Who knows? If Pochettino and staff do successfully turn Steffen back into a USMNT-caliber keeper, then that can only be good for the national team. Do I think that can happen? No. But if it does.........great. I think we all get it. Poch and his staff wouldn't know the MLS keepers from Adam. And quite frankly, since Poch has been named USMNT manager..........................many of the other options haven't been playing. Their seasons have been over for a while. Chris Brady of Chicago hasn't played a game for nearly two months. I suspect that their staff is getting input on the MLS keepers from our now "global" USSF goalkeeping guru. Jack Robinson. But even he's not been in his post that long. Former Liverpool man CONFIRMED in major role after six seasons under Jurgen Klopp - Yahoo Sports I'm sure Toni Gimenez, the new USMNT goalkeeping coach, and Robinson are putting their heads together to figure this out. [We swapped goalkeeping coaches with Liverpool. Our previous USSF goalkeeping leader, Fabian Otte, left to be part of Arne Slot's staff at Liverpool. I'm sure Fabian left his scouting reports....................]
Steffen has never been a particularly good shot stopper which is where almost all the value comes from with a GK. At the end of the day, we’re way more likely to win or lose a game based on that than a few nice passes.
Also, these boards are always in a position of looking for the future. Pochettino and his staff are probably much more interested in the next year and a half. Heck, if Poch's staff has been watching since they took over........................they might think the best MLS keepers are Stefan Frei and Brad Guzan. No joke.
Dino Zoff was 40 when he helped Italy win 1982 World Cup as GK. So maybe we shouldn't write off Frei and Guzan yet. Edit: Peter Shilton was also 40 in 1990 when England made WC semis.
Freese had a pretty good playoffs, something backed up by the shotstopping numbers. See for instance https://bsky.app/profile/tutul.bsky.social/post/3lcathwmvzc25
I get the feeling he wants to really trust the keeper and playing at a high level in Europe makes him feel better about how a keeper was tested hence why he tries to resurrect Steffen. Maybe something to it as we don't know how the MLS guys would do in international games that matter in a WC setting. Doubt Steffen will be able to be resurrected though. Poche may need to bite the bullet and give some real minutes at any pre WC tournaments.
MLS Best XI was announced the other day. I believe this is the first time in league history that there wasn't a single American named. In fact I believe there had never been fewer than 2 Americans named in any prior season, and only once had there been fewer than 3. GK: Kristijan Kahlina (Charlotte FC) D: Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF), Yeimar Gómez Andrade (Seattle Sounders FC), Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew) M: Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati), Evander (Portland Timbers), Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy) F: Christian Benteke (D.C. United), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Cucho Hernández (Columbus Crew), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF)
I guess they're not giving out MLS Best XI for "opposing player is talented so our plan is to kick the shit out of him" from flat earthers like Tolkin or "it's not my fault if one of the most talented players in the league tears his ACL two minutes after I collided with him" like class act Roldan... 1864789301499670660 is not a valid tweet id 1863378464205877318 is not a valid tweet id 1863405418548285888 is not a valid tweet id 1864372931997925527 is not a valid tweet id
It’s not like Roldan kicked his planted leg or something. It was a pretty innocuous 50/50 that happens all the time. The yelllow was probably for running through him after he’d already jumped in the air. Roldan has one of the lowest foul and yellow card rates of any CM in MLS, especially so when you consider how many tackles he wins. He’s a very clean player.
The ACL injury occurred on Puig's left leg, which Roldan hadn't contacted. It appears the injury happened as Puig tried to quickly bounce back up.
Yep. That was a bit of a slow, choppy affair. Tolkin did nothing. Delgado and SNealis looked the business.
Yeah final assessment, that was much crappier than the last 5-6 mls finals . Was basically Sunderland v wycombe
Honestly that match was better than if Seattle had made it with the dregs of what's not injured on our roster. If Galaxy had Puig though they probably would have run up the score on them pretty handily. Deserved champions this year after the East just absolutely cannibalized itself in the playoffs. The Trophy watch for Metro continues onward.
NYRB ought to have been home happy they avoided a relegation fight. Not playing for the championship.
Anything with more than six teams isn't a playoff - it's a redo of the season, for financial reasons instead of competitive ones.
That doesn't make any sense. The playoffs is an extension to the season in order to determine who wins the championship game. The lowest performing teams are left out of the chance to compete (a relegation of sorts) while advantages are built in for the higher seeds based on the 34 results from the "regular" season.