OT: US soccer qualifiers this week

[UConnDan97]

He didn't have shot to save, but he commanded the box pretty well tonight. He is the second best keeper in the pool and I'll take Arena at his word -- he was afraid that the keeper would have to make a lot of kicks and he didn't want to reinjure a tired Howard.

One thing has been true for me since 1990: goalkeeper is NOT a position that I worry about for the USA.

We've had a string of great ones, and Guzan is a top flight keeper as well...

 

[ZooCougar]

One thing has been true for me since 1990: goalkeeper is NOT a position that I worry about for the USA.

We've had a string of great ones, and Guzan is a top flight keeper as well...

Middlesbrough and Villa fans would disagree.

 

[UConnDan97]

Middlesbrough and Villa fans would disagree.

Well they can disagree all they want; he was still good enough to get a nice contract from Villa though. We haven't had to worry about a keeper since Meola...

 

[JSM1970]

Guzan is awful

0 saves against Mexico, the one shot he needed to save he didn't, albeit defense was awful on that play

We've had a string of great ones, and Guzan is a top flight keeper as well...

 

[HuskyHawk]

One thing has been true for me since 1990: goalkeeper is NOT a position that I worry about for the USA.

We've had a string of great ones, and Guzan is a top flight keeper as well...

I think he was. He seems to be in worse form the last year or two, including last night. I'd really like to see who else we can develop.

 

[Excalibur]

Well they can disagree all they want; he was still good enough to get a nice contract from Villa though. We haven't had to worry about a keeper since Meola...

I do worry about who is behind him and Howard at this point.

 

[gtcam]

Ive coached soccer for about 30 yrs at levels up to and including ODP U-20
I have never had a problem with having a decent American born GK
I think it has to do with American kids doing a lot of athletic functions handling balls with their hands and have developed a keener sense of eye hand coordination - baseball and basketball at such an early age
The rest of the world is far more advanced in making sure that the ball is a part of the foot but Americans are catching up as more and more foreign born coaches/clinicians are coming to USA.
Just my view

 

[JSM1970]

I'm not close to it, but follow the USMNT closely and some of the foreign leagues

Many of the top Euro teams are setting up Academies here and like you said more & more foreign coaches are coming here

The best thing that can happen is the top players go nowhere near US HS and college soccer. Those are wastelands for elite players

The best thing is these Academies and ODP find top players and they get developed at the foreign Academies

Ive coached soccer for about 30 yrs at levels up to and including ODP U-20
I have never had a problem with having a decent American born GK
I think it has to do with American kids doing a lot of athletic functions handling balls with their hands and have developed a keener sense of eye hand coordination - baseball and basketball at such an early age
The rest of the world is far more advanced in making sure that the ball is a part of the foot but Americans are catching up as more and more foreign born coaches/clinicians are coming to USA.
Just my view

 

[Waquoit]

Well they can disagree all they want; he was still good enough to get a nice contract from Villa though. We haven't had to worry about a keeper since Meola...

The last two teams Guzan played for were relegated. And I never saw a guy get beat in the 5-hole three times in one match before. If he ends up as our starter, we'll be worrying plenty.

 

[UConnDan97]

The last two teams Guzan played for were relegated. And I never saw a guy get beat in the 5-hole three times in one match before. If he ends up as our starter, we'll be worrying plenty.

I haven't looked up his ratings or save percentage stats, but Middlesborough only gave up 53 goals (that would put them 11th place in the Premiership in terms of goals against). In the 10 matches he played in (out of 38) he gave up 17. So in other words, 1.7 goals against with him in there and 1.3 goals against without him. Hard to tell if the fault was his, since I didn't watch a lot of Middlesborough. But he did play against Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc.

One thing's for sure; his team didn't score for $#it...