Revolution 2011 Season Grades: Goalkeeping
by Steve Stoehr on Nov 26, 2011 1:28 PM EST
in Revolution Commentary
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In the lull between the Expansion Draft and the Re-Entry draft (and by lull I mean total dearth of relevant news), we at The Bent Musket have decided it is time for our 2011 season grades. Corey, Matty, and I have looked at the four major areas of the team - goalkeeping, defense, midfield, forwards - and assigned our grades on a 4.0 scale.
Unfortunately for the New England Revolution, we don't curve based on the rest of the league.
So, without further ado, our Goalkeeper grades will be after the jump. Don't forget to vote in the poll and leave your reasoning in the comments section.
Corey: If there was any area of the pitch that I thought we did pretty well at this season, it's in the net. Matt Reis looked like a younger and more agile version of himself and played a pivotal role in keeping the Revs in a number of games (despite probably losing said games). If he had a more consistent and experienced back line in front of him, I'd imagine that his success this season would have been demonstrated even more and perhaps he would have even worked his name into the Goalkeeper of the Year conversation. Yes, I thought he played THAT well.
Bobby Shuttleworth was no slouch either. In the handful of games that Bobby started, particularly at the end of the season, I saw great moments of talent and brilliance. If you told me that Reis wasn't going to be back next season, I can't say that I'd be too concerned. Reis is a true asset, but I see a lot of promise in Shuttleworth. Still, I'd like to see him get some more experience and some more mentoring in under Reis.
Grade: 3.6/A-
Matty: Far and away the bright spot of the Revolution season had to be the resurgence (both health-wise, and form-wise) of Matt Reis. The Revolution netminder enjoyed what many called his finest season on the pitch and managed for the most part to stay on the field for New England. While Reis was still plagued by a few glaring errors that marred an otherwise brilliant season (that freak goal in Colorado sticks out in my mind) 2011 was still by far a huge positive for both player and club.
Shuttleworth, however, doesn't instill the same confidence in me as Reis does. When filling in for Reis, it was evident there was not only a dropoff in skill, but in communication and command of the players in front of him. The physical tools are there, perhaps it's just regular first team play that Shuttleworth will need to progress to that "next level".
Grade: 3.6/A-
Steve: 2011's lone bright spot was between the sticks, and I'm not just talking about Matt Reis's prodigious dome. After a shaky year marred by injury in 2010, Reis totally turned back the clock and channeled performances of yesteryear. Had he not missed games at the end of the season he would have run away with the league lead in saves, and his 1.59 goals-against average is pretty admirable when you consider the shambolic and error-prone defense in front of him.
In fact, Reis's worth to the team can be easily measured in how the team fared in his absence. Reis finished with 27 starts, 43 goals conceded, 111 saves and 5 shutouts, making for a 1.59 GAA and 4.11 saves per game ratio. Bobby Shuttleworth, meanwhile, made 7 starts and conceded 15 goals while only making 17 saves, and no shutouts. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a 2.14 GAA and 2.42 saves per game, meaning he wasn't just getting peppered during his starts, he was letting by a lot of shots that Reis would have stopped.
To be honest, Shuttleworth doesn't really inspire any confidence in me as a number one. He's a serviceable backup and, when called upon, does decently enough, but I just do not see him as the future in goal. I'm not sure he's any upgrade over Tim Murray at this point. Make no mistake - if the Revs make no moves at goalkeeper next season and Reis goes down, it's going to be a long and difficult road for this team.
Grade: 3.6/A-
Overall Grade: A-
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I voted yes
I think Reis has a couple of good seasons left in him, personally, but I’m not confident he’ll be re-signed when his contract is up. I do believe his deal expires at the end of the 2012 season, but I’m not positive. Either way, it would give us time to draft or sign a good-looking keeper prospect and then get him a bunch of reserve experience and possibly loan him out, so that by the time Reis is ready to leave or retire, his replacement will be primed.
Founder and Editor of The Bent Musket on SBNation.
Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
We've got wayy too much going on
To worry about a goalkeeper. Shuttleworth isn’t that great, but the Revs have some confidence in him (especially since they protected him…) so I’ll give them a year or two to see how they develop and use him. Ask me again in a season or two.
Follow me! @foreverton_alex
What’s the usual age for a goalkeeper to “get it” or “click” or whatever?
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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Nov 28, 2011 4:46 PM EST up reply actions
I heard somewhere
that GKs hit their prime after 30, which is entirely possible. I think the primes were 24-28 for strikers, 26-30 for midfielders, 28-32 for defenders, and 30+ for goalkeepers, give or take two years in any one. That’s pure speculation, mind. Petr Cech and Iker Casillas were phenomenal GKs well before their 30th bdays.
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Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
by Steve Stoehr on Nov 28, 2011 8:19 PM EST up reply actions
To be clear
the question said should we be looking for a GK replacement for Reis “this offseason”. To that I’d say not quite. You guys mentioned it yourselves, Reis overcame his injuries and yet he’s still getting the “over the hill” remarks. C’mon now, he’s as old as Beckham and he’s a goalkeeper and, most importantly, he’s still (IMO) one of the top 5 keepers in the league, possibly even top 3 with Keller gone! Looking at Bobby’s appearances and the goals he gave up, you can’t fault him on them all.
My plan: this offseason the Revs should identify candidates in the league and around the world to possibly replace Reis who will leave some big gloves to fill (it terrifies me what this season would’ve been like w/o Reis!) Note: I don’t 100% fault the Revs for again protecting two keepers given that Burpo now works for the Impact and that the Impact would make weird moves in the draft (as they did) now if a new keeper must be signed (which I think isn’t the case) the Revs would do well to consider moving for LA’s Josh Saunders who deserves to be a number 1 and did remarkably as a back-up to the injured Ricketts. If they want a new number two, (staying in LA) they might consider trading for Brian Perk who had a couple of major games this year and did well.
Shuttleworthless is not starter material
Not sure what the man crush is with Shuttleworthless, but I cannot remember a game where he actually impressed me. Reis is top 5 no doubt about that but we have no back up.
May be we should drft a GK and have him work with Reis to learn and take over when the big Guy retires, the same way a smart team develop a QB.
Actually, given the philosophy of the Revs which is “let’s make sure that all our starters should be bnechwarmers on any othe league team”, having Shuttleworthless as a starter makes 100% sense, knowing that AT BEST, he is a backup.
What would worry me
is that this draft is absolutely not going to be a deep one at GK. So, while I think that it’s worth exploring long-term post-Reis options right now, I don’t think that the best keeper in this draft is going to be the answer – but I could totally see this club making a mistake and drafting him first, killing our chances at getting a truly useful GA player (who is also free).
Founder and Editor of The Bent Musket on SBNation.
Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
by Steve Stoehr on Nov 28, 2011 3:04 PM EST up reply actions
Yes
It never ever ever ever hurts to have good goaltending. Granted, I think this team has a number of other weak spots. I dunno. I’m not an expert.
Your 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins
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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Nov 28, 2011 4:45 PM EST reply actions
Montreal traded for Ricketts...
I read on the Globe that Montreal traded for Ricketts from LA and send Sinovic back to KC for Davey Arnaud. Interesting move!
Is there any keeper out there on an MLS club who is not starter material yet but better that Shuttleworthless? I do not follow college soccer so I am clueless about the level of the players there.
Personally, I would love Ochoa, the mexican keeper. He is on a terrible team in France (Ajaccio) who is on its way to Ligue 2. May be this would reconcile this team with some of the latino crowd …… just a thought ….
Ochoa?
As in Francisco Guillermo? The Revs would have to lay DP money on him to bring him here.
To answer your first question, there actually are a few. There are some starter-level GKs rotting on benches. Jay Nolly/Joe Cannon (depending on who Martin Rennie puts between the pipes in Vancouver), Adin Brown was just released by the Timbers (we all know and love him), Jake Gleeson is also backing up Troy Perkins for the Timbers right now and he played really, really well early in the year. I’m sure there are more.
