My dad and I don't see eye to eye on Shalrie's current situation, and I'd love for any posters on here to give their take on this. My Dad's opinion: Shalrie hasn't slowed down but has nothing to play for, and is saving himself for another team when he leaves after this season. As a side note he says that Shalrie never sprints at all and that he has many years left, because while he moves a lot it is at a lower intensity. My Opinion: Shalrie has just as much to play for as everyone else fighting for a spot on the team next year, because if he wants to earn a sizable contract on another MLS team then he has to prove his worth to them. Ambitious teams won't want to use a big chunk of their salary cap on a physically declining midfielder. Professional athletes do not "save themselves" unless they have already signed for another team at the end of his contract, which Shalrie hasn't. Lastly, center midfielders cover more distance than any other player, so even though he does not run at full speed as often as other players it is still a very physically exhausting position. Therefore, I think that Shalrie has 1-2 decent years left at the most unless they can somehow turn him into a playmaker with little defensive responsibility. What do you guys think?
I think it's a moot point considering that his contract up and it's extremely unlikely he'll be with the Revs next season.
Shalrie WILL be a Rev next year. Personally I don't believe he is saving himself he is just half a step slower and another year older. He is still a great player though and a starter on any team in MLS.
I think regardless of where he wants to be (or will be) next season, he's a step slower and not the player he used to be. Is he useless? No. But I think he needs to adapt to a new position where he's less of a defensive liability.
This is probably not a useful reply on my part, but I just honestly can't tell. If he were demoralized, none of us here would be surprised. At the same time, he's no spring chicken. He hasn't had a great year this year, and he didn't have a great year last year, either. But it's hard to feel like he's done. (I felt like he had a good game today, one where his value was really apparent.) Magic Eight Ball, what should we think?
Perhaps Shalrie would do better if moved to central defense. His career could be prolonged if he could be moved to a position where a lack of speed is less exposed.
As demoralized as he might and probably should be, I still think the motivation of a good contract with a better team means he'll have every incentive to still give it his all for the rest of the season
Or if he perms his hair and parks himself in the center circle a la Carlos Valderrama. But Steve Nicol even likes his forwards to track back so what are the odds of that happening.
Not really, you forgot the target man. Now that I think of it, he's played there before and done fairly well. Maybe he can do that to prolong his career.
True, that's correct. As far as Shalrie goes, I'm afraid he'll have to take a big paycut for it to be worth re-signing him. This is a situation that often ends poorly. The team makes a cost/benefit analysis and offers a contract based on that. Aging star is offended by the proposed salary and balks. You see it all the time in all sports. The Revs shouldn't summarily dismiss Joseph, but they need to be willing to walk away because his value is dropping by the day and his cap number needs to reflect that.
I think it's hard to fully assess just how much Joseph has left in the tank for his overall play over the past two seasons. Soccer is a like a dance and the players only look good when the entire dance troop are on the same page. The lack of talent on this roster has made the entire dance troop look poor. IMO. bring in some real upgrades and Joseph will regain the status of being one of the premier players in MLS
There have been players that have performed consistently well in this league while having an awful supporting cast, Angel in the old Redbull team and De Rosario with Toronto did it too to name a few recent ones. I personally believe that Shalrie 3ish years ago was just as good as them, and he's been nowhere near that level the last 2 years.
Interesting to read a debate involving a club so lacking in quality can be contemplating getting rid of one of its only real playing assets.
Well that's kind of the point. This team is lacking in quality. We really need a new coach and a new set of young players to build around, not a player who has 1 maybe 2 years of partial quality left in him
I'm with you...Just wait until Shalrie leaves and goes on a 2-3 year tear with whichever club he settles with and Wins a SS or two..and we'll all be saying. "Gee, why can't we get players like that?"
That could easily happen if he goes to a decent team like New York, Seattle, or LA. At this point though I'd say that he's no longer a dominant player who can carry a team, but that he'd look much better with a quality team around him. Shalrie's current form reminds me of KG of his most recent years on the Celtics. He's on the decline but can still bring a lot to the table for a decent team.
I can't reveal my source but he heard the new contract will be signed directly from the horses mouth. They are just working out details.
The devil is in the details, as the saying goes. I guess it is far better than to let him walk for nothing. And let's be honest, if Nicol and Burns are still in charge, it doesn't matter how much cap room we have, we are never going to be in a position like some clubs, where they have signed enough good players to use it all, and then in mid-season, they wish they had another 60-100K to spend on that extra piece of the puzzle that will put them over the top. Might as well give it to Shalrie instead of giving it back to the league. All they are going to do is distribute it to other teams so they can sign players who will beat us on the field