He's also recovering from turf-toe and recently received a suspension from MLS. If he'd been called in it would have been July before he was able to play again for FCD, I'd bet that factored into the decision.
I think Montero is overrated. I don't think he's a top-level FW. I don't necessarily think Shea is a top level player either, but he's young and physically gifted. Thats why I said I'd take him if he would be cheap. (He wouldn't be).
And 'Pool can park Shea for a year or two in Belgium or the Netherlands to give him a bit of Euro experience. Of course, that won't happen if MLS asks what it was purported to be asking (i.e., $10M).
Hey now, there are people posting un-sourced tweets/rumors about Dempsey so why not this? Searched thoroughly, no other outlets saying this. The only thing Arsenal related are news articles from when he was there training.
^ If people had such a negative reaction to Shea being linked with Liverpool, it will be interesting to see how this Arsenal rumor is received... I just read this comparison and it bummed me out, thanks dude... One thing I have to question about both guys is their ambition, they both seem content, not exactly Dempsey/Bradley...
Yes, it's difficult to see how a kid who's even fallen out of favor with the Nats (he will find his way back, however) would garner such high interest in the present. He has recently received high praise from Thierry Henry, though, if there can be any Arsenal link made whatsoever. But inquiries don't necessarily translate into offers. BTW atomicskiracer - I now ski on Atomics, although duing my racing years I raced on K2s
I still think if he went overseas they'd find a new position for him somewhere (LB, CB, CF). I think he's just miscast here. Dallas is trying to use him at forward lately, but cant get him enough service. I'd like to see what he could do with some good players around him in that spot. Also think he could be devastating as a LB running at defense with space.
Finally got to go to a FCDallas game on the week end. Speaking of the attacking players, the attacking 5, say : When one of them gets the ball at his feet in the attacking end, he may as well count 99, 100 ready or not here I come because there is absolutely nobody in sight. In short, there is no connection between any of the players in the attacking end. Either they make their own goal or they make none. It is really hard to tell what is Shea's fault and what isn't altho it is easy to see he has the athleticism. I'm pleased to see they are forcing him more centrally because he always had a tendency to run away wide. He needs to become skilled with his feet in the box, if he is to live up to his potential and make a lot of money.
2 really interesting things about Shea to Arsenal: 1. Arsene coaching. The total soccer education. Incredible. 2. Where does Arsene play him? LM, Striker, LB, RM? Where? Way too early to even consider this, but his tools and I think his lack of maturity are not well served living in Dallas. He needs to be ripped out of his current environment and challenged mentally and physically at a place like Arsenal. Good luck prying him out of MLS for less than 8 to 10mm. I like this move 10x more than Dempsey to Arsenal. *arsene coached JK in Monaco. There is at least a path to this happening. Doubt it will, but there you go.
why do you think he's fallen out of favor with the Nats? The 5 game "tournament" happened right as he was recovering from an injury AND had just been suspended. If he'd been called in he wouldn't have played for Dallas again until July. I think that factored heavily in him not getting a call.
I hope we don't buy him, but if we do then I hope we plan to use him somewhere other than wing. His technical ability is far worse than any Arsenal winger I've seen so far. Even Walcott. He's an interesting player as a developmental project at CB or maybe ST.
CB. If Brek had half a brain, he'd force his way to CB and stick there. With his size, close-down speed and ball skill, he has potential for a very high ceiling at CB (otherwise he's, at best, a slightly-above-average striker). All that remains to be see if whether he has the brain and instincts to play there. I don't think he's going to go that route, but he should.
Brek did train with much of the first team following last years season. It is possible Arsene saw something then that he is lacking now, and saw something that potentially makes him an awesome talent. Also with RVP gone he would be a cheap way to try and find goals?
Nooooooooo. There is no way we would stick him out there on the first team as a striker right away. We have probably six or seven players who would do better there. If this rumor is try my guess is we would send him out on loan initially, regardless of which position he would end up playing.
