Earl Edwards Jr. Has Valiant Fill-in Performance

“I thought he [Edwards Jr.] did well. Nothing he could do on the goal. I thought he gave us confidence. I thought with his feet, his kicking, and just in general, it felt good with him in there"

Photo By Spenser Powell

The New England Revolution might have a goalkeeper competition on its hands.

With Henrich Ravas on international duty, Earl Edwards Jr. stepped between the sticks on Saturday afternoon against the Chicago Fire. Before fans could even get a read on the backup’s performance, Apple TV’s Chris Wittyngham gave an interesting insight he received from Caleb Porter.

"Caleb Porter telling us that with a good performance today, Earl Edwards can potentially stake a claim for the permanent job in goal for New England,” the broadcaster stated.

Seeing that Ravas was a big offseason acquisition, the fact that there is a goalkeeping battle isn’t great. The fact that Porter felt comfortable saying this also likely isn’t great for the Slovakian goalkeeper’s confidence.

Edwards Jr. put in a good shift to his credit. He can’t really be blamed for the lone goal and showed some quality (albeit risky) distribution. The veteran goalkeeper completed 92 percent of his passes while registering 42 touches.

Porter seemed pleased with Edwards Jr.'s performance after the match.

“I thought he [Edwards Jr.] did well,” the head coach said. “Nothing he could do on the goal. I thought he gave us confidence. I thought with his feet, his kicking, and just in general, it felt good with him in there, for sure. I don't care who's in there, I'm going to pick the guys that I think can help us win. So, for me, for sure with this game, we'll continue to evaluate that position.”

Confidence hasn’t been an adjective that could be used for Ravas’ MLS career so far. The Slovakian goalkeeper has been lacking in authority when claiming balls and has already allowed 10 goals.

Veteran Andrew Farrell was also pleased with the performance of the goalkeeper commending his professionalism stepping in for Ravas.

“Earl has been in the league for a long time,” the veteran said. “Whenever he gets an opportunity, he does well. I thought he was great back there, with his feet, making saves, and commanding the backline as he should. I think he stepped in and did well today.”

Edwards Jr. benefitted from a full week of preparation as he knew he would be starting with Ravas gone. Speaking postgame it seems like the goalkeeper hopes that he will be able to build off of his performance against the Fire.

“I felt good,” he said in the locker room. “You know, I think in my position I'm just constantly preparing to play. I don't know when that time is gonna come. Obviously sometimes it could be predictable with a guy getting called up so it was nice to have a very clear week knowing that I was going to play on the weekend. Felt good out there, feel confident, and we'll see if we can get the ball rolling.”

So there once again might be some question marks at the goalkeeping position for New England. Edwards Jr. will be hoping that he will get another chance to show he is capable of taking the starting spot from Ravas.

Considering the amount of goals that the 26-year-old has allowed, the MLS veteran could be a pleasant change of pace if Ravas continues to struggle.