Keller the student finds new level of success

American goalkeeper adds academia to the Premiership as high-flying Tottenham travel to Old Trafford today

As the scion of a long line of farmers, and the owner of an off-road vehicle, Kasey Keller would not be out of place walking through central London tomorrow on the Liberty & Livelihood countryside march. Or perhaps he would, I reflect, as he emerges from the dressing room wearing a very American combination of white short-sleeve top over long-sleeved bright yellow sweatshirt.

The second impression is soon confirmed. We clamber into his 4x4 to visit a pizza restaurant by Tottenham's Chigwell training ground. "Oh great, you have to listen to my music," he exclaims. Keller's "music" is infamous, he makes Stuart Pearce's punk playlist sound MOR. A blast of noise from Slipknot, an alternative metal band whose extreme lyrics make Eminem sound like Billy Joel, bellows out of the speakers. It's most definitely not The Archers.

Goalkeepers are supposed to be different and Keller certainly fits that stereotype. It is not just living in Muswell Hill and using public transport which makes him an untypical footballer. A sociology student curious about the world around him he took in a helicopter trip to the Demilitarised Zone separating North and South Korea during the World Cup. England's footballers, though two hours from Hiroshima's moving memorials, only broke the hotel-training-match routine for shopping and golf. "Life is about experience," Keller said over a calzone, "you might as well soak it in."

Today, after a bad week for the goalkeepers' union, he faces one of the brethren's more daunting experiences, a visit to Old Trafford. Wednesday's rout of Maccabi Haifa suggested Manchester United could be emerging from their early-season torpor and Keller is expecting a tough match.

"Whenever you go to Old Trafford it is not going to be an easy match," he said, "regardless whether they are struggling or not – and they are not struggling, just not meeting the standard they have set over the last 10 years. They will get it right and you don't want to be on the receiving end when they do."

He added: "They have players out but sometimes it is more dangerous when you have players coming in who want to take the chance to prove themselves to the manager. And Spurs do not have the best of histories there."

That is an understatement. Spurs' last win at Old Trafford was courtesy of a Gary Lineker goal in the 1980s. Of their last 12 visits they have lost 11, the best result a goalless draw eight seasons ago.

Keller, though, has won at Old Trafford with Leicester and his team-mates should not lack confidence. Tottenham lie second in the Premiership, eight places above United.

"We feel good," said Keller. "We've found ways to win when it looked like we wouldn't. That's the key to being in this position. At times in the past we've looked good but not got the result. With the players we have we are going to be attractive to watch. We just have to be more ruthless at the back sometimes."

That aim is not helped by the customary queue for Spurs' well-worn treatment table. In six matches they have used nine different defenders with five of them taking a turn at right-back. "It is always difficult to keep results together when we are having to shift things around again and again. We just can't keep the same people on the pitch. It is a great credit to the players and coaching staff that we are in the position we are in. It shows there is depth in the squad.

"In the Premiership there are three groups: Those consistently in Europe; those mid-table; and those fighting relegation. Spurs have consistently been mid-table and for a team with its history it is tough for the fans to be also-rans. We need to take the next step where the question is: 'Is it Uefa or Champions' League?' Not: 'Are we going to be in Europe?' Newcastle showed last year what can be achieved if you have momentum."

On a personal level Keller is delighted to be playing. When he joined last season from Rayo Vallecano he knew he would start second-best to Neil Sullivan. Though he only conceded a penalty when given two matches at the turn of the year it was not until the last seven matches of the season that he had a run. Sullivan is currently injured but not before Keller began the season in the team on merit.

Keller said: "It was frustrating the first time when he [Glenn Hoddle] decided to change back. I thought I had done well enough. I didn't know if the chance would come again but when it did I wanted them to think, 'He did really well, we owe it to him to give him a chance after the summer break'. I came back late after the World Cup but trained in the States to make sure I was in shape and in form."

Keller's patience is nothing compared to his tutors at Portland University. They are still waiting for him to finish his degree 14 years after he started. "It's a sore point with my wife," admits Keller, who is married to high-school girlfriend Kristin and has five-year-old twins.

Having left the course early to join Millwall in 1991 Keller has continued studying, in Leicester, Madrid and London, via correspondence. He has also changed his course so much he is now doing "diversified studies". He does intend to finish, though, not least because college coaches in the States, a possible form of future employment, need academic as well as sporting qualifications.

Not that Keller expects to return home for a few years. "I'm 32 which they tell me is young for a goalkeeper. Individual goals in a team sport are very difficult. My paramount aim is to consolidate my position here and then be as successful as I can."

Keller did not know anyone personally involved in the 11 September tragedy but it was a reminder of the distance from home. Along with the rest of the US squad he visited Ground Zero before the World Cup. It is an experience which will stay with him though he admits the anniversary was less emotional for him than for someone like Sunderland's Claudio Reyna who's from New Jersey. "One benefit of being here was seeing the support worldwide," he said. The experience, he noted, "has given the American people more perspective on how life can be in Europe and for other people".

Keller is from Olympia, about an hour's drive south of Seattle. His great-grandfather settled in a long-gone German farming community in Iowa at the turn of the century. Unlike many US footballers, such as John Harkes (who had a Scottish father) and Reyna (of Argentine parentage), he thus grew up in an all-American household, albeit one shared with 40,000 chickens. His father, when not farming eggs, played baseball. Keller, when not stacking egg boxes, was a promising basketballer.

"People often ask me who I supported as a kid. I say I supported the Dallas Cowboys [gridiron], Seattle Supersonics [basketball] and Seattle Mariners [baseball]. I watched the Seattle Sounders [the now-defunct NASL soccer team] but I wasn't a supporter. I could name the whole roster of the Sonics and the Cowboys, not the Sounders."

As a soccer player, though, Keller progressed and he soon realised his future was in Europe. "My father was a little upset. He said: 'You have no future in this country in this sport.' I said: 'Dad, I have to go to Europe.' He didn't understand that."

Though Brad Friedel kept Keller out of the team during the tournament, the United States' World Cup success has made a dent in America's sporting consciousness.

"It helped us gain respectability within the sporting media. Americans like to invent a sport and call themselves world champions so they have a hard time dealing with anybody who is not champion, or least not competitive. Until you are the attitude is: 'Who cares, we're also-rans.' The football team are getting there."

Today will show if Tottenham are too.