3:21 PM - 8 Dec 2014 · Details " data-you-follow="true" data-you-block="false" style="position: relative; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 232, 237); cursor: pointer; background-color: rgb(245, 248, 250);"> Ives Galarcep @SoccerByIves 1m1 minute ago Confirming the Washington Post report, Zack Steffen is closing in on deal to sign with Bundesliga side Freiburg. 0 replies0 retweets0 favorites Reply Retweet Favorite More
I haven't seen too much of him. For those who have seen him, does he have the potential to be a fixture in Europe? (like Howard and Guzan?)
Awesome, good to hear. Always great having legit keepers coming up in the pipeline. Will be interesting to see who takes the mantle from Howard/Guzan. Not convinced any of the current MLS options are the answer.
543419951701561346 is not a valid tweet id http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=209805788
Part of USMNT U20 squad to train in Honduras: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2014/12/12/11/56/141212-u20mnt-honduras-camp-roster
Ives interview at Goal.com: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/66/u...teffen-set-for-european-journey?ICID=HP_FA_11
Steffen is justifying all the hype surrounding him. He didn't have much to do throughout the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, but when called upon, he was terrific. The PK that he saved against El Salvador was a great save. His reflexes are very good and he's dominant in the air, which is something you rarely see from such a young GK.
He's not mentioned in the preview and the caption under the pic says it will be Fuhry in goal http://www.scfreiburg.com/node/11786
According to Transfermarkt, Steffen has only made Freiburg II's bench once so far. They're starting a 94 in goal, and the back-up is a 95 (same year as Steffen).
Minor progress for Steffen last weekend, as he got onto the subs' bench for Freiburg II's loss to Walldorf. Waldorf remains unimpressed.
For posterity, I'll link to his inclusion in the final roster for the U20 World Cup: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/05/07/08/30/150507-u20mnt-2015-world-cup-roster-rel
Freiburg just sold this guy. http://www.bundesliga.com/en/liga/news/2014/0000321795.php Only goalkeeper with any real pro experience is this guy. It'll be interesting to see if they sign someone or bring someone up from second team.
For those of you looking for a bit more insight into @bsky22's video above, here's an explanation of what the goalkeeper should've done on those goals. On the first goal, the ball is moving toward him on the bounce as an attacker approaches at high speed. In this scenario, a goalkeeper moving toward the top of the goal box, especially playing against a right-footed attacker when he is the last defender, should not just totally ******** completely up and miss the ball utterly as though he didn't even realize it was even there, looking frankly like he might actually be drunk if not worse. Instead, he should literally do almost anything other than what's depicted in this video. The second goal is a bit more subtle. In this case, while it is another example of the goalkeeper moving toward an attacker in a similar position to the first, the goalkeeper at a key point actually has the actual ball in his actual arms. In this situation, goalkeeping doctrine generally dictates that the goalkeeper continue to keep the ball in his hands until the play has effectively ended. His choice here, which was to drop the ball right at the ********ing foot of the ********ing attacker by bouncing it off what appears to be the top of his thigh or other part of his midsection, was a poor decision. (Of course, if he'd pulled it off maybe we'd all be talking differently...) I think you'll agree that his mistake on the third goal was self-explanatory. You're welcome.
Sebastian Mielitz was a starter for Werder Bremen for a couple seasons... I would consider a couple full seasons of Bundesliga play for a relatively young GK real pro experience... I'm not up with the whole Freiburg GKing situation but looking at their roster and having some knowledge of Mielitz, I would think at this point he is the presumptive starter. Steffen was very impressive at the U-20 world cup though and BL teams are not shy at all about promoting young keepers who are deserving. Should be interesting.
Calciomercato.com suggests Inter and Roma are watching Steffen more closely after his performances in New Zealand. Other Italian outlets have taken notice. http://trove.com/a/Rumor-SC-Freibur...rce=sns&chid=17B2C4E19F78D085E050007F01002BF9
Even if Mielitz is the starter I don't think at this stage a season or two of starting in the regional league with Freiburg II would be the worst thing in the world for Zack's development. Steffen is already a good enough shot stopper to start at the highest level, but he really needs to work on his distribution. Perhaps a season or two at a lower level would be a better level for him to work through that.
I agree that there's no hurry. Of course, Steffen needs to earn some regional league playing time first.
Yea, that would be no problem, Steffen looks the part. I have much higher hopes in him than I ever did in Cropper (who I never rated, albeit, based on limited viewings)