ESM name Howard best keeper in December

and that was December, before the Bolton game, i guess Timmy will be in there for awhile

 

we have keepers coming out of our ears-like Brazilians have strikers.

 

It really is amazing. In MLS, Howard was considered the best keeper, but the only reason his European potential was touted so much was his age and obvious athleticism and work ethic. He really wasn't THAT much better than the next tier of keepers, like Brown, Hartman, and Thornton. I mean, look at what happened to his club when they brought in Johnny Walker.

The default plan for ANY club outside of England which operates on a budget, when looking for a keeper, should be MLS. I don't know what Hannover paid for their new keeper, but they coulda had Joe Cannon for nothin'.

 

I rate Adin Brown as roughly equal to Howard.He is an amazing goalkeeper.I have never seen a giant like that who is so very ,very quick. Striker have to think about their wives and children challenging him for high balls.

 

This is a very deserving award for Tim. The saves in the Bolton game were of the highest quality, but I expect him to make those saves now.

I agree about Adin Brown. He's the next MLS keeper to go to Europe. I went to college with him (William and Mary), and he was a good keeper then. Of course he had Steve Jolley and Wade Barrett in front of him, but still. His improvement since college has been incredible. Let's have him move on to make room for the next wave. We have more good keepers than teams. Garlick and Countess on the same team?

 

Adin Brown is one of the best keepers in MLS at patrolling his penalty area, but he is only an average shot blocker. He can't hold a candle to Tim Howard, IMO. Of MLS keepers, based on current form I would rate Walker, Onstad, Hartman, and Rimando ahead of Brown.

 

Of the keepers you mention there NoSix, who is most likely to follow Howard to Europe. The big clubs are really going to start looking here for the next Tim. I guess I haven't seen enough of Walker to make my determination on him, although I know his resume. The rest are good, but all have a flaw. Onstad's too old, Rimando's too short, etc.

This may not be the right thread for this discussion, so I'll finish my blabbing by saying "Keep kicking it Tim, so we get more pub."

 

Walker and Hartman turn 30 this year, not that old for a GK, Rimando turns 25, Brown 26. If Joe Cannon can regain his 2002 form, he may be the pick of the lot and he turns 29 this year.

Brown and Rimando are stylistically opposite. Brown rules his penalty area, but is an average shot blocker, while Rimando is an excellent shot blocker who rarely ventures off his line. Rimando is not too short; this is soccer not basketball.

So to answer your question, if I were handicapping who is most likely the next to go to Europe, I would say Rimando, then Brown

 

Brown is a fantastic shot blcoker.i am not sure you have seeen him enough if you can say thhat.

 

The only keeper in MLS close to Howard in reaction speed is Rimando. Perhaps Rimando is even faster. However, Rimando suffers from being rather short (listed as 5'10") for a keeper.

 

I do not understand why people are saying Brown's shot stopping is poor, or even average. I've always thought it was superb. He's every bit as athletic as Howard, and has better command of his box. He has all the physical tools to do every bit as well as Howard in Europe. Remember, he would have started in the 2000 Olympics over Howard were it not for his injury (FWIW).

I understand that work-permit issues will likely limit the number of American keepers in England, but I do find it odd, particularly in light of the recent revelation re MLS salaries, that European teams haven't snatched up the likes of Hartman, Rimando, Brown, or even John Busch. I don't know how Walker would do at the next level. I saw of his games from Chile on FSW and he was not as impressive as he was in MLS. 'Course, the Chilean league isn't exactly the Champions League, so who knows what you can deduce from that.

Personally, if I were a European manager looking for a keeper on a really tight budget, I'd scout the A League. The drop in quality from MLS is not very large (Pat Onstad, anyone? Lars Hirschfeld, anyone?), and they can probably be had for much less than the average MLS keeper. When the Quakes played the Sounders in the Open Cup this year, Seattle's goalie -- a part-time soccer player holding down a full-time job as a soldier -- outplayed Onstad, and it was a pretty routine game for him.

 

World Soccer is available late in the US, so I've wondered if he would turn up.

If I'm not mistaken, December would be the first month that Howard got any votes. Congrats!

 

Brown is obviously a good athlete, but he's not Howard or Friedel. Guys like that have physical gifts that set them apart from "merely" being "good". The super-elite athlete is almost another race from the rest of us.

Brown can be very good, maybe even successful at the highest level, but he simply is human.

 

Brown is extremely quick for a guy that size- he can be every bit as good as Friedel.Remember we only thought of Brad as being super-human the last few years.He was viewed for years as Kesey's back-up.

 

I think you underrate Brown's shot stopping. And as a DC fan, he's clearly better than Rimando, and younger, so he's waaaay ahead of Rimando on potential.

 

The great Jack Edwards said it best:

"Friedel is from Mars! He certainly isn't from this planet!"

 

Howard isn't the first American keeper to make the ESM Team of the Month. Keller did it once while playing for Rayo Vallecano.

 

I've always rated Brown at just a notch below Howard. When Brown is in the zone, he's almost unbeatable. I've seen him keep his teams in games they had no business hanging around in. I would also pick him over Rimando, who I consider the next-best keeper in MLS.

 

For every great save that Rimando makes, he flubs up other stuff quite easily. I think he's entirely overrated and yes, too short.

Adin Brown is a good, solid GK. No arguments there, but I still put Kevin Hartman ahead of them. Team results should also play a role in assessing a GK's effectiveness, and over many seasons now, no keeper has been as effective or successful as Kevin Hartman in MLS.

And back to the topic...way to go Timmy.

 

I'm not sure I've seen an Adin Brown save that Tim Howard couldn't have managed, but in recent weeks, both that back-pedalling save of that chip, and that save on the overhead kick last weekend (after Howard had let the corner go through his hands, so he's not God) weren't anything that Adin Brown could have managed. Howard is unbelievably quick, true, but he also has a kind of intangible creativity in the way he plays his game that Adin Brown doesn't have. But that's okay-- there aren't that many players in the entire world who play like Howard.

 

You know ,I actually bought that issue of WS and saw the poll.I was just wondering why I didn't report this at the time.

Then I remembered-when I saw it I thought,"Well,of course he's the keeper of the month."Tim to me is at the point where I am expecting to see stuff like this on him and it's not news!

This also explains why I was so critical of the Soton performance.It was only average for TH,and my expectations are set far above that for him.My problem not his to be sure,but it sort of clarifies things for me in my mind.

Oh,and Coach Bruce?Tim starts in Holland,doesn't he?

 

Brown is a great goalkeeper.

But, every time I get to watch him he gives up an important goal late in the game. Not all his fault. What you want from a keeper is for him to be able to save 1 or 2 in a game that he shouldn't have, especially late in the game.

I also think that Brown has gotten much better since leaving the Rapids.
Coincidence...........................I think not.