Change remains consistent for United's goalkeepers
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
May 15, 2009
Crayton, Wicks and Kocic have been rotating so far
It's hard to imagine Edwin van der Sar splitting time with anyone at Manchester United, and Americans Brad Friedel (Aston Villa) and Tim Howard (Everton) are as reliable as the rising sun.
But D.C. United (3-1-5) has won championships in Major League Soccer with rotating goalkeepers, and it appears dead set on the strategy in 2009, freely swapping Louis Crayton (5 starts) with Josh Wicks (2 starts) and Milos Kocic (2 starts).
"Everybody singles out goalkeepers as being different," said United head coach Tom Soehn. "We hold everybody to a standard, that everybody has to perform to be on the field. It's no different for anybody else."
United advanced to MLS Cup in each the first four years of Major League Soccer, with at least two goalkeepers registering at least five starts each season. Four different players had at least that many starts during the 1997 championship run.
Kocic, a rookie, doesn't know anything different, but it is new for Wicks and Crayton.
"To be honest, that's the first [rotation] for me in my entire 13 years," said Crayton, far more accustomed to being an established No. 1 or backup. "But every coach has a different perspective on the game plan, and I don't have a problem."
Kocic started last weekend against Toronto but has been left behind for this weekend's visit to league-leading Chivas USA (7-1-1). Crayton had started five of the previous six matches, but Wicks says he's as fit as he's been in the last two to three seasons and is anxious to prove he's fully recovered from a hip flexor strain.
"Whoever is more consistent and doing a better job in training is going to get the call," said Wicks. "Until one of us separates ourselves from the pack, I'm sure it's going to be like that for a little while."
