Top 100 American Goalkeepers (October 2013)

This month I'm profiling Patrick Wall, senior goalkeeper at the University of Notre Dame. I expect Wall to sign a homegrown contract with Houston Dynamo following this year so don't be surprised if his name isn't called in the MLS Superdraft (which will likely occur in mid-January, fyi). I found a video of him during his high school and Dynamo Academy years and I've compiled a video myself. Hope you guys like bummer punk.

A little fun fact: Wall plays with Matt Beasler's younger brother, Nick Beasler a junior midfielder

My video is a little sticky, so apologies for that, but I was having trouble capturing the video. Also you may have noticed that my video is pretty boring and doesn't make Wall look all that great. A lot of "highlights" are either goals conceded or random clips during the recent Indiana match. Well there are multiple reasons for this, the main one being that collegiate soccer isn't made that accessible to people that like to watch the game but can't be there in attendance. I know what you're thinking, "But wouldn't the best advertisement for NCAA soccer be displaying the actual product?" You'd think, huh. I somehow managed to come across clips of the Indiana game but had trouble finding more than that. Secondly, seeing a string of goals conceded is a great gauge to see how consistent a goalkeeper is and what it takes to beat him. Anyone (and this includes you) can make a skate save, a double save, or a 1v1 save. You don't need good mechanics to get in the way.

The thing I like about Wall is his bounce. You'll notice not only the spring in his jump but his tiny bounces pre-shot to stay on his toes. He's ready before the shot and sacrifices his body to stop the shot. I'm not saying he's the next goalhero this country needs, but I am saying he's one of the top collegiate goalkeepers in the country (although I'm not crazy about his hair band).

Kinda speaking of, MLS came out with their annual 24 Under 24 list which featured Bill Hamid as the lone goalkeeper. Eh. I have mixed feelings on the list but here's Everybody Soccer's...

Top Ten College Goalkeepers

1. Patrick Wall - Notre Dame
2. Andre Blake - Connecticut
3. Omar Zeeni - UC Davis
4. Klay Davis - Charlotte
5. Nathan Dean - Elon
6. Tomas Gomez - Georgetown
7. Adam Grinwis - Michigan
8. John McCarthy - La Salle
9. Nick Shackelford - St. Louis
10. Andrew Wells - VCU

I dropped Richey, Cardona, and Jaye from the deca-list as they are all not starting for various reasons at the moment. However I think they all have MLS-potential, whatever that counts for. Blake and Dean are Jamaican and English respectively but the rest are American so don't you worry out there. Here's the Top 100 Goalkeepers for your delight.

Klinsmann and the U-alls have their last two World Cup Qualifiers this month. Honestly I expected to see Guzan start but after Klinsmann said that he will start the best available, I would lean 60-40 on Howard over Guzan. The third string goalkeeper will likely be Rimando again (sorry RSL fans).

Lastly, since we're in a society that is a dibs-based society, I'm going to bring your attention to Hunter Harrison of the Dallas Texans. Hunter is 18 years old and has yet to declare a college or so says the "Internet". SMU is in the area but he's just as likely to go to school elsewhere. The user who posted the video commented "Rumor is no college just yet... Denmark, maybe Belguim if they are smart. Flying coach of course!! ;-)"

I have no clue what that means. Enjoy.

Howard v. Mexico – WCQ – 09.10.13

First off, where else do you get this in-depth analysis about USMNT keepers? Who else is creating videos of Howard's saves because US Soccer didn't do a good enough job with their highlights? Not even robots do this. I just need to remind everyone that everybody soccer, even the goalkeepers like to. And their analysts.

Starter: Tim Howard
Bench: Brad Guzan
Not in 18: Nick Rimando

Guzan does not start despite some cries to bench Howard after the Costa Rica game and Rimando watches from somewhere in space, I assume.

In the first ten minutes Howard sees

• a second minute corner he catches
• a seventh minute shot from his own defender
• a tenth minute Harlem Globetrotter move (hilarious please watch this)
• a nineteenth minute save that Howard has to make this save that goes around Goodson towards the back post.

Needless to save, not only was Howard busy but he was looking very sharp and inspiring a little more faith in the crowd.

Two minutes later Howard faces a twenty-first minute free kick that goes high. However he covered the goal enough so he would not get scored on by distance (ahem, paging haters). More importantly we get this great gif that also doubles a lip reading test:

After a couple of long balls and awkward headers back to goal, Howard makes a spectacular save that I break down in this week segment's "Howard's Weekly Spectacular Save That Bill Reno Breaks Down".

You can notice Gonzalez's position as he is jockeying Dos Santos to Howard's right then Gonzalez switches his stance to push the other way. This is very not good. Or at least how late Gonzalez does it in the counter. If you want to do that do it outside the eighteen, please. Some expert art to help you see the triangles.

