I loved the player he--WAS--but not the player who showed up last year. Something bad happened to his abilities in the last 18-24 months---they didn't trail off---they dropped like a rock.
I agree. I've even bought his jersey for the last 3 kit iterations so I don't need to say how much he meant to me. But, he's done and we got something for him just before the window closed. We made out there.
Usually when something like that happens, there's an undisclosed injury. I think it's very possible that his decline was injury-related (or his conditioning suffered because of an injury). I don't know how far he can come back, but I think it's pretty likely he can be better than he was last year (if he's motivated to be).
Might be true (my guess would be wear on the knees). It's too big a risk that he would bounce back and be worth the salary/roster spot.
Obviously we don't want him at a huge salary, or if there is bad blood or anything "attitude" related like that, but really, a roster spot is something where we that haven't even used our full quota, so that argument doesn't hold water. Oh yeah, the $30,000 in allocation money for unused roster spots puts even more value on it... It's either use it on Joseph or a supplemental pick who, if he's lucky, will spend his summers playing in Ra-cha-cha...
The roster spot isn't really between a supplemental pick and a cheaper Joseph because Joseph would need to take a senior roster spot. He'd have to beat out one of the senior players. It would be a costly sentimental move that a mature team (like Houston with Ching) can make, but not the 2013 Revs.
The salary is going to be a big problem for anyone. If it's not guaranteed at this point, he's going to have to take a significant cut (or at least re-orient it to bonuses) if he wants to continue in MLS. He could go overseas, but at his age, he'd have to trial to prove that he can still play (and he wouldn't be able to pass the stringent permit requirements that some countries have). Regardless, I don't think he has the stamina for central midfield at this point. But, I think he could do very well at forward or central defender. I don't see NE as his best option, but I think he could easily score 10+ goals for us as a starting forward.
I'm actually going to soften my stance and say that at this point in his career maybe it would be a little harder for him to get a work point. Regardless, work permits are never an issue if a team wants a player badly enough.
Ummm this happens all the time to players in the 30's...without being injury related. It's called getting old. It happens to everyone. So this "usually" you are throwing out there is pretty baseless.
Not to me. I may be pushing 80 but I can still our hustle, out muscle and out lie only one on this Board.
KO. I think your usual--"I will be anti anything posted by KRupp"---in this case is off base. Josephs performance dropped off very quickly. The drop off as the result of aging is usually much more gradual UNLESS IT's INJURY RELATED. As I've posted in a number of places I've felt that there has been something unreported about his decline. IMO. unusually rapid declines in the output of previously high performing athletes is usually due to either a substance abuse issue or injury. I'm not saying either pertains here but in my professional opinion there is more to this story than aging.
It's certainly possible, and I'm not even saying that it isn't the case. But the dropoff for age related reasons is not always gradual. I've seen it happen across the globe and in MLS to guys in the span of 2-3 seasons all the time, which is what we've seen from Shalrie. This decline really started in about the 2010 season.
I think one major factor has gone unmentioned and that is motivation. What motivates Shalrie at this point? He has a fat contract and has been stuck playing for two of the worst franchises in the league over the past three seasons or so. He plays for a CONCACAF minnow at the international level and clearly his time to give playing in Europe a go has long since passed. What's motivating him other than pride?
Which is interesting, as that was first year in quite a while without Larentowicz (and before that Dorman and/or Hernandez). Hard to tell where age kicks in and the surrounding cast leaves off.
This thread makes me sad. Shalrie is one of my top 3 Revs of all time. To see him decline so quickly is painful. I haven't seen a decline like that since another of my sports heroes, Jim Rice. Rice's final season nearly cost him the Hall of Fame.
It wasn't sudden. I noticed a slow drop off starting in 2010. The guy never had amazing mobility and a slight drop in quickness was always going to put his career in danger. I only wish we had traded him in '09. At least he could have spent his last few years with a team that had a chance at winning something.
That's a really good point. It's certainly possible the drop off could have started to begin, and JL really masked it. And wasn't 2009 the year that he played a bunch up at striker? I will say that for the 2010 season, Shalrie was also really left out to dry. He was surrounded by complete shit in every direction. Pat Phelan especially put him under constant pressure with atrocious distribution and zero vision. So, to be fair, it's hard to say we will ever know the full impact of the supporting cast either way. All we really can go on is how he specifically dropped in his form, and that certainly has seemed to be the case since 2010. It's really too bad. I loved Shalrie. I think he is my all-time favorite Revs player. I'd love for him to come back in some sort of role with the team after his playing days are over. But he really doesn't provide much of anything on the field anymore.
I believe the % of national team appearances qualification doesn't apply to the smaller/non-WC-contending countries and so players from places like Granada have a much tougher time getting work permits in places like jolly old England. Yes, which is why I used words like usually, likely, possible, etc. One guy here who fell like a stone IMO was Jim Rooney. He went from pretty good to horrible.
That's true. I believe the % of national team appearances is only valid for nations in the top 60 or 70 in the FIFA World Rankings. However, Joseph was Best XI and an MVP candidate in a well respected league that is continually providing more and more quality to the EPL and the rest of Europe. The main thing in gaining a work permit is showing that the player is an exceptional talent, which in his prime, Shalrie easily was. He would have had no problem getting a work permit four or five years ago, but at this point it's obviously far too late.