Nope. It was not everyone, though sadly it was very vocal group. I questioned the eyes of those who saw it that way then, and I still do. Sometimes people see what they want to see based on their culture and beliefs. Shaq was if anything average technically, nothing painful to watch or worthy of the condemnation and outright disrespect that was on display two years ago. I won't even get started on the criticisms of his soccer IQ. I was living in Spain at the time, dumb players, players who lack technique, they don't get signed to professional contracts in Spain even at the lower divisions. It's just not how it works.
For those who didn’t see the 2015 U20 tournament I have uploaded a brief clip of Shaq on the right wing so you can see why we’re all so surprised he is currently playing for Levante.
@Rahbiefowlah I know you're just trolling now but hey, the eyes can't see what the mind doesn't know. You add confirmation bias and predisposition to the mix and you get some ********ed up perspectives.
Shaq did a brief post game interview on the La Liga feed. His Spanish is great! The presenter praised him for stopping a lot of action on the right, and noted he was the "first American to wear a Levante shirt."
FT. Shaq went the full 93'. Played well but showed understandable nerves throughout. For those with nightmares, his touch was fine. Not elite but better than most of our pool. Stopped some dangerous chances, made some nifty interceptions and won some aerial duels. Nothing earth shattering going forward but nothing bad either. Likely earned more minutes since Pedrolo, the starter since Ivan Lopez got injured, has been putrid lately. One thing of concern were his rough tackles. He could have easily received three cards today but got away with all of them. Should be our back up RB as of today.
Definitely, shows a strong foundation to grow from. I was pretty impressed as he started to grow into the game. See him in Portugal?
I do. But then I think our entire Portugal roster should be formed from the last two U-20 groups with some U-17s thrown in.
He really did it! That's awesome. Let's hope he can get a few La Liga appearances and impress. It's not total insanity to think that he might be shouldering Ronaldo off the ball soon (hopefully really, really, really hard).
Cool to see an American playing for a La Liga team in real matches (hoping for La Liga itself soon). Also cool to see a guy take a pretty circuitous path like that. Seems like most of our guys in top leagues either joined academies or joined as an established pro. Can't think of any who worked their way up from the 3rd/4th tier like this other than DeMerit.
Good for the kid and good for those who kept up with him!! I don't believe they give even Copa Del Rey games to young players if they don't believe that young player might just be a footballer. I didn't see the game, but adequate is probably good enough to get another look. I haven't seen the kid at all, but there is no universe where a player with a dreadful touch gets rostered/contracted in a Spanish league. Some of the disdain sounds like his touch is Zardes/Gonzalez level and his going 90 in his debut in a Copa del Rey match pretty much invalidates that analysis.
Nah I think you are being dishonest. It's easy to say he wasn't that bad now, but he was the worst player on the field everytime alongside delgado. We played much better with payne. But good for Shaq for working hard.
I'm not being dishonest and I couldn't give a ******** less if you happen to think I am. My opinion has been consistent on this from day one, going all the way back to May of 2015. The proof is in the thread. There's no revisionist history going on, we just don't agree.
I hate that we always have to argue over his performance at the U20 WC. I think it's because an actual family got involved so it got weirdly personal. I thought he performed pretty poorly at the U20 WC. One of my posts stating that, in this very thread is the post that actually got the family member to post here. But I think everyone should try to make the whole U20 WC thing less personal or even just not talk about it anymore it's just feels so odd now. I've thought plenty of my favorite players played poor at international tournaments but I don't let it guide my opinion of them forever. Today is an exciting day, an American debuted for a La Liga team. When the US failed to qualify for the World Cup earlier this month I questioned if I wanted to be as serious of a US Soccer fan. Ultimately I decided I wanted to stay a US Soccer fan boy and it's things like Americans debuting for La Liga teams that make this easier. I hope Shaq tears it up, debuts for the national team, and helps us get to the 2022 World Cup.
Speaking of Delgado...not to thread-jack, but he's looked much improved this season, in the limited minutes I've seen of him.
Short profile on Shaq (and a list of past U.S. internationals in Spain) by Paul Kennedy in Soccer America's "Off the Post" section: https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...aign=17989&hashid=ORQKT7NuGABDF6tofyo9wXooEF0