ISN Goalkeeper Power Rankings – Week 1

Fresh off the first week of 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.  

Biggest Mover – Up: Andre Blake, 5 spots: 13^th to 8^th

Biggest Mover – Down: Andrew Dykstra, 8 spots, 8^th to 16^th

Best Save: Tim Melia vs. Seattle Sounders’ Clint Dempsey

Biggest Mistake: Stefan Frei vs. Sporting Kansas City’s Nuno Andre Coelho

1. David Bingham – Up from 3^rd: My pick for Goalkeeper of the Year looked just as solid as I predicted. San Jose kept a clean sheet, and not because Colorado couldn’t buy a shot – they actually had quite a few chances. Bingham, however, never looked like getting scored on. His saves ranged from good position to impressive feats of athleticism. He looked in control, and his defense has an extreme trust in him, which helps with communication.

2. Luis Robles – Down from 1^st: It wasn’t Robles’ most comfortable performance, but he did enough to keep his team in the game. One important save on a Tsubasa Endoh shot from basically point blank range was all he could do though, as 2015 MVP Sebastian Giovinco slotted home a penalty kick low and left. Robles did guess right, so he gets a few extra points for that.

3. Adam Kwarasey – Up from 4^th: Although it was a shaky performance from the Ghanaian international, he did face one of the best attacks in the league in the Columbus. He held his own and helped his team get a win. Also, that bicycle kick by Federico “Pipa” Higuain was pure magic, and nothing Kwarasey could react to.

4. David Ousted – Down from 2^nd: The big Dane never looked comfortable between the sticks in the season debut, and made a bad mistake on Montreal’s second goal. He came way out of his box to try and surprise Dominic Oduro, but he was noncommittal and Oduro was able to tap the ball around him and into an empty net. He also did not do a good enough job in Ignacio Piatti’s second goal – the Argentine cut his own angle off and shot it across Ousted, who was on his heels and didn’t get his foot to it in time.

5. Jesse Gonzalez – Up from 6^th: Did virtually nothing as he watched his Dallas outfield teammates pick apart the Philadelphia defense. Kept the clean sheet and communicated well to neutralize any possible threats by the lively Ilsinho and the Union attackers.

6. Tyler Deric – Down from 5^th: Deric is out for at least another week. His replacement, Joe Willis, didn’t influence the result of the match, so he did his job as backup. Willis will enter the power rankings if Deric misses any more matches besides this week coming up.

7. Nick Rimando – Up from 9^th: The RSL legend climbs the rankings despite getting scored on twice in the last minute of stoppage time. He made a couple of huge and brave point blank saves – his specialty – on Orlando City shots from inside the box, enough to move him up a couple of spots.

8. Andre Blake – Up from 13^th: The biggest positive mover in this weeks ranking, Blake did anything and everything to keep the Union in the game against the clearly superior FC Dallas. That includes getting megged on a 1v1 situation, where Blake tried to cover too much space and left his legs wide open. We’ve all been there – trying to do whatever you can to get as big as possible and leaving the middle wide open. Blake made a number of other good saves though, and if it weren’t for him, the Union would be looking at a much worse goal differential at this point.

9. Bobby Shuttleworth – Up from 11^th: There was a clear lack of communication between Shuttleworth and his centerbacks, and the goal was evidence of that. And if he did call his defender off, he needs to hold on to that ball through the contact. Besides that, Shuttleworth was active and got his hands behind other shots.

10. Josh Saunders – Up from 14^th: The Porto-Rican international (yup, you read that right) started this season the same way he ended the last: getting bombarded with shots due to a poor defensive back four with no midfield protection. He made a lot of those saves, especially at the end of the first half. The talking point with Saunders this week however is the fact that Italian maestro Andrea Pirlo pointed to where the penalty kick was going, and he chose to go the other way… Alas, Pirlo was right. I always hated when my teammates would point to a side as the attacker is running to the ball. As a goalie, there’s nothing to gain from a situation like that. Choosing the side your teammate points to and the ball going to the side the goalie was originally committing to makes the keeper look bad, as if they don’t trust their own instincts. Yet, if they go with their own instincts and the ball goes to where a teammate pointed to, he will forever say “I told you so”. Even if a goalie follows his teammate’s advice, guesses right, and saves it, somehow its all due to the advice – and not their own prowess. So it’s really a lose-lose situation, and I respect Saunders for sticking with his original plan, even though Pirlo is a free kick ace and has predicted penalty kicks before.

