Has there been any movement about United hiring a GK coach? I know there was talk about the eminently quotable Garth Lagerwey moonlighting from his Georgetown Law School classes as GK coach but I've heard nothing about that in a while. Is that still in play as a possibility or is United looking at going another route? With a starting GK who is just 24 being backed up by a pair of rookies, I think it's important United have someone on staff to work with the 'keeps. Freedom assistant David Vanole was Nick Rimando's GK coach at UCLA (Vanole also coached Chris Snitko, Kevin Hartman, Matt Reiss and DJ Countess as Bruins) - I wonder if there's any chance he could be coaxed into working for United as well as the Freedom. Maybe they could lure Jeff Causey away from Maryland, or at least get him on loan, or even former Howard coach (and NASL GK) Lincoln Phillips, who now coaches youth soccer and was David Stokes youth coach. And, of course, there's always Alan Kelly.
Sandon, I think you may be forgetting about the most important name, Benjamin. With Kasper running the Technical Director position, Hudson as head coach, Trask as assistant coach, Hristo as player/assistant coach, and Petrosian as trainer, I'm sure DC United's payroll is on the high end of coaching staffs in MLS already. I'm not saying we will not add a keeper coach, but it's also not a given that we will. Sometimes, it's all about the Benjamins. -Tron
Langerway might have a hard time trying to fit law school and its exams into anything remotely serious as a GK coach. Alan Kelly, who used to do the job part time, was with them for some of the Florida stint. I don't know if he's still there.
Jeff Causey left UMD last week to return to the pro's (to play), I don't have a destination but it's not DCU. Also when did David Stokes play youth soccer for Lincoln Phillips? He played high school for Ken Krieger at Hilton and club for Gene Mishalow with the Braddock Road Warhawks, was if prior to the high school level?
Actually no. I'm apparently easily confused. It's Jeff Cassar that's in Dallas, not Causey. You can go back to speculating wildly, don't mind me.
This is getting off topic, but outside of the A-League, I'm not sure where Jeff Causey is going to be playing this year. I haven't seen his name pop up at any MLS pre-season roster and most clubs seem pretty set for both starting 'keepers and backups. The most obvious candidate is San Jose, which has seldom-used 4th year player Jon Conway (who, amazingly as this seems now, was taken ahead of Nick Rimando in the 2000 draft) as their current No. 1 and rookie Josh Saunders as a backup. This seems like a situation that would call out for a veteran like Jeff Otherwise, I don't see any team that needs him. DC is set with Rimando and Doug Warren and even has a No. 3 likely bound for a developmental slot. New England has Adin Brown and Matt Reiss. Columbus has Jon Busch and Tom Presthus. Dallas has young stud DJ Countess and the aforementioned Jeff Cassar. Colorado has old favorite Scott Garlick and just picked up former A-Leage GK of the year Scott Vallow. That leaves Chicago, LA, KC, and NY/NJ. All those teams are set with very established starters but, theoretically, they could want to go a different route as a backup. The Metros have Paul Grafer backing up Tim Howard. He's been in the league forever and while never a fulltime starter, is an adequate backup. Still, he has never really played great when Howard's gone down so this could be an option, though it certainly seems like a lateral move from the Metros' perseptive. LA currently doesn't have a backup on its roster but they have A-Leaguer Dan Popik (who was the third GK in the U20 pool behind Rimando and Howard so Sigi is familiar with him) in camp. He went to Spain - and started one game - and is now in Florida. He left St. John's a year early and has been with Milwaukee for 3-4 years playing regulalry. Unless Cause suddenly pops up in the Galaxy camp, I expect Sigi to go with Popik. Bo Oshoniyi has been Tony Meola's understudy in KC for 3 seasons and like Grafer, switching to Causey would appear to be a lateral move. It wouldn't shock me, but it would surprise me. Zach Thornton is backed up in Chicago by Henry Ring, who has played all of one MLS game in 2 seasons and in that game he gave up 4 goals. They currently have U23 rookie Curt Spiteri in camp and he's played a lot so they are certainly not 100 percent sold on Ring. After San Jose, this appears to be Causey's best chance at an MLS gig, especially since he and Sarachan likely have history. (Though Sarachan was already at Cornell when Jeff got to C-Ville, Sarachan was still an assistant when Jeff was in HS and likely made recruiting contacts.) So, while I obviosuly could be wrong, the only places where I could see Causey getting a chance to win a job are Chicago and San Jose but, we're more than a month into preseason and, to the best of our knowledge, he has yet to appear at either team - or any team's training camp. So, barring an MLS job, will he return to Maryland?
An update: Causey has been named goalkeepers coach of WUSA's Boston team. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17203-2003Mar12.html
I'm either lucky or good. From Wednesday's Post. Club officials have talked to David Vanole, an assistant coach for the WUSA's Washington Freedom, about becoming their goalkeepers coach. If an arrangement is reached, he would work for both teams. United has not had a goalies coach since Mark Simpson departed a few months ago. . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48761-2003Mar18.html Vanole would certainy be somebody Nicky is comfortable with and he has a great track record with young GKs.
I think Vanole would be a superb choice. He's got a great track record and has strong USSF ties. I've always heard good things about him (not that what we hear is always accurate, but still, it is kind of reassuring). WUSA is also on a major cost-cutting reduction mode so some form of salary sharing would probably be something they'd jump at.
Re: Re: Goalkeeping coach? Or DCU is getting ideas from the board... We know Stephen Zack reads us here...
Um, if DC do not get a GK coach....they will be a joke....only amateurs don't carry GK coach....if a coach team from anywhere around the world came and saw there was no GK coach they would laugh...its a joke..... GKs cannot do the same training as the rest of the team....its a special and different position that requires its own training.....A GK needs consistency most of all and the requires repetitive drills to keep their hand-eye coordination sharp.....You cant do that just by scrimmaging and a shooting drill....A GK coach needs to make sure a GK's form is always correct and has right technique....Someone needs to point out their mistakes and how to correct them..... Hudson, Hristo, or anyone else on the team arentGK coaches and dont know what GK needs....They never were a GK so how r they gonna point it out... it would be ridiculous if they dont get the GK coach...If they dont get one it would prove all the critics right on MLS being an amatuer league and disgust me and should disgust any other DC or MLS supporter.....THey better get one
They'll get one. Press reports said that former GK coach Alan Kelly was with them for a while in Fla. They're aware of the problem. My guess is that with part of Hristo's salary coming from the "assistant coach" pool, they need somebody as a part-timer. Mark Simpson was full-time. When Kelly was part-time before Simpson, I belive the only thing he didn't do was travel with the team. He was with them at practice during the week, and handled pre-game warm-ups at home. If you notice most other MLS teams, they don't seem to have a GK coach at RFK.
By the way, what was wrong with Alan Kelly as goalkeeping coach? I'm pleased he was with United in Florida, but why did he leave (or was pushed)? He had an awesome career in the UK (as do his sons), and I have first hand experience with him in goalkeeping clinics and he is a superior teacher.
I think it was at the bottom of one of Steve Goff's articles in the past week that they were talking with the Freedom's GK coach. The coach would work for both clubs.
I think you will find that many of the other teams actually bring their GK coach with them. Unlike DC with Hristo and Trask( non goalkeepers), the other teams have taken a GK coach (former GK's) and given them other coaching or team responsibilities. I am sure they will work something out.