Not just a game: U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard has the ability to play for Manchester United, but now he must learn to deal with the pressure of being on England's most high-profile club

Soccer Digest, August-Sept, 2003 by Marc Connolly

A FEW WEEKS AFTER PLAYING the MetroStars on opening night at the Meadowlands, Columbus Crew midfielder Kyle Martino was still shaking his head over what he thought was a sure-fire goal from a right-footed blast he took at the top of the 18. On any other night, it would have found the back of the net. But not in East Rutherford, N.J., the place where would-be goals get knocked over the bar or punched to safety by the hands of Tim Howard.

"You can hit a shot that you promise is going in or you think is already in the net, and he'll go and make the most mind-boggling save," says Martino. "He's a tough goalkeeper to beat."

Hopefully for Howard, strikers such as Arsenal's Thierry Henry and Liverpool's Michael Owen will soon join Martino and the rest of the MIS stars who have been shaking their heads for years over his spider-like reach and NBA-like athleticism.

With his $3-million transfer to Manchester United finally complete, Howard's next task is to meet his new teammates--world-famous stars such as Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, and Ruud van Nistelrooy--and start what should be the competition of his life: trying to win a starting job with the EPL champion Red Devils. Howard's former goalkeeper coach with the MetroStars, Des McAleenan, doesn't worry whether the 24-year-old will measure up. "He's going to prosper," says McAleenan, who is in his third year with the club. "He's got all the tools to succeed, and I know he will."

McAleenan should know. He personally watched Man United keepers Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll, and Ricardo train last November when he spent two weeks with the world's most revered soccer club. "Timmy stacks up very well with all of them," he says. "It was obvious to me as soon as I got there that Tim's handling of the ball is as good as anyone they have other there, if not better. He's better balanced technically and athletically than their keepers. He is also much more powerful and has more explosiveness from his legs than over there."

Barthez, a much-decorated French international who minded the nets for the host nation in 1998 when it won the World Cup, impressed McAleenan, but de coach says Howard moves right and left to get balls better than the Frenchman does. Howard's arrival could create a goalie controversy in 2003-2004 because Man United hasn't been completely happy with Barthez since he allowed some goals in last spring that were deemed "soft," including a few in the club's dramatic series against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The 31-year-old keeper is the odds-on favorite to stay on the first team due to his experience for both club and country, but he may be in for a rude awakening from his larger understudy come mid-summer. "The moment Tim sets foot onto the training ground, the other keepers will have to have their wits about them,' says McAleenan of the 6'3", 210-pound former high school basketball star. "After the first day, they'll realize that this person in their midst presents a very, very real trap. He's someone that will need to be taken very seriously."

The actual on-field training and saving of shots is one thing. But the overall experience of being a member of Manchester United is another. Being a hometown boy for the MetroStars from nearby North Brunswick, N.J., brought Howard a certain level of fame and notoriety over the better half of the five years he spent in MLS. And Howard's reputation soared after two straight Best XI nods. That, plus becoming the official "Next In Line" to man the U.S. national team goal after Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller retire from international play, put Howard in the media spotlight. He even began getting recognized from time to time around New York City. Yet nothing will prepare him for what he's going to experience across The Pond.

"He went from a place, MLS, where he receives little attention to a place where he'll almost become a pop star," says McAleenan, a native of Dublin, Ireland. "Football in Manchester is simply as big as it gets. Everybody in the squad is known. People know what they look like and everything about them."

The day-in and day-out pressure to win will be similar to what New York Yankees players experience from the countless newspapers, radio, and TV talk shows that cover the team on a daily basis. It has the same impatient--and deep-pocketed--ownership, too. Lose five games in a row in MLS and you can still get into the playoffs and not take an inordinate amount of heat in the process. Lose five in a row at Old Trafford and the locals act as though the world will stop spinning. "They'll write you off for the title if you lose in November," says McAleenan. "And jobs will be lost. Careers get hurt."

Already, Howard had a taste of what the media coverage will be like. Within 24 hours of the initial report by ESPN.com that Man U had made a transfer off to MLS, several English tabloids plastered his image on the cover of their morning editions. The papers made more mention of his Tourette's Syndrome than his goalkeeping prowess or the recent strides he's taken with the national team. Even though Howard's condition is hardly detectable--if anything, he clears his throat a lot--they made him out to be some sort of mythical shot-saving character straight out of "Rain Man."