Unravelling the Great American Goalkeeper

Think of the top five American players to grace the Premier League. How many of them are goalkeepers? If the answer is anything less than three, please feel free to enlighten us to the brilliance of one-time Everton striker Joe-Max Moore. Because while common sense dictates that clubs look to South America for a 20-goal-a-season striker or Spain for a dynamic winger, the United States is far more likely to provide what you're looking for between the sticks. Courtois and De Gea? Give me Brad Friedel any day.

Ohio-born Friedel is one of eight American goalkeepers who have played Premier League football. Of those, five have started more than 100 games in the top flight. Friedel tops the list with over 600 appearances in all competitions for English clubs. Everton's Tim Howard has passed 450 and is still the Toffees' number one; Kasey Keller made more than 200 top-flight appearances, including spells at Spurs and Leicester; and Brad Guzan has recently surpassed 100 games for Aston Villa.

Perhaps the only other American player whose English exploits compare with this trio is Clint Dempsey, who made more than 200 Premier League appearances and was often a vital cog in the awkwardly functional Fulham machine.

But it wouldn't be right to call Dempsey the States' greatest gift to English football. That mantle surely falls to Friedel, one of the most reliable goalkeepers of the modern era. If he were a soldier, Friedel would be the type to arrive back at camp and casually announce that he'd gotten into a minor skirmish, then reveal a few bullet wounds dotted across his torso. Then he'd light a smoke: "No big deal, brother."

But what he's done is a big deal. The undisputed king of consistency, Brad holds the record for consecutive Premier League appearances with 310, an astonishing feat that saw him play every single game between August 2004 and October 2012. That's in excess of eight years spread over three clubs: Blackburn Rovers, Villa, and Spurs. Forget the soldier thing – Brad is the type of goalie who'd play with bullet wounds.

He is also the oldest man to play for the latter two sides, turning out for Villa at 40 years and four days and Spurs at 42 years, 104 days. He remains on the books at the North London club, despite the fact he'll turn 44 next week.

It is hard to dispute Friedel's status as America's finest export, with Howard and Keller also in the top five (for the sake of argument, let's say the other two in there are Dempsey and Man City's Claudio Reyna). And it's not just the men: the U.S women's team has also produced world-class goalkeepers in Hope Solo and Briana Scurry (though given their brilliance across the pitch this seems less out of the ordinary. American women's football is just very good).

So what's the secret? How are they doing this?

The simplest explanation is that American kids play a wide variety of sports that rely heavily on hand-eye coordination. American football, basketball, baseball – the great American 'keepers played all of them early on, dragged out to the back yard for catching practice by their old man or left to hone their skills below garage-mounted basketball hoops. The earlier your start, the more innate the ability becomes. Catching is no big deal to them; it's part of the built-in skill set.

And great goalkeeping is all about diversity. Take Manuel Neuer. He brings huge versatility to the position, and that is perhaps his greatest strength. He's cool with rushing out to meet the ball with his feet, or leaping to head away from outside his box; he'll even take penalties – even if they don't always go to plan.

While they're not quite on Neuer's level – because no one on the planet is – the great American goalies have similar diversity. Howard played basketball for his high school team, while former U.S international Tony Meola – who might well have been a star in England were it not for work permit issues – was a talented multi sportsman, and was even drafted by the New York Yankees as a youth.

Versatility and handling skills – who'd have thought they'd make a great 'keeper? Sure it's simplistic, but Americans are used to catching a ball with their hands. Throw a ball at a European or South American kid and they'll control it with their feet.

But it's not all physical. It's important to recognise the psychological aspect of playing a minority sport in a country that absolutely loves its own, more intrinsically American pastimes. It toughens players, teaches them about unity in the face of mass adversity, about the values of defence and resilience. These are all vital qualities for a goalkeeper, particularly when your defenders aren't world-class and you've got Eden Hazard pinging balls at you from the edge of the box.

For older guys like Friedel and Meola, this mindset is even more pronounced. They grew up during football's U.S wilderness years, between the demise of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1984 and the arrival of the World Cup and MLS a decade later. By this time Friedel and Meola were already in their mid-20s; they had come of age at a time when football was a niche sport. To become a pro – and in Friedel's case succeed abroad – would have required huge determination and mental strength. They needed to be thick skinned and independent. Show me a world-class 'keeper who doesn't possess those qualities.

To a degree this is also true of the younger generation – though for different reasons. Soccer is incredibly popular in the U.S at youth level, while the women's side are among the best in the world. That can lead to a perception that it is either a kids' or girls' pursuit, something boys should drop in their early teenage years for a proper sport. Thick skins are still being developed.

But perceptions are undeniably changing. You could argue that the likes of Howard make it cool for an American kid to be the goalie. Because to them he is the hero, the difference between victory and defeat. He got a phone call from the president for Christ's sake.

So when kids go out and play football they want to be the goalie and emulate their idol, just as an Argentine pretends to be Messi, or an Italian kid plays as Pirlo.

In Britain, there tends to be more focus on the errors a 'keeper can make. David Seaman's career was hugely successful, yet he is often remembered for the lobbed goals he conceded against Real Zaragoza for Arsenal and Brazil for England. British kids don't want to go in goal. It's where you stick the fat kid; as an adult, it's where you play when you've run yourself out in seven-a-side and need a breather. There is no glory in goal.

There is another crucial psychological factor, one that exists outside the States rather than within it. There are things we simply believe beyond all question that Americans can do, and goalkeeping is one of them. Football works along trends and fads – that's why Scottish managers were ten-a-penny when Alex Ferguson was winning a couple of trophies every year, but now can't get work in the Premier League following his retirement.

Similarly, when a scout is told about a promising young American 'keeper, their ears prick up. 'There have been several good American 'keepers before, so this lad will probably be decent as well,' the thinking goes. They have formed a picture of the player before even seeing him. If it comes down to a 50/50 decision between an American and an Argentine they'll pick the former, because Argentina has a poor history for producing 'keepers.

It is an accepted fact of football that Americans make great goalies. And in a sport riddled with uncertainty, people like this sort of solid truth.

And there is another generation of men ready to continue the tradition. Among them is Bill Hamid, a 24-year-old DC United shot-stopper who was voted MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2014. Hamid has already made his U.S debut and, with 36-year-old Howard's international career entering its final stretch, is in the mix to take up the mantle. In a recent interview, Hamid joked about his country's record between the sticks, saying, "I'm from America, sir. I don't know if you've heard, but we have some of the best goalkeepers this world has ever seen."

And he was right. Whatever selection issues national coach Jurgen Klinsmann might face, he can rely on one of the best in the business as his last line of defence.