1. Jake Gleeson isn’t the only MLS backup ‘keeper now shining
In a week to celebrate unlikely heroes (Leicester City, y’all!), let’s celebrate a fairly unlikely hero of MLS Week 9. His name is Jake Gleeson, a man was last seen robbing Toronto FC of potential points on the road.
Gleeson’s Sunday performance for the Timbers really was a show-stopper, a bigger deal because he is Portland’s backup, filling in for the injured Adam Kwarasey. And since this match was a high-profile national TV set-to, everybody made a big ol’ honkin’ deal about it Gleeson’s big day. As they should. You see some of those saves?
But we should ask, “Are we missing the bigger story here?” Because we seem to be living in some golden age of backup goalkeepers! See, Gleeson may be king of this second-teamer hill – but he’s not the only backup ‘keeper opening eyes.
Travis Worra isn’t even the backup at D.C. United. He’s the backup to the backup! Bill Hamid is out long-term, which went from being a concerning kitchen fire to a full-blown three-alarm blaze around RFK when second choice Andrew Dykstra also fell to injury.
By any measure, Worra has been steady in goal for Ben Olsen’s team. All things considered, he has been absolutely sensational during ongoing fill-in duty, his .88 goals against average topping the league.
In Los Angeles, Galaxy deciders traded for Dan Kennedy, presumably satisfied that they had a solid No. 1 to provide stability after the Donovan Ricketts fiasco last year. But then Kennedy got hurt, leaving longtime backup Brian Rowe in charge.
Welp, he’s done great. Kennedy is healthy again, but can’t get a game. Rowe’s record (4-1-3) is as impressive as his concession per game average (.90).
And before we move away from this topic, we should talk about the guy who has been Major League Soccer’s top backup backstopper over the last couple of years: Real Salt Lake’s Jeff Attinella, who has proven more than capable in 21 starts over the last three years. He gets a lot of opportunities because Nick Rimando, RSL’s exceptional longtime starter, gets extensive use as Jurgen Klinsmann’s third choice in the national team.
2. So, Brad Guzan, Tim Howard are in trouble? Well … not so fast
Now, does this swell of goalkeeping talent mean we have a pool brimming with future national teamers? (Worra, Antinella and Rowe are all American, as are Hamid, David Bingham and other league starters. Gleeson is a Kiwi, from New Zealand). Nah, it doesn’t.
First, performance as the backup ‘keeper is one thing. Carrying the added weight of being the No. 1, rising to the level of day-after-day expectation, that’s something completely different.
One quick example: Suppose a goalkeeper grades out at a standard “5” over a given performance. As the backup, people love you. They want to buy you milk shakes and stuff! “You da man!”
That very same “5” from the starter? Well, maybe he punched a couple when he should have caught. Or that one shot that got through, well, shouldn’t a starter get to that one?
See what happens there? The viewpoint changes. The whole calculus of presumption shifts. When you’re expected be merely adequate, but your performance is “good” – well, great!
But when you’re expected to be great and you’re merely good – well, what’s wrong with you?
That’s why when you look at someone like Tim Melia at Sporting Kansas City, you really have to admire his development. Melia was a backup to Rimando and RSL and then to Kennedy at Chivas USA. But he took the starting spot last year at in Kansas City and has not let go. He’s a backup who “graduated” to starter status.
Something else to know about depth at the ‘keeper position: so many supporters are forever convinced that their backup could/should be starting elsewhere. They’ve heard so much about how good this kid is, about what the guy can do.
But you know what these supporters haven’t seen? They haven’t seen the guy’s deficiencies. How he bobbles too many shots. Or how he gets caught too often in traffic coming for crosses. Or how he’s too hasty off the line, leaving himself stranded too often.
Once he’s a starter, those holes start to show.
Think about how many up-and-coming, cannot-miss goalkeeping prospects we’ve all gotten so hot and bothered about. Remember D.J. Countess and Doug Warren, who guarded goal for the U.S. under-20 World Cup team in 2001? Both were ballyhooed prospects; neither players’ pro career went anywhere.
Steve Cronin was another “can’t miss” prospect. Except that he did; he was an MLS backup from 2004 to 2011. Or, remember Quentin Westberg, who held French and American passports? He never got close to international soccer past the under-20 level.
3. Is this about Miami? Or just about David Beckham?
You would have thought Apple was launching its next big thing judging by the breathless press release earlier this week. Or that another planet had been discovered.
Nope. It was David Beckham’s birthday. And not even a particularly memorable one … no. 41, if you care. And yet, there was the press release about it landing in the in-box. A press release!
Seeing that thing drove home my concerns about Miami’s expansion franchise in MLS.
I have nothing against the city of Miami. Don’t particularly like the airport, but I can visit this great Cuban restaurant inside the airport grounds. So, yeah … I’m cool enough with Miami.
And generally, I have long supported MLS expanding its national footprint. Orlando City’s entrance, along with Atlanta’s impending debut, has mitigated some of the pressing need for MLS to stretch into the American Southeast. But since the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area represents another Top 20 American TV market (No. 16), and since the city has a vibrant international scene … yeah, Miami as a potential MLS city is fine.
The problem is Beckham. The team can’t be all about Beckham. It needs to be an actual club, with its own identity, hopefully one that grows organically. It needs some breathing room to create its own personalities, its own charms and quirks. And they can’t exist in David Beckham’s shadow.
