Bob Bradley on LAFC starting goalkeeper: “To be determined”

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the possibility of a goalkeeper battle at Los Angeles Football Club, and dismissed it.

Turns out, that was wrong, as LAFC head coach Bob Bradley admitted the No. 1 position is open, with both Tyler Miller and Pablo Sisniega in the running at this stage.

Miller has made 18 starts this season, with a 12-2-4 record. The starter coming into the season after winning the position last year, he struggled in his comeback after going to the Gold Cup with the U.S. Men’s National Team and never playing, but LAFC won that game 3-1 over the Houston Dynamo. The next week, he started in the 3-2 loss against the LA Galaxy, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic torched LAFC in the rivalry clash.

Then, Sisniega returned to the lineup last week against Atlanta United, but looking a bit shaky, albeit in a 4-3 win over Atlanta United. The American-Mexican has played seven games across all competitions for LAFC, posting a 5-2-0 record in those games.

Bradley spoke about the GK situation at training on Thursday, in a video posted by Giovanni Garcia.

“To be determined,” Bradley said “Tyler and Pablo are both competing day in and day out. I mentioned last week that Tyler was fantastic for us early in the year, first 50, 60 percent of the season, and then it was exciting, he got called into the national team. But six weeks without a game...when you’re sharp as a player, you’re involved in games every week, there’s no doubt you lose something when you go six straight weeks without a match. And so for us, we just want to make sure that when Tyler came back into the team, now, Zak [Abdel] got a hold of him, he’s training, habits were re-established. In the meantime, Pablo had obviously played well, so it creates good competition between the two.”

But even though the situation looks fluid, Bradley will not be making a snap decision, refuting a follow-up question if the starter for Saturday’s game against the New England Revolution will be a game-time decision will a concise, “No.”

So there you have it. Both players have had good moments and a moment or two of concern each, and there’s no guarantee at this point which one will emerge. Maybe we’ll see a platoon moving forward this year. Stay tuned.

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