So three years after this....... Wish I could find my first post on him to see when that was. Edit: This might be it.
I'm surprised opposition attackers haven't tried to beat Shea 1v1. When not 1v1, he seems to be reading the game OK back there. Contrary to my original hatred of the idea of Shea as LB, I now think it could possibly work.
With his frame, he can cut the pass and block the dribbling lane effectively at the same time. That leaves 'megging him or using the weak foot to draw him inside a little. But he's not really slow. He's quick and recovers well for a tall guy so it's not like it's easy to get past him. The best bet to beat him one on one would be to put a lefty playing inverted winger on him. The lefty would have plenty of room on the inside to beat him. However, I'm still not convinced with how reads the game back there when he has the ball. He isn't linking up that great IMO.
From JK? Say it isnt so!!!!! lol He's possibly worse than Arena and Bradley in this area. The other thing I hate about JK is is bull*^#* spin he puts on EVERYTHING. We screw up in Europe... twice.... and he comes away with positive things. Jozy runs his big mouth, gets bounced, most likely cost us a win.... and nothing. If that guy was Benny F. you're benched and then he loses your number. Will JK punish Jozy in any way? Nope. He loves the guy. Back to the topic... is Brek Shea really the best option we have? I don't think so. Every now and then something good happens like his goal that keeps him alive but overall, he's big and he's fast. End of story. And yet... he's called over and over and over. Mostly average to below average performances but that doesnt matter
If JK can convert Shea to a true LB, hats off to him. The most important aspect of Shea's play that will need to be developed is his defending (doh). So, JK takes an attacking left footed player and moves him to a position where he will get forward less, and where his potential defensive weaknesses will be exposed. I know Shea isn't seen as the sharpest tool in the shed (perhaps his goal celebration on Tuesday was the sign of an "L" on his head like the Rascal Flatts tune). In any event, with Orlando playing him there, as well, Shea has the unique opportunity for more on the job training and a quicker learning curve. I'll believe his transformation to have turned the corner when I see him stand players on the ball up, win some tackles, stop making gaffe-goofy mistakes in and or near his own 18 and err on the side of defensive caution. Time will tell.
Q: Who's your MVP of the game. McBride: Quite honestly it's Brek Shea. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=intl:2376798
I always had faith in him. I never got any of the hubaloo over the pig's head, hand signal and goofing around shotgun pics.
Hm. "many, many..." Going off the top of my head, got beat by Ballack on the header, but otherwise had a very decent game that day. Stoned El Blando in one of the Dos a Ceros. Not on the side for the RFK Hondo debacle... What exactly are the "many, many" bad days where he sucked? (That said, I don't think Brek is exactly Sanneh - could see him as an elegant Heydude if he had a lot more passion/commitment.)
How many guys ever have that combo? Saw Frankie recently and he's not a big guy but you can just tell he'd run completely through you or a wall if necessary. Brek only gets that way when he's really mad which is seldom.
When Shea gets mad he tends to lose all sense of propriety...he's a stupid foul waiting to happen. Retribution in soccer can be had by waiting to tackle through the ball when the opportunity arises. Smart players get their pay-back, if warranted, in the game this way. Frankie was "on" all the time, with a style of play that forced itself upon his side of the field. Brek has a ways to go before he gets near to Frankie's intensity. Though i dont think Frankie was ever a free kick threat.
Saw twitter blow up with his goaline clearance which is great, but how was he over the entire match? Consistency is something he's been lacking in his club career.
According to whoscored, highest rated field player on the pitch for either team. Having watched, offered a consistent threat going forward and sent in a number of pretty accurate crosses which a better team with better players would have gotten on the end of. Had at least two other crosses/longballs which could have led to 1v1 situations with the GKer but Orlando's forwards didn't time their runs well enough. From what I see, Shea looks to have a faster speed of thought and better reading of the game since his time in England.
Yeah - I was just trying to remember big game breakdowns in general, and I don't recall very many. Dolo and Regis were the outside backs in the Honduras home meltdown. And Sanneh did not play Hondo away either, the "great Earnie Stewart/Clint Mathis come-back..." Just trying to remember when I thought Sanneh really stunk it up and not much comes to mind. You may have a better memory tho.
I honestly think its just being healthy and getting good playing time. The kid was looking REALLY dangerous early on for JK. Unpolished enough for there to be room for improvement, but his instincts and dynamism proved to be enough. He was inches from having made a lovely assist for Landon against Costa Rica. I know that was a while ago, but in top shape, Brek seemed ready to hang with our best. I still feel like if another option pops up at left back, we should think of using them behind Brek. The 3-5-2 is an interesting solution to this. There's also a lopsided back four as an option. I'd like to see what we'd look like with Tim Ream at left back and Brek at left mid, while someone like Chandler, Johnson, or Yedlin bombs up from right back.
One of the things about Shea now is that he's hit 25 and he finally has a fully adult brain. If his biggest problem was lack of maturity then he should have reached the point where this is fixed. Lately, I have not seen him screw up emotionally like he used to.
--------JA---------- ----CD------------- -------------FJ----- ----DN------AB--- ---------MB-------- -BS------------DY- ------JB---JJ------ ---------BG-------- Against a minnow.
2 beautiful goals in a handful of games from a left back is hard to argue with, but I am not sold yet. I still prefer fabian johnson there. he really had acres of space in the switzerland game and barely did anything with it in the run of play. The swiss were daring him to make runs and he did get one pretty good cross off....other than that he took space and back passed. Defensively, he has all the tools (except maybe the between the ears part) but really hasn't been tested against a top quality attack that wants to expose him. Now, after a full season at the position, no telling how much better he will get...its too soon to test him now anyway. overall, Left mid should not be an option for this guy. its left back or bust.
They were? Because I could swear I remember Agoos getting smoked on the left.But perhaps I'm thinking of a different game...?
When we beat Argentina 1-0 in a friendly in 1999. Although the Javier Zanetti of that era could have made any defender look like a clown, and he regularly did... No, freisland is right. What you're probably actually remembering from that game is Agoos getting smoked in central defense: http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...ome-defeat-to-honduras-in-world-cup-qualifier
It was probably the same game - but Agoos played left sided CD, I'm pretty sure. (I'm talking about the RFK 3-2 loss where Arena threw Regis under the bus (but I though Dolo and Agoos were equally to blame. And Stewart missed a PK.) I looked - it was sept. 2, 2001 "Without being critical on any particular player, I think David Regis broke down," Arena said. "He had breakdowns that led to every goal. That has to be addressed."
I think it was that game and the friendly with Bolivia where I'm sure Agoos was on the left getting killed by Moreno, that made me wish for his benching well prior to the WC... I might have been confusing his positioning in the two in my other post.
The game I'm think of, at RFK had a back 4 of Dolo/Pope/Agoof/Regis with Sanneh playing an RM. We were sending fullbacks up like crazy - perhaps too agressively, but one of Dolo's crosses did lead to Earnie's first goal. I think Sanneh set up the second. And I want to say it was LD's first qualifier start, maybe? And Agoos gave up a PK (I think it was kind of soft_ but he was - at least on paper - a CD with Pope.