If the whole thing is always about boosting Brand Beckham – and there will be forces always pushing it that way, for there are people whose paycheck depends on doing so – then it’s all a mess from the jump.
(Heck, it’s kind of a mess now … this thing has been all over the road from the start. The latest setback, on top of all the stadium location follies, is Beckham’s group losing its primary money backers.)
The fish rots from the head down, as they say. If it’s all about the owner (Beckham), and not about a club boldly forging its own identity, then what’s the point? There are plenty of great efforts out there now, good owners (or perspective owners) in good markets with interesting stadium plans. There are people who would slice off a finger to get into the MLS game now.
In all honesty, the league doesn’t desperately need Miami. Or Beckham.
4. To make better picks, watch those picks!
Generally speaking, when we talk about “picks,” we’re referring to our choices for that weekend’s games. Maybe, if we’re in Vegas, we’re hoping our “picks” will help us pick up some extra cash.
But to make better picks, watch those picks! As in the “screens” that happen on set piece sequences. Because last weekend “picks” played big roles in some big matches.
“Picking” is the art of screening off would-be defenders, freeing up attackers near goal. We see them most often on free kicks, corner kicks and the occasional long throw-in.
Now, this is the place where we tell you, “Yes, they are illegal.” And this is also where we remind you, “Everybody does it.” It’s always a cat and mouse game; it’s not a matter of “do” or “don’t” so much as “how much can you get away with?”
The weekend of pickers delight started at Red Bull Arena outside New York. If you watch New York’s well-designed (and wonderfully executed) free kick sequence against Dallas, the first action is getting Red Bull’s defender Ronald Zubar to successfully pick off Carlos Gruezo at the top of the penalty area. That frees up Sal Zizzo at the back post, and his unchallenged header back across goal sets up Loyd Sam’s put-away. (Video of the goal is here; but the better look at the whole sequence is here at the 1:01 mark.)
Across the river a day later, no doubt that David Villa’s sparkling connection at the back post at Yankee Stadium was top class. Great goal! But you know what else was well done? Wholly illegal … but well done? On Andrea Pirlo’s mortar lob of a corner kick, NYCFC teammate Frederic Brilliant holds off two Vancouver defenders who are desperately scrambling to close Villa; Brilliant looks like a security guy holding back the frenzied crowd from a rock star!
Just down the road that same day at PPL Park in Philadelphia, Union rookie right back Keegan Rosenberry (pro tip: remember that name!) successfully picks San Jose defender Fatai Alashe on a corner kick. That free up Chris Pontius for the uncontested header and goal. You can easily spot Alashe right after the goal; he’s the one screaming at referee Ricardo Salazar. (Alashe is right to be upset, but he still picked up a yellow card for dissent.)
Most weekends in MLS an illegal screen or pick (same thing … choose your word) plays some role in a goal. Week 9 in MLS just happened to be chockablock full of them. Which means, expect referees to make it a focus in Week 10, with extra eyes-on from the referee’s assistants.
5. The Little Five
5a. I’ve made my cases in various places advocating Brek Shea, Sacha Kljestan and C.J. Sapong for the U.S. Copa Centenario roster. Also, that U.S. coaches can resist temptation to station Kellyn Acosta at fullback. So I won’t do that anymore. Rather, I’ll let this guy do it … he does it well here.
5b. No disrespect for any of my colleagues, but I’m missing something in the criticism of the L.A. Galaxy right now. Sure, Bruce Arena’s team is imperfect. But the level of nitpicking for Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Sporting Kansas City seems a stretch. First, draws on the road are OK. But the team was without Steven Gerrard, Nigel de Jong and Robbie Keane! Again, no disrespect, but a central midfield of longtime backup Baggio Husidic and an out-of-position Mike Magee? Uh, a draw in KC looks pretty good to me. Yes, Arena’s side is living on Gio dos Santos’ hot streak right now – but sometimes, that’s what you need to survive.
5c. Raise your hand if you were outraged (outraged!) at all the red cards three weeks back? “They are ruining games!” Well, I made the case that sometimes you need that kind of week. That issuing red cards is about deterrence in the long view. It increases awareness and puts everyone on notice. It essentially says, “Enough! Cut it out!” Now the games are better … and rolling along with far fewer red cards.
5d. That big red card uproar happened after Week 5. At the time there were 16 ejections in 42 matches. Since then, officials have issued 8 red cards in 43 matches.
5e. Recall what I said in 5a, about leaving the case for a couple of guys up to colleague Matthew Doyle? No, sorry … I can’t help myself. To see the way Kljestan is operating at such high capacity for the Red Bulls, and to once again see Mix Diskerud – essentially the same kind of midfielder, a central connector who isn’t a classic destroyer, playmaker or wing midfielder – in the just-released U.S. 40-man roster rather than Kljestan simply defies logic. We made the case in our Soccer Today podcast Extra that this kind of omission has become so routine, so maddeningly common, under Klinsmann that it no longer provokes outrage. Kljestan has been great this year; Diskerud has only started half of his team’s 10 matches.
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for FourFourTwo and co-hosts the weekly radio show/podcast ESPN Soccer Today on 103.3 FM in Dallas. Davis is also the radio play-by-play voice for FC Dallas on 100.7 FM.