Truth & Rumors > Soccer

Time for Team USA to start Brad Guzan?

Views: 2356
Comments: 15

11:25 AM ET 03.06 | It's probably sacrilegious to put this out there, but has anyone noticed how well Guzan has been playing? Well, odds are no, because a) he just became a starter for Aston Villa this year and b) you might be thinking: "what team is that?" and last but not least, c) Aston Villa suck. Brad Guzan has been putting on amazing performances just like he did Monday against Manchester City. While Guzan continues to impress, Tim Howard has had a subpar year for his club. If this pattern continues, Brad may have a puncher's chance to take over the starting spot. Long term, Howard could be hanging it up Internationally to pave way for Guzan to become the top keeper since Tim will be in his mid-30s after the next World Cup cycle is done.

The American Pitch

Brad Guzan, Ian Walton/Getty Images

Comments (15) Add A Comment

March 7, 2013 07:34 AM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

No, I actually didnt notice. Thanks for pointing it out.

Jmako

Total Comments (30)

Comment #2 has been removed

Comment #3 has been removed

March 8, 2013 12:46 PM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

I'd like to see it tried, at least. Tim Howard's a bad leader on the field, particularly when he has young defenders in front of him. I also haven't been impressed with his positioning in the last year or so. It's worth a try.

johnny6

Durham , NC

Total Comments (2)

March 8, 2013 04:03 PM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

"Tim Howard's a bad leader on the field, particularly when he has young defenders in front of him."

Based on what evidence?

If you're only referring to how he yells at his defense at moments during games, then evidently you've never played the sport at a serious level (youth or otherwise), because I gotta tell you, any keeper who isn't marshaling his defense with a firm hand AND A LOUD MOUTH isn't doing their job properly.

And I say this as a career fullback. Without exception, the best keepers I played with were also the loudest and most authoritarian.

ninotores

Total Comments (221)

March 8, 2013 04:17 PM ET

Report Abuse | QUOTE

Anyway, generally speaking, keeper play hasn't been an issue for the senior-level Nats.

An example of an *actual* issue has been Klinnsman's on-going inability to get the team to score, despite multiple in-form (for their club) goal-scorers. Switching to Guzan isn't going to help with that, obviously, and it seems to me it would be a change just for the sake of change... and one that wouldn't necessarily have much upside, but quite a bit of potential downside (at this point, Guzan isn't the known and proven quantity at the international level that Howard is).

TLDR: Klinnman needs to fix what's broken first, instead of tampering with other parts of the line-up that really aren't.