Break Shea is struggling - this we all know. Why? What happened to the MLS MVP candidate? I have a theory that may partially explain. Brek went to Arsenal for a 3 week off-season training over the off-season... That was the problem. Arsenal is a world class organization. Front office. Stadium. Team personnel. World class coach. This team actually is managed so well they turn a regular profit - compared to Man U and Chelsea et al. So Brek goes over there and trains for a few weeks. He experience the world-class facilities, the intensity and pressure every practice of a champions league team. He plays with Van Persie, Henry, etc... He gets coaching from a world class, cutting edge, innovative staff that recruits and trains top talent and egos and gets them to produce at twice their payroll. He sees the pressure, the attention and the results this club gets. It has to be exhilarating. So he comes back to Dallas. Our facilities are nice. Not spectacular. But functional. But our front office has been ineffective at best for 10 years. Incompetent at worse. We can't sell tickets. We make little or no effort to bring in big name talent - even big MLS talent. We let talented players go for pennies on the dollar or even worse for nothing for unclear reasons (McCarty, Chavez, H Pearce....). We don't seem to trade for good players we could use (recent examples LeToux, Hasili, K Cooper). There is comparatively little local interest in the team. He comes back after training with Arsenal to a bunch of ex-college players, low-level MLS talent after training with a Champions League team. Ex-SMU players all over the place - to limited effect. His coach is an ex-college coach, the top assistant a coach who set Real Salt Lake back 4 years. The coach has an On the Bus / Off the Bus mentality. My opinion is that that is a HS football, college football coach mentality. It may work with kids who you have authority over. It is not how you deal with rich or even MLS professional athletes. Where would Man City and Mancini be without Balotelli? Phil Jackson and Dennis Rodman or even Kobe Bryant? Wenger deals with young, talented, aspiring players daily. he has to manage exceptional talent with wild egos and aspirations. Good coaches deal with and manage top talent because they know that in the end, they will help the team. I disagree with Schellas pulling Shea out even after that stupid hand-ball and being rather ineffective. Shea is 1 of 2 or 3 players on the field who can turn the game for us at anytime. I would have dealt with the stupid hand ball after the game. Ineffective game? That is hardly reason to pull Shea when Benitez is playing the full 90. Shea may be a slight head case, missing practices, has an ego, whatever. So does Dez Bryant. He has talent and can help the team. It is the responsibility and duty of the coach to manage the players to help the team win games. All the players, the head cases as well as the soldiers. The "my way or the highway" approach does not work anymore. Shea has seen how a world class organization functions and compared to that - FC Dallas is a bunch of low-bid amateurs. He wants to soar with the eagles but is surrounded by a bunch of turkeys. Now, it is incumbent upon Shea to improve his play, performance and attitude to get where he wants to go. Or otherwise he ain't getting there. But I can see how he got frustrated. One man's theory.
This one isn't really about FCD or Hyndman or any of that stuff, I don't think. I just don't think Shea is that good of a player. Admittedly it's more a feeling than anything. He had a fluke good year and briefly fooled some European coaches (including Klinsmann), but he's an average MLS-caliber player, tops. Hey, if people can say that about Luna with no evidence, I can say it about Brek.
I do agree that the trip to Arsenal seemed to be a catalyst for something. But, if it is simply a matter of Brek being so much above all of FCD and MLS, then why don't we see evidence of it? Who was stopping him from getting some first team action with Arsenal during his training stint? Who was it that prevented Wenger from being so blown away by the young American that he would offer MLS the moon to get this kid? Who is it that won't allow him to score tons of goals in WCQ? I think it is the same culprit that is responsible for his current slump in form: Brek. This is a monumental challenge and moment for young Brek. Can he WORK his way out of this funk? Can he regain the old WORK ETHIC and HUMILITY that previously had him going in the right direction? If he falls into the trap of accepting the sh!t burritos that some of you keep shoving in his ear, he is going to fail miserably. Of all things wrong with MLS, the training grounds, facility, and the people that a player works with are world class. Why did none of this hinder his productivity a season ago? To my knowledge, nothing has significantly changed other than a few injuries.
