US Goalkeeper discussion thread - Part III

That's what I meant, although Frei is still good enough.

 

It helps when the no.1 has a bunch of injuries around the same time.

 

Not really. He was the best American keeper for 2 years, he played the same league as Steffen and was better than him, Doyle happened to fall in love and started screaming so loud that the rest of the press woke up. More like lucky coinsidence. Compare with Slonina who was called after 10 games, or Steffen, Horvath, Hamid, Jonson that were called no matter of form or ability to get on the field.

 

Yeah but one of those years was 2020 when there were no camps for most of that year. And he was on both Nations League in 2019 and January camp in 2020. The only camps he missed were the ones that were all Euro with the exception of Lletget or Acosta.

 

Matt Turner came out of nowhere.
He didn't get drafted out of Fairfield University.
He wasn't even first team goalkeeper in his po-dunk conference his senior year.

So yes, he's exhibit A of players that can have no involvement in youth national teams whatsoever, advance up the ranks due to hard work, and eventually reach high levels.

There are other players in our pool who never had a youth cap of any kind. Matthew Hoppe had never appeared in a US uniform until he started a Gold Cup game.

So its not actually all that unusual. Matt Turner just came from out of the wilderness. Anybody who claims to have seen this coming from Matt Turner is living in some sort of alternate universe.

 

Zack Steffen is now starting but in the Championship and Matt Turner is now a back up but in the Premier League ..

Who’s your #1 for Qatar 🇶🇦? #FutbolAmericas

You can tell Steffen stopped himself a few times from saying too much. Watch Full 19 Min 🎥 https://t.co/eoKANiEbGw pic.twitter.com/z7ZZPVquvs

— herculez gomez (@herculezg) July 30, 2022

 

That’s good stuff from Continental’s ad agency

the new Sean Johnson commercial for Continental whips ass 💪😤 pic.twitter.com/aUdAiUe9X6

— BLUE BALLS NYCFC (@BlueBallsPod) July 30, 2022

The goalkeeper battle heats up

Clean sheet number one! 🇺🇸#LUTBIR | #COYH pic.twitter.com/IWrKycBVIp

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) July 30, 2022

Hard fought 90 from the boys. Incredible support this evening 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/4nwycxOw22

— Zack Steffen (@zacksteffen_) July 30, 2022

 

Finally done

Excl: Gaga Slonina to Chelsea, here we go! Agreement with Chicago Fire for $15m, add-ons included. Talented GK and his agent will fly to London on Sunday to complete medical and sign. 🚨🔵🇺🇸 #CFC

Slonina will finish the season with Chicago before joining Chelsea on January 1. pic.twitter.com/g2l4Ksbsoj

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2022

 

Good news: $15 million!
Bad news: Chelsea loan army
Good news: Loan army deployment to Chicago
Bad news: Only until the end of the year not for 18 months

 

I wonder if they’ll make Brady the starter next year. It hopefully at least opens up the spot for him.

 

Watched the entire MB match. Steffen looked very good to me. Positioning was solid, even the one where he was caught a bit off his line. He did have an attacker dead center around the PK spot and that looked to be the dangerous play.

He made two terrific saves in a 30 second span late first half too. But best of all his body language told me he was comfortable and confident.

 

We will check on him in 3 years. The loan Army is an abyss that very few emerge from

 

It’s a mixed bag and while not all of them make it with Chelsea, a lot of them end up being very good players for other clubs. Between the new rules and new ownership the loan army might not even be a thing anymore. I just hope they can find somewhere for Slonina next summer where he can be the starter.

 

Eh, I disagree. I understand a lot of the criticism of Chelsea's giant loan army, but while I'm not fan of the club they usually do a solid job of finding good/beneficial/productive loans for those players.

Just this past season six players who were once part of Chelsea's loan army had 30 or more appearances for the senior team (Christensen, Lukaku, Loftus Cheek, Mount, Chalobah and James) and another five players from the loan army secured permanent moves with a transfer fee over 5M pounds (Zouma, T. Abraham, Livramento, Guehl and Tomori).

 

I thought Ronaldo joined Chelsea until I read the caption.

 

Thats a fine deal by Chicago. Well done. Got pretty top dollar IMO. Hope the kid gets out on a move ASAP, even if just back home. Congrats, kid. Gonna be the star of next cycle unless theres a surprise

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I didn’t watch but it sounds like a performance to build on.