Again you may have players who are going to try and replace that void left by RVP and the new French guy. But if that doesnt work there is not reason why a coach wouldn't purchase someone for cheap who he thinks has potential and see if he can pound in a few. You do realize you are going to be missing 30 some goals with that departure. Id like to see Theo, Ox, Wilshire or any of them try and pound those in. Its not like you guys have any other real true CF's other than Giroud
It's about knowing how to use him. Everyone wants him to get the ball and run at defenders, and that's really not his game. He's better than average at taking guys on, but his real strength is his off-the-ball movement - he's brilliant at slashing in behind defenses by running out of the midfield. In terms of Europe, what Brek needs is to be incorporated into an attack that he understands - an attack that encourages him to get forward and looks for him to get in behind the opposition's backline. People want to play him at center back because of his size, but in doing so you really waste his pace and his attacking tendencies. He could play centerback, and maybe in Europe he will, but in MLS it would be a complete waste as was proved last season (easily the best LM in the league, goalscoring record, all-star, etc.). He hasn't recieved very good reviews at striker for Dallas (he's only played there 2 matches), but his target play wasn't as terrible as some are making out. As was already pointed to, no one on the Dallas roster seems to understand the concepts of combination play. The real question mark about Shea at striker is his ability to get in behind - at striker the windows are smaller, and you have to be quicker to recognize when a centerback is out of position in order to take advantage. If you give him a couple more games with David Ferreira, he might start to figure some stuff out. I don't think the 2012 MLS season has been terrible for Brek - it's been terrible for Dallas. Watch a game sometime (i sit through all of them) - it's some of the worst football you'll ever see. The team simply has no attacking identity, and a lot of that is on Hyndman, not Brek. In their last 14 competetive matches, Dallas has only scored 4 goals from what I would call "the run of play" - the deficiency is the system, not the players.
But Shea is the answer? A guy who doesn't even play striker and has 19 goals in 87 career MLS matches. Nah. That's a laugher. He might be viewed as a good project, but not as instant help.
Pretty much. Most of people with opinions on Brek failing with FCD just don't watch him there. He's playing with a bunch of crap, stranded on an island, with no one to combine with or play off. He rarely gets the ball and when he occasionally does, he has zero options. Absolutely none. He's surrounded by some of the lowest IQ players in MLS. FCD, until DF returned, was lining up three DMids, a RW who can't pass or pick his head up, arguably the worst starting forward in MLS until he was injured and Brek was put up top, and aside from DF who is far from being the player he was and it will take awhile, absolutely zero creativity. It's either hopeless, innacurate longballs going over Breks head, or their back line/Mids not being able to advance the ball into the opponents half, let alone complete even three passes. Seriously, the last few games FCD is going loooooong stretches without even completing three passes. Most here just look at stats, see he isn't doing what he was last year and think he's fallen off. It's not based on actually watching FCD, as if it were they'd clearly see he's on arguably the worst team in MLS. They don't even look like an MLS team at the moment. The play Brek as a defender crap is getting out of hand as well. He played there for a short period in MLS, and didn't even do that well there. He also played as a LB on a Euro trip a few years back and did ok, but nothing too impressive, but because Atletico Madrid was interested in Brek during the extremely short period he was playing LB, a bunch of people now think that's where he's best, nevermind the Atletico was interested in Brek before he went to LB and he just happened to play there during a tournament. He was about average as an MLS LB/CB, an ALL Star and MVP candidate as a LW, produced the most scoring opportunities by far on our NT as a LW during JK's first seven games, yet apparently he sucks as a LW and his future is as a LB? It's ridiculous. Could he play LB and possibly succeed at some point? Maybe. But that's more hopeful from anyone who's actually followed him closely as he's never really had success there. It's also not surprising a Euro club, Arsenal or others, look at the absolute crap he's surrounded with at FCD, how he's being poorly used, and thinking we could do a whole lot better with him in our system with our coaches and our tactical acumen. This is where people not watching enough and not doing their homework, as well as overrating MLS as a whole comes into play. They assume a MLS club must be using a player correctly, that tactically the coaches are on par with Euro coaches, and that all MLS clubs have players which are good enough that they won't negatively effect a player like Brek. He also didn't fall out with the NT. He was injured. He didn't play for three weeks after the NT games were done. He's been open about it and has said after talking to JK that if he were not injured he probably is called in. The suspension didn't help. I'd be shocked if he's not picked for the Mex game in Aug. But anyone who actually watches all the FCD games and suffers through them will see just how hopeless a situation Brek is in there. It's not like he's on Sea or RSL with constant movement, overlaps, players filling space and combining all over the place and he's flubbing opportunities. It seem that is what some think FCD is and Brek is just screwing up. People should instead picture an NASL level mid field, a team with no half way decent MLS level striker, a coach who loves nothing more than long balls and has no other way to advance the ball, and that's the situation Brek is in. He rarely touches the ball, and whne he actually does, he has 2-4 defenders all over him, and not a single option as FCD is stacked with DMids, and no other true forward or winger on the team offering an outlet. But, you have to watch to know that. It's not surprising in the least Euro clubs are sitting there thinking, "WTF is FCD doing with this kid, we could do more with him". And none of that means Arsenal would be good for him at this point or he'd excel there. But too many simply don't understand, or don't want to understand what the toe injury and the crap at FCD has done to him, even though he's looked damn good since he's come back, the ball just never gets to him. How he's doing at FCD is not a direct parallel to how he's do at a Euro club with better players, smarter players, quicker player, better coaching with more stress on tactics and a more competitive environment.
I agree Shea as a striker is not the answer he couldn't even score on a open net against Honduras last October, I rather see him start playing as a CB.