Don’t assume Ochoa wants to stay, or will stay at RSL “for years to come”. Many things will happen if he breaks into the Mexican system, and he has publicly stated he intends to play in Europe. As for Dewsnup….he’s turning heads in a big way. He’s played more Pro level games this year (15) than all 2003 & 2004 goalkeepers in the US combined. Slonian’s played two (2) games since January 2020, where he and Dewsnup represented the United States U17s in the UEFA U17 tournament in England. In those 15 games in 2021, Dewsnup’s had numerous USL saves of the week, and man-of-the-match mentions. Watch his most recent games (Real Monarchs vs. New Mexico United or Hartford) to get a feel for what this young goalkeeper is capable of. I have a feeling he’s is about to become a much more recognizable and important player leading up the important summer 2022 U20 campaign for the US
Yet Slonina hasn't played much. I rate prospects on potential. Not what they have already accomplished. We have had plenty of young players play in MLS to go on and do very little in their career. Any approach that can change overnight doesn't seem that reasonable. This almost reactionary approach is doomed to fail and is especially off for goalkeepers where a large sample is needed to just get an understanding of strengths and weaknesses. I have been impressed with the little I have seen of Slonina, but nowhere enough to make an assessment of his potential. Odunze has played just as many minutes in PL2 this year as Slonina has played in MLS. Odunze was moved up to u23s last season as a 17/18 yo so wasn't too surprised he didn't play more. It does look like they brought in a kid from Hartpool (looks to be an England u20 player but hasn't played any games) who is just a few months older who has been playing in front of him. Interestingly, Odunze's only minutes were as sub for the left back??? I don't have a problem for a kid this age to need to fight for his spot. How he responds could tell us a lot. If things haven't changed by next season I would start to worry but none of this tells me much about his potential.
If you’re going to be a club’s backup and only see limited game time but still have hopes to be your national team’s first choice keeper, you have to make sure all your game appearances are on point. Today so far, Steffen unfortunately has not been.pic.twitter.com/S89J9CW0lk— Yanks Abroad (@usmnt_abroad) September 21, 2021 It could actually be compounded by the fact that City usually don’t give up a large number of chances or shots, especially when playing a much inferior opponent. So when those chances do happen, again, gotta stand up and show what you got.— Yanks Abroad (@usmnt_abroad) September 21, 2021
Seems a little harsh to pin that on Steffen. Should be noted that City's entire backline + defensive mid today are 17-18 year old reserve players, so they have given up more shots than you'd otherwise expect.
I don't want to be too critical but he missed the cross then over-committed. Watching again I think he punched the cross but it was a pretty weak punch.
I don’t want to be too harsh on him because the guy has COVID and probably hasn’t trained much lately. But I also think that’s why it’s also problematic he doesn’t get to play much his club as he’s not as sharp has he’d otherwise be. Hopefully he makes a move next summer to a club where he can be the starter.
It's just rhythm and playing consistently. We saw the Horvath error, and then this weak punch. It's why it's important for keepers to play consistently and why Turner should probably be the number 1 until the other 2 start playing.
From watching the 9-minute highlight video someone posted on the Steffen thread I hadn't thought he did poorly on the goal. Now seeing the full play, including the botched punch, my opinion has changed somewhat. Gotta get a fist on that ball, and he did a really poor job of it. Now I want to see the rest of the play in the 5th minute that lead to him almost giving the ball to the other team in the box. Because that looked really bad, but I'd like to know the circumstances and the highlight video I saw doesn't bother showing anything but 1 second before he biffs the pass (and is then bailed out by a foul).
In fact...........................Steffen had some really good saves in this game too. Here are two of them. No keeper is perfect 100% of the time. The best keepers on Earth mishandle a punch now and again. 1440462980869607432 is not a valid tweet id
I dont post in YA anymore so figured I would continue this here. Can you explain why you think Steffen should have "gobbled up the ball" in the 13th minute? It was pretty hard tell what was going on on the so called WTF play, but not sure I would describe it that way.
To me Steffan has one big strength and that's how he is able to come out when a player breaks free and doesn't commit until the last second. He forces guys to beat him when faced with one on one situations. Overall he is calm back there and doesn't over-commit, forces a guy to make a good shot to eat him. So many times keepers over-commit and end up taking themselves out of the play. Steffan rarely does this. Now, his reading of high balls and play with his feet are problems to my eyes, but he does have some strengths to offset these issues and it's not like we have an option who doesn't have significant weaknesses. In fact, Turner's weaknesses are similar in his failure to control his box at times (different but similar in the end result of Steffan not reading high balls well) and his poor distribution (worse than Steffan's). This means we can't just say we found a hole in Steffan's game so he has to sit. Unfortunately, all our potentials in goal have holes in their games. I still think it is glaringly obvious that we are weaker in goal than we have been for decades and this will continue at least through Qatar. nd that holds regardless who we start. I think Berhalter will likely keep with Steffan, but if Turner keeps getting chances and doing well with them, he certainly has a shot. I have been impressed at times with Horvath, but he simply has to play now and then or we need to forget about him until he does, which is a shame since he seems to have some real talents and is perhaps more of an all rounder back there without as many big strengths but also without as many holes in his game as Steffan or Turner. I think we're too far along in the cycle for anyone else to really have a shot at taking the spot.
