Manchester City Keeper Zack Steffen Withdraws From the USMNT Squad Amidst Uncertainty Over His Role

The USMNT has had a very good run of form in recent games. They’ll play again in the Nations League in June, and will try to iron out a few more problems. However, the problem of their starting goalkeeper doesn’t look like it will be solved any time soon.

Currently, Manchester City’s Zack Steffen and New England Revolution’s Matt Turner are the two men vying for the role. Both of them were called up to the USMNT squad, but Steffen had to withdraw from the games because of a family issue.

New York City FC’s Sean Johnson took Steffen’s place in the squad. This won’t be good for him in the long run as he hasn’t had the best season for Manchester City this year.

Zack Steffen and his disastrous season for Manchester City

Steffen was fairly good for City in the 2020-21 season and played back-up to Ederson. However, this year, he has only made nine appearances for the club in all competitions. Moreover, in the few times that he has featured for City, his form has seemed off.

He doesn’t seem like a safe bet behind the sticks anymore, and his error proved costly against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Since then, he has caught a lot of slack for his performances, or lack thereof.

Several pundits have advised him to leave City and go on loan next season, but it won’t be easy. On the other hand, if Steffen doesn’t find a new club, game time will be harder to come by and he might even lose his spot as the USMNT’s number one.

USMNT and their options at Goalkeeper

Other than Turner, Steffen, and Johnson, the USMNT also has Nottingham Forest keeper Ethan Horvath. The American doesn’t start at the club and has only made 10 appearances this season, a worrying trend for American keepers.

Next season, Turner will get his move to Arsenal, and he too would be a backup to Aaron Ramsdale. This is a tricky scenario for Gregg Berhalter, as the USMNT’s three best keepers would all be coming into the World Cup without any game time if things don’t change.

It’ll be interesting to see how he tackles this situation.

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