Matt Turner and the challenge of being first-choice goalkeeper for the USMNT but not his club

The road with goalkeepers is often – 90 minutes of relative lack of activity, one big moment, then a lot of judgment.

For Matt Turner, this is what came in an additional time at the Sophie Angeles Stadium on Thursday, when Panama took its only shot on each TARGET game – from the right side of the penalty area, it was dug to the lower left corner; Turner, who took a position on the right of his goal, could not get his gloves.

“This ball cannot end at the back of the network,” he regretted the former USMnt goalkeeper who turned into Tony Miolla.

Then, it was not a long time after end The host team loss 1-0 in the semi-finals of the state of endowmentThe goalkeeper’s criticism appeared on social media, as well as the shots of the goal that doubts his movement.

Usmnt will not now win in the Fourth consecutive League final not only to Turner. On Thursday’s defeat was a collective failure.

Although Panama, which also defeated the United States 2-1 at a group meeting of Copa America last summer to create the exit of the early host nation from that tournament, is now its chef team, there will be more striking tests on the horizon in the American soil.

This is the place that Turner chose in the second choice of his club-it has only achieved four beginnings this season for Crystal Palace, all in the local cup competitions instead of the Premier League-but the number 1 USMNT of its largest matches will be subject to scrutiny.

It is something that journalists asked for the accumulation of Thursday match.

“It is clear that my club’s position is not perfect at the present time,” said 30 -year -old, who gets a long loan in Palace from Nottingham Forest. “But I give every opportunity I have to play utmost importance and try to collect good offers together, just control what I can now and then let the potatoes fall where they can.”

It is not perfect at the time, but it is not unprecedented.

Sergio Romero was the first goalkeeper in the choice in Argentina, where they arrived in the 2014 World Cup final, although he was in second place in Monaco in the first division, the first section in French football, and he initially continued for the national team although he will get the backup of David de Jia in Manchester United. Romero later described it as a “difficult position.”

The former palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessi had talismans as 1 Lowls, although he barely played in the Premier League at the end of his time in Celehrest Park. Hennessi was then the second option for Burnley and a forest while he was still getting matches for his country, including at the 2022 World Cup.

Romero arrived in the 2014 World Cup final, despite being the second option in his club (Mike EGERTON/PA Images via Getty Images)

Because USMnt is not a new position either.

One of the current preparations in Turner, Zack Stefen of the MLS Colorado Rapids team, who played in the 2021 Nations Finals against Mexico and in the qualifiers in the next World Cup while he was spending most of his full season in Manchester City in the Premier League on the bench.

“It is a complete circle,” said Matt Petzdowski, a former coach and goalkeeper who played professionally in the United States and Sweden. Athlete Goalkeeping analyst. “Matt was playing regularly in the MLS (for the New England Revolution, before July 2022 moved to Europe with Arsenal) and trying to advance to Zach, who was not playing as much as he would like in England. They now have a kind of transferred places.”

For large parts of Thursday’s match, Turner was less preoccupied than he was when he played 45 minutes than the 1-0 palace victory over the Norwegian Hamarkameaterne team last week.

In this practice game, which is part of the Palace warm weather training camp in Marbella, Spain during a break in its local schedule, he achieved two in the second half after replacing Henderson’s debt in the interval. I touched the ball 17 times, only seven times in 99 minutes, including extra time, against Panama (24).

Questions come from the decisive moment that has not been on its way, which means that the United States will not play in Sunday’s final. But despite this setback, Turner generally played well enough for the national team to keep its place in it, while maintaining at least high -level errors.

“It is clear it is a problem, but at the present time, I don’t think it is a big “This is the biggest thing you need to take into account,” says Pyzdrowski. If he makes a lot of errors and lack of performance, it will of course be a more urgent problem. But he was always working well for his country, although not playing regularly in his club. “

Henderson, who is in the current England squad, and the Tarner of warm -up for the Alace (Sebastian FREJ/MB Media/Getty Images)

It remains to see whether Turner remains in the team in third place on Sunday against Canada.

Patrick Schult of Columbus Crowe was in the last time that the two countries met, and a 2-1 victory over the Canadians last September in a friendly while USMnt Mikey Varas had a temporary charge. If this is the important match, Turner is likely to be in the team that day in Kansas City and not on the bench. This means that his performance of the national team is generally invited due to a sense of confidence as a regular, according to Pezdmovsky.

He says: “It does not matter who you are as a player, you just want to feel appreciated.” “Then you feel more comfortable in this field and it is important not to overlook it. It is built a lot of credit with the national team.

“In an ideal world, he was playing every week, regardless of what it took – if he returned to MLS – because he would be more clearly more clear. But at the present time he did not cause him many issues.”

