Six weeks are left in the MLS regular season. Seven weeks remain in the NASL regular season. Nine weeks until the NASL final. Fourteen until the MLS Cup final and the expansion draft.
It’s all happening very fast for Minnesota United FC. As the current seasons race towards their conclusion, Jeff Rueter and Alex Schieferdecker sit down to discuss the current roster status of Minnesota United FC, and the club’s needs at every position.
To start off, this week we’re talking goalkeepers!
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Alex: Hey Jeff! It’s been a while since we did that roundtable discussion (can it be a roundtable if it’s just two of us?) on the NASL during the summer break. Well, it’s time to have another chat about this topic that we’ve been going back and forth on for weeks: how should Minnesota United FC build their MLS roster?
It seems to me that this conversation has two parts: basically there’s wild speculation about DPs and drafts and all that stuff, and then there’s looking at our current group of guys and thinking about how the club should sign for next year. But we should be able use that latter question and get a better answer for that former question. So let’s look at each area of the field and talk about who we have now, what our needs are, and then how we can plausibly fill them.
I can’t think of a simpler and also (strangely) more complex place to start than with the goalkeepers.
Jeff: It’s hard to believe that less than two months have passed since United welcomed AFC Bournemouth to this side of the Atlantic. While the game marked an unfortunate turning point on Kevin Venegas’ season, it obviously became a make-or-break moment for Sammy Ndjock. Fresh off the heels of a Spring Season where unfortunate bounces in Ottawa and Oklahoma City caused the team to drop just enough points to lose the title, it looked to me like the Cameroonian international wasn’t such a sure thing for MLS as I’d thought going into 2016. The mental strain of performing a viral howler against Bournemath was compounded by a minor knee injury, and Ndjock missed the next few matches getting his ducks in a row.
I guess we can #ThankTheJelly for this one. Since rejoining the lineup, Ndjock has allowed just 2 goals, making some incredible saves and anchoring one of the stoutest backlines in the NASL this Fall. To me, taking him to MLS is a no-brainer again. I’m still not sold on his play on turf, but he looked good this month at Hofstra.
I think he can be on the roster as a 1b/2 option. Am I crazy?
Alex: I don’t want to come off as that guy, but this was a point I found myself repeatedly making after that error. You can’t define a player by their worst or best moment (air hug for Wondo). What matters is the sum total of what they do. Sammy’s awful own goal was really really bad, but it’s also extraordinarily unlikely to ever occur again. So the fact that it happened really doesn’t bother me, and it shouldn’t reflect for a moment on whether or not he comes up with us in MLS, I’m much more interested in the prosaic stuff, the game-to-game mundanities of goalkeeping. And on that score, Sammy has been excellent since returning. I think he’s really helped his case, and I agree with you that he ought to be among the players we take with us.
A couple notes on Sammy. This is the second straight year where he’s been much, much better down the stretch than he was at the start of the year. That’s a Matt Van Oekel special, and it’s concerning to me. The major knock on him has been the mental side of his game, and I’m not really sure how to address that, but I think his ebb and flow over the course of the season is a related topic. Perhaps rebounding from one of the biggest goalkeeping blunders ever might help him in that regard? Another issue I’ve had with Sammy is his 1v1 technique, which used to be exceptionally poor. I think that’s something the coaching staff has worked with him on, because he’s been better and better at it recently. Still, that’s an area where I’m looking for more improvement. On the positive side, I think Sammy’s athleticism and his catching ability are exceptional; more than good enough for MLS. I think he’s got a ton of potential, and he’s still somewhat young for a goalkeeper. I mean, he’s younger than David Bingham and Sean Johnson!
So yes, absolutely, bring him with us.
Jeff: If I’m being honest, I was much more worried about the bounce in Ottawa than I was with the own goal. With the benefit of hindsight, those extra two points wouldn’t have been enough to win the Spring (we would’ve finished tied with Indy & New York, but be two goals behind in GD). Still, that was a competitive match and those were points very easily lost by a blunder. The friendly was never going to mean anything for the team on the field, and throwing a ball in your own net in a non-competitive match is entirely excusable in the bigger picture. If it was a spark to get his focus back? That’s a bonus.
I agree with you that his mentality can be a red flag. He isn’t getting chipped from mid-field anymore, but the early-Fall spat he had with the backline in a 5-1 victory seemed entirely avoidable and out of place. Yes, he’s still young, but if we’re going to expect him to walk into the MLS opening day XI, his composure is going to need to sharpen up by a large factor.
Could he be the starter? Absolutely. I can easily point to at least seven goalkeepers that are starting in the league regularly that I would say are even or lesser than he is on his best days. That said, his play on turf this season is a major cause for concern. I don’t know if he just isn’t used to reading the bounce of certain fields (hell, I bet that most players couldn’t get used to playing on Indy’s trampoline after a full year) or if turf aggravates his alleged knee injuries quicker as the match wears on, but there are still five non-grass fields in MLS (and a sixth on the way in Atlanta). Even if that adds up to only 10 matches, I’d rather not have that be on the forefront of my mind going into those weeks.
Alex: He made an error against Indy on turf as well. But you know, even that error reading the bounce off the turf—I mean, it’s not like Sammy doesn’t know how to catch the ball. It’s not the error that’s the problem it’s what caused the error. So yeah, mentality and turf. The good news is that the turf in MLS is much better than the turf in NASL. It’s also far from a Sammy-specific problem. Everyone struggles on turf.
