Looming Goalkeeper Crisis/Turnover/Uncertainty in MLS

It's something I've read a number of times this year. The new common wisdom is that the state of goalkeeping in MLS is not what it was a few years ago. You can see this debate on the national team as well. After being completely solid at the position since our return to the World Cup in 1990, we now face a future without Friedel/Keller/Meola. It seems like the only guy who is near that level is Howard, but if he goes down then we may be in trouble. Marcus Hahnemann is decent but may not be around in 2010 (he'll be 38). Ives Galarcep talked about it back on January 31 in this story. That was before this season; now it seems even more pronounced. The two expansion teams may have diluted things a bit last year, but I think what we're seeing now is a bunch of players who have been in the league forever and are past their prime. Tony Meola is having a really bad year, but also there's Scott Garlick, Kevin Hartman, Bo Oshoniyi, and Zach Thornton. In fact, of the 12 main guys for each team, only 2 are below the age of 30 (Perkins, Gaudette). In 2003, it was 7/10. That's not to say that old keepers are less talented. Just take a look at Friedel, Lehmann, or Van der Sar in England. But the Premiership has it's share of youth as well. On the opening weekend, nearly half (9/20) of the keepers were under 30. So there's definitely going to be a lot of change in the next year or two as those veterans retire or get pushed aside. There needs to be some quality young prospects ready to step in and stake their claim. Already we've seen in with Troy Perkins, and now Brad Guzan will get another chance with Chivas. Matt Pickens has looked decent filling in for Thornton. Steve Cronin is another one, although he couldn't replace Hartman this year. However, he was named to the All Star team at the U20 World Cup in 2003, so he should be a solid pro. Will Hesmer and Jay Nolly are two more young guys who have seen playing time this year. There's a lot of promise, but the jury's still out on these guys. Every time I see Meola or Garlick beaten to the near post, or a goal like Hartman's against Cunningham, it makes me worry about this. We need the young guns in MLS to step up so we can keep up the high standard we've been used to. 2006 CHI-Zach Thornton (32) CHV-Preston Burpo (33) CLB-Bill Guadette (25) COL-Joe Cannon (31) DAL-Dario Sala (31) DC-Troy Perkins (25) HOU-Pat Onstad (38) KC-Bo Oshoniyi (34) LA-Kevin Hartman (32) NE-Matt Reis (31) NY-Tony Meola (37) RSL-Scott Garlick (34) 2003 CHI-Zach Thornton (29) CLB-Jon Busch (27) COL-Scott Garlick (31) DAL-D.J. Countess (21) DC-Nick Rimando (24) KC-Tony Meola (34) LA-Kevin Hartman (29) NE-Adin Brown (25) NY-Tim Howard (24) SJ-Pat Onstad (35)