The hardest job for a goalkeeper is being an understudy

While visiting Brad Guzan at Aston Villa FC last month, I was so encouraged by his perspective about being the 2nd goalkeeper with both Aston Villa (behind Brad Friedel) and with the US National team (behind Tim Howard).

Guzan had referenced that he thought his job was to play so well in training all week that he would make Villa manager Martin O'Neill's decision when making the starting lineup as difficult as possible. He never once referenced trying to 'beat out' Friedel; rather, he put all of the onus on him to perform to the best of his abilities, knowing that if he was playing well, his opportunity would be around the corner. Having had the opportunity to coach Brad at the ODP level (with Region II ODP), I was so impressed with how mature he has become over the years. He also had tremendous foresight - knowing that there would be a time when the mantle would be passed on from Friedel to him, and that he knew his time would come. He has a very solid relationship with both Friedel and Howard, and learns a lot from watching them play and working with them.

With Tim Howard receiving his second yellow card in qualifying against Mexico, Guzan will get his chance to perform on a major stage with the US National team in their upcoming qualifier against El Salvador on March 28th. Knowing Brad, he will be ready...

Below is an excerpt from an interview with Manchester United goalkeeping coach Eric Steele, where he talks about the challenges facing Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster as they continue to shadow Edwin van der Sar...

The hardest job for a goalkeeper at United is understudying the number 1.

At the present time, Edwin van der Sar is in the top spot, he’s got the shirt, and it’s up to Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster to become Edwin's senior challenger.

Whenever Tomasz comes into the team and plays one game, some people might say he could have done this or that better. They never seem to talk about what he did well in the game, which is something I always look at. People need to take into account it might be Tomasz's first game for six weeks. The same goes for Ben.

While that’s very much part of the territory if a goalkeeper comes to United and challenges the number one, it still has to be put into the equation when you’re assessing them. The keepers are working at a fantastic tempo in the training sessions that Mike Phelan and Rene Meulensteen put on and the sessions do reflect what a goalkeeper has to do come Saturday afternoon or Wednesday night. But there's nothing like playing in a real game to develop your decision-making.

Thankfully we’ve had matches in the Carling Cup and FA Cup which have given Ben and Tomasz an opportunity, and they’ve also played the odd game in the Premier League and Champions League. At all times, they have to be prepared for when the manager says to them, "You're playing." If they're not ready, that's my fault...