Sean Johnson is the best goalkeeper in MLS this season, but Matt Turner will get the start later today when the United States Men’s National Team plays Morocco in a friendly at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. Them’s the breaks.
Rather, that’s how it works with goalkeepers, who tend to lose their starting position only through injury or by committing a series of errors so egregious they make the highlight reels. The goalkeeper has the closest thing to tenure you’ll find in soccer.
New England Revolution’s Turner has that tenure. He first ascended to the starting role in January 2021, when he was tapped by USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter after Brad Guzan aged out of the position, and the pandemic suspended all matches for more than one year.