McCarthy's Musings: The Galaxy's Forced Hands

By Kyle McCarthy

At least Donovan Ricketts won't have to try to cope with corralling a David Beckham cross or stopping a Landon Donovan shot.

Ricketts signed with Los Angeles on Tuesday as the Galaxy's new number one heading into the 2009 campaign.

Make no mistake: a new goalkeeper was a requirement for the Galaxy heading into the new campaign. To call the Galaxy's goalkeeping situation dire would be something of an understatement after a disastrous 2008 for Galaxy goalkeepers Steve Cronin and Josh Wicks. Maybe Joe Cannon left a hex over the Galaxy stoppers before being shipped back to San Jose last off-season. Maybe the Galaxy just tried to fill the sizable hole Cannon left with two players who simply were not and may never be ready for consistent MLS action. Maybe the diabolically shoddy back line placed far too much pressure on inexperienced hands.

Whatever the reason for the struggles of the Los Angeles goalkeepers last season, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena had to go out and get a new and experienced starting keeper if only to instill a known pair of hands behind the inevitably revamped back line.

Arena turned to a proven veteran and frequent foe in Ricketts. In addition to the 67 caps he earned for the Jamaican national team, Ricketts spent the past five seasons in English football, mostly with Bradford City. Work permit issues forced his departure from the Yorkshire side and allowed the Galaxy to swoop in to sign him on a free transfer.

Ricketts won't be the best or most consistent keeper in the league, but he will likely do enough to help the Galaxy win games and help fill the void left unfilled by Cannon's departure.

In some ways, Ricketts is a poor man's Cannon. He's a great shot stopper, occasionally iffy in the air and poor distributing the ball. The difference between the two lies in their consistency. Cannon gives you a good, solid performance eight games out of ten and keeps the defense organized almost always. With Ricketts, his performance fluctuates from game to game and he doesn't keep the back line as well organized as he should.

The problem for Arena is that he can't afford to go shopping for players like Cannon to fill his goalkeeping vacancy. Los Angeles has too many holes to fill to spend upwards of $150,000 – or, in Cannon's case, upwards of $200,000 – to acquire a top-flight and high-priced goalkeeper. Even with his lengthy international record and English league experience, Ricketts likely settled for less than $150,000 to mind the Galaxy net next season considering his out-of-contract status and his inability to secure an English work permit.

Assuming Ricketts enters the league at a reasonable price point – and comparing his projected price tag to similarly compensated goalkeepers like Dario Sala ($140,000), Kevin Hartman ($150,000), Jon Conway ($115,000) and Greg Sutton ($150,000) – Arena obtained a player that should at least equal those comparable players in quality and salary over the course of a season. Unless Arena can dig a Jon Busch off the scrap heap, he couldn't aim much higher than Ricketts given the resources in play.

When talking about goalkeepers outside the top four or five in the league, teams are looking for keepers who don't take things off the table and who won't hurt their team consistently in the long term. Ricketts may just take things off the table by having a clanger here or leaving his defense disheveled a few times there throughout the season, but he'll likely stop enough shots to live up to his price tag. The key for Ricketts is to find that consistency to steady that Galaxy back line.

Even if Ricketts settles into the middle of the pack in MLS goalkeepers for a middle of the pack price, that would be a vast improvement over the Galaxy goalkeepers in 2008. Combined with other necessary and forthcoming moves in defensive midfield and on the back line, Ricketts might even help the Galaxy return to the playoffs.

Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and blogs frequently during the week for Goal.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kylemccarthy@gmail.com.

(Will Ricketts' arrival help thrust the Galaxy back towards the playoffs? Discuss the possibilities in our Major League Soccer forum.)