One of the truly wonderful things about watching the same soccer team week in, week out, is charting the ongoing development of talented young players.
Let’s say a good player lasts a decade in the pros. That’s four or five years of continuous development off the start of a career. Break that down into quarter or half seasons, and you’ll easily discover that rising stars are not the same player month-by-month.
Such is very much the case right now with Toronto FC goaltender Stefan Frei.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The 24-year-old Swiss, now in his second full season with the Reds, is playing with renewed confidence, and knocking down some very pleasing results. In TFC’s past two matches – away to Motagua of Honduras and home to Chivas USA – Frei has cemented good results, especially with some tremendous work in the air.
Frei is making diving saves look routine. He’s been particularly fearsome flying to his left.
Against Chivas on Saturday, he finger-tipped a particularly deadly chance just past his left post, and then got astonishing air and extension to smother another dangerous scoring bid right at the match’s end.
That final save was a thing of absolute beauty. He knew it was coming, saw it all the way, and soared like Superman to haul it in. To cover that much distance off your feet doesn’t just take talent. It requires … confidence.
It helps, of course, that Toronto FC’s long-maligned back four is actually stabilizing things out there. With the young Canadian pairing of Nana Attakora and Adrian Cann working the middle, there’s been a significant drop in the number of miscues, muffs and fatal back-passes Frei has been tormented by.
With faith in the four, Frei can hang back and watch the play develop. If his defenders know he likes the ball up and to his left, steps can be taken to ensure that’s where the next shot is going.
The beauty of Frei’s aerial work isn’t just that he’s getting to the ball. He’s smothering it. Excellent hands are holding the ball consistently – and if it takes an abnormally long and well-timed leap to make that possible, Frei is offering that, as well.
This – beyond doubt – is a better goaltender than the one who started the season. That guy was nervous, off-balance, and trying to do way too much. And, in his defence, he pretty much had to. But now, with a clearer, more solid picture in front of him, this ever-improving backstop can bide his time, see the play shape up, read the shot before it’s taken, and get to wherever he needs to fly.
It’s wonderful to watch, too.
In the locker room, he’s humble, and gives full credit to his teammates. He likes winning, is saving wins, and delighted to be part of an improving team.
How long will all this last? Frei seems certain to be called home to Europe in the not-too-distant future if he really means what he’s been doing the past couple of weeks. In the meantime, though, he’s hot, motivated and right on top of his game. He’s always learning and listening, as well.
Frei’s recent brilliance is not a fluke. And his emergence – now – is exactly what this still-unproven Toronto team needs, with both a tight playoff race and a grinding CONCACAF Champions League campaign ahead.
Onward!