S5E1: Surveying the State of American Goalkeeping

What this episode covers

Today we cover a few topics within the US goalkeeping scene. We start off comparing US men’s national team goalkeeping standards from now vs. 20 years ago. Where were we and where we now? How are our gks (specifically Zack Steffen, Matt Turner, and Ethan Horvath) performing overseas? What is going right/wrong? From there we jump to the US Open Cup debacle, where MLS attempted to pull their first teams out of the most prestigious tournament in North America. We look at micro level in how the Open Cup helps goalkeepers in both MLS and lower leagues, as well as macro level in how the Open Cup and MLS operate and should be operating together. Lastly, we finish with the NWSL draft and how young gks get drafted only to (most likely) sit the bench for a year or two. Is this healthy for gk development or are there better ways to grow our young goalkeepers?