efc1111 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 From this Sports Illustrated piece it looks as though some observers of the USA team are thinking that Howard's form might be dipping from his former heights, as I think was happening for Everton last season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130611/usa-panama-tim-howard-brad-guzan-goalkeeper/index.html?eref=sircrc Would love Mucha's replacement to be a younger keeper ready to compete for the first team position and put some pressure on our Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn31 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 A lot of it has to do with Brad Guzan's finally breaking into the team at Villa, and doing incredibly well behind a very shaky defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efc1111 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Yes, it seems a decent balanced article and mentions Guzan's good form, and also notes that if Howard lost his no.1 spot for the USA it's unlikely that he would want to fly back and forth from England to sit on the bench for his national team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Klinsmann said literally like a month ago that Timmy is the undisputed #1 and the backbone of the defense. He'd have to really screw up for Klinsmann to consider anyone else. Quinn31 and Iamryanstover 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Am I alone in finding it odd that he was not included in the Gold Cup squad, instead he's named in the Confederations Cup? I'm not complaining, just seems odd that they aren't taking their #1 goalkeeper to a continental competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Am I alone in finding it odd that he was not included in the Gold Cup squad, instead he's named in the Confederations Cup? I'm not complaining, just seems odd that they aren't taking their #1 goalkeeper to a continental competition. Huh? The U.S. isn't even taking part in this year's Confederation's Cup. Quinn31 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Tim Howard's place has been under threat for a while with Guzan breaking through, he's probably going to be eased out of the squad like Brad Friedel was and be considered a legend amongst US supporters. I think he's done well for himself to be honest and can have no complains when Guzan takes the jersey off him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 I think Guzan looks better than he is due to the amount of saves he has to make. His decision making is erratic, he is poor under a high ball and whilst he is a good shot stopper I dont think he is that good in the grand scheme of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 His decision making is erratic, he is poor under a high ball and whilst he is a good shot stopper I dont think he is that good in the grand scheme of things. Sounds like Howard. Steve_E, Zoo, Matt and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Sounds like Howard. I was thinking that as I wrote it actually! I think he is one peg worse than Howard in all of those departments though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Huh? The U.S. isn't even taking part in this year's Confederation's Cup. I forgot that Mexico whooped you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avinalaff Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn31 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 I forgot that Mexico whooped you :shaking fist: :yellow CARD: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 I forgot that Mexico whooped you Quinn31 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 If it wasn't for Robert Green we would have topped that group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 If it wasn't for Robert Green we would have topped that group. What has been wrong with England in regards to goaltending? Obviously Hart is damn good but prior to him it was a bunch of mediocre guys; Green, Robinson, James... all would be pretty damn good options for majority of countries but you'd think that an elite soccer nation like England could produce better. Makes me appreciate what Tim Howard has been that much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I watched part of the US-Panama World Cup qualifier game last night, although the quality the poor. The news reports this morning claim that the US team was impressive, but only in the sense that Brighton would look impressive against Colchester. From what I saw, Tim Howard had little to do. He did let in a goal right before half-time, but it was ruled offside. He also made a bit of a save at the very end. Other than that, though, he was mostly a spectator. Not much action on which to judge him last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 What has been wrong with England in regards to goaltending? Obviously Hart is damn good but prior to him it was a bunch of mediocre guys; Green, Robinson, James... all would be pretty damn good options for majority of countries but you'd think that an elite soccer nation like England could produce better. Makes me appreciate what Tim Howard has been that much more. I'm not sure why, but the US have provided the EPL with several top-class goalkeepers. It appears to be a position at which they excel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I watched part of the US-Panama World Cup qualifier game last night, although the quality the poor. The news reports this morning claim that the US team was impressive, but only in the sense that Brighton would look impressive against Colchester. From what I saw, Tim Howard had little to do. He did let in a goal right before half-time, but it was ruled offside. He also made a bit of a save at the very end. Other than that, though, he was mostly a spectator. Not much action on which to judge him last night.To be fair, a big reason the quality seemed poor was because the field itself wasn't conducive to pretty soccer. They laid temporary grass on top of artificial turf. Nonetheless, I'm not going to expect people used to watching the EPL and Euro to think a USA-Panama game is high quality in any regard. Still, I think it needs to be recognized that the US is still building and that we've come a long, long way in the last decade. And also, we know what we are and embrace it. We're not going to play beautiful soccer (though Klinsmann is slowly making that happen) but we're going to play our hearts out 90 minutes. You guys saw it in the World Cup; we're not going to be the best team, but we're going to be a pain in the ass to play against. As for Timmy, yeah he hardly did anything last night. The offside goal was scored purely because the guy was offside; Timmy stopped playing because the flag was already up and it was pretty clear. I'm not sure why, but the US have provided the EPL with several top-class goalkeepers. It appears to be a position at which they excel.It makes sense when you think about it. We excel at developing basketball and football (handegg) players, who are usually tall. Peter Crouch aside, it doesn't make for a good soccer (football) field player. But it makes for a good goalkeeper. Tim Howard, for instance, had scholarship offers to play basketball. Although the US is improving across the board, we've been pretty damn good at developing goalkeepers and hopefully that will continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalziel Kane Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Don't forget Belo Horizonte, Brazil 1950, our most famous win over the english, and even Boston 1993 which caused some headlines and we sometimes do well, South Africa 2010 was another example. If the english had won the group and Donovan not scored that last minute goal they would have had a clear path through to the final but found Germany, Argentina and Spain in their way. That was a day of relief for sure, but what's done is done. I don't have any real interest in the international scene, so can't really comment on how Howard is doing, just mainly keep an eye on domestic affairs. Obviously hope they can make the World Cup in Brazil next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFC-Paul Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I can't see Guzan displacing Howard even though his form has dipped, Guzan is average at best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoward18 Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I can't see Guzan displacing Howard even though his form has dipped, Guzan is average at best... It's not even going to be a legitimate talking point until after Brazil 2014. Only an injury or existential crisis is going to prevent Tim Howard from being the starting goalkeeper of the USMNT in Brazil. From there, unless Howard severely dips in form, he'll probably hold onto the job until he decides to retire from international play; which could very well be immediately after Brazil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamryanstover Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Am I alone in finding it odd that he was not included in the Gold Cup squad, instead he's named in the Confederations Cup? I'm not complaining, just seems odd that they aren't taking their #1 goalkeeper to a continental competition. Klinsmann announced some time ago that Gold Cup would be mostly young and fringe players this term. Huh? The U.S. isn't even taking part in this year's Confederation's Cup. Yep I think Guzan looks better than he is due to the amount of saves he has to make. His decision making is erratic, he is poor under a high ball and whilst he is a good shot stopper I dont think he is that good in the grand scheme of things. I would not be surprised to have Howard hold it for a few more years until Johnson gets his European move and have him succeed Howard. Johnson is the best athlete of the bunch. He can make any save, but lacks the natural instincts for making highlight saves, but seems to allow fewer stupid goals. Hes good at handling, but lacks the distribution skills of a premier league keeper. He could definitely use some top coaching to become an elite keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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