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: Andre Blake vs D.C. United’s Alvaro Saborio
Mistake of the Week: Bobby Shuttleworth vs FC Dallas’ Michael Barrios
- Andre Blake
For the first time since preseason there is a new name atop the Power Rankings! Andre Blake is probably the biggest reason the Union is leading the East. Bingham and Ousted didn’t have bad weeks but Blake once again posted the Save of the Week with a fantastic reflex save off Alvaro Saborio’s side volley, and came up with a couple more saves throughout the match to keep the Union on top. He looks so confident in net, and he just doesn’t look like he will be scored on during matches. He displaces Bingham, and with merit.
- David Bingham
A solid game against LA wasn’t enough to hold onto his spot with the flying Jamaican taking over. Bingham wasn’t at fault for any of the three Galaxy goals, especially since the last goal was yet another own goal from Victor Bernardez. Bingham still showed his agility of a couple of low strikes from Robbie Keane.
- David Ousted
Ousted had the second best save of this week, on a curling strike from Jack McInerney that was creeping into the top corner. Ousted leaped and used his left hand, in a perfect display of technique, to push it over the bar. He later, however, lacked belief on a free kick from Darlington Nagbe, where instead of laying out and diving for the ball he just didn’t commit, and ended up hugging the post after the ball was already in the goal.
- Nick Rimando
Two good, athletic, signature Rimando saves see him leapfrog both Luis Robles and Stefan Frei this week. The veteran is proving that he’s still got enough in the tank. One of those saves was off a beautifully stricken volley by another veteran, Benny Feilhaber, who we know can score those, so it was even more impressive.
- Luis Robles
Robles was pretty much a spectator in both of his games this week. The Chicago Fire wasn’t able to threaten his goal, and NYCFC was completely run over by the Red Bulls in the derby of New York. Robles had the best seat in the house to watch his team crush their city rivals.
- Stefan Frei
Seattle lost to the Western Conference leaders by the minimal margin of one goal, but Frei just didn’t look like the big Swiss force we’ve seen in past weeks. He was erratic, and a little too hesitant on most balls played into his box.
- Steve Clark
Clark has continued his rise of the rankings with another solid performance against Toronto FC at BMO Field. It was a battle between him and Giovinco, and it’s not always that the goalie comes out on top. Clark had a couple of good saves, on a 1 v 1 and another save on a powerful Giovinco shot from about 25 yards out.
- Brian Rowe
I mentioned last week how Rowe’s demotion in favor of Dan Kennedy puzzled me, and he came back with a bang this weekend. He wasn’t able to keep the clean sheet, but he looked as confident as ever, which is extremely hard for a goalkeeper coming back from a spell on the bench, even if that spell was only about a week. An impressive hold on a close range Chris Wondolowski volley was the best save he made in the match.
- Bobby Shuttleworth
For all his athletic qualities, Shuttleworth has the issue of being a little too aggressive at times. That was the root of his demise against FC Dallas, and also of his drop in the Power Rankings. He came out on a long ball at the very edge of the box, and got beat to it by Michael Barrios, who he then took out completely. He did sort of get the ball before completely leveling Barrios, but the problem was that he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Even if Barrios had settled the ball, he was still at the edge of the box, with a tight angle for a shot, and defenders closing in on him. Shuttleworth should have stayed home. He later got beat near post off a header from Tesho Akindele.
- Evan Bush
Despite his athleticism, Bush is still useless in crosses in the box. At one point in this game, he was actually inside the goal as the ball was whipping across the six-yard box.
- Joe Bendik
Bendik has had a coming to in the past few weeks, with impressive saves both in 1 v 1 situations and from distance in his repertoire. In this game, his reflexes were tested as a shot from Ambroise Oyongo deflected off a defender and forced Bendik, who was already diving to one side, bring an arm around across his body to redirect the ball.
- Clint Irwin
Columbus Crew SC did well at BMO Field and took the reins of the game, but Irwin didn’t let his clean sheet go. He had a fantastic save on an Ola Kamara point-blank header, going across his body to claw it out.
- Travis Worra
He made a mistake on a cross by being badly positioned but he recovered with athleticism. It would be good to see his growth in a manner that he doesn’t have to rely on his athleticism so much.
- Josh Saunders
What is there to say when a goalie gets scored on seven times in one match? He wasn’t particularly at fault, but motivation and pride a lot of times come from the goal. He has to be able to motivate his team to perform better. Although, with that being said, I do feel for Saunders – you feel so helpless as you just see the balls flying into the net.
- Tyler Deric
Houston’s only bright spot this week was Deric. He’s recovering his form from last year, and early blunder as he failed to communicate with teammate Damarcus Beasley was forgotten as he continued to make saves throughout the game.
- Chris Seitz
Kept New England at bay despite all of the forwards the Revs have at their disposal. He does a fine job while Gonzalez is out, but if he’s healthy, I can’t see Seitz holding his spot.
- Jake Gleeson
Got really unlucky as a deflection completely wrongfooted him. Other than that, Gleeson didn’t do much to prevent any of the three Whitecaps’ goals.
- Zac MacMath
Another clean sheet to see him stay above a couple of positions above the last spot. This clean sheet came with a lot of luck, as Seattle hit the post twice.
- Sean Johnson
Lampson seems to have lost his spot – and not soon enough. Johnson has shown that he can be a capable goalkeeper in this league, and expect him to climb these rankings in the coming weeks. He showed what he can bring with a few good holds in both games this week, and showed his athleticism by pushing a powerful shot over the bar against Houston.
- Tim Melia
Not the worst game of this season, but Melia got chipped for the third time this season on another 1 v 1 with an attacker so he stays in the bottom of the rankings.