 

Sean Johnson with his 12th cleansheet (in 22 matches) last night. Really earning the right to be the no.3 in Qatar.

 

3 of 4 with clean sheets. Although I still think it's overrated, I am just interested in all three are getting good playing time. This should not be good for Turner but I feel his case has been made, leaving it between Horvath and Johnson for the 3rd spot.

 

The rules on loan army's are changing though. In a few years it won't be nearly as easy to stockpile an army of players. So Chelsea will have to make a decision on him in a couple of years to play him or sell him.

 

Good news for Turner

Bernd Leno will undergo medical tests and sign as new Fulham goalkeeper this week, personal terms are also agreed. Full agreement in place between Fulham and Arsenal, as per @Plettigoal - will be completed soon. ⚪️⚫️ #FulhamFC

Fulham wanted Leno over Neto as new goalkeeper. pic.twitter.com/Sr2VHb7IU9

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 1, 2022

Sean Johnson looking pretty good so far this season

#MLS G-xG GK Leaders:

1 #NERevs Petrovic -5.76
2 #RCTID Ivacic -4.88
3 #DOOP Blake -4.64
4 #NYCFC Johnson -4.35
5 #AustinFC Stuver -3.95
6 #TFCLive Bono -3.91
7 #MNUFC St. Clair -3.30
8 #Sounders Cleveland -2.66
9 #Crew96 Room -2.63
10 #DTID Paes -2.52

— MLS NETWORK (@mlsnetwork) August 1, 2022

 

Gabriel Slonina is currently in London, now undergoing medical tests... then will sign long-term deal as new Chelsea player. 🔵🩺 #CFC

Club statement soon as documents are completed between clubs: $15m deal, add ons included. Slonina will stay @ Chicago on loan until January. pic.twitter.com/idgM1ShRXY

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 1, 2022

In helping @NYCFC to its fourth consecutive shutout, goalkeeper Sean Johnson (@SeanJohnGK) became the first 'keeper in @MLS history to record multiple shutout streaks of four-plus games in a single season.

He previously recorded six straight clean sheets in the month of May. pic.twitter.com/1OvgJG30pe

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) July 31, 2022

 

As players and as coaches, we've all been told or said "make yourself impossible to drop" or "make it as tougher decision for the coaches as possible." I have to admit Johnson is playing the season of his career right now and once again although I don't believe in Clean sheets are the best measure for a goalie, if you actually see some of the highlights, he is putting in some solid performances and really making that third spot his.

As a third keeper is not likely to get on the field, their personality and able to be a good member of the locker room and help the coaches matters. This leans very strongly towards Johnson and combined that with the season he's having, does present the fact that should an emergency break out, he'd be more than prepared.

 

I know we all want a player like Slonina to be starting right away and at a big club.
Sometimes it doesn't work that way. Being part of a loan army will work for a player that young.
I'm not saying he can't win the job, its just unlikely right now.

Brad Friedel was quite the journeyman until he signed with Blackburn as a ~30 year old.
Lots of other cases like that.

We just need more and more and more and more keepers into the pool and into the grind of European football.
The elite will emerge.

We're actually in a MUCH better place with our keepers than we were 4 years ago.

I mean, we do now have 4 keepers under contract with Premier League clubs.

If I told you four years ago that we'd have keepers under contract at Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Forest....................you'd have taken that in a heartbeat. Even without knowing their status on the depth chart.

So now we have a couple of those guys being loaned out to the Championship for playing time. Good development. Steffen and Horvath have a real opportunity to get back on track. And who knows what'll happen with Slonina. All I know is he's still very young, and in terms of this USMNT cycle........was always a bit of a longshot.

By the way, Slonina is viewed as just the first in a wave of youth keepers coming thru MLS academies. More about to emerge where that came from.

 

By the way #2, with Kasper Schmeichel apparently leaving Leicester......................where does that leave USYNTer (and USMNT callup-er) Chitiru Odunze on the depth chart? I guess they're trying to frantically find a replacement in the transfer market.

I guess that Ward will be the top keeper if they don't find a replacement, and Odunze will be in a battle with Iversen for the #2 slot.

I'm just sayin' that when we think about our keepers under contract with Premier League clubs, we often leave out Odunze. He made the bench for Leicester on several occasions last year. He's in the mix.