FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As Matt Turner closes out his final months with the New England Revolution before beginning his next chapter by joining Premier League side Arsenal in June, it leaves the Revs with a decision to make as to who will take over at the goalkeeper position.
Head coach Bruce Arena said on Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub after the announcement that the club is not rushing to make a decision and will evaluate their options over the next few months.
The Revs have options both internally at the club and to potentially bring in additional talent.
However, with the success Turner has achieved in his career, he looks at the Revs' young, new goalkeeper signing in SuperDraft pick Jacob Jackson and sees a little bit of himself in the 21-year-old.
“He’s a great kid, he’s eager to learn, and reminds me a lot of myself, actually, when I first got into MLS,” said Turner.
“[He is] somebody who needs the work, but he has the things that you can’t really teach.”
At 27 years old, Turner knows exactly what it takes to go from the number three goalkeeper spot to number one coming out of college.
Turner’s path was unconventional as he was undrafted out of Fairfield University, signed with the Revs coming in at the number three spot, proved he had what it took to be successful at the professional level and earned the Revs' number one spot in 2018. He then became the 2021 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, and succeeded at the international level with the U.S. Men’s National Team, backstopping the country to a Gold Cup title, and now he'll move to his next chapter with Arsenal.
When Turner says he sees a bit of himself in Jackson, it comes from a place of wanting to push the young goalkeeper to succeed and knowing that it takes a lot to get there.
“I don’t want to hype him up too much in an interview if he sees this, because I know every day in training I’m going to be pretty hard on him, and as well as our goalkeeper coach [Kevin Hitchcock] and Brad [Knighton] and Earl [Edwards Jr.] will all be really hard on him and will hold him to a certain standard,” said Turner. “He’s lucky to be around guys that understand what it takes to sort of climb through the ranks, [and] be consistently at a certain level every day in training.”
Upon Jackson’s selection at 24th overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, he expressed that he was eager to learn from all of these veterans.
“They have all the experience,” said Jackson. “[I’m looking forward to] just picking their brains, learning every little detail that they do, whether it's a pregame routine or it's just how to simply catch a ball, and how to act in certain situations. Stuff like that is what I value … I would love to just hear what they have to say and just kind of learn to how to expand my game to the best of its abilities."
Jackson is also eager for the opportunity to soak up any knowledge from Turner during his remaining time in New England.
“Watching Matt Turner play on TV, everything about him looks just so calm and so natural,” said Jackson. “So, just kind of figuring out how he gets to that. You know, sometimes I get a little excited and amped up playing. But just seeing him being so calm and all that stuff, that's just kind of the questions I want to ask. And just how they do it, how they wake up every morning, and how they continue putting in the best efforts they can to help the team succeed."
After watching and being around Jackson for only a couple weeks, Turner sees potential in him.
“I think he definitely has a future in this league,” said Turner. “I think he was a steal in this draft, and I’m excited to be working with him every single day, and I think, like I said, bright future ahead for him.”
