SoccerBlogs

BY DAVE MARTINEZ

Few MLS goalkeepers boast the reputation and accomplishments of Kevin Hartman, holder of most of the major goalkeepers in MLS history, and the Red Bulls are looking to exploit that experience to the fullest.

The Red Bulls officially added "El Gato" Hartman to their roster with an interesting wrinkle; he will also serve as the team's Goalkeeper Development Manager tasked to work with the team's young keeping core and it's development academy.

It was going to take a special kind of goalkeeper to replace Kasey Keller. Lucky for the Sounders, that's exactly what they found in Austrian Michael Gspurning.

SEATTLE: His name is Michael Gspurning, not Kasey Keller, and he has worked hard to imprint the distinction.

At the end of his first Major League Soccer season, the Seattle Sounders goalkeeper no longer toils in the shadow of one of the best goalkeepers in U.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

While other goalkeepers may have faced more shots, and none played behind as steady a defense as Sporting Kansas City's, Jimmy Nielsen's season was a special one because the Danish goalkeeper always seemed to make the important save when his team needed it the most.

The amount of hostility that David De Gea receives each week is somewhat bemusing to me. I know he's made mistakes, but so have many other world class goalkeepers. In a way, it is part of the job, and especially so in the EPL where punishing mistakes is a big part of the game. The speed and intensity of matches is what makes watching the Premier League so much fun, but it also causes teams (and goalkeepers) to make errors.

By Daniel Storey

Feels so Wright, it can't be wrong

During each and every window there is at least one signing that raises an eyebrow, a deal that takes us outside our footballing comfort zone. Be it Michael Owen's move to Manchester United or Bayern Munich deciding to recruit Dale Jennings from Tranmere, clubs will continue to upset our notion of the footballing norm.

My All-Time Top 10 Great Goalkeepers: #1 Lev Yashin

• Nationality: Russian
• 
  
• Total appearances: 870
• 
  
• Caps: 78
• 
  
• World Cups: 4
• 
  
• Titles: 9

Here we are, finally. The greatest of all great goalkeepers.

My All-Time Top 10 Great Goalkeepers: #3 Peter Schmeichel

• Nationality: Danish
• 
  
• Total appearances: 777
• 
  
• Caps: 129
• 
  
• World Cups: 1
• 
  
• Titles: 21

We're now into the Top 3 and Peter Schmeichel belongs at the head of any list of great goalkeepers.

My All-Time Top 10 Great Goalkeepers: # 4 Dino Zoff

• Nationality: Italian
• 
  
• Total appearances: 756 (League and International only)
• 
  
• Caps: 112
• 
  
• World Cups: 4
• 
  
• Titles: 11

Dino Zoff will be remembered as one of Italy's great goalkeepers, if not the greatest of all time.

The Hugo Lloris issue is an unwelcome distraction at the moment and while it's tempting to ignore it, the stories as to who is our number one just won't go away.

Over the weekend, Brad Friedel stirred those reports as he insisted that he remained AVB's first choice.

"The fact of the matter is, right now, we have four quality goalkeepers at the football club.

While it was a mixed day as far as transfer deals were concerned, Tottenham did secure one of their long term targets as French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made the move from Lyon to a life at White Hart Lane.

At a £12m fee and with 38 international caps to his name, Lloris sounds like a perfect long term replacement between the posts but Andre Villas-Boas maintains that Brad Friedel is still his first choice.

Tottenham rounded off transfer deadline day with a double signing of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and forward Clint Dempsey.

Andre Villas-Boas started his managerial post at Tottenham FC eager to sign a goalkeeper, a striker and a replacement to Luka Modric who left White Hart Lane to join Real Madrid.

Tottenham rounded off transfer deadline day with a double signing of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and forward Clint Dempsey.

Andre Villas-Boas started his managerial post at Tottenham FC eager to sign a goalkeeper, a striker and a replacement to Luka Modric who left White Hart Lane to join Real Madrid.

A makeshift USA team stunned Mexico in the Azteca Stadium last night, beating Mexico 1-0. It was the first time that the US has won in Mexico in 75 years. The best the US had done previously was a draw.

You cannot overstate the importance of this win, especially after 23 defeats in 24 visits to Mexico.

Some parts of the media have gleefully picked up on the question of Tottenham's number one goalkeeper that we highlighted yesterday. Apparently, AVB has upset new signing Hugo Lloris after his post-match comments on Saturday that followed one of Brad's best performances in a Spurs shirt.

"When you transfer it's not written in the contract that you have to play," Villas-Boas said at the time.

Well this is a smallish big change which is likely to make waves across the continent: Serie A benches have been extended from 12 players deep to 7, just like internationals. At this point, it's just Serie A. Other leagues, one would assume, will follow. (Eventually.)

The change, beyond having more options for the coach's whim, also likely means something crucial: a third goalkeeper.

"The goalkeeper picks a side and dives 93.7 percent of the time and just stands in the middle only 6.3 percent of the time. There was a clear bias toward action."

TheJournal of Economic Psychologyrecently looked at the link between decision making and penalty kicks, and found, somewhat surprisingly, that goalkeepers might be better off doing nothing at all.

The third round of the FA Cup has arrived and so have the whimsical musings on the magic of the world's oldest club competition. Average Joes play against their Premier League heros and the unthinkable upset are always possible. As wonderful as all of that is, sometimes it's the stories of non-league goalkeepers who are also naked butlers and qualified safari guides that truly encapsulate just how special the FA Cup is.

Backup goalkeepers have the toughest job in all of soccer. It’s a thankless job predicated on the hurry-up-and-wait principle - always be physically and mentally prepared to go into the game, but don’t expect to get much playing time in competitive matches.

Of Seattle Sounders FC’s whopping five goalkeepers on the roster, three saw little to no time for various reasons.

It's a brand new week, after a very tasty weekend, and we're hitting that time of the season where there's little time for reflection due to the fixture list.

The team will travel today to Montpellier for our first Champions League game of the season with the 6-1 win over Southampton fresh in the memory.