brek shea

deGuzman seems to be great at combining so he will help. Many other are not. They aren't really a long ball team more of a get the ball and keep dribbling until you lose it bunch.

Shea is one of our most talented players. You need to play guys like that at this level. It's that simple.

You see it completely opposite of the way I do. First off neither should be popping off about being subbed but combine competitive players and adrenaline and it happens a lot in all sports. If I were the coach I would be more upset at my captain and a member of my coaching staff doing that than a younger player.

Shea can improve on combining/linking up, but it won't happen at FCD, honestly, as the guys he can combine with are few and far between. Just flat out don't have the talent. It;s actually somewhat impressive he is improving in that area given the level of talent he plays with weekly.

The above video is a good example. He gets the ball and starts dribbling down the side, which he does at FCD, plays a quick pass to Jozy, which he does at FCD(not Jozy obviously), darts into open space and Jozy quickly taps a one touch back to him, on time. At FCD, that return never happens.

Even if it did, as in the video above, he gets the return, cuts inside, and has options, the clear one being LD. He holds up a little bit, and lays off a perfect set up pass to LD. At FCD in that position not only does he not get the quick return from Jozy, and the play is already broken, but if it's one of those rare combo's (as in once every 3 games), he doesn't have more options such as LD after cutting inside. He's usually facing 2-4 defenders, with zero options.

It's what I've been saying all along, he does get into threatening areas, but his teammates aren't skilled or smart enough to combine/link up, don't make smart runs, hit space or provide options. I'm telling you, the FCD mid field is barely even an MLS level mid field, and nowhere near the level of the majority of teams. Linking up/combinations are extremely rare. It;s why I think while his form has dropped, a significant amount is perception by those who don't watch FCD weekly and see just how poor the mid field/attack is, and if he were in a situation elsewhere, such as SEA, RSL, DCU, SKC, Philly, LAG, NY and a few others, just even the top half of MLS clubs, we'd see a perceived bump in form, and I say perceived because he'd still be getting into the same positions, but he'd have options and be surrounded by more skillful and higher IQ players, and all the sudden look better.

I said this before the season started, that Shea would stagnate or peak at least at a MLS-level. MLS has taken him as far as he can go. He needs to go to Europe and be pushed in a more competitive environment. The contract is going to keep him here and his recent dip in form means the suitors have backed off.

And in MLS he's always going to be a guy whose coach wants to isolate him on a wing to run at defenses. Which might be effective in MLS but is not the long term path to greatness for a young player. He needs to learn to function within a team, to play quickly, to keep possession, and to pick his spots to try stuff. I think going to a place where he's not 'the man' would be good for him.

Dallas has no midfield. There strategy is literally get the ball to DF and let him do something. Shea goes 12-15 minutes without touching the ball. Looks kiek he has switched to playing CF again in the 2nd half.

But when Shea does get the ball in attacking positions, the guys resorts to just to just taking a a shot a a ridiculous angle. I have no idea why he isn't cutting in and taking his man on.

Shea used to attempt to take his man in MLS but when he tried it against Brazil, it did not turn out so well against World class Brazilian defenders. Maybe that's when he started losing confidence...

FCD is really hurting in terms of combination play (as in almost non-existent). They rely too much on counter attacking speed and this is really hurting Shea's development IMHO. I'd almost rather see him at another MLS team than playing for FCD's current coach but Brek is one of the few reasons FCD still has fans so I'll be surprised if he moves.

When did Brek play against Brazil/Brazilian defenders? I dont believe he was on the field this summer when we played them.

every player has a contract. If he is so elfin' good someone would buy him. Just like most transactions in the soccer world. Dempsey, Howard, Cameron, etc were all bought from MLS.

As an FCD fan, I've never seen any evidence that Shea can play defense. I agree he has many offensive abilities that would be great to have in a left back, but I just don't think he can defend. He tracks back well in MF and occasionally makes some nice defensive plays, but I don't want him 1 v 1 defending on the outside. There was a Shea as center back experiment earlier in his career at FCD - bad, bad, bad. Keep him at left mid. Observation and the OPTA chart says he does well there.
In the last few games as Ferreira has gotten closer to being his old self, I think Shea's game has improved.

Shea is a walking mismatch. You don't want to have mismatches on defense. He is a pure attacking player.

He stood out for his defense, above all else, when we played France at the Stade de France. The French coach singled him out. Also showed pretty well defensively at Belgium. I think at times he feels he doesn't need to defend as much in MLS, but as far as the NT goes he's been a pretty consistent and solid defender. Without a doubt better than Beasley and Torres, two other guys who've seen a good chunk of NT mins at LW recently.

You can't characterize Shea's defense as better than Beasley's. And this from someone who wishes that Shea would be converted to a fullback.

Beez of old may have been the best American flank defender of all time. Shea is better now. He did a great job of sticking opposition attackers in the aforementioned France game. Beez in the Mexico match was busy but didn't stick anyone putting the heavy pressure on.

Kind of agree as old Beas was great defensively but he didn't show much in this match. Hate to say he's lost his defense after one viewing. Anyone watch his league games able to say for sure? Regarding Shea's defense he's quite effective with effort bu that has been part of his slump as he's not been nearly as active as early last year. He should be able to get it back it's just effort. Wonder if he's forgotten what he was doing. Coaching staff should play some game footage of those remarkable runs he made early last year in offense and defense.

The pace in LigaMx is generally slower than the Azteca game. He doesn't stick his marks as in the old days. Think Shea will be ok now that FCD seems to be healthy again and the pressure isn't on him.

This weekend and the rest of the year will show us if he's out of his rabbit hole. I don't think he's shown half of what he's capable of with the National team but he first needs to get back to that with Dallas.

Brek had another solid outing for FCD tonight in a loss to LA. Brek narrowly escaped a catastrophic knee injury in the second half when LA's keeper came out for a cross and dove laterally into the outside of Brek's leg, collapsing it inward toward his midline. It looked bad. Brek toughed it out and got back out on the field and finished with a couple of dangerous plays.

Gatt is way ahead of this guy.

That's good news for the Gatt thread.

Earlier in this thread (or another) me and some other posters were comparing Shea's game to other wingers in our pool like Gatt and Gyau (it's fun). The deficiencies in Shea are not present in Gatt (Shea has a better cross). Some of us noticed this early on and wondered why a guy who hasn't been a pro that long was doing this well compared to a guy like Shea who had some seasons under his belt. A few questioned Gatt because the of the league he was playing in (even though Molde would probably win the MLS supporters shield running away). I'm just stating that we all know the answer to that now.

Of course, they probably aren't in direct competition or anything.

Tippelaen is ranked 26th in UEFA , so I doubt a club like Molde would run away with anything. The salaries in MLS are comparable with those of the 15 ranked top league of Austria

Didn't we talk about this and you were comparing mean to average, so is not really apples to apples.