Ranking the MLS goalkeepers
by Steve Davis on May 29, 2010 1:07 PM EDT
Email
Print
I'm sure a lot of you have U.S. nats on the mind. I do. But there are seven MLS games on today's soccer docket, so we don't want to ignore the ongoing events in Don Garber Valley.
I'll be back later with some thoughts on the U.S.-Turkey friendly. Meanwhile, here is a quick rundown of MLS teams and the men standing sentinel between the sticks. It's a 1-16 ranking of who has best situation in goal (lifted directly from my weekly MLS wrapup piece that appeared on SI.com last Monday.)
1. Los Angeles – Donovan Ricketts has proven rock solid over a year and change and Josh Saunders has proven more than worthy as insurance.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Chivas USA – Zach Thornton continues to defy the laws of physics; he keeps aging and still looks a tad overweight, but he seldom gives away anything cheap.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. Red Bull
15. D.C. United – It’s bad when your pricey No. 1, Troy Perkins, loses his job. It’s a fiasco when the replacement is a newbie 19-year-old. (Although Bill Hamid does seem to have a future.)
16.
1 comment
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
My list
1. LA Galaxy – Ricketts is everything you’d want in a keeper, bar being slightly injury-prone (which is why you were right to mention Saunders, who is quite solid).
2. Seattle Sounders – Keller may be 40, but he’s still quality and provides tons of leadership to boot.
3. Real Salt Lake – Rimando has the best reflexes in the league and turns PKs into 50/50 affairs. If it wasn’t for his issues with long-range shots, he’d have a strong argument to be higher.
4. Houston Dynamo – Gets it done with positioning and smarts, but still has the agility to pull off the occasional blinding save
5. Kansas City Wizards – Very solid in all departments; I’d be more impressed if he was a better organizer, though.
6. Toronto FC – Frei has no weak spots. In a few years, he could be right at the top of this list.
7. New England Revolution – Burpo had been very steady, especially when the team was without Joseph and about 10 other players. With his broken leg and Reis being somewhere in rehab mode, the Revs will probably drop off quite a bit here.
8. Chivas USA – Thornton had been mostly average all season, but really stood on his head to keep DC at bay this past Saturday. Ignore the red card; he was the best player on either team.
9. FC Dallas – Hartman looks stable now after a poor first start in the USOC qualifier at RFK. I’m still baffled at how Sala remained the starter for so long, when he was always in the bottom 2 or 3 keepers in MLS.
10. San Jose Earthquakes – Joe Cannon is a mostly reliable set of hands. He’s also held off Busch, which is probably tough to do.
11. Columbus Crew – Hesmer is inconsistent. One night he’s easily in the top 5, the next he’s doing a Coundoul impression. He’s also vulnerable from distance.
12. DC United – Hamid, for a 19 year old, is fantastic. However, his quickness in decision-making leaves me a little nervous. As for Perkins…what the hell happened (yes, 1/2 of SBNation’s United blog is asking everyone else that question)?
13. Colorado Rapids – Don’t let GAA fool you when judging a keeper. Colorado plays a game based first and foremost on keeping a 0 on the board. Pickens is perennially shaky; put him on the Revs or DCU, and that fit and trim GAA turns into a fatty real quick.
14. NY Red Bulls – Look up “erratic” in the dictionary, and the picture next to the word is of Coundoul. Decision-making is the big problem here, but it’s followed closely by his stone hands. One wonders if he’s ever been coached a day in his life.
15. Chicago Fire – Dykstra has looked very suspect on numerous goals to me. There are at least 4 times this year I’ve seen a shot go past him and I think “Busch makes that save.”
16. Philadelphia Union – I hate to say it as a Terp, but Seitz has had a disastrous start to his time as a full-time starter.
