Steve Clark, A+ Signing

Steve Clark came in to Columbus as a relative unknown here in the US but most expected good things from him. From the looks of it, he's done just that.

Before we get cooking; Not going to dig too deep into things (shot locations, expected goals, etc) but will touch on some key points. First off is basic passing. Gregg Berhalter prefers to play possession out of the back. What the table below shows is that Clark leads (as of last week) the league in passing accuracy while making the 3rd most passes per game.

All these guys have played in over 900 minutes.

Pass per GM	Pass%	Player	Club
21.3	77.2	Steve Clark	CLB
20.2	76.7	Eric Kronberg	KC
19.8	69.6	Nick Rimando	RSL
17.4	63.7	Clint Irwin	COL
20.8	62.3	Jon Busch	SJ
16.3	62.1	David Ousted	VAN
18.9	59.3	Bill Hamid	DC
15.6	56.7	Chris Seitz	DAL
16.8	56	Luis Robles	NY
14.1	56	Raúl Fernández	DAL
19.2	55.3	Zac MacMath	PHI
13.9	54.3	Stefan Frei	SEA
12	53.9	Donovan Ricketts	POR
18.4	53.1	Jaime Penedo	LA
24.1	49.8	Tally Hall	HOU
18.8	49.7	Bobby Shuttleworth	NE
14.3	49.4	Joe Bendik	TOR
22.4	48.9	Sean Johnson	CHI
16.8	46.9	Dan Kennedy	CHV
18.1	46.6	Troy Perkins	MTL

Again, because it bears repeating, the Crew like to roll the ball out or play back through Clark to switch fields. What's not available to me is how often 'keepers play it deep specifically (off foot or long throw) but a general observation tells me Clark is good when throwing long.

Up next is going to be a dump of a little bit of every thing goalkeeper. Important to note that none of these stats below include penalties taken or saved (I feel that is making poor an already misleading Save % stat).

This table is sorted by % but also includes how many shots, saves, goals against total and average per 90 minutes (through yesterday).

Sv%noPK	Player	Club	SHTS	SV	Goals Against	Goals Against Avg
78.4%	Jon Busch	SJ	88	69	15	0.79
78.0%	Bill Hamid	DC	82	64	16	0.94
77.8%	Jaime Penedo	LA	63	49	13	0.76
74.0%	Donovan Ricketts	POR	100	74	24	1.21
73.6%	Nick Rimando	RSL	53	39	14	1.00
73.1%	Raúl Fernández	DAL	52	38	12	1.18
71.9%	Stefan Frei	SEA	89	64	24	1.20
71.7%	Eric Kronberg	KC	53	38	10	0.59
71.1%	Steve Clark	CLB	90	64	26	1.18
69.7%	Luis Robles	NY	109	76	26	1.18
69.1%	Joe Bendik	TOR	55	38	18	1.38
68.3%	David Ousted	VAN	82	56	24	1.14
67.9%	Clint Irwin	COL	81	55	23	1.28
66.7%	Troy Perkins	MTL	84	56	27	1.50
65.5%	Chris Seitz	DAL	55	36	17	1.44
64.1%	Bobby Shuttleworth	NE	92	59	27	1.35
63.7%	Sean Johnson	CHI	91	58	29	1.38
63.5%	Tally Hall	HOU	96	61	32	1.60
62.6%	Zac MacMath	PHI	99	62	34	1.55
62.4%	Dan Kennedy	CHV	85	53	28	1.41

There is a lot to pull for this chart like how Eric Kronberg has only faced 53 shots (a testament to the defense in front of him). Another note is how well Bill Hamid seems to be doing.

Clark's save percentage is slightly above replacement - and that is good. He's absolutely made some amazing saves this year.

After watching Clark now for 22 league games I gotta say that his best strength is working, communicating and organizing moderately complicated back line system and working well with two Internationals (Parkhurst seems like an easy going guy but the wrong guy behind him and I'm sure we'd know). On top of that there have been some lineup changes of late.

The Crew did a risky thing by letting long term 'keeper and fan favorite Andy Gruenebaum go (Andy has played well in his 450 mins this year) but it was something that as time passes will be a good thing as far as getting new faces and attitudes heading up the franchise.

Looking up and down this MLS 'keeper list I see some pretty bad performers, that contribute to some poor results. You absolutely cannot overlook a good 'keeper.

Great distribution, plays Berhalter's system, no personality problems, acts like an adult on the pitch and plays like he wants to be out there. With thin margin for error at the GK spot, Clark is absolutely an A+ signing.