On Sunday, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard called it a day at Goodison Park.
After close to nine years of service Howard played his final match helping the Toffees to another clean sheet and three points. On Sunday he ended his club career in Everton not just as one of the best players in Everton history, but also one of the greatest American players to play in Europe.
But was he the best?
Now of course whenever one considers the “best of” anything one has to take into consideration a multitude of different factors. In this discussion the biggest hurdle that Howard, Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller, or any goalkeeper has to face is the difference of position. While goalkeeping is a very difficult position, the sheer amount of running and physical play in the field that defenders, midfielders, and forwards have to endure generally lends their positions to being considered a bit more difficult. It is why it is very rare to see a goalkeeper even in the conversation for FIFA’s Ballon D’Or.
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There is also the factor of geography and timing. It is always a bit of a challenge measuring success in say the English Premier League versus the German Bundesliga or Spain’s La Liga. Each country has a different style, a different type of play, and refereeing standards and pitch conditions can vary greatly.
When the player plied their craft also matters. Saying that a player who plays in the current era might be better than those from another era might be true from the standpoint that they are much stronger and faster. But officiating is also very different and physical play has all but been stamped out. Also, keep in mind that clubs 20-30 years ago were not as heavily recruiting in places like Asia, Africa, North America, and South America.
Keeping all of that mind Howard had a very impressive career in England. He made 414 appearances for Everton and 77 for Manchester United. He also had over 133 clean sheets during his time in England, which places him seventh all-time in Premier League history (note: this does not include pre-Premier League statistics). He also helped United win the 2003-2004 FA Cup and the 2005-2006 League Cup.
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Against his fellow goalkeepers, his numbers stand up pretty well. Although his trophy case a little light, American players have generally not had much success at the business end of the football season. Even among his peers in goal Howard, Kasey Keller (League Cup with Leicester City in 1996-1997) and Brad Friedel (Turkish Cup with Galatasaray in 1995-1996 and League Cup with Blackburn in 2001-2002), he stands pretty strong.
Even among the field players of similar notoriety Howard’s accolades measure up. Consider that Clint Dempsey, Earnie Stewart, Brian McBride, John Harkes, and Claudio Reyna also did not win that many trophies during their professional careers in Europe and it shows how little success has happened for the United States. That is not necessarily a knock against American players just a sad truth about how difficult it is for American players abroad.
Dempsey is perhaps out of all the field players the best. His theatrics during Fulham’s Europa League run and the club’s strong play in the Premier League certainly warrant him being mentioned in the conversation. But his stay at Tottenham put a bit of a damper on his European career.
In the end this debate could be boiled down to Howard versus Friedel and depending upon how you look at things either would make a viable contender. While Howard was able to squeak by Friedel with his clean sheet on Sunday against Norwich (133-132) Friedel holds a commanding lead in consecutive games played (210-310).
(Author’s Note: If you ever want to check out a splendid performance from Friedel, watch Blackburn’s 2-1 win over Arsenal from 2001-2002. There are a couple of saves that Friedel makes, including one off of a deflected free kick, that are simply world-class).
Perhaps what is a bit unfortunate for Friedel is that his best moments may not have been seen by American supporters. His time at Blackburn and at Aston Villa was during an era in which matches were shown sparingly on ESPN and hard to find on Fox Soccer. Meanwhile the best part of Howard’s career came at a time when ESPN started showing more matches and television coverage rights of the Premier League were bought by NBC.
Club performance also tends to favor Howard. While Friedel played for a few good clubs in Aston Villa and Blackburn, his time in the Premier League was for the most part unspectacular. Howard’s Everton meanwhile was almost always at the top half of the table.
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What will be interesting to see as time goes on is if Howard can maintain his position at or, depending upon how you see things, near the top. With players breaking through all across Europe it appears that there is plenty of talent destined to excite American supporters back at home. Whether or not they can have a sustained run like Howard had is another question.