I have been thinking about this topic for a long time. The more goalkeeper environments I see, the more conversations I have with coaches, and the more I compare different development systems, the more I come back to the same question:
How can we take goalkeeper development in the United States to the next level?
First, I want to make something clear. I don’t believe the United States has a goalkeeper talent problem. Actually, I believe the opposite. There is a huge amount of potential here. We have athletic players. We have excellent facilities. We have technology, MLS academies, MLS NEXT, ECNL, college soccer, USL, MLS NEXT Pro, MLS and a massive youth soccer population. The resources are here. The talent is here.
But for me, the question is whether we are connecting all of these pieces together in the right way. And when I compare the goalkeeper-development pathway here with some of the stronger European environments, I still believe there is a gap.
I’m not saying we need to copy Europe. We shouldn’t. American soccer has its own strengths and should develop its own identity. But if another environment is doing something better than us, we should be open enough as coaches to look at it, ask questions and learn from it.
For me, the biggest change starts with one simple idea:
We need to stop thinking only about goalkeeper training and start thinking more about goalkeeper development. Those two things are not always the same.
We need to stop thinking only about goalkeeper training and start thinking more about goalkeeper development.
Are We Training Goalkeepers, or Developing Goalkeepers?
This is probably the first question I would ask. I see a lot of goalkeeper training. And some of it looks fantastic. Beautiful diving exercises. Handling patterns. Footwork. Reaction drills. Rapid-fire shooting. Different equipment. Great-looking social media videos. There is nothing wrong with technical training. We absolutely need it.
But I always come back to one question:
Did the goalkeeper become better at understanding the game today?
Because on Saturday, the goalkeeper doesn’t know what is coming. There is no cone showing them where to move. There is no coach telling them which technique to use. The game gives them information, and they have to solve the problem.
- Where is the ball?
- Where is the pressure?
- Where is my defensive line?
- What space do I need to protect?
- Can the player shoot?
- Can they play behind us?
- Should I stay?
- Should I go?
- If I win the ball, can we attack immediately?
These are decisions. And for me, this is where goalkeeper development needs to go.
What Can We Do Better?
Of course we should continue developing technique, especially with young goalkeepers. But as the goalkeeper develops, we need to connect technique with information and decisions.
For me, the process is:
Perception → Decision → Action
Give the goalkeeper a problem. Let them read it. Let them make a decision. Then coach the action. Sometimes the decision will be wrong. That’s okay. That is part of development.
I don’t want a goalkeeper who only knows how to perform the technique I asked for. I want a goalkeeper who knows when, why and how to use it.
Are We Developing Shot-Stoppers or Complete Goalkeepers?
This is another area where I think our thinking needs to evolve. We all love saves. We are goalkeeper coaches. Of course we do. A goalkeeper flies across the goal, makes a top-corner save and everybody notices it.
But sometimes the best goalkeeper performance doesn’t include many spectacular saves. Why? Because the goalkeeper controlled the game before those situations became dangerous.
For me, the modern goalkeeper has four main responsibilities:
- Defend the Goal.
- Defend the Space.
- Organize.
- Build and Initiate Attacks.
That’s how I like to look at the position. Yes, we have to stop shots. But we also need to manage the space behind the defensive line. We need to communicate. We need to organize. We need to understand the team’s defensive structure. And when we have the ball, we are part of the attack.
The goalkeeper may be the first attacker.
Sometimes the best action is not the save. Maybe the goalkeeper’s starting position prevents the through ball. Maybe their communication prevents the shot. Maybe their position forces the attacker into a different decision. Those actions don’t always make highlight videos. But they win games.
What Can We Do Better?
We need to evaluate the complete goalkeeper. When I watch a goalkeeper, I don’t only want to ask:
“How many saves did they make?”
I want to know:
- How did they defend the goal?
- How did they defend the space?
- How did they organize?
- How did they help the team build and attack?
If we change what we value, I believe our training will naturally start to change as well.
Goalkeeper Coaches Need to Be Soccer Coaches
This may be one of the most important points for me. Being good at teaching diving technique does not automatically make us complete goalkeeper coaches. We have to understand soccer.
If I am working with the goalkeeper, I need to understand what the head coach wants from the team.
- How are we pressing?
- Where is our defensive line?
- How are we building from the back?
- What happens when the opponent presses us with two players?
- What happens when they press man-to-man?
- Where does my goalkeeper need to be when our team has possession in the opponent’s half?
- How can my goalkeeper create an overload in buildup?
These are not only goalkeeper questions. These are soccer questions. And if I don’t understand the team’s game model, how can I prepare my goalkeeper for it?
What Can We Do Better?
For me, goalkeeper-coach education needs to go deeper into soccer. We need to study tactics. We need to understand pressing, buildup, defensive organization, transitions, set pieces and opposition analysis. We need to communicate with the head coach. And sometimes we need to leave our goalkeeper area and watch what is happening with the entire team.
