I don't think there's any reason not to call up Kenneth Kronholm for March, especially since he and his agent have indicated interest. Our best keepers are either in MLS or not starting in middle-tier European leagues. The starter for the third-place 2. Bundesliga side should get a look.
Will US Soccer even get his number or email? Such a dreadful feeling lacking moral now within the federation. Kronholm should do his best to get their attention.
I had hoped Horvath would have made a challenge, but he's been on the bench in Belgium for nearly 4months. Hamid is riding pine at his new club. Howard needs to retire. Guzan is solid enough to hold us over until someone (maybe Steffen) provides a worthy challenge.
I appreciate that Hamid rolled the dice on himself, I hope that it pays off, but yeah, as of now, next man up. Gonzalez or Steffen please.
For me, Steffen is the most interesting prospect right now and it's not even close until Horvath wins minutes again.
I'm still going with Steffen or Gonzalez. I think they will both push each other and are ready to really take off as they are starting to become experienced.
How good is Gonzalez? Or is a lot of it Hype that we didn't wanna lose any other potential prospect to Mexico?
Yeah, I don't think he's a sure thing by any stretch, but I'm betting on Steffen right now as the guy to emerge and claim the starting spot. I'm hoping the MLS playoffs were his coming out party (not just a hot streak), and he can bring that level of play on a regular basis.
So we have Guzan (we need to retire Howard by force if he won't go willingly), Hamid, Steffen, Horvath (he will find a way back), Gonzalez Also, Klinsmann. But maybe he's still playing for the u-20/u-23?
Hamid has been there for a few weeks. There's no reason to freak out over him not playing yet. If he's not playing within a year or even half a year, start freaking out. I don't think US Soccer did him any favors by calling him into January Camp while his team was in preseason.
I concur. But why did he accept? Maybe he wanted to continue impressing the interim coach or keep fit since his club was still in the off-season. Risky decision for sure.
At U20 WC a few years ago I thought Steffen was better than Horvath. Then Steffen went to Germany and didn't progress but all of a sudden Gonzalez was getting MLS minutes at 19ish and switched to US. Next year he was beaten out by Seitz and then Horvath was making waves in Europe. Gonzalez won back his starting spot but was out shone by Steffen who came to MLS from Europe and now Horvath is on the bench. These three have been playing leap frog for several years and it may be several more before an order settles out or they could all three turn out to be good like three pronged Keller / Freidel group.
i think two of our three options are gonna come from that rotation too, with one surprise from the bunch of bono, marcinkowski, tyler miller, maybe even a younger option that we are not familiar with yet.
It appears Miller has started all of LAFC's preseason friendlies so far. So that could well mean Steffen, Gonzalez, Bono, Tarbell, Cropper, and Miller as age-25-or-younger starting keepers in MLS. Not that I rate all of them highly but they're all worth at least keeping an eye on. Another eligible who has started all of Chicago's friendlies so far is former El Tri YNT Richard Sanchez. He looks to be the favorite to start the season with the departure of Matt Lampson to Minnesota. One under-the-radar name to watch is Adrian Zendejas, a big 22-year-old who arguably was the best USL keeper over the past two years with Swope Park Rangers. He won't start ahead of Melia at SKC but has gotten a lot of playing time this preseason and could be one for the future. Zendejas is Mexican-American, a Xolos academy product from Chula Vista, but said in an interview he would like to represent the USMNT. One disappointment was Eric Klenofsky, another big keeper who was looking to contend to start for DC United with the departure of Hamid, but DCU has let him go. In USL, the two biggest names to watch are USYNT keepers '97 Justin Vom Steeg and '99 Eric Lopez of LA Galaxy II. Tough to say who will be the starter.
Tarbell is gonna have to take a hell of a leap to get in the conversation. Right now hes a poor man's Bingham (which Im starting to become inclined to believe that was on the SJE goalkeeping coach who was recently let go. Hopefully the new goalkeeping coach can clean up the erratic butterfly swatting that both he has and Bingham had). If Marcinkowski fits up to the billing, I think and hope he provides Tarbell with immediate competition. edit: that is surprising tht Klenofsky was let go. Also, when is Colorado gonna move MacMath? Dude needs to be starting if theyre content with letting Howard play into his 50s
✍️#LAGalaxy sign goalkeeper @jvomsteeg: https://t.co/pYLiW1C9cM pic.twitter.com/mZQ2amw2Se— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 1, 2018
Two articles on Jon Klinsmann: "The past two, three months did not go as we hoped. The serious, focused German working is not fully in him, there's too much American left in him." http://www.espn.com/soccer/hertha-b...onathan-klinsmannsays-hertha-berlin-assistant And then the Manager and Director trying to do some damage control: Preetz said he would speak to Petry about the "differences between internal and external communication" and added that the club would give Klinsmann "all the time he needs." http://www.espn.com/soccer/hertha-b...nsmann-will-not-be-leaving-hertha-berlin-boss
Perhaps the most surprising keeper so far in MLS has been Tyler Miller. Seemingly doing very well for a high-flying LAFC side. His 25th birthday is tomorrow, so he's not old by any means. Another name to throw into the mix, if only for depth. The '93-'96 cycle of eligible keepers includes Steffen, Gonzalez, Bono, Horvath, Cropper, Miller. Not bad. Kenneth Kronholm signed a contrast extension with Holstein Kiel until 2021, so he may well continue to be their starter if they get promoted to the Bundesliga. If the 2. BL season ended today, Holstein Kiel would enter the promotion playoffs against Mainz for who would be in the Bundesliga next season. Kiel are 4 points off an automatic promotion spot. In any case, he's deserving of a USMNT callup. He's not young but might still be a viable option for most of the next cycle.