In 3 games, he's got 19 saves. That makes him 2nd in the league, just behind Joe Cannon's 20 (though Cannon's played 2 more games). I'm a believer--I think right now he's good enough to start for at least 4 MLS teams. But I'm concerned that through 4 games we've allowed 26 shots on goal and 66 shots (worst in the league). I'm not sure we want to give Knighton the Guzan trial-by-fire treatment for much longer.
He'd better get used to it. Reis has routinely been amongst the highest shots faced leaders over the past four or so years (even adjusting for minutes). Defense is not the coaching team's strong point.
Is shots allowed a good measure of defense? Teams will try to shoot if they get into the final third but that doesn't mean they are getting shots with a reasonable chance of scoring. Even shots on goal is a miss leading statistic. The only really objective measure of a teams defense is the goals allowed. From that perspective the Rev defense is doing quite well
Please don't try to manage my expectations. I think it's a legitimate measure of team defense, and that is why I mentioned it.
Do you even watch the games, or understand their defensive philosophy? The give up a lot of shots on purpose. They will gladly give low pressured shots from 20+ yards out. This is why applying statistical measures of this game only makes the analyst look foolish.
You're welcome, I guess. Wtf? Forget it, I can't remember why I removed either of you from my ignore list in the first place.
That might be true if they were giving up a lot of shots from 20 yards out, but think about how many of Knighton's 19 saves were point blank. Again, if I got paid for it I'd chart them, but the evidence simply does not bear your point out. He's been forced to make a lot of tough saves and benefitted from quite a few near misses (just last game--2 misses from pontius, moreno on the doorstep, gomez half volley from the penalty spot, moreno again from inside the area with the rebound almost spilled to emilio, and the collision w/ emilio at the top of the area that igwe swept away). That's 6 quality chances inside the area, just from memory. That's significant.
I'm not talking about just this year. Clearly the defense isn't that strong this year (due to injuries, and the loss of Parkhurst), and they have relied on some poor finishing and quality goal tending. However, for the enterity of Nicol's tenure, that has been their defensive philosophy.
As you can tell from my username I am a big Knighton fan and have followed him for some time. I must say that I am so glad that he is finally being given the chance to show MLS fans what he can do, as he is a great goalie. I think we can all agree that he has played very well in the last 3 games and deserves a permanent spot somewhere in the league. Even though there were short chances missed by several of the opposition, he made some great saves and really hasnt been to blame for any of the goals scored in those games. I think if Reis' ailments continue (as knee injuries are hard to overcome) he might be in for a surprise...
That may be, I don't know, but I think my concern is in continuing with that philosophy with a rookie keeper and unexperienced backline--particularly when we're not going to win a lot of 4-2 goalfests. We don't have the firepower we once did.
Well.... In general, yes. But you did see the number of sitters DC, for instance, missed? I think that should be considered as well. I know this. I'd sure be happy if the REVS were generating as many SOG as they were allowing, even low probability ones from 20 yards out.
Not to rain on the parade - I think Knighton's been really good overall, but I worry about his ability/comfort dealing with crosses. He's obviously an excellent shot-stopper, but Olsen's goal was his fault. Granted, it was a soft foul that led to the free kick, but Knighton was totally in no-man's land on that one. It wasn't especially high, and in my opinion he should have been able to punch it out. Failing that, he should be on his line. Knighton was neither. He was really poor positionally on that one and paid the price for it. Again, I think he's done better than could possibly be expected, but I would guess he and the coaching staff would tell you he should have done better there.
Fill us in on his background - he seemed to drop into the Revs tryout out of nowheres. Has he ever been on any of the youth NT's radar?
Leaving Olsen's goal aside, I think Knighton has excelled in dealing with crosses and controlling his area. I've been more impressed with that than his shot-stopping.
Agreed--there have been moments of indecision (the goal may have been one, I can't say), as there are with any young keeper, but I think on the whole he's looked in control of the area.
True. It's hard to take him to task for the Olsen goal, because he was in the proper position when Moreno took the kick. On a low cross/free kick like that, the goalie has to account for anyone making near-post runs for glancing headers. When the ball went long, he went back to the far post, but Phelan got in his way. Would he have been able to save the goal if Pat wasn't there? Hard to say, but he had made some fine saves all game, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he could've kept it from crossing the line. The only issue I had was when he came out for the ball against Fred (I think). If you're coming out of the box, you had better make damn sure you get to the ball first. He dodged a bullet on that one, but overall he has made a very good impression on me so far (which means precisely nothing in the grand scheme of things, but you get my point).
No. He was out of position on the cross anyways. Phelan did what any defender would have done in that position. his momentum happened to carry him into the net with the ball, but that is Knighton's fault for not controlling his area and being in the right position. Trying to blame a defender in that situation is just trying to pass blame. Oh yeah, and it is the fault of whomever it was that was supposed to mark the two unmarked men on the back post. Thompson was one of them.
Knighton has now faced more shots than any keeper in the league (34). He is second in saves (25) to Big Zach, in almost 300 fewer minutes played. In comparison, Kasey Keller has played only 30 minutes more than Knighton, for an expansion franchise. Keller has 16 saves in the 16 shots faced. Revs now have 95 SA & 38 SOGA. The league doesn't track those stats but considering that the league average for shots is about 63 and the average for SOG is about 26...I'm going to say that's probably pretty bad. The Revs, if you were wondering, are below average with 43 Shots (worst in the league) & 23 SOG.