Gonzalez has no angle, then cuts off Howard's right, then sways too much and opens up Howard's left. An above average save that he holds on to (*applause*) but check out this footing. Look familiar?

In both occasions, Howard takes his outside foot and pulls it in. The first picture (the second goal vs. Costa Rica on Friday) results in Howard not having enough time to get to the ball while the other picture Howard is about to make the save because Dos Santos doesn't hit his shot hard enough to get past a mis-stepping Howard. Instead, Howard needs to shuffle his other foot toward the ball that mimics the same distance in feet (a little less than shoulder width apart) but about six inches closer to the ball. That may sound confusing so think of it this way: you need your feet about shoulder-width apart to get a good dive right? If they're too far apart (sumo stance) or too close together ("I have to go to the bathroom") it's hard to dive. What Howard is doing is moving the closer foot away from the ball instead of bringing the back foot toward the ball. In the end his feet are the same distance apart but one technique puts Howard closer to the ball.

Now the old adage is "a save is a save" and while that is true there is a new adage I'm trying to make popular that is "bad technique really stinks". (Hopefully the rhyme will become really catchy). Ultimately this is a minor complaint. Howard not only gets his hands to the ball but he holds it too, stopping a potentially easy rebound goal (nice marking, Beasley). It's close to an upper ninety save but footing has always been a question mark for Howard in my book and this isn't helping.

Forty-seventh minute Howard is still looking sharp as he makes a fantastic save for a ball that's going out of bounds. But this is what you want your goalie doing. So kudos to him although it does not actually help his GSAR as the ball wasn't going in the goal.

Fifty-eighth minute he basket catches a softly bonked header and then Howard takes a thirty minutes snooze as Mexico tries to remember how to play soccer. After it's all said and done, Timmy says...

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2′ catch +.02
7′ save +.03
19' save +.65
44' save +.45
47' save +.00

0 goals: -0

GSAR: +1.2

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Prologue

How to not punch a ball away on a corner. He doesn't need to leave his line but if he does he needs to attack the ball.

Howard v. Costa Rica - WCQ - 09.06.13

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VSZxj7tayE&w=420&h=315]

Starter: Tim Howard
Bench: Brad Guzan
Not in 18: Nick Rimando

Guzan continues his backup role and Rimando did well enough in the Gold Cup to earn the third string nod.

Eighty seconds into the game a ball bounces past the defense and finds Bryan Ruiz running through the 18. The ball is bouncing erratically so by the time Ruiz gains control he finds himself in a 1v1 with Howard eight yards out. Ruiz doesn't hit it well, right at Howard's stomach. Howard, probably on pins and needles to see a 1v1 this early in the game, falls to his left and has to reach back to cover the area he just vacated.

Howard makes a cat-like swipe at the ball to catch the top of it and send it out for a corner kick. A sturdy goalkeeper catches this in the bread basket and falls forward but shaky legs will get a keeper a'guessin'. A save is a save but Howard could have played this better although it wouldn't be uncommon to see a goalkeeper completely misplay this.

2' save +.05

Oof. Foreshadowing comes to fruition on the corner kick from Howard's misplay. The cross is driven in low and flicked at Beasley covering the near post. It's a 50-50 call on coming for the ball because it is close to the goal but it's in a crowd and driven in with enough pace that it's not 100% certain he could connect with the ball. And obviously we don't want a goalie leaving his line if he's not going to touch the ball.

Now, a goalkeeper has to trust his teammates to some extent. If a defender is blocking part of the goal, it'd be foolish not to trust him and welcome the recently shrunken goal area. Imagine a wall on a free kick. You have to line up assuming they have a large part of the goal covered. The same principle is in play here as Beasley is on the front post. However what I don't like is the line up in the goal. Because of Howard's positioning, Beasley is the only player who can cut off a near post shot because Howard can't dive through DMB. If he does, maybe Howard knocks the ball back into play and the two watch the rebound pop back in over their tackled bodies. Who knows. Ideally, Howard needs to step a bit more forward while DMB scooches back a bit. This way Howard can dive in front of the post and DMB to make the save and DMB can head to clear if Howard fails.

The ball is flicked on by Johnny Acosta and Beas Machine is the only man who can make a play on the ball because Howard is not far enough forward. If Howard dives along the orange line, he ends up in the goal. But if he steps forward to the red line he can make the save.

The shot looks too quick for Beasley to get his head on it but because he is gripping the post with his hand he has frozen his feet. (This is an important lesson for postmen to learn. Pin your arms tight against your side or behind your back to avoid a handball call and have your heels in the goal with your toes on the line. This way you can attack the ball by moving forward, be on your toes, and not get in the goalies way.)

