That was a big performance. He has gotten better with each game as he has had to. Let's see if he can pull one more of these games out for the final. At some point, a guy who can't be scored on in the run of play has to be on the field. But, let's see what happens against Mexico.
I mean MLS goalies have also gone abroad and done quite well in Europe. Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann. Even Zach Steffen really got his start in MLS. And perhaps I’m wrong but looking it up right now I don’t know that Sean Johnson, Matt Reis, or Kevin Hartmann ever went over to Europe (at least according to their Wikipedia pages). And Johnny Walker I believe only played in Chile where he was the GK of the year in that league. Not every MLS player is going to make it in Europe, but there’s no reason to think Turner would fail over there. Especially given his story and the fact that he’s a late bloomer who became a starter later in his career.
I wouldn't say that guys like Hartmann, Reis, or Perkins got "found out" at a higher level. (Bill Hamid maybe.) Mostly, I think they just had the misfortune of playing at a time when the USMNT had multiple goalkeepers starting at a pretty high level.
i dunno man, he coulda been lights out this whole time and the increase in shots getting to him is on the defense
Well sure, he can only save the shots he faces. The ones that did get through last night required a couple really special saves. Not really sure what you're saying.
I think that poster's taking issue with your characterization that Turner's gotten better with each game, and suggesting that it could just appear that way because he's had to deal with increasingly difficult shots each game due to issues with our defense. But shot stopping aside, it does appear that Turner's looked more comfortable with the ball at his feet at least with each game. Mexico will be a real test there as I assume they'll have a more sophisticated press at times than anything he's faced so far.
I thought he looked really shaky with the ball at his feet in the first game and that aspect has improved with each subsequent game. The saves come when they come and he had a couple big ones last night but to my eyes his overall game has improved with each game and I can't credit anyone for things they maybe could have done given the chance since that's all imaginary.
Good game for Turner. He looks like a solid #3 and potentially look to challenge the others. Need to see more. Sunday should be a good test. His footwork is very good and enables him to cover ground and make reflex saves. Saved what he needed to and had the one long range shot that went wide covered. He did look very hesitant to play short corners... possibly by instruction from Berhalter. The one play I questioned was the second save. In real time I wanted him to come get the ball. It looked like he had plenty of time to get it, but more difficult in the replay. I like keepers who come off their line strong and haven't seen that from him yet.. Being able to make good reflex saves makes it less of an issue.
People wonder why I want to bring Guzan to the WC as the third keeper. That's why. I don't mean to be too hard on Turner for that early error, or judge him only on that.
But.......he makes up for it doing that. Again, I will take that every day and twice on sunday. Guzan doesnt get that save, point blank. Hell Im not sure Steffen gets that save
Turner is the only thing preventing this from being GC 2009, but yeah, lets pile on him for one bad touch, lol
Lalas: "I want a goalkeeper who will make the save more than I want the goalkeeper who is good with his feet" Jesus, Im agreeing so much with Lalas lately, Im getting scared, lol
Zero goals allowed from the run of play over an entire tournament… is that good? [emoji848] Now seven games into his #USMNT career (including extra time tonight) Matt Turner is 7-0-0 with six clean sheets and a goals against average of 0.14. Five of those wins have been 1-0.#NERevs— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) August 2, 2021
The only thing a healthy Steffan has over Turner is a higher level of skill with the ball at his feet. That's it. Period. Turner is a FAR better shot stopper. Turner has FAR better instincts and positioning. Turner is also a quick jumper and judges those 50-50 balls in the air much better than Steffan does. In my mind it's not even close, Turner is our #1 going forward. Get him a personal coach to do nothing but work on his skill with the ball at this feet and I'll take my chances with him improving in that area.
Not necessarily in a vacuum, but I think most people would say he's better in that regard than Turner. But again, to me that's the ONLY thing he's better at right now.