Turner was largely a goalkeeper in a palace in Palace this season, as he started one of the three Carabau Cup matches that they played after his arrival in late August, and most importantly, all the three relations of the FA Cup so far. He will hope to keep his place in the quarter -finals on March 29 against his teammate for the USMnt Antone Robinson team from Fulham.

The only negative aspect of his lack of activity in the English Premier League, Henderson was always present for the palace so far, and Turner’s last appearance in the competition was for Forest in January of last year, a possible shortage of time facing the main high -level game scenarios.

“The biggest problem not playing regularly is just rust,” says Peswefski. “The relationship with your back line and the reading of the play – the depth of the balls, or crosses in the box.

“I will not say that saving the ball and the speed of the ball is a big problem, because you get a lot in training. You get a lot of actors (in training) even when you are on the bench. It’s more situations that can only arise in games.”

These daily sessions between games also differ as the club’s backup guard. “In training, the focus is on No. 1, so the exercises that are carried out are suitable for them,” says Peswefski. “There will be many situations that will be died during training with men who play every week (other reserves), so he does not build these relationships.

“But this is the important thing with the national team: that he is aware of the preparation and men there. He built it over time and really got his place.”

Turner during a defeat on Thursday by Panama (ISI Photos/USF/Getty Images for USF)

Veteran goalkeeper Andy Longjan was a spoiler, and even the third option, at the end of his career with the best clubs like Liverpool and Everton. He feels that Turner’s additional physical freshness, unlike “a goalkeeper passes through the end of each week in the Premier League, should be positive.

“He is new to these games, and he is testing,” says 41 -year -old, who is now a player/coach in the first league, which is the third layer of English football. “I know the religion of Kelly, who works with him in the palace and talks about him and says how much the training is.

“He got hundreds of games behind him and he was in big teams now, so I don’t think he will be a big concern about the situation. He has no noise, no injuries, and he comes to these USMnt camps that are launched in the installment.

“Ideally, you want to play all the time and keep this rhythm because it is not easy to come every six weeks in the cup, and his last international camp was in November. But from his point of view, I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Pyzdrowski notes that, in theory, at least, the Panama team played thirty -sixth in the world by FIFA (20 places below the United States) can be the least tax assumption of reactions on the goalkeeper than a game on the English trip. “International football is slightly different from the Premier League,” he says. “A game against Panama will be different and may have a lower intensity than the Premier League game, which will also help him feel it.”

Lonergan plays with Everton against Western Sydney Wandeers in 2022 friendly (Brett Hemings/Getty Images for Bursty)

Like Pyzdrowski, the only Lonergan operator is whether players in Turner mode can remain sharp in the positions inside the game.

“When talking about the experience, the only fear when I was not playing (regularly), but I was a goalkeeper with a game within six weeks is that you, in training, do small games, so your reactions are related.” “But your distances with the four back, balls over the top and across the balls where you may be a little synchronous.

“This was always worried, because training and 11 aspects on full stadiums differ. In training, you are in the automated pilot, and fly around, but in games these decisions are vital.

“Through balls, distances and balls above the top, it is more difficult to train as a guard.” You can do this in training but there are no consequences, while in the match if you decide to come (to get a ball) and not get there, you are in a problem. In training, you can continue to do this until you get it correctly. “

With the World Cup 15 months away, Turner – who participated in only seven games in his year with Arsenal before joining Forest, may be 17 league games last season – looking for a new team that is likely to be the first choice. His loan at Palace ends in June, and he has two other years to go to his contract with Forest, where he created Belgium International Matts Sels as a main player in the goal as they achieved a surprising boost for the Champions League qualification.

“It is not an inaccurable position as it is,” added Besdowski, who recently started a new role in training goalkeepers in the Swedish Malmo team. “But the challenge it creates is that the goalkeeping position is very sensitive, with a lot of small details. You can really work on many of them in games.

“The goalkeeper’s training has developed a lot in the past ten years, in terms of the various repetitions and exercises they do compared to many shots and tiles.

Turner holds a cross during the last victory in the FA Cup at Millwall (Rob Newll – Camerasport via Getty Images)

“Now it is more convenient, but even if you have coaches or two goalkeeper and they take clips on you, this is not the same as a first -class striker who comes to you, quickly and accurately. Yes, you will do some exercises with the team, but the training is not based on the second number or the third number.

“You are important and you have a role, but the coach needs youth in the team (beginners) who work together to build these relationships.”

With the national team, these bonds appear as always as they were. But to face the best game in the World Cup after a little more than a year, Turner may decide that he needs to increase the burden of weekly work.

(Alawite Image: Omar Vega/Gety Emociz)