The Preseason Job Center: GK

Today is a quiet day on the DCU front, what with the team being in Spain. In my other life, things are ridiculous, but that's not much of a change. So let's revisit the preseason job center, and it is time for the final installment: who will stand under the crossbar.

There aren't many permutations. Weber is gone, which means this is all about Rimando, Nick vs. Perkins, Troy. So for this final installment, I'm ditching the format used in previos installment of the job center for a simple tale of the tape.

Weigh-in

Rimando: 5'10", 190 lbs

Perkins: 6'2", 190 lbs

Advantage: Perkins

Reflexes

Rimando: Excellent in the flow of play. Acceptable on penalties.

Perkins: Decent in the flow of play. Decent on penalties

Advantage: Rimando

Positioning on Set Pieces

Rimando: Similar the path of an electron disproving Bohr's model of the atom. A state of quantum uncertainty prevails as he darts around.

Perkins: Conventional, you can almost see him plotting his line in his head.

Advantage: Perkins.

Distribution

Rimando: Good on short throws, decent to back mids, overly ambitious on the wings.

Perkins: Mediocre decision making but decent execution.

Advantage: Rimando

Back passes

Rimando: Good dribbling and distribution. Occasionally gets into trouble making a move.

Perkins: Seems to have learned wrong lessons from Rimando recently, as I've seen him get caught with the ball at his feet on the line more often in 2005 than in 2004.

Advantage: Rimando

Contract Status

Rimando: Got a raise, so now a mid-sized contract.

Perkins: Cheap.

Advantage: Perkins

Awareness

Rimando: Can be caught napping or leaning.

Perkins: More vocal, but not clear he's saying the right things.

Advantage: Perkins

Intangibles

Rimando: Nice to kittens and old ladies.

Perkins: Nice to kittens and old ladies.

Advantage: Draw

Analysis and Predictions

There's more discontent in the DCU fanbase with Rimando than with Perkins. It's difficult for me to make judgements since there's not really been a rotation of the players, but rather one or another has been the starting keeper while the other was relegated to the bench. My sense is that Rimando catches the eye more easily than Perkins, while Perkins may be more fundamentally sound and have those all important four inches that so obsess the DCU fan. However, with no 3rd string keeper, neither will be going anywhere. My best guess (and it is trule a guess) is that Nick will get the starting nod more games than Troy, but it won't be 30 MLS games as it was last year. More like 22 starts for Nick, 10 for Troy who'll also get the early rounds of the US Open Cup. But that's a guess.