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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 26 2002 : 12:51:00 PM
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Zeppo
Top 2 keepers in Premiership are Yanks
Thu Sep 26 09:51:40 2002
128.192.81.32
PREM'S TOP TWO KEEPERS ARE YANKS
It's official, the United States is better than England at football.
If you don't believe me just look at the latest FIFA World ranking's. The U.S. has moved up one place to eighth, while England has dropped to ninth, and on their respective World Cup performances I'd have to agree.
Does this mean that the U.S. is producing better players than us?
"Of course not," you'd have to say. Who in Bruce Arena's current side matches up to the stature of Owen, Beckham, or Ferdinand?
Donovan, Reyna, and Pope? I think not.
However, in one position the Yanks are light years ahead of us — goalkeeping. And leading the way are Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller.
The entire footballing world used to look at the English game with envy when it came to the man between the sticks. There seemed to be an endless production line of great goalies. Think Banks, Clemence, and Shilton, to name a few.
But currently in the Premier League only five clubs entrust their last line of defense to Englishmen. Paul Robinson at Leeds, Richard Wright at Everton, Russell Hoult at promoted West Brom, West Ham's David James, and current England starter David Seaman at Arsenal. Let's take a quick look at them:
Paul Robinson has shown patience in waiting for his chance at Leeds while being the understudy to Nigel Martyn. Now assigned the number one duties, he's responded in fairly decent fashion. Good shot stopper. Butter Finger Rating: 5
At twenty-four, Richard Wright is the most expensive keeper in the Prem, having been transferred on two occasions for a combined fee of $15 million. Not content with being the deputy to the "Divine Ponytail" at Highbury, he moved to Goodison Park and has yet to impress. Mental questions remain. Butter Finger Rating: 8
Playing for an unfashionable club that supposedly is going to get relegated, Russell Hoult is not a familiar name. With four clean sheets in the EPL, he leads the Brit brigade though. Unfortunately he was on the end of a five star performance against Arsenal and could be faulted for a couple of the goals. Butter Finger Rating: 7
David "Calamity" James is being touted as the future England number one (if that's the case, we're in trouble). He earned his nickname at Liverpool where some high profile spills cost the Reds dear. A couple of seasons at Villa rebuilt his ego, and then it was off to the Hammers. One shutout in six tells the story. Like Dracula, he's afraid of crosses. Butter Finger Rating: 8
England's first million dollar net minder in 1990, Seaman has been around forever. But now in his 20th season the mistakes are piling up. We don't need to go into details, because they're out there for everyone to see. Dave, you've been a great servant to England and Arsenal, but it's now time to retire to your hair salon before you cost club and country more dearly. Butter Finger Rating: 10
Having watched these players, I can honestly say that they are not even in the same class as Friedel and Keller. The performances of the Americans this season have been nothing short of breathtaking.
This weekend certainly was no different, as Keller's performed absolutely brilliantly at Old Trafford on Saturday, and Friedel's penalty save from Alan Smith grabbed the points for Blackburn on Sunday.
Friedel spent three years at Liverpool before becoming a million-dollar man at Blackburn. Since then he's won the Worthington Cup Final and starred in the 2002 World Cup (behind a back line that included the dodgy Jeff Agoos!) in leading the U.S. to the quarterfinals.
His all-round presence and ability to control the box have made Blackburn tough to beat, and with his uncanny knack to stop spot kicks, Graeme Souness has a match winner. Rating: Currently the best in the EPL.
As for Keller, I've met Kasey on a number of occasions. Make no mistake, he's cocky. When you see him play, you begin to understand why.
I saw him single-handedly shut out Brazil in in '98, the game after which Romario said that Keller's performance was the best display by a goalie he'd ever seen. To be honest, Saturday against United was just as good.
The only way the Devils were going to score was from the penalty spot, and that's how it turned out. His shot stopping is second to none, and would someone please test his reflexes, because they're not human. Rating: Number two in the EPL.
It used to be that the United States national team would look to England to see if any players, like Roy Wegerle, had American heritage or an American wife.
Maybe now that process will be reversed as we look to America to find the next great goalie. Let's hope that at least one of the next generation of great American goalies has an English grandmother or something.
Until then, get the beers in.
http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=676564
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Karl |
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Top 2 keepers in Premiership are Yanks
