Odunze does make some highlight reel saves. I won't be surprised if he's called up to the March friendlies as the 3rd string keeper behind Steffen/Horvath. No reason to bring an MLS guy over during preseason to be 3rd string. 1367530238012502022 is not a valid tweet id
Will be interesting to see who plays keeper today. If Horvath doesn't start then I think that means that Berhalter has Turner as his #2. That might be ok but dang I hope we get a look at Horvath today.
I expect Steffen to start today because 1) Steffen needs games himself, he hasn't been playing enough to stay sharp; and 2) Horvath hasn't played in forever, so I question the value of starting him. What would we learn/showcase by playing Horvath, that he's not as rusty as one might have guessed? I don't think there's a strong argument for playing Horvath until he fixes his club situation (i.e transfers to a team that will start him) and resumes playing. At that point, we'll have something to discuss, especially if Horvath is playing regularly while Steffen (again) plays only sporadically.
There's no justification for having Horvath at #2. He doesn't play. This isn't just a short term lack of playing time. He's played a total of 4 games combined in the last two club seasons. I might not even have Horvath with the USMNT this summer. Should we qualify today, I might send him as an overage player to the Olympics. We're more dependent on Zack Steffen right now as we are on any other player on the field. The dropoff to the backups is really troubling. We've gotta give him a long run this summer to ensure he's firing on all cylinders for when qualifying starts. I'd start him every game at the Gold Cup and Nations League if I can. Maybe if we have a throwaway game at the Gold Cup at the end of the group stage, I'd start Matt Turner.
Our #1 rides the bench for a big team and gets the occasional cup games while our supposed #2 is a practice player in a second tier league. Our other choices are MLS guys with zero international or higher level club experience. The situation in goal actually looks pretty dire if the World Cup was tomorrow. And I'm not sure I see much changing between now and Qatar. Ochoa for the Olympic kids is the only positive I've seen in USA goalkeeping circles for some time and I'd have to imagine he's a couple years away from the full team.
Steffen should be fine for WCQing against CONCACAF opposition. When he has played for Man City, he's been fine. He's up to 10 appearances. Based on the fixture congestion they have (and perhaps "dead" Premier League matches), I expect him to have 20 by the end of the year. Not ideal, but also not terrible. Its not often that we have a USMNTer play ~20 matches for a Premier League Champion. We've had several bad goalkeeping cycles with the U20s. Youth watchers have seen this problem coming from a mile away. Ochoa and Odunze are both young enough that they'd have been eligible for the 2021 U20 national team. The fact that they've been getting USMNT and U23 callups speaks to the couple of bad cycles we've had in a row.
I understand y'alls point. Horvath hasn't been playing. But if that is your criteria, and I get that, then don't call him in.
Probably does some good to have him train with us and be reminded he's part of the pool even during this difficult period. It's not like we're deep in the keeping position.
It's not so much I see it as a criteria to play every game. I think you call in who you think is best even if their club situation isn't ideal. I just think all the far less than ideal club situations point to an overall lack of quality across the pool.
Its as simple as this. If Steffen is out, do you trust a guy in the net for game that matters who's played as little over the past two years as Horvath? By the way, he's only played in 4 total games for the USMNT too. His first was in 2016, so that's 4 USMNT games in nearly 5 years.
Here's my favorite goalkeeper picture of the day. This is from down at the Dallas Cup, which is going on right now. I hear this kid's name a ton amongst youth watchers. FC Dallas' absolute beast of a youth keeper, Julian Eyestone. He's got a long way to go, though. If USYNT camps at the younger levels were happening, he'd be one of the leading call-ups. If you guys have followed me for a bit you've probably heard me talk about the FC Dallas u15 keeper Julian Eyestone who is 6'5"... Here he is with a normal player.#absoluteunit pic.twitter.com/7O2uRDXGje— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) March 28, 2021
so depressing to see yet another Olympic keeper have a total meltdown. and frankly..........Steffen's performances these past two friendlies were shaky too. I am still worried.
I think Ochoa's performance and Odunze being called again opens the possibility that the 3rd WC spot goes to "the young keeper/future No. 1." OTOH, the continuing shakiness of Steffen and question mark over #2 probably also re-inforces the high-floor experienced veteran No. 3 option. Which would be Guzan. I just don't see the value of Hamid or Johnson, if Steffen and Turner are 1-2.
