Zack Steffen is only 27. Brad Friedel didn't even become the keeper at Blackburn until he was 29. So Steffen is only now starting to enter his prime. A healthy and match fit Steffen is a good keeper. We haven't seen that in a while. Is he a world class international keeper? Probably not. But he's a good keeper to compete in our pool. Its shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that he's playing well in the Championship. We still have a lot of uncertainty in the pool. I have no idea what its going to look like a year from now. We don't know where STeffen is going to play after this season. I do worry a little bit about Turner being "Steffen'd" on the bench at Arsenal. And Slonina is going to be "Horvath'd" for sure. He's playing for Chelsea's U21s right now. Horvath could easily be "Hovarth'd" next year on the bench at Forest if they stay up. Our domestic keeper pool after Slonina's move is kinda "meh." Let's see how Chris Brady does in Chicago.
Not US goalkeeper related, but... He’s young and promising, he’ll learn to shake it off by the next World Cup— twelly (Twellman parody, duh) (@YNWtwelly) January 15, 2023
Odunze with some nice work in these highlights. Olympic eligible keeper, of course. After Slonina. that field is wide open. 1616619000544526336 is not a valid tweet id
Horvath with the start and shutout for Luton. Three points on the road 💪#WIGLUT | #COYH pic.twitter.com/an0WaEQOb1— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) January 21, 2023
Slonina buried on the depth chart the rest of the season.............. USMNT GK Gaga Slonina will remain at Chelsea for the rest of the season rather than go on loan I'm told, as @FabrizioRomano reported too.Slonina, 18, completed transfer to Chelsea from Chicago worth up for $15m this winter.He became youngest GK in USMNT history last night. pic.twitter.com/FpRTqyyDGw— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 26, 2023
It is interesting, though, that they will keep him at "home" for the rest of the season. Perhaps it just means there are no decent loan options where they think he'll get playing time coming in midseason. But perhaps they want to have some extended time to see him train and give him direction before sending him off on loan. I don't really have any idea which, if either, of those might be true. Hoping someone else might chime in on this topic.
My guess is this mostly it. It’s probably hard to find a starter goalkeeping job for him mid season if they are sending him out at loan, and they also want to have him spend a few months at Chelsea so they can get a sense of him as a player and so he can get a sense of the club. I wouldn’t read too much into it unless he doesn’t go on a loan next season.
Yeah...............its just a bummer when a guy who was starting in MLS (and now got a start for the USMNT) is playing for a Premier League U21 team. People whine about the level Steffen or Turner or Horvath are playing at. Slonina won't be playing at the level they are for a while. He'll hopefully be loaned out next season. People watch Chelsea, right? Its a non-stop conveyor belt in and out the door. They've brought in more players this season than games they've won. There is no guarantee that they have any long-erm plan for Slonina. Just like they didn't for Miazga.
I think the problem with Miazga was that he wasn't good enough. But they still got him loans and he still got a decent amount of playing time over the years while he was there. The biggest mistake was sticking around as long as he did, because it was pretty clear pretty fast that he was never going to stick at Chelsea. Chelsea is a very sink or swim environment. If you make it through to the first team, then you are probably a very good player. And if you don't you still might be. The key for Slonina is just to get loans where he can be the starter next season. And then it's up to him to prove his quality/worth. A few months of training with the first team and starting for the U21s isn't bad. Look at the improvement we've seen from Turner since he went over to Arsenal. I don't think Slonina doing the same between now and May is particularly harmful to his development. But high level training like that does have diminishing returns and he's got to get back to playing regularly next season.
An MLS Cup MVP between the sticks 🧤Welcome to the family 🍁@SeanJohnGK | #TFCLive— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) January 27, 2023
I think it is preferred. I would not want to buy a $10M+ asset and then immediately turn over his training to another club. Keep him home for six months. Get him up to speed on training, evaluate him, create a personal development plan, etc. Work in the 6 months in finding the ideal place for his level where he can play and be challenged, both, and where you trust the management and the coaching staff will work with you. I suppose they could have done all that in the last month or two, but I don't think this is a big deal. He's very, very young for a keeper.
A year ago Matt Turner dumps this out for a throw.Now: 😎😎 #USMNT pic.twitter.com/5gjwVkzTYn— Stu Holden (@stuholden) January 27, 2023
1619082286699548672 is not a valid tweet id the goal just too far away… 😔pic.twitter.com/Jj1qARIaKV— 🇺🇸 USMNT vs Haters (@USMNTvsHaters) January 27, 2023
TIs a shame Arsenal lost this one. We'll have to see how many games Turner gets the rest of the season now. They're now out of both cup competitions. Still in the Europa League.........................
Would have liked to have seen him try is chance abroad but I get being 33 that his chances were not great.
Seems to be the best situation for him. Getting used to everyone at the club and training to the best of his abilities. If he can somehow make the bench for a match by the end of the season, he's done really well.
Why did Guzan fall apart when he finally got his shot to be no.1 with the NT? He was doing really well with Aston Villa for a few seasons when Howard took some time off after the 2014 WC. Guzan won the Golden Gloves in the 2015 Gold Cup and then he just fell off.
One of the saddest sagas in the player pool. Will a club take a chance on him? Jesse González seeks to return to soccer https://t.co/w3DybCJY14— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) February 12, 2023