Watching Kasey during the halftime show, this thought occured to me: As much as I've loved Keller and Friedel (and the abilities of Howard), the former 2 will be in their late 30s soon. I realize goalies age different than other players, but they won't exactly be at their peaks as the years go. Howard is a keeper (pun intended), but is there anyone else after him in the pipeline ? Walker looks good, but there seems to be an A level (The 3 EPL keepers), a B+ level - Walker, and then a bunch of guys at a B level - Cannon, Hahnemann. I'm not sure if there's one stud GK in MLS right now who is putting up call-up worthy numbers. NB - Both Friedel and Keller woulda kept the game a shutout.
I would not trade Adin Brown for Johnny Walker.He has been hurt a bit but he is a really excellent keeper.
ya, adin brown is fantastic 90% of the time, and the other 10% hes out due to an injury. so by my math, that means hes fantastic 100% of his minutes played. seriosuly, his d lets him down so much, but he keeps every revolution game close all on his own usually. for a big guy espcially, he is very very agile. hes greta in the air also and commands a great presence. in my opinion he and johnny walker are our 2 best domestic keepers. and aside form them, id love to see marcus hanneman play a bit too, ive only heard great things about him. he went with the US to france lasts ummer for that silly cofed. cup, but didnt play at all. he could use a gold cup or soemthin..but he wont cause hell be playin his euro season then. forza inter
Right now, its probably Walker then Hahnemann and Cannon are tied for 5th. Walker had his chance last year, but was hurt. He will probably get a few more, but he just needs to stay healthy.
Walker is rated number 4 in my book. With Cannon and Hahneman number 5. I think we will see Walker on the WC 06 team, due to Keller or Friedel refusing to play due to not starting.
Jeff Cassar looked like a stud this week too. Bottom line is this, don't spend too much time worrying about the future of the #1 shirt in the USMNT. It's always has been, and likely will be for a long time, our deepest position.
Walker makes some bad plays. But so does Timmy! That goal was from his bad clearance and the indecision on the cross. I've only seen Hahnemann a couple of times on TV, but he impressed. I'd give him an edge over Cannon (and I'm a Cannon fan). Fat Tony is getting up in years. Cassar made some great saves against the Quakes (doh!), but I don't see him above anybody. So: Timmy! Kasey Brad Johnny Adin Marcus Joe Fat Tony Zach Cassar I'm sure I'm missing someone. By the time WC whatever rolls around, maybe the likes of Cronin will surprise us all.
Well based on what Bruce has said, and the fact that Walker started games for the Nats earlier this year, I'm assuming he's number 4.
We have a lot of young keepers with potiental they hit their potiental later in life. Keepers are like wine they get better with age. Howard is not quite there yet, but he will get even better fast. I missed the play on the goal. I had people in the house I disappear into a room to watch the game. Then my son burst in and asked me a question as the goal happened so I missed it. Will see it later today on tape. Incidently who was our sub keeper for this game? I thought I saw the black guy who was with the fire forget his name. Howard before that play he had control of his goal and his area. His distributions were very good. Then that play happened.
Just saw the goal it was totally Howards fault. Forget everything that happened before the last cross. He still had position on the last cross. It was a left footed low cross with spin moving away from him. A low aired ball that bounced. He had to know from seeing the spin the ball. That the ball would be moving away from him. He got fooled on the bounce? Any time you have a lot of spin on the ball and it bounces it will move more in the direction of the spin. That means ball bounces when spin is moving away from the keeper, the ball will move more away after the bounce. That is what beat him the ball bounced, and moved more away from him then he thought it would and he could not get to it. It fooled him, but why he should not have expected that to happen I don't know. Goal was his fault.
if you've been watching Metro lately you know walker has been in horrible form (the dribbling thing vs. DCU last week, amazing). Even in his shutout saturday, he was saved by the post. For my money Cannon has been the most impressive of late, and he was impressive back when he played for SJ a couple years ago. BTW, there's a short bit on howard on manutd.com: http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=80070&itype=466&icategoryid=120 wonder if gordon saw the poland game...
more on cannon... I just watched the highlights of the la game. He could have done better on the first goal, but got let down by his wall on the second (and still almost got it). What really impressed me was the way he came off his line at the very end of the game to deny Kotschau, then followed it up by keeping Moreno at bay all the way down to the touchline. Knowing when to come off your line (and keeping your head when you do) is one of the hardest things for a keeper. Cannon looked confident and in control off his line. still, part of me suspects he may be one of these guys with all the right instincts and technique, but maybe is just a step too slow for the nats. Didn't he get a callup when he was in SJ?
Walker has definitely not been stellar in MLS but his defense has been atrocious in spots. The only consistent performer has been parke (though Kenny Arena has played solid a couple times. Having pope out a lot has not helped. Right now I would have to say its.. 4. walker 5. meola 6 brown I think 5 or 6 years down the road brown will be right behind howard. I love his combination of size and agility, but he hasnt gotten a real look with the seniors and I dont see Bruce bothering till after 06.
i remeber brown was being talked about a lot a few years back, before timmy really emerged, but lately nothing. I guess that has something to do with the injuries, although i haven't really followed the revs so I don't know. I recall there was some concern about his religious beliefs interfering with medical treatment. Brown is also 25, even for a keeper his time to be made into a nats fixture might be running low...
I was curious about the caps, here's what I found: PLAYER #caps (last cap) BROWN none CANNON 1 (6/03 vs New Zealand, 2nd Half) HANEMANN 4 (6/03 vs New Zealand, 1st Half) MEOLA 99 (5/02 VS. Jamaica, 2nd Half) THORNTON 8 (12/01 vs So. Korea) WALKER 3 (4/04 vs. Mexico) and just for fun: RIMANDO 3 (2002, sub vs. El Salvador)