Long-time USMNT No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen has had a bad game again, this time for Middlesbrough in the English Championship.
An idea often expressed in American soccer circles is that Steffen is in bad form because he hasn’t gotten much playing time for Manchester City. The implication is that Steffen usually plays well. Alas, Steffen’s questionable shot-stopping is not a recent development; It’s been a feature for the entirety of his career.
1. The Data
Let’s start in MLS where Steffen was a below-average shot-stopper:
G+ tells us Zack’s distribution was just enough to take him from a slightly negative to a marginal positive relative to the league where fellow American Matt Turner has been, statistically, its most valuable player.