Its just athletes in general. They are bigger and more athletic than even 20 years ago. Look at Manuel Neuer. How many guys were there 20 years ago that were his size and played keeper? That's a small list. Now how many guys were there 20 years ago that were his size, played keeper, AND had his foot skills? Just about nobody, and while he is still top handful in the world there are quite a few keepers these days that are big AND can use their feet.
I think that is a lot of it, but do think guys like Neuer and Courtois is going to encourage more athletes to follow them. We have our own in Odense. it will be interesting to see how he develops. I think he has the agility to get down for low balls.
GK metrics, IMHO, are some of the most pure in terms of measuring an individual’s performance. Why, because by-in-large a GK doesn’t control the saves he has to make whereas other players do have more control of their opportunities.— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) November 11, 2020 Matt has let in 7.26 fewer goals than you’d expect based on the shots he faced. The next closest is S. Johnson with 5.26, it then falls to the 3’s. That’s a big gap to 2nd best and an enormous gap to the field. Want to go with the eye test, watch the games, your eyes will agree.— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) November 11, 2020 Here are thoughts from the Revs president. He’s biased fire his guy but his argument for the value of Xg for keepers seems sound.
He normally plays really well for the first two-thirds of a season then makes a bunch of errors. We've not seen the errors so far this year.
I would disagree that a goalkeeper doesn't have a big effect on the saves he has to make. Controlling your area and managing your defense is a huge part of the position. Bing quick off your line and getting to balls. These things are every bit as important as pure shot stopping. This isn't really an argument for or against anyone specifically as I haven't seen enough of Turner to have a real opinion of him. Just saying that breaking down the position to this one metric is not at all cut and dry like those tweets try to suppose..
Is that really true? If you do all the other stuff and don't make the stops then what does it do for your team's chances? I am sure Howard did all the mental stuff well but he simply wasn't getting to balls towards the end.
You need the whole package, presumably, if you want to excel. Tomorrow is a big day for Horvath, I feel. If Horvath starts and plays well, he won't leap over Steffen, but he'll cement himself as the solid second choice. If Steffen starts again, as I feel he might (for a number of reasons), then Horvath's claim to the backup spot becomes more tenuous. It's hard to hold your spot, and not lose ground, when you're not playing for club or country. I would start Steffen, but I won't be too unhappy if Berhalter chooses Horvath for this one.
Number 2 is soooo wide open. Horvath hasn't played in a decade. Turner is a shot stopper but the impression is that he doesn't have the other parts of the game. Guzan has the composure but can't stop anything. Sean Johnson is not bad but is uninspiring.
..............................and Horvath rides the pine. I think #2 and #3 are wide open for the USMNT.
Okay, hear me out. Melia for 3rd goalkeeper, strictly for penalty shoot outs. Dude has a freaking well earned rep. He is the king of the shootout. If we get in a shootout, thats the guy i want between the pipes, even ahead of steffen
Instincts and feel for the box and the posts is probably the biggest part of goalkeeping. Angles, anticipation, decisiveness, courage, etc.
Yup, all those things are important because the best goalkeepers spend more time trying to figure out how to prevent shots than trying to save them. Control your box, read passes and come off your line quickly (even stretching outside the penalty area when needed), don't give the forwards anything to shoot at so they take fewer shots, make the goal looks small with your positioning, communicate well with the defense so fewer players slip through, be available as an outlet, distribute well and then put yourself in good positions when all this fails so you have a chance at stopping the shots that do make it through. The notion it mostly just consists of standing in the middle of the goal and reacting to shots is far from the truth.
Yeah but this becomes just about impossible to actually implement. When you get to shootout only the 11 players on the field at the end of extra time are eligible to play. So you would have to sub in Melia late in extra time to make use of him. But man he is stout on PKs. That last save yesterday was killer good.
Sure could. Then the question becomes is a "cold" keeper off the bench really an upgrade over the guy on the field. Interesting to see how that would play out.
I can see how you would be concerned about that with a 3 sub bench, and thats perfectly rational fear. You better have a freaking stud if you think you can pull that off with a three sub team. Five sub..........it becomes a realistic possibility to pull off. And Im a huge proponent of it now because like others have said, with Melia, this wasnt a one-off. This is at least the second time he has just swagged out on a PK shoot out. His PK save percentage is pretty rediculous. The first earthquakes PK was poor, but the second two were reasonably well taken. He was just equal to the task. When filling out a roster of 23, you need role players. Even with three goalkeepers, having that third goalkeeper gives you the luxury of a role player. Hell, there was some appeal to me about using Mike Magee as the number three goalkeeper at the time because of his very unique skillset of being a goalscorer and to a degree, a shot stopper. He could have been effectively another striker option along with emergency goalkeeper, but thats a completely different situation (that and i am sure there are rules against having a field player round a roster spot designated for a goalkeeper). Melia is an out and out keeper, and if we have our two "best player available" keepers as 1-2, there is virtue in your number three being a PK shootout ninja. His effectiveness in a shootout is uncanny, and useful enough for a roster spot with a five substitute allowance. I wonder if other teams are going to see the same when deciding their 2022 roster.
It's an interesting idea, but it's not as if Steffen is a bad penalty keeper. In fact, it's one of his strengths, historically.
OWN My question is more along the lines of this. Lets say Steffen is your keeper and has played all game. Played a decent game and it goes to penalties. Is subbing in Melia off the bench really give you a better chance to win then leaving Steffen in? As a keeper I would prefer to finish my game. Now if this was planned and trained upfront then you can get past the emotional aspects. But I wonder does Melia really do as well stopping penalties coming off the bench compared to when he has been in the game?