The goalkeeper coach should not be a separate island. We are part of the coaching staff, and our goalkeeper is part of the team.
Why Are We Taking the Goalkeeper Away From the Game?
This is something I think about a lot. We constantly say that the goalkeeper needs to understand the game. Then we sometimes take them away from the game for most of the training session.
Of course we need goalkeeper-specific work. I believe in it. There are technical details that need individual attention. But we also need to know when to bring the goalkeeper back into the team environment.
Because how can I develop the goalkeeper’s relationship with the defensive line without the defensive line? How can I develop buildup decisions without opponents pressing? How can I develop communication without teammates? How can I coach space behind the defense without realistic space?
At some point, the goalkeeper needs the game.
What Can We Do Better?
For me, the goalkeeper coach and head coach should plan together. Maybe we start with specific GK work. Then we move into a small-sided game. Then a phase of play. Then tactical work. Then 11v11.
The important thing is that the goalkeeper coach stays involved. Don’t send the goalkeeper back to the team and stop coaching. Go with them. Watch them inside the team. Coach the position inside the real soccer environment.
That is where goalkeeper coaching and team coaching come together.
Sometimes We Are Trying to Win Today’s Game Instead of Developing Tomorrow’s Goalkeeper
This is difficult because I understand both sides. Coaches want to win. Clubs want to win. Parents want to win. Players want to win. That’s soccer. But youth development requires patience.
Imagine a 14-year-old goalkeeper receiving the ball under pressure. We have been asking them to play. They try. They make the wrong decision. Goal.
What do we say?
Sometimes the immediate reaction is:
“Next time, just kick it long.”
Okay. Maybe we solve today’s problem. But what did we teach the goalkeeper?
If we want a goalkeeper who can play under pressure at 20, we have to allow them to experience pressure at 13, 14 and 15. Mistakes will happen.
What Can We Do Better?
For me, we have to separate a developmental mistake from a careless mistake. If the goalkeeper saw the right idea but executed it poorly, let’s coach it. If they didn’t recognize the pressure, let’s help them understand it. Don’t immediately remove the decision from them. Give them the opportunity to solve it again.
Development needs patience, and development needs calculated risk.
Development needs patience, and development needs calculated risk.
Athleticism Can Sometimes Hide the Real Problem
One of the biggest strengths of American sports is athleticism. We have incredibly athletic young players. That should be an advantage for goalkeeper development. But sometimes I think it can hide problems.
Imagine a goalkeeper who is explosive and powerful. Their starting position is poor. They recognize the shot late. But because they are so athletic, they still make the save. Everybody says:
“Great save!”
And yes, it was a great save. But as goalkeeper coaches, we need to look one step earlier.
Why did they need to make that save? Could the starting position have been better? Could they have read the situation earlier? Could communication have prevented the chance? Could they have controlled the space differently?
What Can We Do Better?
Don’t only evaluate the final action. Look at what happened before it.
For me, sometimes the best goalkeeper action is the one nobody notices. Because the goalkeeper solved the problem before it became a highlight.
We Need to Be Careful About Identifying Goalkeepers Only by Size
Height matters. I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t. This is goalkeeping. But especially at younger ages, I think we need to be very careful.
A goalkeeper may be physically advanced at 13. Another may develop later. If we only look at who is taller, stronger and more powerful today, we may miss the goalkeeper with greater potential for tomorrow.
What Can We Do Better?
When I look at a young goalkeeper, I want to see more than size. I want to see:
- Decision-making.
- Game understanding.
- Coordination.
- Courage.
- Communication.
- Learning ability.
- Technical potential.
- How they respond after mistakes.
- How quickly they can take information from coaching and apply it.
- And, of course, athletic and physical potential.
We should consider everything. Current performance and future potential are not always the same thing.
Pay-to-Play Can Mean We Don’t Always See the Best Goalkeepers
This is one of the bigger structural challenges in the United States. This country is huge. There are talented goalkeepers everywhere. But not every family has the same opportunity.
Club fees. Private training. Transportation. Travel tournaments. Showcases. Geography. All of these things can influence who gets seen.
And this concerns me because sometimes we may not be identifying the best goalkeeper. We may be identifying the goalkeeper who had the best opportunity to be seen.
There could be an incredibly talented goalkeeper playing for a small local club who simply hasn’t had access to the right environment yet.
What Can We Do Better?
We have to go looking for them.
Professional academies, U.S. Soccer, state associations, clubs and goalkeeper networks can all play a role. Let’s create more accessible goalkeeper ID opportunities. Let’s communicate with local coaches. Let’s watch smaller clubs. Let’s look outside the normal pathway.
For me, talent identification cannot only be about waiting for the goalkeeper to come to us. Sometimes we need to go and find the goalkeeper.
