Why Barnsley loan makes sense for CanMNT hopeful Owen Goodman after 25/26 struggles

With his eyes on both his short and long-term future, Owen Goodman has hit the reset button on the 2025-2026 season, as he joined EFL League One side Barnsley on loan from Crystal Palace earlier this month. 

🤝 We are delighted to announce the loan signing of goalkeeper Owen Goodman until the end of the season from Crystal Palace.

Welcome to Oakwell, Owen! ❤️

— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) January 15, 2026

After spending the first half of the season with Huddersfield Town in the same league, this is a big move for the 22-year-old, who played just 12 times with his old club before his loan was cut short, with only six of those appearances coming after September. 

What was supposed to be a straightforward developmental move for Goodman just never panned out for the talented goalkeeper, as despite starting the year as Huddersfield’s #1, a costly red card on August 30th proved to be detrimental to his ability to maintain that spot in the long term. 

Now, at Barnsley, though, he’ll get the chance to start fresh again. Having sent their starting goalkeeper from the first half of the season, Murphy Cooper, back to his parent club Queen’s Park Rangers, they snapped at the opportunity to acquire Goodman, immediately thrusting him into a starting role for his debut against Blackpool last weekend. 

That’s exactly what Goodman needed, though, as he made five saves in the victory, conceding just one goal despite facing 2.29 xGOT from six Blackpool shots on target (OPTA). 

Here are the shots Goodman faced in his Barnsley debut (OPTA)

For the first time in a while, he looked like the goalkeeper who won EFL League Two’s Golden Glove award while on loan with AFC Wimbledon last year, too, and not the player lacking confidence for Huddersfield. 

An Owen Goodman appreciation post 👏

2⃣5⃣ clean sheets
🌟 #SkyBetLeagueTwo Team of the Season
🧤 League Two Golden Glove
📈 Play-Off Final winner

Not bad for a second season in senior football for the @CPFC loanee! 🤩#EFLPlayOffs | #StepUp pic.twitter.com/GqooksOo2f

— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) May 29, 2025

Because of that, look for the next few months to be crucial for Goodman. With clarity surrounding his international future, having secured his Canadian citizenship last fall after previously looking unlikely to do so (at least not in time for the World Cup), his goal is simple - crack Canada’s World Cup squad. That he was so persistent in acquiring his Canadian citizenship indicates that is the case - some wondered if he might stick it out with England, or try for Nigeria, as he’s eligible for both teams (and has played for England’s U20s). 

As it stands, he’s in a tough battle to crack Canada’s squad - in MLS, James Pantemis’s form with the Portland Timbers has been hard to ignore, while Jayden Hibbert was an outstanding breakout story with Atlanta United last year. Along with Luka Gavran, who is set to become Toronto FC’s #1, and Jonathan Sirois, who has attracted European interest this January, there is no shortage of players vying to be the third goalkeeper behind usual CanMNT regulars Dayne St. Clair and Maxime Crépeau - and that doesn’t even include someone like Tom McGill, who is another Premier League contracted player like Goodman (albeit one who is a bit older at 25).

Among that group, though, Goodman, who signed his first contract with Crystal Palace as a 17-year-old back in 2021, stands out as someone with a lot of potential. He’s shown it in glimpses, too, as he’s been on a slow journey towards perhaps one day earning a starting role on Palace’s first team, doing well to progress year-over-year. 

First with Palace, he was a standout in the U18 Premier League, and then Premier League 2, before heading on a pair of loans to League Two sides Colchester United and Wimbledon in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, respectively, which allowed him to make the jump to League One this year. 

Now, he’ll look to prove with Barnsley that he’s capable of jumping to the Championship next season, which could significantly accelerate his chances of one day playing at Palace - or another club at a similar level. Given that he’s still just 22, there is still more than enough time for him to one day develop into a starter playing at that level, especially if he’s in England’s second tier next season. 

Plus, it’s worth noting that cracking Canada’s squad for the World Cup could also help him with that Championship goal. He’ll be extremely unlikely to see any minutes for Canada this summer, but just being with that group could raise his profile significantly, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt his confidence, either. 

