Unfortunately, he’s not Olympic eligible whereas Ochoa is. Nonetheless, in the grand scheme of things, that truly only impacts Olympic qualifying, something I bet we’ll scrap the bottom of the barrel of who’s available next time too.
Ochoa sees the writing on the wall I think. He sees Steffen, Horvath, and Turner ahead of him. All mid-late twenties guys. In the picture for the seeable future. Mexico have 3 keepers in their mid-late thirties who are international level, but absolutely nothing behind them. Ochoa sees acres of green fields and a spot to easily slot in the starting position for mexico after this cycle. There is absolutely no obstacle for him. Our guys are still good for another 3 cups if need be.
You guys are funny bunch. We were in a crisis a couple of months ago and now dual nationals with potential need look elsewhere.
Are the options for Mexico less of an obstacle for him in that case? I mean he's only 20. He like others have to wait their term or prove they are far better. It does seem unlikely for him to make the 2022 roster but hopefully he's a regular in the pool right after.
I mean my hope is Ochoa going to this camp is like when Efra Alvarez came to January camp with the US and still didn't change his mind in terms of what country he wants to play for. Mexico definitely has a better depth chart for the position but its also the case that none of our guys have reached a level where they can be considered untouchable. If Ochoa breaks out there is nothing stopping him from being on the plane to Qatar.
I ain't gonna lie, Turner was atrocious with the ball at his feet last night. He will get the benefit of the doubt and be played as a shot stopper in MLS for as long as he wants. But, no team in Europe is going to give him a shot if he regularly plays as badly with the ball as he did last night. I really want Turner to succeed, but he's going to need to clean that up if it is going to happen at a level above MLS. If he had any eyes on him last night, they came away with some serious doubts in an era where it is not optional to be able to trap the ball and make simple passes. I'm not asking he suddenly becomes super slick back there, but I am asking that he executes the basics with some degree of confidence.
When's the last time you saw a goalie almost fall over twice when he was just trying to clear the ball? I think atrocious is accurate, but feel free to use whichever negative term you prefer. It certainly wasn't close to good for a professional in this day and age,
I was going to another of game before commenting on this, but can't stop myself after reading this. It was bad enough and happened too many times to think it was just jitters. I hope he gets better as the tournament goes on but don't see how anyone sees him as more than depth at this point. Of course we have people claiming he should be our starting goalkeeper. It is really sad.
I've seen us lose games for lack of shot stopping. I'm going to give a lot of rope to a guy who's really good at that. Howard stopped making big saves for the US sometime in 2017 and we suffered for it. If Turner steals a goal here or there, I don't care if he rolls the ball to the CB.
Sure. He is our 3rd GK and that ain't changing if plays like he did the other night. His fanboys, oops I meant MLS "reporter", didn't mention any of his issues and went on about how threatening his long balls are.
His passing was ok in the game TBF. He was 25/29 and 6/10 on long balls by Fotmob and that's about how I remembered it.
Mexico has more depth at the keeper position, but its mostly old depth.................................. Talavera 38 Cota 34 Orozco 35 Ochoa 35 Gonzalez 30 Younger keepers? Jurado of Cruz Azul and Malagon of Nexaca. I guess. I'm not particularly concerned about Ochoa. He's just training with Mexico. Plus, I think keeper really isn't on the top end of my concerns for the USMNT. Hasn't been for 30 years. Even when we had some issues last cycle, we didn't qualify for the World Cup because of goalkeeping issues. If we miss out on the World Cup this time it won't be because of Zach Steffen.
Apparently he's headed to https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2021/july/First-summer-signing-checks-in/ 🔜 New arrival imminent 👀 🌳🔴 #NFFC pic.twitter.com/vj5VM4kRiI— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 13, 2021
Ah did you watch that match in Couva? Sure there were tons of issues last cycle but that goal from 40 yards out should NEVER get past a keeper.
It's totally team dependent. It's not an MLS v. Europe thing. The bottom teams in European top 5 leagues care primarily that you keep the ball out of the net. And the Championship is still culturally long-ball centric. Also, I think you're partially overreacting to a keeper who's risk-averse so he takes touches out wide of the goal mouth. You see why when one caroms off a defender over the end-line instead of into the net. I don't recall Turner ever having a huge gaffe for club or country. Mind you he's also playing for a nat'l team coach who makes a Man City keeper look shaky with his feet. It's a partial byproduct of telling players they must play out of the back instead of giving them options to take what's there.
Seems like they have a decent option at keeper already, but if Horvath can’t win the job for a team like Nottingham Forrest, he shouldn’t be a starting option for us anyway
We have to stop doing this where we project onto players lack of belief in their own ability. I think it's partially sour grapes. Young players especially aren't going to see it that way that when they're 25 they can't compete with Man City's backup. Manchester United wanted to sign Ochoa with at least some belief he eventually could be their starter.
Well, it's not always about who's better, rather other factors like nationality, contract, and seniority. But in this case I'd agree because he was signed by an American. And he's a moneyballer to boot. So I'm inclined to think he won't tank the other keeper's value by benching him, rather sell high, use the money elsewhere, and play a guy in Horvath who's put up elite shot-stopping #'s in equal or better leagues, i.e.: Belgium and Europa/UCL.
Let him go to Mexico. His mouth is the best part of his game. He choked in the qualifiers for the Olympics and he sees the writing on the wall. Quite honestly, I thought he had more confidence in his skills, but apparently that's not the case. Adios, Ochoa. Don't let the door hit you on the way out
If Ethan Horvath's YA thread isnt Robin Hood: Men In Tights themed, we have collectively failed as a forum.