Professional Academies Need a Goalkeeper Pipeline — Not Just a Roster
This is another area where I believe we can do better. I completely understand the reality for professional academies. It is almost impossible to carry three or four goalkeepers in every age group. There are only so many roster spots, only one goalkeeper can play at a time, and every goalkeeper needs enough training attention and game minutes.
But for me, not having a roster spot for a talented goalkeeper should not mean that we lose that goalkeeper from our radar. This is where I think professional academies can create a bigger goalkeeper development pool around their existing teams.
Let’s say an academy already has two goalkeepers in the 2012 age group. Maybe there are another five or six talented goalkeepers playing for local, amateur or smaller clubs in the area. We don’t necessarily need to sign them. We don’t need to take them away from their clubs. But we should know who they are and keep following them.
My suggestion would be for professional academy GK coaches to identify these potential goalkeepers and invite them into the academy environment maybe once a month. Bring them in. Train with them. Talk to them. See how they respond to coaching. See how their technique, decision-making, physical development and understanding of the game are progressing. Then send them back to their clubs and continue watching them.
For me, this would be much more valuable than seeing a goalkeeper at one tryout and making a final decision based on 60 or 90 minutes. Especially with goalkeepers, development doesn’t work like that.
A 13-year-old goalkeeper who isn’t ready for your academy today might be completely different at 15. Maybe they grow. Maybe they become stronger. Maybe their confidence changes. Maybe their understanding of the game suddenly takes a big step forward.
This is why I don’t think our only question should be:
“Is this goalkeeper good enough for us right now?”
We should also be asking:
“What could this goalkeeper become in two or three years?”
We Also Need the Local GK Coaches
I also believe professional academy goalkeeper coaches need stronger relationships with GK coaches working at local and amateur clubs. Those coaches are important. They see these goalkeepers three or four times every week. They know their personalities. They know how they train, how they react after mistakes and how quickly they learn.
Sometimes a local GK coach may recognize a talented goalkeeper long before that player appears on the radar of a professional academy. So let’s communicate. Let’s build relationships.
If you see a goalkeeper with real potential, bring them into the professional environment occasionally and see where they are. Maybe they’re not ready. That’s okay. Follow them. Six months later, look again. One year later, look again. Because goalkeeper development is a process.
And this is where I think we need to change our mentality a little bit. We don’t have to sign every talented goalkeeper to develop a relationship with them.
For field players, there are many positions and many roster opportunities. For goalkeepers, there is only one position. So if two good goalkeepers are already in an academy, the third goalkeeper shouldn’t disappear from the pathway just because there isn’t a jersey available for them today.
For me, professional academies shouldn’t only have a goalkeeper roster. They should have a goalkeeper pipeline.
A roster tells us who we have today. A pipeline helps us know who might be ready tomorrow.
A roster tells us who we have today. A pipeline helps us know who might be ready tomorrow.
Private Goalkeeper Training Needs More Accountability
Private goalkeeper training has become a huge part of goalkeeper development in the United States. And I think it can be very valuable. A goalkeeper can receive individual attention that is sometimes difficult to provide in the team environment.
But there is also a concern. Today, almost anybody can call themselves a goalkeeper trainer. And social media has changed what people think good goalkeeper training looks like.
Reaction lights. Rapid-fire shooting. Big dives. Complicated exercises. Everything looks great on Instagram.
But I think we need to ask ourselves:
Does it transfer to the game?
For me, a drill doesn’t become good because it looks difficult. A drill is valuable when it helps the goalkeeper solve a soccer problem.
What Can We Do Better?
Private goalkeeper coaches should know the goalkeeper they are working with. Watch their games when possible. Speak with their club GK coach. Identify what they actually need.
Maybe the goalkeeper’s problem isn’t diving. Maybe it is their starting position when defending space behind the back line. Okay. Then let’s work on that problem. Create a realistic environment. Give them information. Let them make decisions. Then check whether we see improvement in their matches.
Private training should support the goalkeeper’s development—not become a weekly goalkeeper entertainment session.
If We Want Better Goalkeepers, We Need Better-Educated Goalkeeper Coaches
This sounds simple. But I think it has to become a bigger priority. If we want the level of goalkeeping to improve, we have to invest in the people developing the goalkeepers.
And goalkeeper education cannot just be a small part of a general coaching course. This is a specialist position. We need specialist education.
What Can We Do Better?
I would love to see an even clearer goalkeeper-coach pathway in the United States. Something that develops coaches from grassroots goalkeeper coaching all the way to professional soccer.
Not just:
“Here is your certificate. You completed the course.”
I want goalkeeper coaches to be challenged.
- Can you coach?
- Can you analyze a goalkeeper?
- Can you create an individual development plan?
- Can you understand the team’s tactics?
