cover photo from Seattle Sports
Barely made it for June! Whew. There's been some significant movement in the top 100 from two months ago so let's discuss the major changes.
Brad Friedel is officially out and Stefan Frei has taken over the number three slot. Of course this begs the question, "Why doesn't he get called up to the USMNT?" Only Jurgen Klinsmann can truly answer that but the most likely answer is that Frei doesn't have any upside; he's essentially in the peak of his career, unlike Bill Hamid or other USYNT products. Frei doesn't have the glamour and Klinsmann, it would appear, thinks that certain younger goalkeepers will eventually pass Frei in talent. This goes back to the debate of "How much does the national team develop a player?" Which I would argue very little. It makes less sense to call in a developing player, regardless of his ceiling, if he isn't the best option at the moment instead of just simply calling in the top players regardless of age. Perhaps Frei can earn a Camp Cupcake call up but even that seems unlikely. Still, he's number one with us (after Guzan and Howard, of course).
Then of course there's Steve Clark at number four, who I would have expected to take the number three slot if you asked me a year or even six months ago. Clark's Achilles heel is his consistency. We'll see great saves one moment then a facepalm the next. If he can cut out the problems, he'd make a run at MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, however if he can't we'll could be seeing him farther down the list.
Andrew Dykstra (+39), Chris Konopka (+38), and Brian Sylvestre (+41) all jumped up the list for their recent performances, Dykstra most notably of the three, landing at number nine. While Dykstra had a hell of an outing in Champions League early this year, he's rebounded with outstanding performances while filling in for Bill Hamid's absence. Which is the real Dykstra? Time will tell.
Joe Bendik continues to tumble down the list. It's a real shame considering he has all the tools to be a starter in MLS but can't seem to put it together. His 1v1 approach is all over the place and he seems to be a step behind too often. Still young, Bendik could rebound but I'm doubtful he'll ever get to his number six spot again.
Lower division goalkeepers that are really shining are Sacramento's Patrick McLain and New York Cosmos' Jimmy Maurer. McLain is looking to rejoin MLS but I could see Maurer staying with the NASL for the rest of his career if the money is right.
Daryl Sattler returns to the list for the first time since July 2013 and Jeremy Crumpton is back in the top 100 as well, last being seen here in March 2014. As for newcomers, there are quite a few! There's a link or highlight vid for each goalkeeper just so you can hold your own around the water cooler next Monday.
Charlie Lyon
Darius Motazed
Kris Devaux
Sebastian Evers
Tony Halterman
Trey Mitchell
That's not all the big moves but those are most of them. You can check the history of the top 100 here to see the movement of each goalkeeper over time, including which goalkeepers use what brand of gloves, if you're into that sort of thing.
1. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa / England.1) - 77 (30.8)
2. Tim Howard (Everton FC / England.1) - 76.1 (36.3)
3. Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders / USA.1) - 70.9 (29.2)
4. Steve Clark (Columbus Crew / USA.1) - 70.8 (29.2)
5. Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls / USA.1) - 69.8 (31.1)
6. Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake / USA.1) - 69 (36)
7. Bill Hamid (DC United / USA.1) - 68.9 (24.6)
8. Evan Bush (Montreal Impact / USA.1) - 68.6 (29.3)
9. Andrew Dykstra (DC United / USA.1) - 68.6 (29.4)
10. Chris Seitz (FC Dallas / USA.1) - 68.5 (28.3)
11. William Yarbrough (Leon / Mexico.1) - 68.5 (26.3)
12. Bobby Shuttleworth (New England Revolution / USA.1) - 68.5 (28.1)
13. Brian Rowe (Los Angeles Galaxy / USA.1) - 68.5 (26.6)
14. Tyler Deric (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 68.4 (26.8)
15. Clint Irwin (Colorado Rapids / USA.1) - 68.1 (26.2)
16. Zac MacMath (Colorado Rapids / USA.1) - 67.9 (23.8)
17. Tally Hall (Orlando City SC / USA.1) - 67.9 (30.1)
18. Jimmy Maurer (New York Cosmos / USA.2) - 67.9 (27.7)
19. Quentin Westberg (Sarpsborg 08 / Norway.1) - 67.8 (29.2)
20. Jeff Attinella (Real Salt Lake / USA.1) - 67.8 (26.8)
21. Alex Horwath (SK Brann / Norway.1) - 67.7 (28.3)
22. Troy Perkins (Seattle Sounders / USA.1) - 67.7 (33.9)
23. Joe Willis (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 67.6 (26.8)
24. Matt Pickens (Tampa Bay Rowdies / USA.2) - 67.6 (33.2)
25. Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City / USA.1) - 67.6 (28.3)
26. Joseph Bendik (Toronto FC / USA.1) - 67.6 (26.2)
27. Andrew Weber (Portland Timbers / USA.1) - 67.5 (31.8)
28. David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes / USA.1) - 67.4 (25.7)
29. Jon Busch (Chicago Fire / USA.1) - 67.4 (38.8)
30. Dan Kennedy (FC Dallas / USA.1) - 67.4 (32.9)
31. Josh Saunders (New York City FC / USA.1) - 67.3 (34.3)
32. Brad Knighton (New England Revolution / USA.1) - 67.2 (30.3)
33. Matt Pyzdrowski (Helsingborg IF / Sweden.1) - 67.2 (28.8)
34. Patrick McLain (Sacramento Republic / USA.3) - 67.2 (26.8)
35. Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire / USA.1) - 67.1 (26.1)
36. Ryan Meara (New York City FC / USA.1) - 67.1 (24.6)
37. Evan Newton (Oklahoma City Energy FC / USA.3) - 67 (27.2)
38. Mitch Hildebrandt (Minnesota United FC / USA.2) - 66.9 (26.6)
39. David Yelldell (Bayer Leverkusen / Germany.1) - 66.9 (34.4)
40. Akira Fitzgerald (Carolina RailHawks / USA.2) - 66.8 (27.9)
41. Scott Goodwin (Louisville City FC / USA.3) - 66.8 (24.6)
42. Andrew Fontein (Minnesota United FC / USA.2) - 66.8 (25.3)
43. Austin Guerrero (Estudiantes de Altamira / Mexico.2) - 66.8 (26.3)
44. Devala Gorrick (Colorado Springs Switchbacks / USA.3) - 66.5 (27.9)
45. Kyle Reynish (New York Red Bulls / USA.1) - 66.5 (31.6)
46. Bryan Meredith (San Jose Earthquakes / USA.1) - 66.3 (25.8)
47. Chris Konopka (Toronto FC / USA.1) - 66.3 (30.2)
48. Matt Lampson (Pittsburgh Riverhounds / USA.3) - 66.2 (25.8)
49. John McCarthy (Philadelphia Union / USA.1) - 66.2 (22.9)