I'm not knocking Howard for coming out but he does need to take a forward step to cut the angle down.

3' goal -.15 (positioning)
3' goal +1.00 (shot)

Things got even worse in the tenth minute when Costa Rica implemented this new strategy of shoving our players in the back to stop them from jumping.

Beasley can't fight through the triple team and the ball bounces past Howard for the second goal. You can watch Howard's right foot. (I would take pictures but it's so minute it's hard to see in still shots. You'll just have to watch for yourself.) He goes to plant but as the ball comes off Borges' head Howard turns to run parallel with the goal line instead of going for the first save. Unfortunately, Howard quickly realizes that it's out of his reach and does that weird slide onto his shins. If he dives out as the ball is closest to his body he can make the save instead of a lunging, running jump towards the back post.

The camera angle is misleading for the keeper because as it crosses the line it looks like it's close to Howard. Well, no, the ball is on the other side of the goal.

10' goal +.65

Lastly, the goal every is ripping Howard for. At first glance you see Campbell's first touch being a yard from outside the 18 and you scream "Where was Howard???"

Trying to recreate the setting is tricky because there are a lot of moving pieces. The bounce of the ball hangs up a bit more here while a less soggy field would let the ball run to the goalkeeper. Howard is trying to read the play but he has to be weary of a chip or dribble around. So as he is scooting back he can't tell if Besler is going to be able to make the play or where the ball is going to drop.

It ends up dying outside the 18 so a pick up is out of question and Campbell's speed makes Howard hang back. It's somewhat of the perfect storm. Speedy striker, odd bounce, defender still in play... I'm not upset at Howard's decision to stay home. Yes, he could have reached the ball but his choice is understandable. It wasn't extremely clear if Howard could have gotten to the ball first and Besler is still in the picture. Howard is confident in his 1v1 skills so he takes the gamble.

What is not understandable is the three foot wide five hole Howard gifts Campbell. This is unacceptable. You want to be big as a goalkeeper, yes, but not at the cost of giving away gaps in your body. Close the gate and don't be afraid to step towards the ball so you're attacking it instead of waiting on it.

77' goal: +.65

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2' save +.05
3' goal -.15 (positioning)
3' goal +1.00 (shot)
10' goal +.65
77' goal: +.65

3 goals: -3

GSAR: -0.8

Howard follows his Bosnia performance with a -0.80 GSAR on the day. It's not a bad enough performance to warrant a Guzan chant but Howard can perform better.

Top 100 American Goalkeepers - September 2013

I found out that the MLS kinda-sorta-somewhat keeps up with its own reserve system. I mean, it hardly has stats, sometimes has highlight videos, and seems to be forewarning us of its sudden collapse with a lack of any substantial coverage but there are excellent keepers in the system and several current MLS goalkeepers have spent time in the reserve system. (I would source that claim but again there is hardly any data on it. I guess with the reserve teams shifting to the USL Pro they're just assuming everyone will forget about them.) Specifically I'm looking forward to several reserve league keepers' ascension.

Most promising American reserve league goalkeepers

Santiago Castano - NYRB
Brian Rowe - LAG
Ryan Meara - NYRB
Alec Kann - CHI
Brian Perk - LAG
David Bingham - SJ
Eduardo Fernandez - RSL
Jake McGuire - CHV
Evan Louro - NYRB

That's a lot of young American goalkeepers who I expect to start at some point. You would think there would be some media attention for these keepers but they're stuck in a weird limbo. The reserve league is nice for players who can't make the starting XI but it's plagued with problems, the biggest ones being a lack of games and real stability to the teams (guest players are a frequent addition to teams).

"Why don't they drop to a lower league in America on loan? That way they can get more consistent playing time." you may be astutely pondering. That's a good question because most of the USL Pro and NASL teams don't have promising goalkeepers.

"Okay, Bill, now you're just being crazy. There are no good goalkeepers in the second and third division???"

Wow what a leading question but alright I guess I'll answer it. First off, I said no promising goalkeepers. As in goalkeepers who could start for an MLS side in 3-5 years. There are respectable goalkeepers by the dozens down there but most of them are in their late 20s or early 30s and have topped out their careers. For a bit of perspective, Richard Sanchez, FC Dallas's third string goalkeeper who turned 19 in April, is one of the best NASL goalkeepers after a handful of games into his loan with Ft. Lauderdale.

I don't understand the disconnect between getting young goalkeepers playing time in the lower divisions. It seems like a perfect fit. Maybe it's because these clubs aren't welcoming of newcomers, maybe the MLS sides want to hold on to their goalkeepers, or maybe there's just bad communication with the MLS sides for loan opportunities. Regardless, because of this situation young goalkeepers (sub 23) get pushed to the black hole reserve league.

