What's the situation with tim howard, he never seem's to be included in any rosters no more,. Is it possable that he won't make the world cup roster even though he play's for one of the best team's in the world? And what's the chance's of him coming back to mls if he's getting no tim in the epl? Surely it's better to be playing in america than sitting on the bench every game at any team and not playing ?
Being on the roster for one of the world's top clubs is no longer an automatic ticket to the national team. If you aren't familar with his past season, he had has his struggles and was an on again off again chioce as the starting keeper. Man U sold Carrol (his competetion) but singed Van Der Sar, a Dutch international, from Fulham. Howard no doubt has potential to be the best we've ever produced, but it is more important for him to establish himself as Man U's #1. He can't afford to be away from Man U and Bruce and Timmy are aware of this. He will make the roster for '06 but won't be the #1.
"....any more." Watch the double negatives......... Keller has the job wrapped up, so why would Arena risk ticking off Manchester United by calling him in just to serve as a back-up?! MLS guys are more easily available, and Marcus has shown his willingness to serve as depth. There simply hasn't been an opportunity for Howard to play since the El Salvador qualifier last year. But the only keeper other than Keller to start a qualifier is Howard....I think that's telling. He just signed a deal to keep him with ManU through 2009. He was thrown into the mix awfully early, and after responding well, his inexperience began to show. van der Sar's signing a 2-year deal will give him some time to develop, but clearly, Manchester United still has faith in him. Given the full schedule his club will play in various competititions, he'll see the pitch plenty. I'd be shocked if Tim isn't one of the three keepers we take to Germany, and I'd expect we'll see him more once we schedule some friendlies overseas building toward the WC.......but I don't think it's a surprise that he's not flying back to sit on the bench.
Some interesting insight into Howard's USMNT role...... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/grant_wahl/05/17/howard/ SI.com: Switching gears to the U.S. national team, what's your status these days, and have you spoken recently to head coach Bruce Arena? Howard: I'm certainly in the mix, battling and competing. Bruce and I have spoken about my current situation. I've been dealing with some shoulder injuries. Predominantly my left shoulder, but it's actually both. I saw a specialist, and there's bone rubbing on bone causing pain. So much so that I've had trouble sleeping, and it causes pain in training and matches. So I need to get those rested and sorted out, because if not then I'll need surgery, and that's the last thing I want. We're going to try rest and maybe an anti-inflammatory injection, so that puts me out of the next three U.S. matches [a friendly against England on May 28 and upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Panama]. Otherwise I would have been involved for those three matches. In terms of my status as a starter or not, I don't know. I know for certain I'd be involved. Then going forward to the Gold Cup [July 7-24], we are back in preseason training with Man United on June 25. So that puts me out of the Gold Cup. SI.com: And qualifiers after that are a wait-and-see issue? Howard: At this point it's tough to say. I'm part of the [U.S.] team and I'm involved, but club-versus-country is a difficult thing to manage, especially being at such a massive club. It's going to be an effort on all our parts, the managers and myself, to get it sorted out. Because my passion is to succeed at United and on the international level. Going forward, I'm hoping to be involved after the summer. My situation isn't much different from a lot of players who need to recover and get their injuries squared away, but also have to return early for preseason training. It's a difficult task, really. We go to Portugal and on a tour of Asia, and someone told me we play 12 full matches before we kick off the season. SI.com: I know you want to be the No. 1 U.S. 'keeper at the World Cup one year from now. Hypothetically, what would need to happen between now and then in your mind to get in that position? Howard: When it comes to positions with the national team, particularly in the World Cup, it's about who's playing on a regular basis and who's in form. I hope that that's the way it plays out -- because politics does play a part, and there's no sense in hiding that. Yet I'm hopeful politics won't play a part and the best goalkeeper playing at the time will play. But I don't make the decisions, I just try and help them along.
Exactly. I don't expect Tim to get more than 10 matches this season, and most of them at the beginning with Carling Cup matches. Unless he unseats Van Der Sar or Van Der Sar gets injured, I just don't see Howard beating out an in-form Marcus and the MLS flavor-of-the-month for a spot in the World Cup. Now as for 2010, it's probably his job to lose if he finally gets a starting job somewhere .
