Left back is good for Brek because he is dumb and it allows him to see the entire field in front of him.
I agree, but that begs the question, which position do we have the biggest need at if FJ isn't playing? I'd argue that we are fine at RB with Chandler/Yedlin, and you can work around problems at the two winger positions by changing the formation, trying out new players or playing someone out of position. Unless you rate Garza and Shea, LB is a huge problem position for us, you can't change a formation to work around not having a good LB and playing someone out of position in a defensive position is way worse than playing someone out of position in an offensive position.
He is slow to read an entire field. He benefits from having the sideline and cutting his read in half or limiting the other half essentially. Same malady as Gcam imo.
That goal line clearance has convinced me that he has the potential to do his defensive duties. That was the right decision and the correct position to be in.
A section on Shea for this week's Armchair Analyst. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...e-our-discontent-grand-experiment-more-week-6
One of the last clips in that piece shows Powell beating Shea badly. The author says it's one of the few times Shea has been beaten all season. Seems like attackers don't often take him on 1 v 1, usually because he has lots of defensive help. If I'm coaching an opponent, I'd try to isolate Shea on defense.
I'll say this... He wasn't horrible there. But he has a lot of work to do to become a viable option/starter and won't always be protected by such a defensive midfield. He had Williams at 6 and Morales who is also more of a defensive mid on his left side. Plus Bedoya and Bradley rounding out the midfield.
Most fullbacks are going to struggle 1v1 vs a decent winger. They best you really hope for in that case is shuffling them outside until help arrives.
Glad to see him back in MLS and playing. The reps will help / are already helping. His skill set is useful at LB for us, arguably the best mix of skills at the position for how we like to set up.
I think we arelooking for perfection too many times as US fans. Even ronaldinho lost the ball in his prime. So why can't a LB be beaten once in a while?
I believe he's saying that any situation where a skilled attacker is able to run at pace at a single defender with some space around him is a situation that is favorable to the attacker. The attacker can come up with his ball move spur-of-the-moment, the defender has to react to it. Much of defending in soccer is therefore 'defense in depth'--the attempt to slow the attack down before it can get to that point and/or the attempt to put another guy in the area who can cover if the first guy is beaten.
Gotta say that Brek Shea is doing at least as well as Yedlin. He has been very dangerous offensively and still provides more than adequate defense.
Sorry about that. I think what I'm essentialy trying to say is that pacy skillful wingers who can beat players 1v1 are very rare to find now a days. Not sure if you watched the Liverpool game yesterday, but Can did a hell of a job beating the LB, although the LB (Anita) i think... Did an ok job closing him down but got bailed out because of final crosses
I mean, it's logical that good players are better than bad ones. Leo Messi is going to torch Shea and everyone else just like Dani Alves or Marcelo are going to destroy Alejandro Bedoya or whoever.
I just think that it is extremely hard to find wingers who are able to beat players wide and send in crosses. Has the US ever produced a world class wide player with these skills? I'd say LD and Beas. Zusi doens't have the speed to get any separation between him and the defender and Bedoya doesn't have the ball skills
Beating players wide and sending in crosses is almost an antiquated strategy. Most wingers in the current game are inverted forwards who use skill and guile to attack the defense. Neymar and Ronaldo aren't beating their guys to the end line to send in hopeful crosses.
No doubt about that, but thinking about it, our wingers don't score or shoot very well. A guy like Neymar can beat someone1v1 on the wing though.
It is a threat a team has to bring to the table if it hopes to have a varied attack. Certainly Ribery, and Robben at Bayern have that ability. Farfan for Schalke also does that very well. On the USMNT Shea (at speed) and Yedlin (during WC2014) showed that ability.
You know, despite Brek's lack of games in England, you can tell that he improved dramatically tactically and technically with his ability to beat players off the dribble. At FC Dallas, far too many times he just attempted to push the ball past the defender and run onto it to cross with his left foot. Now, it seems as if he has the ability to go either direction to beat multiple defenders, slicing through two tackles and getting either a cross, or creating a shooting opportunity. I have been impressed with his dribbling to beat players 1v1 this year.