A good (possibly very good) shot stopper, but I’d like to see him control the rebounds better. Our defense is going to be leaky enough that we don’t need to be giving up second chances. I think the battle between Cronin and Hamid should be a good one to determine who’ll be the starter, but I’m still not convinced that either one is better than Troy Perkins.

Really hoping that allocation money gets put to good use.

This play pretty much sums up my worries about Cronin. As the cross comes in from the right, he takes 3 somewhat hesitant steps out to claim it, but then changes his mind. This is bad for 2 reasons: One, goalkeepers should not take hesitant steps off their line in any circumstance, and two, starting to come off your line and then doubling back just leaves you in no man’s land. The poor run of the target of that cross (Paulo Jr, now of RSL) and the funny bounce off the turf end up bailing Cronin out, giving him the chance to make the save in the end. A smarter player charges that ball and ends up with a volley into an unguarded goal.

That’s not to say he’s awful. He’s got sharp reflexes, he’s brave, and has more or less the prototypical build of a goalkeeper. I don’t worry about his ability to make saves; I worry about his ability to take care of the more complicated problems goalkeepers face. Maybe Onstad or whoever our GK coach ends up being will help him straighten out this portion of his game.

from the Portland blog: http://www.droppingtimber.com/2010/12/timbers-trade-cronin-receive-dc-united-keeper-troy-perkins.html