Sporting Kansas City: Is Eric Kronberg The Answer
Sep 17, 2013; Kansas City, KS, USA; Real Esteli FC defender Rudel Calero (11) heads a goal as Sporting KC goalkeeper Eric Kronberg (18) can
Should Eric Kronberg be the starting Goalkeeper for Sporting Kansas City? This has been a very passionate and touchy subject on social media and in general fan circles. I have heard everything from Kronberg is a top 5 Keeper in the league to he is the worst Keeper in the league. I will give both views and share my opinion along the way.
Kronberg is Sporting’s longest current tenured player, being with the team since 2006. Now in his 9th season he has played in 12 MLS games, 1 of which he came in as a sub. For stat purposes that is 1012 minutes played in his MLS career.
This season Kronberg has 7 starts, 630 minutes played, 12 saves, 6 goals against, and has a record of 3 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws. To sum things up Kronberg allows a goal every 105 minutes. Less than one goal allowed a game is a very impressive stat line.
Kronberg has only faced 18 shots that required a save by him in his 7 games this year. That is approximately 2.5 shots that required a save per game. That can also be looked at as facing a shot that requires a save every 35 minutes. That is also a very impressive stat line but that has more to do with the defense than it does Kronberg. Kronberg has the luxury of playing behind the best defense in MLS, some would even argue in the history of MLS.
Now that we have all those confusing numbers out of the way lets take a look at some plays that show some of Kronberg’s better and not so great moments.
The first example came on March 8th against the Seattle Sounders. The game is tied 0-0 in the 94th minute when Seattle sends in a cross from the right flank. Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler are making a play on the ball with Obafemi Martins being the only Seattle player anywhere near position to make a play on the ball. Kronberg decides to come off his line and the following ensues.
Notice how after Kronberg tackles Besler and Collin he lays on Besler for a moment watching the play unfold. As bad as the attempt was he still had a chance to make the save had he bounced back up and made a play on the ball. I was willing to give him a pass as this was his first start of the season and it was in Seattle which is not known to be the friendliest of environments.
Our next example comes from the March 29th game against the Colorado Rapids. In the 21st minute of the game Colorado is awarded a FK from just outside the box. Colorado’s Vicente Sanchez steps up and sends the FK in under the wall towards the bottom corner of the goal. Kronberg did well to see through the wall and get low and not only keep the ball out of goal but secure it to prevent any rebound chance.
The free kick save was an example of the good things Kronberg can do, but there is another example of him misplaying the ball in this game. It came in the 57th minute with Sporting up 1-0, Colorado sends in a cross from the right flank and Kronberg does well to make the play but the ball bounces right off his chest and spills out and hits Sporting defender Ike Opara in the arm resulting in a hand ball and a penalty kick which was converted by Colorado to tie the game 1-1.
The next example came on April 26th against the New England Revolution. In the 92nd minute Sporting was playing with 10 men after an Aurelien Collin red card. New England sent a cross in to the box from the right flank and Kronberg dives out to try to punch away the ball. He completely misses the ball and it falls to a lurking Teal Bunbury who then taps it in to goal to give New England the 1-0 lead in added time.
The final example came from the same game against New England. In the 94th minute New England forward Diego Fagundez is on a breakaway and has a 1 on 1 opportunity with Kronberg. Kronberg does well to charge him down and make himself big. Fagundez ended up getting to the rebound and heading it towards goal which resulted in a Oriol Rosell hand ball and New England penalty kick which they converted to solidify the 2-0 victory at home.
Eric Kronberg is a big body in goal and he is not afraid to come off his line for a challenge. So far this season that has been his downfall. While 7 games may be a small sample size, the issue is the same mistake is consistently being made by Kronberg and it is costing the team points early in the season.
If you are on the side of Kronberg being benched then you are probably in Kansas City native Andy Gruenebaum’s corner. Gruenebaum was traded from the Columbus Crew to Sporting Kansas City after the 2013 season for a second round pick in the 2016 MLS Superdraft.
Gruenebaum’s best season came in 2012 when he finished as the runner up in the MLS Goalkeeper of the year voting. He finished the season with a 1.26 goals against average in his 33 starts. Gruenebaum was awarded the Columbus Crew’s 2012 Most Valuable Player, Defender of the Year, and Breakthrough Performance awards.
Gruenebaum has 79 career starts, 7,065 minutes played, 270 saves, 101 goals against, and has a record of 26 wins, 31 losses, and 21 draws. To sum things up and to compare to Kronberg, Gruenebaum allows a goal approximately every 70 minutes compared to Kronberg’s 105 minutes.
Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports
In Gruenebaum’s 80 (79 starts) career games played he has faced 371 shots that required a save by him. That is approximately 4.5 shots that require a save faced per game compared to Kronberg’s 2.5. The Crew’s defense in front of Gruenbaum was certainly not the worst, it also doesn’t compare to Sporting’s defense this year.
I asked users from the Sporting Kansas City subreddit /r/SportingKC what their opinion of Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum was and here are some of the responses I received.
From user Steaksupreme:
"Obviously Kronberg isn’t Jimmy. I still like him though. I think that he is a very aggressive keeper as well as a very large person to be standing in goal. Sporting has only given up six goals this season(not counting Cruz Azul) which is the second fewest in the league. Three of the goals have been PKs which were the cause of other players actions and it is un-realistic to demand that he makes those saves. He has made some mistakes late in games that are certainly frustrating and we have been spoiled after watching Jimmy but I think all of the talk about starting Gruenebaum is unwarented. That being said I would like to see Gruenbaum in action (Open Cup?). Overall everyone needs to take a deep breath. We are sitting in second place not even 1/4th of the way into the season. I want Kronberg to keep starting #HotPants."
User NotASaintDDC was in support of Gruenebaum getting a chance and had this to say:
"I’ve been in Gruenebaum’s camp ever since we bought him, and Kronberg has done little during games to prove (to me) that he deserves the starting spot over the Hebrew Hammer. It does help my opinion of Andy over Eric since A) Andy won the PDL Championship with my hometown Des Moines Menace, and B) Eric has given up two game-winning goals due to coming off his line and missing COMPLETELY (something which you absolutely can NEVER do as a keeper)."
(The Hebrew Hammer is a nickname given to Andy Gruenebaum)
The supporters of Sporting seem to be split nearly 50/50 on what the team should do at the Goalkeeper position. Do you think Sporting should stick with Eric Kronberg or do you think it is time for Andy Gruenebaum to get his chance? Sound off in the comments below.
Sporting Kansas City looks to regain momentum this Sunday May 4th against Gruenebaum’s former team the Columbus Crew. Sporting currently sits in second place in the Eastern Conference standings with 11 points in 7 games played. Columbus is at the top of the table with 12 points in 7 games played.
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