A series of high-profile errors have put the goalkeeper in the spotlight at Nottingham Forest, but the American star can play his way out of it
A word to describe Matt Turner's Nottingham Forest career so far? Shaky. There have been good moments, some big saves leading to some massive points. But there have also been some absolute calamities, sequences that have put Turner under the microscope in the world's most-watched league.
It was one of those calamities that earned Turner the ire of Gary Neville. The ex-Manchester United captain went all the way in on Turner, describing the U.S. men's national team star as "useless" with his feet after a number of errors with the ball at his feet eventually led to Marcus Rashford scoring past him for the Red Devils in late December.
Now, Turner is far from "useless". Anyone who has followed his career for both club and country knows how good he can be. He is an elite shot-stopper and, at the end of the day, that's what a goalkeeper's job is. However, Turner's abilities outside of his shot-stopping have been exposed. He's no Ederson with his feet, and so far this season, he's proven that time and again.
So what can Turner do to get back on track? Well, the easy answer is to remember who he is and, more importantly, who he isn't.
GettyRocky start in new surroundings
After a year as Arsenal's backup to Aaron Ramsdale, Turner knew he needed a starting gig. And so, this summer, he joined Nottingham Forest with the hope of being the club's No.1 goalkeeper.
It didn't take long, though, for it to be made clear that Turner's position would be tenuous at best. The signing of Odysseas Vlachodimos, Greece's starting goalkeeper, on transfer deadline day ensured that there would be something of a competition for that starting spot. Turner got first dibs, but if things started to go wrong, Vlachodimos would be right behind him.
And so after a costly mistake in a 3-0 loss to Liverpool in November, one which saw Turner hand Mohamed Salah a goal, the USMNT star was dropped after just 11 appearances.
“The first thing I would say about that – and it’s really important – is that it wasn’t on the back of the third goal last week [against Liverpool]," then-Forest boss Steve Cooper said at the time. "If it was, it would be completely naive and narrow-minded. OK, it was a disappointing moment and Matt was the first guy to show that disappointment. But we wouldn’t do that, it’s not who we are and it’s not the culture we’ve created among the players, staff and supporters here. When people make mistakes we support them, we don’t kill them. There’s enough people out there who want to do that, so we get behind people.
“I spoke to Matt early in the week and told him what I was thinking. We’ve been really pleased with Matt and what he’s done for us. If he’s done 10 percent not so good, he’s done 90 percent really good things – and that’s where we’re focused. But there’s a couple of things we want to continue his development with and felt this was behind the decision."
AdvertisementGettyConcerning trend
Turner eventually reclaimed his place, but the mishaps didn't stop with that error against Liverpool. Against Tottenham in December, Turner was at the center of the storm again as he gifted Dejan Kulusevski a goal in a 2-0 loss. A poor clearance, and a poor effort to keep the ball out, led to Turner's second mishap in roughly a month.
“The players will support him," Cooper said. "But at the same time we all have to own the things we can do better. Sometimes they will be individual moments, sometimes they will be collective things. Now is not the time for anyone to delve too much into it. But we will review things with the players as we do. But, of course, it is not something that should happen at this level.”
The most recent mishap against United came when Turner was on the receiving end of a backpass, and he in turn fired the ball right back up the center of the field. The errant pass was read expertly by Alejandro Garnacho, who proceeded to tee up Rashford for the equalizing goal.
Forest went on to win 2-1, but the damage was done. Turner had made his third mistake leading to a goal, good for third-worst in the league, putting himself in the spotlight once again for all the wrong reasons.
Getty Images'A scandal'
After the error against United, which came after Turner had misplaced a number of other clearances during the game, Neville didn't mince words when discussing the 'keeper's ability with the ball at his feet
“Absolutely ridiculous. I’ve got no sympathy for him," the ex-England right-back exclaimed during his commentary. "He's useless with his feet but he keeps trying it time and time again. A scandal from that goalkeeper. Honestly, what the hell are you doing?! With 12 minutes to go, it's absolutely ridiculous."
Turner, meanwhile, took all of the criticism in stride, saying: "You have to be perfect in the Premier League. We weren’t perfect – and I wasn’t perfect – but we dug deep and got the result I think we ultimately deserved. You know, there are ups and downs being a goalkeeper. I’ve had my moments this season. What happened out there was a microcosm of my whole career. I always seem to battle back. I looked around at the guys beside me – they weren’t blaming me and pointing fingers – they had my back and we ended up getting the win.
"You never want to make mistakes – but if you are going to make them – you want to respond in the right way, and I think I did."
Getty ImagesFar from a natural ball-player
If you've followed Turner's career, you'd know that it isn't his ability as a sweeper keeper that got him to this level. He isn't a typical modern goalkeeper who is almost seen as an extra defender in possession so as to provide another passing option.
No, Turner is old school. He's a shot-stopper, a pure goalkeeper whose best ability is keeping the ball out of the back of the net. Ironically, by trying to spice up his game, he's lost a bit of that, with his errors overshadowing any good he's done when it comes to stopping the ball with his hands.
Statistically, Turner is right in the middle of the pack in the Premier League when it comes to actual save percentage. In all of Europe, Turner's save numbers are slightly above average. His ability with his feet, though, drags him down.
It has to be remembered that the actual kicking of the ball is still somewhat unnatural for Turner, who is far less experienced with the ball at his feet than his counterparts.
“The World Cup in 2010 was really what got me into the sport. That's when I was 16 and started playing soccer, or football, year-round after that," Turner told. "Before that, I kind of flirted with the idea of playing. Both my older sisters played, but really I was more a baseball guy, a basketball guy and they are the sports I played since I could walk.
"I couldn't take my own goal kicks until I was 20 years old. I just didn't have the ability or strength to really lift the ball up into the air. I was always that goalkeeper that was asking the centerback to come take his goal kicks. The hard thing for me was catching up with my technique.”
It's been just nine years since Turner started taking goal kicks, and now he's being asked to pass around some of the best players in the world. So how does he do it? Well, the short answer is that he shouldn't!
