Fresh off another week of great MLS action, ISN columnist Philippe Chauveau continues his rating of MLS goalkeepers. Chauveau, a former collegiate keeper himself, will be completing this weekly column so ISN readers gain a better understanding of the goalkeeping profession.
Save of the Week: Jake Gleeson vs Toronto’s Michael Bradley
Mistake of the Week: Josh Saunders vs Vancouver Whitecaps’ Octavio Rivero
1. David Bingham
In a week where Bingham and Andre Blake faced off, he didn’t exactly have a busy week – but for the sake of consistency, he stays on top. Also, making Klinsmann’s 40-man list for the Copa America Centenario is a congratulatory feat.
2. David Ousted
A week of ups and downs for Ousted, alternating good saves and brave dives at attackers’ feet with a couple of minor blunders. The real issue came in the game against NYCFC, when Mendoza beats him near post for the winning goal. He complains that his defenders were in front of the ball but he should do better at covering his near post.
3. Andre Blake
Blake is huge between the sticks, and his positioning – seemingly his biggest flaw – is getting better every week. If not for Simon Dawkins’ brilliant goal, Blake would have had another clean sheet to his name.
4. Nick Rimando
We all saw that incredible face save at the end of the game, but the truth is that for every fantastic save that Rimando makes, there seems to another that he should have done better. On Miranda’s goal for the Dynamo, Rimando parries a shot that he should have held and then inexplicably gets beat on his near post. He stays in 4th because the goalies behind him didn’t have a great round and the face save was a great example of sacrificing his body, so I’ll reward that.
5. Luis Robles
Robles showed signs of his true self, with a couple of cat-like foot saves off of deflections. If he can recover last year’s form, the Red Bulls still have a shot this year.
6. Stefan Frei
The past few years, Frei has become a reliable goalkeeper. This year, he’s having a few peaks and troughs, and he almost had a big blunder against Columbus when he miscleared a backpass straight into Federico Higuain’s path – luckily, he botched the shot and Frei recovered in time.
7. Bobby Shuttleworth
Somehow, despite his unorthodox warm-up routine (which includes his own personal photographer), Shuttleworth was completely invisible this week – in both games. Not that he was at fault for any of the goals suffered by New England but he might as well just have not been there – no one would have noticed.
8. Evan Bush
Bush had no real impact on Montreal’s results this week, but his lack of bravery and timing on crosses continues to be an issue that plagues the Impact’s chances this year.
9. Jesse Gonzalez
It’s good to see Jesse back, and I ultimately believe he is miles ahead of Seitz in terms of sheer goalkeeping instinct and athleticism. He didn’t have a great week, which included getting hammered with four goals by the Red Bulls and almost getting chipped from half after he miscleared a ball, but the athleticism and the reflexes are still there. The first week back after a long stint on the sidelines is always hard for goalkeepers, so I expect to perform at his best in the coming weeks.
10. Brian Rowe
Another goalie who didn’t see much action, Rowe is stating his case to be a legit starter in this league. With LA struggling in other areas, what seemed to be a problem area has been taken over by Rowe’s surprisingly calm and confident figure. He makes a strong case for being the best backup in the MLS, if he can still be counted as one.
11. Steve Clark
The Columbus Crew SC had kept two straight clean sheets before losing to the Sounders this week, and Clark had his best game, believe it or not, on the 1-0 loss. It’s not that he made a ridiculous amount of saves, but he seemed to be able to get a hand to every ball around his goal mouth, and that included a great foot save, showing all of his flexibility, on a first time shot by Joevin Jones.
12. Jake Gleeson
Adam Kwarasey goes down, and a new star is born. Bit of a stretch? Probably. But Gleeson’s performance against Toronto (and Caleb Porter’s words) were enough to have a poll put up on MLSsoccer.com about who was the best backup in the MLS. Gleeson came up with a couple of miracles in that game, albeit a little embellished and exaggerated but his save on Michael Bradley’s rip from 20 yards out was the real deal. He showed his technique by going for the ball in the top left of his goal with his right arm, and the reflexes to be able to get to it – it is our Save of the Week for Week 9.
13. Tim Melia
Melia didn’t play midweek, but was back in the lineup for the weekend home match against Los Angeles. An uninspired Galaxy scored on the one moment of brilliance from Gyasi Zardes and Gio dos Santos, who chipped Melia on a 1v1. That’s what Gio always does, and it is noticeable how mad Melia gets after the chip gets through him because he knew it was coming – just couldn’t stop it.
14. Josh Saunders
A Steve Clark-esque mistake in the opening 40 seconds of the match almost had NYCFC dropping points at home again, but thanks to David Villa, Saunders’ mistake will go unnoticed probably. He also saved a penalty kick from Cristian Bolanos, but Bolanos was able to run into the rebound and poke it into the net.
15. Joe Bendik
Quiet week in goal for the Orlando City netminder, and a big result on the road in New England to close off a good week for the Lions.
16. Clint Irwin
Irwin and Toronto FC were defeated in the Pacific Northwest by a Portland team who probably should have dropped some points this week, based on how they played. Nothing he could do on the Diego Valeri free kick, it was a magisterial hit.
17. Joe Willis
Once again filling in for Tyler Deric, Willis did a fine job. A big double save against RSL’s Buritto Martinez was the highlight of his match, as Houston fell to the hosts 2 x 1.
18. Travis Worra
D.C. keeps surviving with Worra in goal, and in this week he demonstrated his bravery and good timing with a last- second save where he rushed off his line to meet a through ball that would certainly have been a winning goal for Chicago.
19. Matt Lampson
No mistakes this week, so Lampson leapfrogs MacMath in what has become a true battle for the second to last position in the rankings. He still looks way out of his element in a starting lineup however.
20. Zac MacMath
Almost had the mistake of the week when he mistimed his jump for a corner and bobbled it into the six yard box, but Colorado somehow got away with it. It was bad enough to drop him into last place though.
