Tale of two Brad’s: Friedel and Guzan work together at Aston Villa

Whilst many an English football spectator are scratching their heads as to the constant blunderings of their native first choice goalkeepers, it seems that the Premiership continues to attract an American goalkeeping revolution. Aston Villa is one team that has both youth and solid experience in their goalkeeper stable, and both of their goalkeepers hail from the USA.

Both Brad Friedel, an 8 year veteran in the Premier League with Blackburn and Brad Guzan, an MLS goalkeeper of the year (2007) have been challenging each other for first place as “The Villains” stake a strong claim at the top flight of the Premiership.

For Guzan, having both a fellow countrymen and someone with Friedel’s experience in goals can only benefit his development. Martin O’Neill can only vouch for Friedel’s command of his goal area as “The Human Wall”, (which he is aptly named) currently ranks as the third best goalkeeper in the Premier League, behind Reina and Cech.

Though Villa’s coach also points to the positive attitude that 22 year old Guzan resonates whilst biding his time as a reserve to the tenured Friedel. Key to any goalkeepers progression is a positive outlook to their development. Goalkeeping as I stated in The G-Code, is a test of both pressure and time, and Guzan is certainly heading in the right direction for his continued growth between the sticks.

So how are American goalkeepers setting a benchmark in the toughest league in the world? US coach Bruce Arena makes a fantastic point:

“I just think it’s our culture in athletics, the kind of coordinationwe have,” Arena said. “Americans, from early ages, in any kind ofathletics they play, it’s eye-hand coordination. Obviously, soccer is not. For an American to go into goal and catch a ball and jump and
dive, it’s not a radical change in the things they experience in everyday sports.”

Arena makes a solid statement, and alludes to the need for goalkeepers to constantly be able to think outside of the square when it comes to their training sessions. In the off-season, as a way of not only de-training after a harsh competitive season, but also as a way to shift focus away from goal and learn new skills, the goalkeeper should aim at playing other sports.

In Australia, there is a similar sporting culture to that of the USA, in that the varied football codes from AFL to Rugby League and Union provide a solid platform for developing strong eye-hand coordination, catching and jumping skills that can transfer back between the sticks during competition.

It will be interesting to see Guzan’s growth and development while learning from veteran’s such as Friedel, it can only make him a stronger goalkeeper. Testament to Friedel’s ability is the strong position that Aston Villa hold in the top 5 of The Premier League and the recent match against Fulham showed just why American goalkeepers such as Friedel are held in such high esteem in the toughest competition in the world.

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