- Can you communicate with the head coach?
- Can you integrate your goalkeeper into team training?
- Can you analyze match situations and turn those problems into training?
For me, those things matter. Because ultimately:
Better goalkeeper education creates better goalkeeper coaches, and better goalkeeper coaches create better goalkeepers.
We Need a Better Connection Between Academy, College and Professional Soccer
This is something unique about the United States. College soccer is still an important part of the goalkeeper pathway. And I don’t necessarily see that as a weakness. It can actually be a strength. But we need better connections between each stage.
Academy. College. USL. MLS NEXT Pro. MLS. Professional soccer.
Goalkeepers are also different because many of them develop later. Not every goalkeeper needs to be ready for professional soccer at 18. Some may be ready at 20. Some at 22. Some at 23. That doesn’t mean we failed to develop them.
What Can We Do Better?
I would like to see more communication between goalkeeper coaches at different levels. If a goalkeeper leaves an academy for college, their development shouldn’t completely restart.
What were we working on? What were their strengths? Where did we see potential? What areas still needed development?
Let’s share information. Let’s keep following the goalkeeper.
Let’s also find more opportunities for goalkeepers to play meaningful matches. Because this position needs games. You cannot develop everything on the training field. At some point, the goalkeeper has to experience the pressure, consequences and unpredictability of competition.
We Need to Teach Goalkeepers How to Analyze Themselves
Video is another area where I believe we have a huge opportunity. And it shouldn’t only be for professional goalkeepers. Young goalkeepers can learn so much from watching themselves.
But I don’t want video analysis to become:
“Look, you made a mistake here.”
That’s too easy.
I would rather sit with the goalkeeper and ask questions.
- What did you see?
- What information did you have?
- What was the position of the defensive line?
- What did you think was going to happen?
- Why did you make that decision?
- What other solution could you have chosen?
Now the goalkeeper is thinking. And for me, that’s the goal.
I don’t want to give every answer. I want to help the goalkeeper eventually find answers without me. Because during the game, I’m not standing next to them.
What Can We Do Better?
Use video to develop understanding, not fear of mistakes. Let the goalkeeper explain situations. Sometimes they may even see something we didn’t see from the sideline. Have the conversation. Challenge them.
And slowly develop something incredibly important:
The ability to self-coach.
So, What Should the American Goalkeeper Development Model Look Like?
For me, we don’t need to copy another country. We need to take the strengths we already have in the United States and connect them with a clearer goalkeeper-development philosophy.
If I had to summarize what I would like to see, it would be this:
Develop soccer players who happen to be goalkeepers.
Our goalkeepers need to understand the entire game, not only what happens inside the penalty area.
Develop decisions, not only techniques.
Technique matters enormously. But the goalkeeper needs to understand when, where and why to use that technique.
Connect goalkeeper training with the team’s style of play.
GK training cannot live in a completely separate world.
Educate goalkeeper coaches as soccer coaches.
We have to understand the game before we can fully teach the position.
Look for potential, not only today’s performance.
The biggest, strongest or best goalkeeper at 13 isn’t automatically going to be the best goalkeeper at 20.
Build goalkeeper pipelines.
Professional academies should know the best potential goalkeepers in their region even if those players are not currently on their roster.
Make the pathway more accessible.
A family’s finances, location or ability to travel should not be the main reason one goalkeeper gets seen and another doesn’t.
Give goalkeepers games.
Training is important. Competition is irreplaceable.
A Final Thought From One Goalkeeper Coach to Another
I don’t write any of this because I believe I have all the answers. I don’t. I’m still learning.
I think every good goalkeeper coach should always be learning because the position keeps evolving and soccer keeps changing. But I do believe we need to keep asking difficult questions.
Not to criticize other coaches. Not to say everything in Europe is better. And not to say everything we are doing in the United States is wrong. It isn’t. There is a lot of excellent work happening here.
But if we want to take the next step, we have to be willing to look at ourselves as goalkeeper coaches and ask:
- Are we developing goalkeepers or are we just running goalkeeper sessions?
- Are we developing decision-makers or drill performers?
- Are we teaching goalkeepers to understand soccer or only teaching them how to make saves?
- Are we looking for long-term potential or today’s physical advantage?
- Are we working together with the head coach or operating in our own goalkeeper world?
- Are we identifying all the talent available to us or only the talent that reaches our door?
And most importantly:
Are we preparing the goalkeeper for our next exercise, or are we preparing them to solve the next problem the game gives them?
For me, that’s where the next step in American goalkeeper development begins.
We already have the athletes. We already have the facilities. We already have the technology. We already have passionate coaches. And most importantly, we already have the talent.
Now we need to make sure we create the right pathway around that talent.
Because in the end, our job as goalkeeper coaches is not to show how much we know. Our job is to create an environment where the goalkeeper can become the best version of themselves.