We can’t say for sure until we see him play more regularly and see how he performs. But I’m guessing a loan will happen next season and it won’t be up to Steffen whether it happens.
Oh, just that he plays backup in a tremendously athletic position (their MO is, to, like, dive and sprawl and jump really high and stuff, in addition to all the kicking and running about) on the preeminent, most resourced "club" in the world, under the top manager of his, and quite a few others', generation. So...
On the bench: 📋 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📋 XI | Ederson, Stones, Laporte, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden SUBS | Steffen, Dias, Sterling, Jesus, Grealish, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Palmer, Lavia #ManCity pic.twitter.com/4XO1QEf5FQ— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 20, 2022
That was a response to him being worse than he was before and generally looking out of it. If he wasn’t athletic enough to be there, he wouldn’t be there. Are you saying that he’s not athletic enough and being a backup has been physically too demanding on him?
What's "going on in his life" is that he rarely plays so he's always out of form. When he does play, he isn't up to the speed of a live game. Kasey Keller (who I usually denigrate) described it well: a good goalkeeper is defined by making the correct decision in a split second. To hone these decisions, a goalkeeper needs competitive matches; training is no substitute. As he stated, Sadio Mane DOES NOT make that tackle on Allison in training, nor would Man City players make that tackle on Steffen in training. But Mane did execute the tackle--and very quickly--in a real match, which is why Steffan was not prepared for it.
MLS writer Boehm had a good article on the US goalie situation. Light, and real critiques, are finally being shed on it. Sadly the Liverpool match was more effective in highlighting it than Steffens poor to average career play. Meola, Keller and Howard all had good takes on Steffen. My favorite was Meola. He said Steffen is very comfortable with the ball at his feet, but that doesn‘t mean he is actually GOOD with his feet!!! Great description and one GB has to hear. I know a lot of folks don‘t like Doyle but he said GB needs to have a come to Jesus moment with regards to Zak. Not words I would have chosen but essentially correct. Get a loan at all costs Zak. You are not good enough as it is to sit and play, so do it dammit!
Not sure why folks don't like Doyle - one of the best writers on Yanks and MLS out there. Naturally he's a former BigSoccer regular. Wasn't Steffen pretty decent for Columbus and Dusseldorf?
He was/is? What's his username?? Have always liked Doyle, he's a cut above the writers we used to have and has represented his league extremely well IMO
I don't think it's a secret but I'm also not seeing an old post where I think he made it public so maybe that got removed. He no longer really posts on soccer here.
Doyle can be annoying because he's obviously shilling for MLS as his employer but acts like he's an objective/independent soccer journalist. I didn't watch Steffen at Dusseldorf, but after he got injured his backup performed similarly from a stats perspective. That never tells the whole story, especially for a goalkeeper, but people have relied on those stats to show that he wasn't anything special there.
And you think other keepers playing regularly get practice having Mane running at them from 25 yards away? Is it necessary to play regularly to pass the ball to a couple of open options before someone from 25 yards away comes and kicks the ball into your own net? No, it’s not. His mind is a mess and it doesn’t have to do with him not playing regularly. It looks like he likes to portray that he is so calm on the ball and takes unnecessary risks doing it. This is a pretty regular thing for him, and it’s getting worse. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if some off the field issues came out about him, which is usually death, a woman, or drug or alcohol use. Either way, he sucks right now, and he will never be elite.
Terrible take. Goalkeepers who play regularly do in fact get repetitions of elite strikers closing them down. Every single week. When you get benched, you lose that exposure. Speculating about a personal issue when the most likely rationale is in from of your face? Dumb.
Keepers can't make mistakes. Like all players, they have strengths and weaknesses. Playing all the time makes them figure out how to compensate the latter with the former.
I like Doyle but the venom some have for him on the US boards is impressive. The dukeofsoccer supplied Steff‘s stats on the S keeper thread after CR. Mediocre shot stopper in MLS. He gained a lot of attention for a performance against Atlanta knocking them out of the playoffs in year one I believe. He followed it allowing two soft goals but the Atlanta image stuck. He started out really well in Fortuna. First several matches were excellent. As the the fall season went on he became very erratic and mediocre. Started flapping at crosses, and letting in savable shots. He then hurt, tada, his back, and it was easy to excuse his end of half form due to that. Unfortunately it seems the back wasn‘t the issue, and if it is as now, he can‘t be relied on. IMO Zak has flattered to deceive. A few nice highs, a lot of fan hope (me inc) and a lot of uncertainty and mediocrity in general. Now that he isn‘t really playing he has regressed from serviceable, and I hope he is hot, to a problem
Keepers are soccer players, right? They know how to pass the ball under pressure, right? They practice, right? He does play in real games, right? He just played in qualifying, right? I have never seen a keeper get scored on like that after getting closed down from 25 yards away, with two wide open options. Have you? Those types of gaffes have been happening more and more. If he’s that bad coming off the bench he has no business being on any high level team. It’s not unreasonable to think something else is going on. How can you say there isn’t?
How can you disprove that aliens have not infected his brains to cause these errors? Can you really disprove it? Zach rarely plays real games and even more rarely against high quality opposition. Goalkeepers who do not play suffer from severely diminished decision-making, as Keller stated. Speculating about some non-falsifiable reason possibly being true reason like alcoholism is a waste of time when the much more likely solution is simply that he’s not a very good goalkeeper and he’s a straight bad goalkeeper when he’s not playing regularly.
Yet, you’re wasting time on it. I don’t care if you agree, and no need to get worked up about it. I hope he resolves his personal issues soon
I wonder what kinda loan options would he have. Do folks remember his time in the Bundesliga when he was among the top keepers for a few months?