Anyway, I say all that because I think it's relevant and the biggest movers this month were reserve goalkeepers that were brought to my attention. Link here.

There are five college goalkeepers towards the bottom of list and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about the start the NCAA season. Oddly enough, colleges do a decent job of developing goalkeepers. Or maybe they just don't ruin them that badly.

"How much does the MLS use the NCAA for goalkeepers?"

Okay that question was me.

By my count, there are 48 American goalkeepers over the age of twenty in the MLS, obviously excluding academy players. I assumed on average a goalkeeper would have a ten year career from ages 23 to 33. (I have no stats to back this but just took a nice rounded guess.) Based on this average, 4.34 American goalkeepers exit the MLS at age 33 every year if we're working with 48 keeper scale (about 2.5 per team). This will grow in the expansion years but ideally we'd see 4-5 American goalkeepers enter the MLS every year.

Now, goalkeepers can return from overseas but most goalkeepers are going to be coming up in the draft. Perhaps academies start developing their own goalkeepers but we're not there yet. Here's a very small list of drafted goalkeeping yanks by year:

* - not in MLS anymore

2013 (5/5): Brad Stuver, Luis Soffner, David Meves, Kyle Zobeck, Daniel Withrow.

2012 (3/7): Ryan Meara, Chris Blais*, Carl Woszczynski*, Brian Rowe, Andrew Fontein*, Doug Herrick, Joel Helmick*

2011 (5/10): Zac MacMath, Bryan Meredith*, Joe Willis, Jimmy Maurer*, Evan Newton, Josh Ford, Jeff Attinella, Phil Tuttle*, Zach Johnson*, Craig Hill*

(Side note: Portland traded Joe Bendik and a first round draft pick (Kyle Bekker) to Toronto for Milos Kocic and Ryan Johnson. Wow what a steal.)

We see 5-10 goalkeepers drafted in the past three years. A lot of those have received good minutes in the MLS at early stages in their career. And they're not all coming from just Pac 12, Big Ten, or ACC conferences, it's all over.

Johnson - UCF
Kennedy - UCSB
Irwin - Elon University
Pickens - Missouri St
Gruenebaum - Kentucky
Hall - San Diego St
Perkins - USF / Evansville
Reis, Rimando - UCLA
Shuttleworth - Loyola / Buffalo
Robles - Portland
MacMath - Maryland
Busch - Charlotte
Bendik - Clemson
Hamid - DC United Academy Player

Not every club uses an American goalkeeper (Ricketts, Neilsen, Gspurning, Fernandez) but when 75% of the league is using a goalkeeper who came from the NCAA as their starter that says a lot. So the next time someone asks you what the point of the MLS draft is you can answer "American goalkeepers duh."

I say all that to seamlessly transition into my

Top 10 College Goalkeepers

Unlike others, I'm not going to act like I'm an omnipotent power that can see every college soccer game but I see as much as I can. Some teams (thankfully) put highlights up after the game so everything I can find I put it here. Now you may notice my list is vastly different than others' but I was one of the few rating Daniel Withrow over Scott Goodwin before 2013's draft (here, at the bottom) so feel free to take my word for what it is. It's early and I haven't even seen all these goalkeepers but this is my list for the moment.

1. Adam Grinwis (Michigan) 65.42
2. Spencer Richey (Washington) 65.33
3. Keith Cardona (Maryland) 64.83
4. Matt Bersano (Oregon St) 64.67
5. Omar Zeeni (UC Davis) 64.67
6. Tomas Gomez (Georgetown) 64.33
7. Dallas Jaye (USF) 64.25
8. John McCarthy (La Salle) 63.67
9. Jaime Ibarra (SMU) 63.67
10. Nick Shackelford (St. Louis) 63.67
    Patrick Wall (Notre Dame) 63.67

Highlights

• Adam Grinwis gave up two goals and unfortuantely we only get one of the goals in these highlights, but we do get a big save early in the video.
• Spencer Richey had a nice shut out against Gonzaga.
• Keith Cardona did not play against Stanford as he is recovering from a wrist injury. He started 20 of 24 games last year as a sophomore so he should be competing for the starting spot very soon. Also Steffen hasn't exactly been impenetrable in the net this season.
• Matt Bersano and Omar Zeeni put on a save clinic this last weekend.
• Tomas Gomez gave up two goals against Cal then had a shutout against Stanford but neither highlight is a good testament of Gomez's skill. (Cal highlights, Stanford highlights)
• Dallas Jaye the 2010 USSFDA National Goalkeeper of the Year goals allowed and two saves against Florida Gulf Coast then was sat against the follower versus Stetson. (One save seen in the highlights)
• Patrick Wall and Jaime Ibarra were named to the IU all-tournament teams this past weekend.
• I couldn't find highlights for John McCarthy, Nick Shackelford