Founder and Editor of The Bent Musket on SBNation.
Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
by Steve Stoehr on Nov 29, 2011 5:21 PM EST up reply actions
Milos Kocic?
He’s a great backup to Stefan Frei in Toronto. And he’s Serbian. The Revs like Serbians (or at least they did!)
ask Marco!
I wonder what Perovic has to say about the Revs liking Serbians …..
DP $? Really?
I did not think about that. It is surprising as Ajaccio is not a big or rich club. They are a Ligue 2 club which happened to have gained promotion and will go down at the end of the year.
Cannon, Brown are too old. You want some one like Matt who can be your keeper for the next ten years. Who backs up Rimanado in Salt Lake or Hartman in Dallas? Both are great keepers so may be a quality guy is warming up the bench.
On a separate note, Home Openers on MArch 24th! Cannot wait! We could have a snow storm that day. I am not sure why the league is starting to early. I remembe how cold this year opener was ……
Ajaccio may be Ligue 2 level
But they can still pay as much or more than any MLS team out there. As can most Mexican clubs, and Ochoa, if he’s coming to North America, would likely go there. Ochoa is an international level goalkeeper with some good pedigree. He’s been having a rough go of it lately, but his quality has never been in question. If he comes to MLS, he’s instantly one of, if not far and away THE best keeper in the US. And that, my friend, you must pay for.
Rimando’s backup is Kyle Reynish, who I believe started against us and looked pretty good. Dallas, I’m not sure. Cbrown’s idea with Milos Kocic is a good one, but by all indications, Toronto might be looking to use him as the new starter. If that happens, I’d like the Revs to hop on Stefan Frei in an INSTANT. He’s highly underrated.
As for home openers, what would you have them do otherwise? Start later and have worse fixture congestion with tiny rosters? Or try to end later so that they’re still playing in snowstorms and also competing with Bowl season and the crunch time of the NFL season? They need to start the season earlier, frankly. It’s the only direction you can go to extend the games window.
Founder and Editor of The Bent Musket on SBNation.
Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
by Steve Stoehr on Nov 30, 2011 11:57 AM EST up reply actions
Schedule
I know this is heresy in US sports but the problem is the playoffs which congest the schedule. They play 34 games which 34 weeks (to avoid double games week due to small roster size) so they could start late March 17 11th week, go 34 and end November 3rd. End of season. Champion crowned! we could have an opening in April.
This would promote interest in the qualification places for the Concacaf Champions league which would be played on Wednesday like the US Open Cup which is in great need of marketing.
I lost all respect for the MLS Cup title when Salt Lake and Colorado won them the past two years. Bad teams got hot at the right time and prevented much better team (LA and Dallas) to win it. So honestly, I have no use for the playoffs. But I know I am in the ultra minority so I will not push the issue further.
What I am trying to say (and probably not very well), is that outside of the box thinking could help the MLS with its scheduling. A good step would be the elimination of the “all-stars” game which makes no sense to me. Even the NFL knows its pro-bowl is stupid. Time for Gerber to use his NFL bias to a good cause.
Good point on Ochoa. I am trying to get his salary from Ajaccio. Regarding Frei, I have read that he is on his way to New York to replace Rost which is let go so we might lose our serbian connection.
I didn't hear about Frei's landing spot
But I did hear that Toronto is looking to dump him for a Gambian international GK. If he goes to NY…they are instantly a much, much better team. Provided Marquez gets the hell out of dodge.
Founder and Editor of The Bent Musket on SBNation.
Twitter: @Stoehrst or @TheBentMusket
by Steve Stoehr on Dec 1, 2011 12:34 PM EST up reply actions
I said no
Reis is getting up there in age. I would have said yes, but my mind continues to go back to the Manchester United friendly. Matt made some great stops against some of the best players in England. I say Matt has two decent years left in him, and then the Revs should look for his replacment. I don’t think Shuttleworth is the goalie of the future.
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