Thats exactly how I view it. Steffen-Turner are the 1-2 fight currently. Assuming we dont get a knight in shining armor to emerge, it should either be gone about as either having the keeper of the future go, or bring Guzan as a safety valve. or 3) bring Frei in for a chance for pete's sake. Its getting to that point. hes a pretty good keeper. Its pure lunacy to write off late blooming goalkeepers like that who are on the level. Frei is a "safe bet", which frankly, is what we need right now. When's the last time you saw Frei make a pure bonehead mistake? Cuz there are encyclopedia britannicas available of Hamid and SJ's portfolio I think is also high time to give the penalty kick god that is Melia a couple good looks for that matter. Or is he gonna get the Jon Busch short guy treatment too?
beyond a shadow of a doubt, and thats why im inclined to think this isnt, and shouldnt be a done deal yet
18-year-old Leicester City keeper Chituru Odunze was in Premier League matchday training for the first time today with Kasper Schmeichel and Danny Ward.Odunze has served as third-string to Zack Steffen and Ethan Horvath at the last two Europe-based USMNT camps. https://t.co/6u4ozja0K4— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) April 3, 2021
Remember this guy? Brad Guzan gets a straight red card. 😳 pic.twitter.com/Fe32kicEBN— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 7, 2021
Can we plz have a consistent goalkeeper.......please. Someone who pulls off dynamic saves would be nice, but someone who is just........safe, would be fine. That's why Im becoming such a proponent of Frei.
It's always risky to actually name a US keeper as a good choice since they all seem to blow up as soon as someone puts their name down. best development would be a sale or full season loan for Steffen and a sale for Horvath. Maybe a sale to Europe for Turner except at first they seem to always be on the bench and that would eliminate him from the US like Horvath until his situation is settled. Ok, I will refine my ask and all three get sold to teams that would make them starters.
I think Steffen's in an OK place. Not ideal, but OK. He turned 26 last week, which is still young for a keeper. In a few years he will probably move down and be a starter at a club like Everton (the Tim Howard-style move). Worth remembering that Brad Friedel was a vagabond until he arrived at Blackburn at nearly 30. At 26 he was with Columbus I believe. Kasey Keller was playing most seasons in the lower English divisions until he moved to Ray Vallecano at age 30. Tim Howard moved to ManU, was the starter for one season, lost his job shortly thereafter,.................then spent two years on the bench. He became a year-to-year, full time starter at Everton starting in the 06-07 season. He was 28. So yes, we don't like the fact that Steffen and Horvath aren't consistent starters right now. But that's not exactly unusual. Matt Turner is in that same age group right now. He's 26. The real challenge we faced was that none of the keepers in age between Guzan (36) and Steffen (26) developed into international caliber players. Bill Hamid just turned 30. Sean Johnson is 31. These are the guys in the middle there that we had high hopes for. They're decent enough keepers, but never turned that page to international caliber. If the world had gone as we'd foreseen it 8-10 years ago, Bill Hamid would be the starting keeper for the 2022 cycle. Bill Hamid has played the most minutes of any MLS homegrown signing. 22,119. That's a very successful homegrown signing. But he never was able to make "the jump."
This is my current rating based on likelihood to be on the plane in 2022. Cohen might be higher, but I'm guessing he's thinking about Israel. Anything below eighth is basically a crapshoot. Murray has struck me as a "come-out-of-nowhere" possibility. But his absence at the latest Euro camp makes this less likely. I think it's more likely that we go with the been-there-before-less-likely-to-choke-in-an-emergency No. 3 or the future-keeper No. 3 than the "same type, somewhat worse" No. 3. I still think this is the position where someone could come out of nowhere from off the board. Zack Steffen, Manchester City (England) Matt Turner, New England Revolution Brad Guzan, Atlanta United David Ochoa, Real Salt Lake Chturu Odunze, Leicester City (England) Sean Johnson, New York City FC Bill Hamid, DC United Ethan Horvath, Club Brugge (Belgium) Tim Murray, FC Honka (Finland) Josh Cohen, Maccabi Haifa (Israel)