To get there, though, he’ll need to perform with Barnsley, so it’ll be fascinating to see how he fits in with his new club - even if the first signs were positive. 

For what it’s worth, one thing that stood out from Goodman’s debut, however, was that Barnsley asked him to do things he’s a lot more familiar with.

When looking at his numbers with Wimbledon last year, he was an elite shot stopper for the then-League Two side, as he prevented an average of 0.08 xG above expected each game (WyScout), which was 10.96% more than expected each game - one of the best marks in the league. Along with his 74.64% save percentage (WS), you can see why he was named one of the league’s top goalkeepers, as he did an excellent job at protecting Wimbledon’s net, keeping 25 clean sheets in 52 appearances across all competitions.

Here's Owen Goodman's percentile chart from the 2024-2025 season. As seen here, he was one of the best shot-stoppers in League Two, although his other metrics, such as sweeping and passing, were more middling (WyScout)

Where he struggled, though, was elsewhere, as he didn’t really have to make too many sweeping actions and had middling passing numbers. Ultimately, his job was to save the ball, and he did it very well, but he didn’t do a lot of what we’ve come to expect from modern goalkeepers. 

At Huddersfield, though, he was asked to play more of a modern game, especially in terms of his sweeping, and that got him in trouble. The infamous red card that ended up costing him his spot in the team came due to a sweeping error, showing the sort of impact that it had on his game. 

Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Owen Goodman with a very high foot on Barnsley’s David McGoldrick

The referee gives the red card and rightly so, a disgraceful challenge and could of taken his head off#BarnsleyFC #htafc pic.twitter.com/ZjigJ1F85k

— AllAboutLeagueOne (@LeagueOne25) August 30, 2025

That’s shown statistically, too, as he had a significant increase in sweeping actions, but his shot-stopping metrics cratered across the board - even if he kept a solid four clean sheets in 12 appearances (conceding just 13 goals).

Here's Owen Goodman's chart from this season. Due to Huddersfield's style of play, he was one of the more active passing goalkeepers in League One, and he had to sweep a lot more, but his shot metrics cratered across the board despite him facing a lot of shots (WyScout)

Because of that, it’s no small detail to see that Goodman’s bright debut for Barnsley came in a game where he got to do what he does best - stop shots. That he made just one sweeper action (OPTA) shows that. 

Now, it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll get to maintain that style of play going forward, as Barnsley actually hold more possession on average than Huddersfield (54.27% to 51.74%), although that he had just one sweeper action despite them keeping 58% possession shows that perhaps there’s a middle ground to be reached. 

He did also have 15 recoveries, after all, showing that he was still very active off his line when needed to be - he just did a much better job of mitigating that risk. 

That’s important to note, too, because while his main objective with Barnsley will be to regain his confidence in his shot-stopping, it wouldn’t hurt him to do so while becoming more comfortable with coming off his line more often. With how Canada plays under Jesse Marsch, as they deploy an extremely high defensive line, it puts pressure on goalkeepers to be able to play high up the field, so it’ll be in Goodman’s best interest to get comfortable with doing so. 

Perhaps, though, that’s where Barnsley can be a happy middle ground for him, one where he can make the saves that powered him at Wimbledon last season, while working on avoiding the sort of defensive actions that got him in trouble at Huddersfield. 

He does that, and he’ll certainly have a strong chance of claiming that third goalkeeper role, with him and Hibbert the favourites to do so given their age and profiles. While Hibbert is technically playing at the higher level, Goodman’s pedigree and contract status help make up for that gap - but now, he’ll want his performances to be worthy of that status to earn a Canada nod. 

Certainly, he’s got the chance to do something noteworthy at his new club - despite being seven points behind the final promotion playoff spot in League One (ironically held by Huddersfield), Barnsley have a whopping five games in hand over sixth place, so perhaps they can spark a run towards the playoffs in the second half of the year. 

After all, there’s no better way for Goodman to prove that he could play in the Championship than to spark a promotion push - the same way he proved his League One capabilities by helping Wimbledon get promoted last year.