he handle the mental side of that. From all accounts, and from people around him that I know, he's in a really good place and he's ready to tackle the challenge." Steffen will be part of new U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter's first training camp, which opens Sunday, while Pulisic will remain in Germany with title hopefuls Dortmund, who return to action Jan. 19 at RB Leipzig.