For the first time in his professional career, Steve Cronin is heading into preseason as the undisputed No. 1 goalkeeper for his club.
Prior to this season, Cronin has spent his days in MLS as a backup, first to Kevin Hartman for two seasons, then last year as Joe Cannon's backup. But this winter, the Los Angeles Galaxy were forced to shuffle their roster, which included sending Cannon to San Jose.
That move opened the door for Cronin to emerge as the Galaxy's starter, and it's a role he's already relishing.
"It's fantastic. Especially being here in L.A., it's something I've wanted since I came into the league," said Cronin. "Since I've spent so much time here in L.A., this feels like home -- this is the team I want to start for."
Cronin didn't get many opportunities to shine last season, but on one particular night, he did shine. In the U.S. Open Cup match against the New York Red Bulls, he made 14 saves, including stopping a penalty kick, guiding the Galaxy to a 3-1 win.
It's performances like that one against New York that show how much promise Cronin has. Yet it's his lack of experience between the sticks that has the Galaxy organization knowing there could be some difficult times ahead for Cronin this year.
"If one looks at the situation, (Cronin) looks to be the anointed one," said Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas. "Certainly we have a lot of confidence in him. Is he going to make mistakes because he's a younger goalkeeper and doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience? Of course, but we're willing to take that risk and put our faith in him."
That confidence has trickled down from Lalas to new Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit, and has further been conveyed to Cronin. If he makes a mistake, Cronin knows that he won't be immediately relegated to the bench.
"I talked to Ruud this morning," said Cronin earlier this week at training. "You'd like to say that I'm going to come in playing like a veteran and hopefully that will be the case. (Ruud) has taken some pressure off of me and said that I have some leeway to make mistakes because it is my first year (as a starter). But at the same time I'm going to work really hard to keep the mistakes at a low number."
Experience will come quickly for Cronin, as he will be manning the net for the Galaxy during the Pan-Pacific Championship as well as their tour of Asia. He also got a jump on the preseason after being called into the U.S. national team camp in January. Cronin was a late addition to the camp after former Chicago Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens left the national team early to go on trial in England. According to Cronin, it was an invaluable experience.
"(The national team camp) started in early January. It gave me a good month to get my fitness base down," he said. "Taking shots from those guys prepared me for (MLS). I'm looking forward to having a good preseason with the Galaxy now."
There is no doubt that Cronin has the tools needed to be a starting goalkeeper in MLS. The one thing he lacks is experience, but it's impossible to gain that until given the opportunity. This season, it looks as though Cronin will have plenty of chances to prove he's ready to be the No. 1 in Los Angeles.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