Enough on that. I think the intriguing question isn’t whether Sammy ought to fit into the club’s MLS plans, but where he ought to fit. He definitely can’t be guaranteed the starting spot, he needs to be challenged. I haven’t seen that kind of challenge from the rest of our corps at the moment. So it really depends on who the club gets in the other spot(s). I’m definitely looking for the club to pick up at least one other goalkeeper who is at his level or better. I don’t think we need to look far for that kind of goalkeeper, the expansion draft is a great opportunity to solve this need. In my view, the expansion draft is the perfect mechanism to pick up the kind of stable goalkeeper who I’m looking for. There are a few MLS back-ups who I think are more than adequate for our needs.
Jeff: I think we could find our true starter in the expansion draft. Looking at the league, there are at least four teams with bona-fide starting goalkeepers on their bench or working back from injuries who may have been outplayed. Most prominently, Columbus (Steve Clark v. Zack Steffen), Toronto (Alex Bono v. Clint Irwin), and Los Angeles (rumored moves for Iker Casillas would supplant Bryan Rowe) have decisions to make before the draft; when you can only protect eleven players, you can’t afford to cover two goalkeepers. This doesn’t even account for poor Zac MacMath in Colorado! With slight reservation about Bono, I’d take any of the other keepers as our starter.
Quick aside–if it’s up to me, I’m taking Aaron Perez as my third goalkeeper. Hear me out: he’d be on league minimum, he’s a great locker room guy who has been the most consistent Loon as far as community presence, and he just turned 30, which isn’t old for a goalkeeper. Plus, if we ever had two injuries and needed our third keeper, we’d have to acquire a new guy or get assigned the league pool goalkeeper to cover. Third string goalkeepers aren’t marquee guys, but Perez has a good presence and mentality to bring along to the next level.
Anyway, I guess we agree that Ndjock isn’t a shoo-in to start but he could shine if he gets his head on straight.
Alex: What you said about Aaron Perez is true. I don’t know the guy, but I like the guy on Twitter. Plus, did you know he used to kick for the New England Patriots?
You named a bunch of young guys: Steffen, Bono, and you can add Jon Kempin (Sporting KC), Cody Cropper (New England), and Clément Diop (LA Galaxy) to that list. I think the latter two are more likely to be available, and more intriguing. Cropper is obviously a Minnesota native, although we clearly had a chance to sign him and passed. Diop is a native of France, so he and Sammy could start with a good connection.
I had something different in mind however, I was thinking about an older goalkeeper, someone with real MLS experience. Andrew Dykstra, who seems out of favor as the back-up in DC is an obvious choice. Joe “Mean Mug” Willis is another obvious choice. He’s now with Houston, but he’s not going to displace Deric. Then there are guys who have been back-ups for a while and have had to sit behind some of the league’s best. I’m thinking Paolo Tornaghi in Vancouver and Ryan Meara in New York. Meara may be the standout name on this entire list. He’s been touted for so long, but Luis Robles is an ironman and Meara hasn’t had a sniff of MLS action since his early years. This year, he’s backstopped NYRB II, the best team in USL. So he’s clearly still a good goalkeeper. New York are a deep team and they could struggle to protect him.
MacMath is an interesting case. He’s got to be furious that Colorado dumped him for Howard despite his solid play. He’s said publicly that he wants out. But if I’m the Rapids, he’s definitely on my protected list. Howard is not a long term answer there. MacMath could be. I don’t love MacMath, but if he were available, I’d be happy to take him. But why would Colorado let him go?
Anyway, the takeaway from all of this is that there are some serious options for goalkeepers in MLS, and I think it’s inevitable that some of these guys will be open to us.
Jeff: I did know Perez used to kick for the Patriots! Crazy career trajectory, right?
I see where you’re going with these older goalkeepers, but I think most of them (Willis, Dykstra in particular) have shown why they haven’t become regular starters. Both of them had extended periods where they started this season alone, but they didn’t turn the right heads to earn regular minutes with their current teams or other suitors. The only exceptions I could give to that statement are Meara or Real Salt Lake’s Jeff Attinella (yes, the guy from the 2012 Soccer Bowl shootout). Still only 27, he’s filled in admirably when Nick ‘GOAT’ Rimando was away on international duty and deserves starting time. I’d be fully confident with either of those two from day one.
I don’t see how Colorado protects MacMath. DPs aren’t automatically protected, so they have to use a spot on Howard. Considering they’re a Supporters’ Shield contender, they can’t afford to let a guy like Marlon Hairston, Dillon Serna, or Axel Sjoberg slip in the Expansion Draft. They can’t justify protecting two goalies, and considering he wants to start now (not to mention Howard has another three years on his contract after 2016), he’s going to be available.
So give me one of Meara/MacMath/Attinella, Ndjock, and Perez, and I feel really good about our goalkeeping depth in MLS.
Alex: I think we disagree on the personnel, but we agree on the overall approach. We’ll have to come back to this in December when we see how the expansion draft is shaping up. That’s a wrap!
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We’ll be talking defenders next week! What do you think United should do with their goalkeeper situation for MLS? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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