For those that have seen Matt Turner's cameo on the SportsCenter Not Top 10 during his time at Fairfield, it seems almost incomprehensible that he is now a starting goalkeeper in the best league in the world. Turner's story has been told constantly over the past few years, he did not start playing soccer until the age of 14. After going undrafted out of college in 2016, the New England Revolution took a chance on him, signing him to the roster. The Revs immediately sent him on loan to the Richmond Kickers. Brad Friedel, in one of the only positive moves he made as manager in New England, named Turner the starter in 2018. The rest was history.
He made his first MLS appearance on March 3, 2018 against Philadelphia. While they lost the game 2-0, it was a huge moment for the New Jersey native. In his second match of his career, he denied Jack Price from the penalty spot, the first of many spot kick saves. Just four matches into his career, he registered his first clean sheet, saving all six shots he faced against Houston. Five minutes into the match, he showcased the pure shot stopping ability that everyone talks about nowadays. He kept a clean sheet in the following match against Montreal as well, though his defense was stout and only allowed two shots on target. It did not help the case of Turner that the 2018 Revolution squad was simply just not great, but he showed a different spark in net. In April, he kept a third clean sheet of the season against Sporting Kansas City. He matched his career-high of 6 saves in a late May match against Atlanta United, including an absolute robbery of Ezequiel Barco. His acrobatics earned the Revs a point.
The Revolution continued a fairly shaky season, not scoring many goals with an average attack, and a poor defense that bled too many free chances. Turner made a one-save clean sheet against the Seattle Sounders later in the season. In September, New England actually benched Matt Turner for Brad Knighton. He appeared just one more time the rest of the way, in which he proved himself during a five-save clean sheet against the Montreal Impact. He was out there making cultured saves in the match, but still went back to the bench for the remainder of the year.
In 2019, Matt Turner still did not start between the pipes. How on earth did a third-string goalkeeper behind Cody Cropper and Brad Knighton manage to get a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world just three years later? On May 8th, Turner finally returned to the starting position. He actually conceded five times on the first match back. This was right when Bruce Arena was appointed head coach, a name Revs fans will not want to hear right now. He kept a clean sheet against Montreal a few games later. In one of the funniest clips MLS has produced, and that is saying a lot, Turner launched himself at Wayne Rooney, earning a straight red card. Regardless, he remained as the starting goalkeeper, despite the football tackle on an all-time great.
On July 21st, Turner set a new single-game save recorded, stopping 7 of 7 against FC Cincinnati. With every stop he made, his natural talent at the position became more and more evident. He robbed Cincy of a goal with a beautiful double save. He stuffed a Fanendo Adi header destined for the top corner as well. In the very next game, he matched the 7 save mark, a number he had not hit until just the game prior. This time he did concede a goal in a 4-1 victory over Orlando, including a nice stop on Dom Dwyer. At this point, New England was starting to round into form and finally play better was a unit. In August, Turner shattered his previous mark in a 9 save effort against the New York Red Bulls. He made a lovely save against one of the league's best in Bradley Wright-Phillips. In stoppage time, he denied BWP of a match-winner from extremely close range. He hit 9 saves again against NYCFC a few weeks later, including a clean stop on a Valentín Castellanos volley. He kept a clean sheet against NYCFC in their next matchup. The Revs made the playoffs, where they lost to Atlanta United in the knockout round. Turner finished 2019 with 4.45 saves per game.
The 2020 season was when Turner truly introduced himself to those in Major League Soccer who did not know of him previously. His performances saw him as a Goalkeeper of the Year nominee, but Andre Blake took the award. In the summer, Turner kept two 5 save clean sheets in a three game span. He kept NYCFC off the scoresheet in September. He did not have any high save matches or many clean sheets for the rest of the campaign, but his stats and underlying numbers were incredible. His save percentage and goals against average were top-two in club history. His save percentage was also the best in MLS across the past two seasons. He was also voted the 2020 Revolution Team MVP.
He made his money in the playoffs of 2020. During the play-in round against Montreal, Turner made 4 saves in the victory. In the second round, the eighth-seeded Revs posted the biggest upset possible, defeating #1 Philadelphia 2-0. Turner's clean sheet included 4 more saves, including a caught header from Kacper Przybylko. The two teams matched up five times previously during the season, with the Union winning four, the other being a draw. At the end of the day, only the playoff one mattered. In the next round, Turner crucially stuffed a Nani penalty that allowed the Revs to upset Orlando City 3-1. Columbus defeated New England in the Eastern Conference Final after a great run from the #8 seed.
In 2021, Turner took almost every award home that he possibly could have. He kept 5 clean sheets for the third season out of four, he never amassed a large clean sheet number due to his defenses not exactly being among the league's best. His 2021 season was just a diving highlight reel. Ahead of the 2021 MLS season, though, he made his United States debut in January camp. Turner saved a penalty kick against Trinidad and Tobago during the 7-0 win in Orlando. Since, Turner has grasped the starting goalkeeper role for the USMNT, making 34 already since 2021. He started all six games in the Gold Cup, in which they beat Mexico in the final. Turner made 7 saves in a game on four different occasions during the season, but did not get near his record of 9. The Revs had a historic season, setting the points record and winning the Supporters' Shield. He was named an MLS All-Star, then won the MVP in the match against Liga MX for his penalty saves. Turner was named to the 2021 MLS Best XI. Then, he was named the 2021 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Turner saved two penalty kicks during the 2021 season, adding to his growing total and incredible save percentage. On June 19th, he dove right and stopped the PK of Valentin Castellanos in a 3-2 win over NYCFC. He made another acrobatic save in this match, leaving Maxi Moralez with his hands on his head after the robbery. Nani tried to go down the middle against Turner in September, but he recovered and got a strong shoulder on it to tip it over the crossbar. Despite all the success from Turner individually and New England as a team, the Revs went out in the first round of the playoffs, losing to NYCFC in penalties.
After playing the opening matches for New England in 2022, it was time for him to go abroad. Prior to the season, it was announced that Matt Turner would move to Arsenal in the summer. The reported fee was around $7m, with potential to rise to $10m. He played his final Revolution match on May 28th against Philadelphia. He attended the June 19th match against Minnesota to say his goodbyes, and pass the torch to Djordje Petrovic, who joined him in the Premier League with Chelsea. Turner never played a Premier League game with Arsenal, appearing in cup competitions only. On August 9th, Nottingham Forest bought Turner from Arsenal for about $13m, and he is now a starter in the Prem. Forest sits in 13th place at the moment, with a 2-3-3 record. Matt Turner has an outstanding story and rise as a goalkeeper, which had a lot to do with his time in New England with goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock. Turner comes in at #52.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | CS | SAVES/PG |
2022 | NE | 450 | 1 | 1.6 |
2021 | NE | 2,520 | 5 | 3.61 |
2020 | NE | 1,980 | 6 | 3.23 |
2019 | NE | 1,766 | 5 | 4.45 |
2018 | NE | 2,430 | 5 | 3.15 |
Comments