Matt Turner is far from 'useless' - but USMNT goalkeeper must go back to basics to prove himself in the Premier League

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."

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.

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 Sky Sports 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."

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 BBC East Midlands Today. "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!

There was that old saying in grade school: Keep it simple, stupid! And that needs to be Turner's mentality here, as the best way to build himself back up is to remember who he is.

At times over the past year, Turner has been impacted by a disease that has taken over modern goalkeepers. He's been dealing with an ailment that convinces so many goalkeepers that they have to be Xavi on the ball. How many errors have we seen in the last decade that could have been prevented by a goalkeeper simply not acting like they can make things happen with their feet?

Turner isn't one of those goalkeepers. He's not Ederson pinging passes or Manuel Neuer serving as a pseudo-midfielder. To avoid the mistakes that have hurt him, Turner needs to remember that fact.

Part of that is on Turner, who simply needs to get the ball out of danger. Part of that is on his teammates, who can't put him in compromising positions. If everyone is just a little bit more vigilant, these mishaps can disappear.

Turner can do the other stuff well. He'll earn Forest some points by keeping the ball out of the back of the net. The key, though, is making sure he doesn't hand a few away as well by trying to be a player that he simply isn't.

It seems so long ago, but there was once a point where Turner's lack of skill with the ball at his feet looked like it would prevent him from being the USMNT No.1. For a while he played understudy to Zack Steffen, who was much more comfortable playing the way Gregg Berhalter wanted him to.

Things have changed, however. Steffen, due to a lack of game time, tumbled down the pecking order. And Turner, due to his incredible ability to stop shots, rose rapidly, eventually becoming the USMNT's starter ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

He remains the No. 1, and as things stand, there isn't an obvious challenger that could really threaten him. That could change if someone rises and Turner continues to struggle, but for at least a little while, this is still Turner's gig.

He can play with a bit of confidence at club level knowing that, by and large, his international job is safe. Turner does have some work to do to regain the trust of those at Forest, but he's a player who is more than capable of doing that.

In his final Instagram post of 2023, Turner said it all: "Looking forward to more memories in 2024, maybe a bit less chaotic eh?" That'll be the hope as he looks to get back to basics heading into the second half of the season.