Howard and USA beaten in Honduras

, 7 February, 13comments  |  Jump to most recent
Though he was credited with two fine saves and could do nothing to prevent a stunning overhead equaliser in the first half, hesitation in coming off his line by Tim Howard allowed Honduras to score the winner in the USA's World Cup Qualifier on Wednesday evening.

Clint Dempsey had given the Americans the lead with a well-taken volley but Juan Carlos Garcia's acrobatics from a corner a few minutes later left Howard with no chance.

The winner came the second half when Kirk Cameron failed to track Boniek Garcia's run and with Howard slow to come off his line, he slipped it inside the advancing Jerry Bengston who slotted into the empty net in the 79th minute.

Quotes or other material sourced from SB Nation



Reader Comments (13)

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Harold Matthews
1 Posted 08/02/2013 at 06:48:07
He's not in the same class as Brad Freidel
James Stewart
2 Posted 08/02/2013 at 07:12:31
Makes far too many mistakes to be considered a top keeper.
Shane Corcoran
3 Posted 08/02/2013 at 08:11:04
I'm just happy he came off his line.
Dave Roberts
4 Posted 08/02/2013 at 09:55:16
Did he get lost on the way back?
Brian Murray
5 Posted 08/02/2013 at 09:56:22
Hope he dosen't make any fuck-ups on Sunday!

Come on, Everton. :-)

Tony J Williams
6 Posted 08/02/2013 at 12:08:24
"A slow pace second-half appeared to benefit the U.S., but it may have lulled them to sleep. All of Howard, Geoff Cameron and Omar Gonzalez were caught out on the Honduras winner. Cameron failed to track Boniek Garcia's run into the box onto a through ball, and Howard came off his line very slowly. Garcia found the trailing Bengston, who was not well tracked by Gonzalez, and the Catrachos striker finished to make it 2-1 in the 79th minute." - Rushing off his line or too slow? Not just Howard's fault then? We do so like to slate our own, don't we?
Richard Reeves
7 Posted 08/02/2013 at 12:32:02
Came off his line... is this some kind of sick joke?
Dave White
8 Posted 08/02/2013 at 13:26:09
Good call Tony.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....goalkeeper should be (as clearly is for everyone who matters) way down our list of priorities to improve the squad.

James Flynn
9 Posted 08/02/2013 at 13:49:42
Not Howard's fault. Other than a sweet pass and goal in the 1st half, the team played like shit the entire time; especially the guys in front of Howard. Honduras has 2 MLS-level attacking players. Pretty good. The rest of their team is nothing and they dominated play. Neither Honduras goal should have happened.

Klinnsman doesn't get LD and a healthy Stuart Holden in, my country's going to have a problem getting to WC 2014. We never have the most talent, but we DO get after the game. First time I can recall our playing with our tail between our legs. Fucking embarrassing. And not Howard's fault.

Peter Askins
10 Posted 08/02/2013 at 14:13:37
Dave @ 563.

I've never said it before, but I'll say it now.........a new goalkeeper is our top priority, and has been for a couple of seasons, if we have top four aspirations.

All top managers recognise this - didn't Brian Clough once claim that Shilton was worth 10 points per season, or some such value ?

Liverpool with Clemence, United with Schmeichel, heck, even Everton with Southall. There is no doubt in my mind that these 'keepers made the difference between winning trophies (as well as matches), and not, in their respective careers.

How many chances on target do our opponents need this season to score against us ?

True, all 'keepers make mistakes, but my impression is that Howard makes more than the average in this division. He transmits fear and trepidation at the back, much like de Gea at United. They are both very good shot-stoppers, but have little presence and command of their box, which opponents, as well as our lads, know only too well.

A very good, and not even an exceptional, goalkeeper would have us further up the table this season, in my opinion.

Jamie Barlow
11 Posted 08/02/2013 at 14:40:49
Utd aren't doing bad with a shit goalkeeper.

A goalkeeper is well down the list of players we need.

I think he's a good keeper who makes a few mistakes. Show me a goalkeeper that doesn't.

Dave Roberts
12 Posted 08/02/2013 at 15:45:56
It's not just the increasingly frequent personal and specific errors that Howard makes but more importantly his total failure to boss the area as the best goalkeepers always do. If I shit myself every time a pacey cross or corner comes over towards a panicky, indecisive and flapping Howard what must be the effect on the defenders?

How many times have we seen our defenders needlessly heading balls out for corners when a simple 'leave it' from the goalkeeper (the only player who could reasonably be expected to have a decent understanding of the whole situation) would have sufficed to get us a goal kick? It was something like that that led to Villa's second goal last week, not a corner but a needless header out by Jags (?) that could have been left for a goal kick, falling to a Villa player.

Saving shots, which Howard is decent at (although he does seem to have a problem sometimes with long range efforts) is fine but is by no means the most important part of a keeper's job. Keepers have to use their gob as defenders have to specifically watch the ball in most circumstances and can lose sight of the whole picture of what is happening in the box. In my view Howard is a definite weakness and he has lost us either directly or indirectly quite a few points this season.....just as he did last season.

Somebody above mentioned Friedel. despite his age and despite the fact it would only ever be stop-gap, I would have him at Everton tomorrow in place of Howard. The latter has become a liability and it is no surprise that Manure got shut of him.

Off the top of my head I think I can safely say that if Nigel Martyn was between the sticks now we would be 6-8 points better off this season.

Steavey Buckley
13 Posted 09/02/2013 at 15:03:45
Howard does get ''frozen'' to the line when put in a diificult position when the ball is usually crossed. Is it because of nerves or a lack of judgment or both? And I do believe we need another goal keepr who can command his penalty area and make the good saves that Howard usually makes.

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