I see all those that have been campaigning for Turner are really scrutinizing everything Steffen does but never seem to see them analyze anything Turner does. Since they are in the mode of being critical at the moment, maybe we can get them to do the same with the supposed in great form Turner. Feel free to analyze any of this but would like specific thoughts on the plays in 22nd and 58th minutes.
IMO the goal in the 58th minute was not bad but it sure wasn't good on Turner's part. He backs up improving the angle Zardes has to score. If anything a half step forward may cut the angle and allow him to make the save. Of course the flip side is it also gives him less time.
I'm sure if that was Turner that had stuck to his line you would have been vociferous about it. I, personally, didn't see anything wrong with it, and I didn't see anything wrong with whatever clip you commented about when Turner did a very similar thing.
The 22nd minute, where Zardes is left completely unmarked at the back post--Turner is slow to recognize where Zardes has run and get his feet moving. The ball was crossed in really hard from outside the corner of the box. If Zardes puts that ball in the upper corner where he looked like he was trying to, even the best footwork in the world doesn't save that (though Turner might have still saved a shot that wasn't placed in the upper corner, even with the slow recognition). Nor does anyone make it out in time to punch that ball at the speed and height it was at as it crossed into the 6 at the end of its trajectory. The 58th minute? Where Gyasi scores on a blast of a header from the penalty spot from a cross from 35 yards, that Turner nearly saves?? That was a hell of a goal from Zardes. What's your take on those two plays?
I thought Steffen did well on the play. If he came off his line and got the ball, great, but not the expectation on the play as he needed to play the first header as a shot, while the ball was "lobbed" in it only traveled about 10 yards so not in the air that long. Steffen did well to get positioned well on the line and made the save. I've seen people criticize the punch he made leading up to that shot. I dont think his punch was ideal, but it is hard to make those plays in a crowd, flat footed. He did enough avert the immediate danger. My biggest criticism of Steffen from the videos is he made a meal of the actual goal. The defense was poor, but from that angle I think he is better off staying at home, letting the defender close, and give himself room to react to the shot. I havent commented on very similar play by Turner.
My take is very different. I think Turner is a mess on both plays. If he is going to play for the usmnt in WCQ, let's hope other teams aren't scouting him because he is a mess on balls played into the box. His positioning kills him on the cross in the 22nd minute. He is playing the wide attacker as if he is going shoot when he should have dropped in and split the difference between a shot and a cross (actually, play for a cross, but make sure he can't get beat to the near post). If he is positioned correctly, he is closer to spot that it is headed than Zardes when the ball is played. His reaction was slow and clear he wasnt anticipating a cross. It was a good goal by Zardes, but not well placed. Turner didn't appear set and his reaction was slow (two things that he is typically very good at and what sets him to make saves). That was a very saveable ball and would expect Turner to make it. I definitely see Steffen Horvath make that save.
You've most certainly commented on, and criticized, Turner for staying on his line with similar balls sent across the 6 yard box as happened in the 13th minute in this one. As I said, Steffen made a good choice--he would've been flailing trying to get to the lobbed ball--and then made a good save. I just think that you view Steffen's play with rose-colored glasses and Turner's with shit-colored ones. On the goal against Steffen I disagree completely. There's a scramble because of his fluffed punch and the ball is hit to a player inside the six who has a good chance for a shot. Steffen has got to come off his line to close down the angle or the guy has a huge target to hit from 5 yards. He closes down quickly and well and makes contact on the cross to an unmarked player also within the 6. The big problem with that play (when assessing the GK, anyway--because Man City's marking was terrible there) was that Steffen didn't clear the ball well the first time and chaos ensued. The missed punch led to the opportunity.
That ball from goalkeeper @headdturnerr 👌(via @NERevolution)pic.twitter.com/vCDyTAgnZ0— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 23, 2021
I am viewing the players relative to their history and how they are viewed around here. I hold them both to a high standard but Steffen has a long history with US team and for some reason Turner was elevated to the undisputed starter with little experience and huge holes in his game. The plays I have commented on Turner not being positioned correctly and being stuck on his line are very different than the one Steffen faced. You keep comparing them, but they are nothing alike and the keeper has significantly different options to consider. It doesn't appear as if you are actually watching the play but rather someone told you on here that a keeper is supposed to be able to clear any ball in the six cleanly. Where did you want Steffen to punch the ball and how was he actually supposed to do it.
40th min - Tony Meola "Matt Turner is going probably want this one back..." It really seems like he struggles with shot stopping when balls are crossed in. Id guess that it has to do with having to process more information and adjust his angles that he doesn't seem as focused and his timing is off. On this play, he makes a step forward like he is going to come for the ball and then recovers, but is still moving and not quite to the correct spot when the attacker heads the ball. His reaction is then not good and then is unable to keep what Meola calls a "very saveable" ball out.
#MountainDewsnup appreciation tweet pic.twitter.com/EBAReLf1GK— Real Monarchs (@RealMonarchs) September 23, 2021 One to watch..!!
Matt Turner PK save 1-888-TURNER-THE-WALL pic.twitter.com/mali0DEha2— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) September 26, 2021
I have no idea if this list is complete, but if it is it's an insane penalty save rate. Adding the one from tonight gives him 9 penalty saves out of 19 taken against him. That is just completely unreal.