Arena has always been of the thinking that a player must be playing for his club in order to be at top form and level and that he won't start a keeper that isn't playing. Howard had a great first season and hit his sophomore slump last season. Hopefully he can rebound and get back on the starting squad for Man U. If so, he'll be in good form to be the backup.
I think Tim will get 15 games or so this season if he stays with ManU, but he won't beat out van der Sar without some help from an injury. Once we qualify (knock on wood), I think Tim will get into the mix again. We'll schedule some friendlies in Europe, which will make it easier for him to participate, and Arena will want to make sure someone besides Keller gets some time in goal. That said, I don't think there is an advantage to carrying an MLS-keeper (Cannon, Hartman, Reis, etc...) for the WC. I do think Hahnemann will go to Germany as the #2, but you take the third as either a veteran influence (Meola) or an investment in the future. The future is Howard, so I think he'll go with the federation putting an eye toward 2010. The #3 isn't playing without a disaster happening anyway. Arena will throw a bit of competition at Keller just to keep him on his toes heading into next summer, so I'd expect Hahnemann and Howard to get some time, especially as Keller tries to settle into his relatively new club situation. There was even talk of Howard going on loan, so a lot can happen between now and summer '06........
I know he's young for a goalie but give me break on time to develop. He's been there two years and he's 26. Either he beats out Dutch boy or not. His development issues are so minimal at this point in his career. ManU. brings in top players no matter what. They are fricken ManU. Yes he will be instinctually better in 5 years, he'll also be slower.
I'm sorry, but I just don't buy the argument that a keeper is as good as he'll ever be at 26. In my humble opinion, I think most keepers hit their peak in their early 30's, when the growth curve of the mental game is still not impacted by a decline in athletic skill. From the same SI interview..... SI.com: How are you a different keeper now than when you left the MetroStars in 2003? Howard: I think in my latter stages with the MetroStars there wasn't a lot of coaching going on from a goalkeeping standpoint. I don't mean any disrespect. It was kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing, almost trying to figure it out on my own. When I got to United, we have a goalkeepers coach named Tony Coton. He's a fantastic coach who was a good goalkeeper himself. I've learned a lot more about the position as opposed to just being an athlete. I've learned the ins and outs of the position, the angles and starting positions. It was all stuff I'd learned in the past from a foundational standpoint, but now I've really put it into play. SI.com: In which areas have you progressed at United, and in which areas do they feel you need to progress more? Howard: My starting positions have certainly improved -- my angle play, too. As goalkeepers get older, they do a better job with their angles. From a shot-stopping standpoint, that's always been my forte with my athleticism. One thing you learn very quickly in England is the aerial game is a big deal, whether it's crosses coming in from wide areas or getting dumped into the box. For me, that's something that I really look forward to mastering, because athletically, the tools are there. I need to grab the bull by the horns and be aggressive with it, because that's my nature. What makes the EPL so exciting is the up-and-down, the back-and-forth, balls getting thrown into the box, shots everywhere. It's like a tennis match. That's the biggest thing right now.
i went to NY when Howard did the ManU tour. He took a ball on one side of the penalty box and distributed to the complete opposite side of the field to about the 30 yard line. I remember us saying "you wouldn't have seen him do that while he was in the MLS". I don't catch many of the ManU games, but of the games I've seen with Tim in goal, he has definitely progressed. He had a stinker of a sophomore year, but he'll rebound.
Don't mean to thread jack but if Arena is interested in a in form player playing regularly for his club in order to make the US Roster than what the hell is Convey doing on the roster then? Just curious....
PRECISELY what I was going to post at the end of this thread... WHAT THE FUNK IS CONVEY doing on the USMNT!??!! Seriously, what did he do at Reading to deserve a whiff at playing against England in a friendly? Total crap.
Just a guess, but perhaps Arena actually believes in Convey's talent, and see other factors affecting his club status. Boca was benched at Fulham, but that didn't result in a benching for the USMNT, McBride kept playing even while he was seeing extremely limited minutes, Keller was playing for the USMNT before he found a starting slot in Germany, etc.... Being in form and playing regularly for your club are important factors, but I don't recall Arena saying they are the only things he considers when evaluating a roster. Plus, I think when Howard said it's about "who's playing on a regular basis," I think he meant for the US team Sorry to disrupt the bashing of Convey, but Arena obviously believes Convey can help the team....club status be damned.