50. Brad Stuver (Columbus Crew / USA.1) - 66.2 (24.2)
51. David Meves (Fort Lauderdale Strikers / USA.2) - 66.2 (25.9)
52. Josh Wicks (AFC United / Sweden.2) - 66.1 (31.6)
53. Eric Kronberg (Montreal Impact / USA.1) - 66 (31.9)
54. Carl Woszczynski (Arizona United / USA.3) - 66 (27.2)
55. Will Dieterich (Haukar Hafnarfjördur / Iceland.2) - 65.9 (28.3)
56. Jon Kempin (San Antonio Scorpions / USA.2) - 65.9 (22.2)
57. Jon Dawson (Indy Eleven / USA.2) - 65.8 (24.3)
58. Brian Sylvestre (Philadelphia Union / USA.1) - 65.8 (22.5)
59. Alec Kann (St. Louis FC / USA.3) - 65.7 (24.8)
60. Lance Parker (Free Agent / None) - 65.7 (29.8)
61. Adam Grinwis (Rochester Rhinos / USA.3) - 65.7 (23.2)
62. Diego Restrepo (Metropolitanos FC / Venezuela.1) - 65.5 (27.3)
63. John Berner (Charlotte Independence / USA.3) - 65.4 (24.3)
64. Caleb Patterson-Sewell (Gil Vicente FC / Portugal.1) - 65.3 (28.1)
65. Tom Al Madon (Hapoel Tel Aviv FC / Israel.1) - 65.2 (30.6)
66. Matt Van Oekel (FC Edmonton / USA.2) - 65.1 (28.8)
67. Brandon Miller (Rochester Rhinos / USA.3) - 65.1 (25.5)
68. Darius Motazed (TuS Koblenz / Germany.4) - 65 (25.9)
69. Kenneth Kronholm (Holstein Kiel / Germany.3) - 65 (29.7)
70. Kyle Zobeck (New York Cosmos / USA.2) - 65 (25.3)
71. Nathan Stockie (Jippo / Finland.3) - 65 (26.3)
72. Lionel Brown (Fort Lauderdale Strikers / USA.2) - 64.9 (27.8)
73. Brian Holt (New York Cosmos / USA.2) - 64.9 (26.6)
74. Patrick Lane (Karlstad BK / Sweden.4) - 64.9 (26.8)
75. Josh Ford (Fort Lauderdale Strikers / USA.2) - 64.9 (27.6)
76. Daryl Sattler (San Antonio Scorpions / USA.2) - 64.8 (34.8)
77. Markus Dickerson (Kongsvinger IL / Norway.3) - 64.8 (25.1)
78. Trevor Spangenberg (Richmond Kickers / USA.3) - 64.7 (24.2)
79. Justin Luthy (Portland Timbers II / USA.3) - 64.7 (24.2)
80. Ryan Taylor (Richmond Kickers / USA.3) - 64.7 (25)
81. Daniel Withrow (Portland Timbers II / USA.3) - 64.7 (25.1)
82. Zac Lubin (Tulsa Roughnecks / USA.3) - 64.7 (25.8)
83. Hunter Gilstrap (Carolina RailHawks / USA.2) - 64.6 (32.2)
84. Kris Devaux (Baerum SK / Norway.2) - 64.6 (24.1)
85. Sebastian Evers (Jacksonville Armada / USA.2) - 64.5 (24.4)
86. Carlos Rojas (CD Cruz Azul / Mexico.1) - 64.4 (25.3)
87. Warren Gross (Western Mass Pro Soccer / USA.4) - 64.4 (26.4)
88. Nick Shackelford (Los Angeles Galaxy II / USA.3) - 64.3 (24.7)
89. Larry Jackson (Wilmington Hammerheads / USA.3) - 64.2 (24.8)
90. Dominik Jakubek (Sacramento Republic / USA.3) - 64.1 (35.8)
91. Cody Mizell (Fram Reykjavik / Iceland.2) - 64.1 (23.8)
92. Paul Rachubka (Oldham Athletic / England.3) - 64.1 (34.1)
93. Tony Halterman (Evergreen Dipolmats / USA.4) - 64 (24.4)
94. Spencer Richey (Vancouver Whitecaps II / USA.3) - 63.9 (23.1)
95. Charlie Lyon (Seattle Sounders II / USA.3) - 63.8 (23.2)
96. Trey Mitchell (Los Angeles Galaxy / USA.1) - 63.7 (24.2)
97. Oliver Blum (TB Uphusen / Germany.5) - 63.7 (25.5)
98. Michael Lisch (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 63.5 (24.8)
99. Jeremy Crumpton (Colorado Springs Switchbacks / USA.3) - 63.5 (24.8)
100. Cody Laurendi (Austin Aztex / USA.3) - 63.5 (26.8)