SAN JOSE, Calif. — The game didn’t finish the way he would have wanted, but last weekend’s 2-1 loss at the Colorado Rapids still represented a milestone for San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell.
After making his first Major League Soccer start last August — a 3-0 loss at the Houston Dynamo — Tarbell has now started 34 games in a row for the Quakes: an entire MLS season’s worth. Since his debut, the 24 year old has amassed a 7-18-9 record and three shutouts, growing into the role, but recognizing that he has more work to do to establish himself dependable MLS goalkeeper.
“Yeah, it’s gone by pretty fast,” Tarbell shared with Pro Soccer USA this week. “The more games you play, you get up to the speed of play. It’s definitely been a learning experience.”
Tarbell was drafted by the Earthquakes in 2016 after a solid collegiate career at Clemson University. He made one appearance for San Jose as a substitute his rookie season before bursting onto the scene with a successful run to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals last year. Those performances, earned him a starting spot with the first team, and he hasn’t relinquished it since.
“He has been one of our more solid players this season,” coach Mikael Stahre told Pro Soccer USA, “and from my perspective, he has had some really good performances of late. He is still young, but he acts with a good presence. I’m really happy to work with him.”
Tarbell has borne witness to a great deal of turnover in the technical staff since joining his first preseason back in 2016, but he has digested the multiple messages from all levels of the organization in his quest to improve his play. That the Quakes have also gone through a series of player personnel changes as well has made it that much more challenging to gain a rhythm.
“There’s been a lot of change going on,” Tarbell said. “Having to stick through that and trying to shoulder the responsibility of playing games and performing, obviously, we haven’t had the best season. I’m just trying to keep going, keep training hard every day, getting better and helping the team.”
To start this season, as part of their coaching staff makeover, the Earthquakes welcomed goalkeeper coach Jyri Nieminen. Tarbell has been especially impressed with the Finland native’s coaching acumen, developed in his home country and overseas, crediting him for identifying key areas for improvement in his game.
“He’s been fantastic,” Tarbell said. “His wealth of knowledge is unbelievable, and I have learned a lot: technically, tactically, all areas of the game. He’s really present in the locker room with the coaching staff, during video analysis, all of that preparation. He’s a great asset to have, and I’m all ears when he is talking so that I can learn as much as I can.”
Tarbell’s former mentor, long-time goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley, also made a strong impression on the young ‘keeper, and Nieminen has been spending his time building on that foundation as Tarbell continues his progression.
“The main thing we did when we started together was to go through the concepts that he is already handling, or domaining, so that we could identify what he has not specifically worked with,” Nieminen explained to Pro Soccer USA. “I’ve introduced those specific concepts and showed him how to implement them here on the field, putting those pieces together and analyzing his own game.”
The transition from the pace of practice to the actual game has been a primary area of focus, and Nieminen is encouraged by what he sees as a weekly improvement in Tarbell’s ability to manage the game, especially as he’s played in numerous different lineups and formations since the beginning of preseason back in January.
“Definitely, there is so much information in front of you that you can’t always anticipate and prepare for it,” Nieminen said. “When you raise your head, there can be surprises, which is not something you want to see from your own players since there will be eleven opponents already to study. We are always working on the communication part with the different players in front of him.”
Prior to joining the Quakes coaching staff, Nieminen worked primarily with players at the various levels of youth soccer. Only 30 years old, he also is a strong proponent of using analytics and video analysis as part of his instruction, and in addition to Tarbell, he has been working extensively with the team’s other young goalkeepers, Matt Bersano and JT Marcinkowski.
“Jyri, together with all the goalkeepers, is doing a really good job with them,” Stahre said. “He has implemented many new aspects to their training, and he’s added a lot to Andrew’s style. He is a smart and clever guy.”
Tarbell’s last game, though it ended in a loss, was perhaps his best comprehensive performance of the season. Stahre knew having such a young and inexperienced goalkeeper would mean there would be some ups and downs between the posts this season, but he is encouraged by what he sees as Tarbell’s bounce back from a few forgettable displays — the gaffes in the California Clasico back in June came to mind — in recent games.
“He has been one of our more solid players this season,” Stahre said. “He was off a few games ago, but he is back on track now. In Colorado, from my perspective, he had one his best games of the season.”
Against the Rapids, Tarbell arguably made his best save of the season, denying Jack McBean a goal early in the second half with a superb stop that kept the Quakes within striking distance. But after Magnus Eriksson tied it for San Jose, Colorado won the game on a deflected shot in stoppage time that barely eluded Tarbell.
The game marked the first time in Tarbell’s short career that he lined up against legendary goalkeeper Tim Howard, who Tarbell said was his role model as a kid. The USMNT veteran, 39, is certainly someone to emulate, and it was not lost on Tarbell that Howard had made his own MLS debut almost 20 years ago to the day. He has studied him, as well as other goalkeepers around the league and around the world, in his efforts to improve.
“To play against him was a pretty surreal moment for me,” Tarbell said. “I had posters of him. Growing up and watching him play, he was the first soccer player I knew about. It was cool to play against him.”
He may have suffered the loss on the day, but Tarbell still walks away with an experience that he knows will be to his benefit. Stahre agreed that the goalkeeper probably deserved at least a draw on the night, but regardless of the result, he expects the best is yet to come from Tarbell, in this season and beyond.
“That’s for sure,” Stahre said. “Experience in life is what helps you learn everything. For him, as a goalkeeper, he can play 15 years more. He is only at the beginning of his professional career. He is a really serious guy, practices hard every day, and he has continued to gain that experience.”
Nieminen echoed the head coach’s assessment, adding that Tarbell’s willingness to listen and learn will serve him well. His first 34 games as a starter will not go down as his best, he believes, noting that the maturation of most goalkeepers can take seasons to come forth. For now, having Tarbell improve his reading of the game is priority number one.
“The biggest thing will always be observing the field,” Nieminen said. “His ability to look at the field and collect the information to determine what is most important. Then comes the decision making, especially at the MLS game speed, that’s not always easy.”
Tarbell, taking a lesson passed on to him by Earthquakes Hall of Fame goalkeeper Joe Cannon, doesn’t dwell on the negative, knowing that it is what he does in the next sequence, the next game, that is more important moving forward. To that end, his personal goals for the rest of 2018 are more about team goals, and he is simply hoping he can play his part.
“We are just trying to perform as a unit,” Tarbell said. “Everyone, obviously, wants to do the best job they can, and collectively, we are trying to finish the season on a high note.”