11. Stefan Frei – Down from 7^th: What a screamer of a mistake. With his Sounders holding on to a point despite being a man down, a keeper must be even more alert. Frei let a ball shot from about 35 feet, from a centerback in Nuno Andre Coelho that is not known for his shooting, bounce right under him.

12. Tim Melia – Up from 15^th: On the other side of the field, Melia was keeping his team in the game. First with a fantastic save on a Clint Dempsey free kick, as he sprawled across goal to keep the ball from going top shelf, and then getting a hand on Andreas Ivanschitz’s lefty strike from just outside the box. Sure, Melia should have gotten more on it and pushed it over, but it was still a very good reaction save. He still looks very shaky on crosses though, and it limited his progress up the rankings.

13. Steve Clark – Down from 10^th: The preseason ranking discussed Clark’s passive nature on crosses, and it was clear again on Diego Valeri’s free kick goal. It is always an extremely difficult free kick to save, mostly because a deflection can come at any moment and completely re-direct the ball. However, Clark neither came out to meet the ball nor stayed in its path in case the ball went untouched. The second goal, however, was a true mistake. Clark barely dives, as if he wasn’t ready to make a play on that ball – as Dairon Asprilla is shooting from there, I expect an MLS starter to either completely get his body behind that and gobble that ball up, or at least let it hit your body like hockey goaltender. Clark did neither, and a ricochet over his hands is unacceptable for a goalkeeper of his caliber.

14. Evan Bush – Up from 16^th: A couple of great saves, where he really showcased his athleticism and reflexes, and two goals off of crosses – both in the 6-yard box. His crossing woes continue.

15. Clint Irwin – Up from 18^th: Irwin showed that he can hold his own as a starting goalkeeper in this league, denying goal-scoring machine Bradley Wright-Phillips the angle for a shot inside the box, sticking with him as he dribbled across the 6-yard box.

16. Andrew Dykstra – Down from 8^th: This is a more suitable position from Dykstra, whose first ranking was largely due to Hamid’s looming return. Dykstra had a nightmare in Carson this weekend, he was chipped from inside the box, committed a foul inside the box as he was getting chipped AGAIN by Mike Magee. Looked lost the entire time, and he’s going to need to step it up if DC wants to be in a playoff position by the time that Hamid comes back.

17. Joe Bendik – Up from 20^th: He did extremely well against Real Salt Lake to stay big and deny a couple of point blank goal scoring opportunities, but RSL’s second goal happens after a floated ball across the 6-yard box, which Bendik absolutely needs to make a play on.

18. Dan Kennedy – Down from 17^th: The former All-Star got hurt 20 minutes into the game, and there’s no official word on when his return will be. Depending on the result, his backup Brian Rowe will take his spot in the ranking. Kennedy did not look his best even before leaving the pitch, and DC’s goal was definitely a saveable effort.

19. Zac MacMath – Same position: Zac MacMath would have dropped if not for Sean Johnson’s benching in Chicago. MacMath did horribly on Chris Wondolowski’s winning header, jumping and flailing his arms as if the ball was out of reach; it was actually right next to him, in the middle of the goal, and he needs to save shots like that if Colorado wants to still be a serious team when Timmy Howard comes along.

20. Matt Lampson – NR: Lampson was never able to break through in Columbus and it became clear that he is not a starter in this league in the Fire’s 4-3 loss at home to NYCFC. Lampson looked rattled, and it’s hard to describe what he was doing as Khiry Shelton tapped the ball by him – he mainly just got on his knees and offered nothing to stop the attacker. The defense was a mess, and offered NYCFC many chances to score.