I have been a skeptic on Shea, and Toronto has made a lot of teams look good...but man oh man that was a serious performance.
Calendar age is not always a great measure, though. You also need to factor in years of pro experience. When Dempsey was 21, he was brand new to professional soccer, and from there he had one of those prototypically linear growth curves that almost never happens in real life. It went something like: Year 1: ROY material Year 2: All-Star material Year 3: MVP material Year 4: gone off to bigger things Yes, it is better in a lot of ways (one is that Shea's pro career should functionally be longer than Dempsey's), but it doesn't necessarily give an particular player a higher ceiling than another one who wasn't. In fact, that sort of hides one thing about it that's good: if Clint Dempsey had been a pro earlier and gotten to about the same level at 22 that he actually reached at 25, he would have been sold at a bigger fee to a bigger club. And had he had the success at that bigger club that he had at Fulham, only at a younger age, he might have gotten a chance to really taste European football's 'big time.' Even if Clint had been roughly the same player, but earlier in life, he could have been playing on a bigger stage, been richer, and more famous.
Ideally he plays 2012 in MLS then makes his transfer. But if the right deal comes in this year, he has to look at it. By right deal, I mean a team at the appropriate level. I think too many of our young players have attempted too big a jump, Altidore to Villarreal being an example.
Aside from the excellent finish, my favorite part of the goal was the burst of acceleration to cut in front of Sturgis and take him out of the play. Toronto's defense was pretty poor at the end, though - somebody probably could have put a little more pressure on Shea before he shot.
For whatever its worth: as I recall Dempsey didn't have the same position questions in MLS. He played withdrawn in a 5 man midfield (next to Joseph) in 2004 and 2005, then pushed forward in a 4-3-3 in 2006 until he got injured. I don't really remember him playing on the left (that was Khano Smith and Marshall Leonard) and Steve Ralston always played on the right. Sometimes he got moved to forward late in games, but Noonan and Twellman were the starters there. The national team is where it was uncertain where to play Clint, IIRC. If Shea's going to be a wingback he'll need to move soon, but I don't think that's his ultimate destiny.
His ability to accelerate by defenders after making his initial move is Messi like. Im not saying he is comparable to Messi, just that his acceleration by defenders is similar. If he continues to have the season he is having he will have lots of interest by the end of the season. Can't wait for Dallas vs NY. Shea going up against Solli will be a good test for him as Solli is probably the best RB in MLS at the moment. If he continues playing the way he is and finishes with 15 or so goals...and goals like the ones he scored yesterday, vs KC and vs Galaxy. A Euro team will make an offer that will be difficult for Dallas to turn down.
Brek is quickly becoming my 2nd favorite american player, behind Clint. He seems to be improving by the month. I am a little surprised I haven't heard a single rumor of interest this transfer window, eventhough I wouldn't want him to move to Europe until the winter window. I know big clubs have tracked him, and have for a couple years now, but I am a little shocked I haven't heard of a club considering making an offer now, given his hot streak. Of course his new contract probably has something to do with that.
likewise, he is why i watch FCD games. hell of a player. He reminds me of Cleatus more than Dempsey. If he turns out to be on the level of either, ill be absolutely stoked. Id personally love Clint Mathis v 2.0 on this team. even if he is a left back
Absolutely. And you have to give credit to FC Dallas. Either a Euro team pays a good chunk of change for him, and FC Dallas can reinvest in their team. Or Euro teams dont offer enough and Shea continues to be a great player for them. Shea is a good ol' Texas boy though and has never had to leave his home state to live. So could be interesting if he goes to Europe how he will adjust.
People are referring to his first touch in terms of it being a matter of skill. It has never been a matter of skill with Shea, who has a skill level that is unusual. It has always been a matter of confidence, as I have pointed out here on this forum for awhile now. From the article you linked: " Since starting the season opener on March 27 against Houston, he has clearly become a more confident player, and that has shown in a greatly improved first touch. “Every time, I feel like my first touch is better,” Shea said. "It comes when you play with composure and have that confidence to take that first touch under pressure when people are around." This is exactly the point that I have been making. This has also been the problem for Shea with the Nats. Its why he back-passed and ran himself out of the play every time he got the ball against Columbia. The Nats need him to aggressively push forward. He has not been confident enough to make that happen.
Regarding his confidence level in that Colombia match, I seem to remember that at the time he was a bit in Hyndman's doghouse and was riding the pine for several weeks prior. If I recall correctly, that benching resulted from a Mullanesque challenge on Albright that saw straight red. Then Chavez came in for him, got lightning-hot and stole his job <Treyparker>He took his Jerb!!</Treyparker>. So it wasn't as if he was in top form leading into that game.
True enough. But we have to take into account that he also had the same kind of confidence issues with the Youth National Teams. The crazy thing with Shea is that he's still just a kid with a good 9-10 years left in his pro career. If this is the beginning of his career, he has quite a lot of room to grow.
David Moyes of Everton said in an interview before the Philly friendly that it really hard to get players from the mls. I wonder if he just means landon.
Well, he has experience with Mcbride. There have been various other players in MLS with rumors to Everton as well.
Nah, Everton has been sniffing around Alvin Gordon all season. But I'm guessing City's eventual offer is going to win out. Yes, of course I'm kidding.
Shea is the most exciting young player in MLS since Dempsey. He's been having one of those "men against boys" kind of years.
He has two of the top handful of goals of this season. That play where he torched 3 or 4 guys with some Messi-like speed and touch and then finished with a far post goal, and then this recent ridiculous goal where he smokes Frings and then blazes past players who cant match his speed and launches a 25-yard laser into the upper 90. The light is coming on for Brek.
His name isn't 'Brek.' His name is Dane, and when he first appeared on the US Youth player pool that's how he was listed: Dane Shea.