Like making a single appearance in a Premier League game in his first three years with Villa. Or waiting until his fourth season to get a start in one.

Even Guzan’s highest moments were accompanied by staggering lows, like the time he led Aston Villa to the League Cup final against Manchester United in 2010 only to be dropped for the final in favor of a fellow American, Brad Friedel.

Villa’s manager at the time, Martin O’Neill, had been instrumental in acquiring Guzan from Major League Soccer in 2008, but after buying him, he rarely used him. The League Cup matches had been Guzan’s opening, and O’Neill had started him in each of Villa’s previous games in the competition that season. He watched Guzan save four penalties — one in regulation and three more in a shootout — against Sunderland in the fourth round. “I think he’s a great keeper in the making,” O’Neill said after the game.

Still, O’Neill opted to go with the more experienced Friedel in the final. Missing out on the rare chance to make a start at Wembley, Guzan admitted, left a “sour taste” that still has not gone away. But overtaking Friedel, who extended what became an eight-year streak of consecutive starts in the Premier League during his three years in the Midlands, was never realistic. Seeking, and needing, playing time after his inactivity cost him his place as Tim Howard’s backup for the United States, Guzan went on loan to Hull City of the second-tier League Championship for three months early in 2011.

Hull is not the most glamorous destination — it was once labeled the worst place to live in Britain by a television show — but it suited Guzan fine. He made 16 starts for Hull City, winning praise from the club’s hierarchy and supporters before returning to his old spot on Villa’s bench for the final month of the season. When Friedel left for Tottenham that July, Guzan must have thought a promotion was forthcoming.