Rimando will have to settle for being beloved by MLS fans in DC and Utah Read more

As a 5'7" DC fan who met him a few times, a 5'9" listing is probably generous. When Nick was a younger keeper, he’d get abused on crosses - you can see it on some of the goals he gave up in those 2004 playoffs. It’s incredible that it’s been 13 years since DC figured he’d soon be done and traded him. Read more

The IFAB has made an emergency “temporary dispensation” announcement: during any KFPM shootouts for the remainder of the World Cup, goalkeepers will not be given a mandated yellow card if they are charged with encroachment. The fear is that, at the rate we are seeing these calls, keepers who found themselves involved… Read more

It’s worth noting that MLB explicitly does not allow video review for those plays.
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Good piece. You can also add the FA of Ireland who, despite having the scorer of one of UEFA’s goals of the year, thought it a bit too much trouble to buy the women’s team any training kit or allow them to use any facilities. Then you can have a look at what they do like to spend their money on. Read more

It would have been funny either way.  Good piece.  Got to see Endler in person when they played in CA, her saves are even more incredible in person. Read more

Loved this! I’ve started teaching my crop of goalkeepers certain techniques I’ve developed over the last 5 years as I switched away from playing a lot of 11v11 outdoor soccer (just not that many leagues/teams in my area) to the American indoor version of the game, where you have boards and a “field-hockey” sized goal. Read more

Excellent article that everyone needs to read. Read more

Good points that are just scratching the surface of injustice: Read more

Still one of the great goalkeeping gaffes I’ve ever seen live (in that I was watching the match on TV when this happened). Skip to around 6:57.

Another good example is the (hilarious) goal Stan Collymore scored vs Tim Flowers, which bounced on a divot of Flowers’ own creation. He made them for visual reference for his positioning. In the video you can see identical ones at the penalty spot and top of the box. It’s the last goal in this video:

“At least in the gold standard example for goalkeeper whiffs, which I am obligated to mention here, there was a villainous pitch to blame.” Read more

Nit pick - The Premier League did not exist in 1989-90. Liverpool won the First Division of The Football League that year
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I was initially skeptical about this article; but, upon reflection I found it very informative. I had always pretty much kept a hierarchy in my mind:
A) Make the Save
B) Make the correct save

I was always looking to use the proper form, make the correct read, etc. Starting in high school, I started to notice that I was… Read more

I played semi-pro indoor and absolutely loved the kick save. I probably used it a bit more than I should have (sometimes on shots a little higher than my knee), but I felt it was a MUCH better option if you know you’re going to spill a rebound. The kick let me push the rebound back out a little further, usually at… Read more

I’ll just echo what others are saying, as a guy that played in the net at a pretty high level, I prided myself on being pretty technical... But all that shit went out the window when things got real close quarters. You just go with “cat-like reflexes” and keep the ball out of the goal.

And who the Hell cares, anyways?… Read more

Marcus Hahneman never gets any love. (kidding, of course... but he’s probably the most under-rated GK in the USA—>Europe cadre.) Read more

Re: USL, yeah, the nomenclature is goofy, but I liked the reorganization. Anything that nudges pro-rel closer to existence in America is good, though the three-tier USL system is something like Step 4 of 27. I know a lot of this article was focused on the mountaintop of the American soccer universe - big U.S. players… Read more

“They are now calling what is, not actually but for the sake of argument, America’s third division “League One,” solely because that’s how it is in England.” Read more

The sad thing is that while Stefan Frei’s been putting together fantastic stats over the last few years, and is eligible to play for the USMNT, having gotten citizenship a little over a year ago, he’s unlikely to get even a call up to the January camp.  My mind remains blown each international window where he can’t… Read more