Man Utd: Ranking Premier League Goalkeepers From Worst To Best

4. Tim Howard

Tim Howard arrived at Manchester United in 2003 and quickly replaced Fabien Barthez as the club's first-choice goalkeeper despite being a relative unknown. Signed from MLS side MetroStars, like Roy Carroll, Howard enjoyed varying degrees of success, named in the PFA Best XI in his first season at United. However, the American was also known for dropping the occasional clanger or two, most notably against Porto in 2004 when his poor parry led to the Portuguese side scoring a last minute goal, knocking the Red Devils out of the Champions League as a certain Jose Mourinho slid on his knees down the Old Trafford touchline. Howard was dropped and replaced by Carroll, and his confidence reached a low ebb, though he forced his way back into contention under Sir Alex Ferguson and in 2005 things seemed to be picking up when Ricardo and Carroll, two of Howard's biggest competitors for the No.1 jersey, were released. Sadly for him, Edwin van der Saar arrived soon after and Howard joined Everton in 2007. Ferguson had at long last found his successor to Peter Schmeichel. More on both a little bit later on.