This. While I don't know if your theory is true or whether Brek is just "average talent and needs to get over himself," I have to totally agree with your point above -- pull Shea and leave someone equally ineffective like Benitez on the field? And then actually CHOOSE Benitez to take a PK ...? I KNEW when he stepped up to take the PK that he would never score it, and that was before the announcers reminded everyone that he had never scored in MLS... I am extremely frustrated by a lot of Hyndman's decisions, but that one was just insane. As for Brek, I happen to think that a) he DOES have the talent but cannot show it with the mediocre players on the team, but b) needs to seriously adjust his attitude and be more mature. Just my POV.
I began to think of that Arsenal trip when the blowup between SH and Shea started to grab headlines. I agree Brek seeing the contrast between a how a World class soccer team is run and how an SH-lead FCD team is run could be disheartening; I think Brek learned something about soccer tactics and is beginning to realize SH's shortcomings as a coach. A lot of this is Shea's fault because of his attitude but I think he needs a new coach; SH and Brek seem to go together like oil and water.
You do realize that when you are on a trial, the only games you can play in are reserve games or a behind closed doors friendly at best right? Yeah you can train with the first team when possible, but get a game, no. For more, see the link below. http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/us-star-brek-shea-arrives-for-experience- As for why Arsenal didn't put a bid in form, who knows. The only thing I can think of would be he wouldn't have qualify for a work permit which is getting harder and harder each month. The rest would be guess work on Wenger didn't rate him or they didn't want to pay what MLS HQ was asking.
Does anyone actually know that arsenal didn't put a bid in? Does MLS have to disclose all potential transactions to anyone in the media? Perhaps they did place a bid, and MLS didn't think it worthy for someone the league has valued so much and rejected it. This could have led to the discontent between Shea/Shellas/League, etc. Not defending his immaturity, just providing another theory.
As far as I know from all the different related Arsenal twitter accounts, blogs, or even gossip, they(Arsenal) didn't. I would have expected some type of rumour even if it was just something someone made up. There are all kinds of random stuff being thrown out during the summer transfer window which is why it is called Silly Season. The only transfers that I remember hearing about with MLS were with Dempsey, Guzman, Cooper and often the fans teams involved would come and ask for opinions if they were on big soccer. I remember when Zach Thorn(Chicago keeper) transferred to Benfica, loads of people were shocked. Can't remember if Tim Howard's transfer to Man U had any attention or not. I think in Cooper's case, the reason we heard alot about it was a)He was a Dallas player, b) England66 was keeping us updated, c)A Munich fan was on the Inferno boards and letting us know what the German press was saying, and d)Buzz also explaining details.
I disagree. With Rogers, Bedoya and Ream getting permits it's easier for Americans to get WP's now than before. Still, Arsenal did not bid for whatever reason. But just becuse Arsenal doesn't bid doesn't mean Euro clubs aren't interested and Brek couldn't cut it at a lesser club. I personally don't think he's ready for Arsenal, but a lower lever EPL team, Ered or French team would probably fit him. I think we'd see an almost immediate boost in form in a different atmosphere with quality mids who repeatedly spray balls out wide and continue their runs.
Here's why they didn't make a bid: he's not good enough to play for them. Here's why no one else (secondary Euro clubs in England and Germany) has made a bid: he's not good enough to play for them.
Interesting theory, and being at Arsenal could very well have frustrated him I suppose... But I think it's probably more just general frustration, exhaustion, and knowing that you should be producing more on the pitch. FCD's having a rough season, he was kept off the USMNT, he had an exhausting season last year, he was out with turf toe. He's frustrated, and it's understandable (not defending freaking out on your bus driver, just saying). This comes up every so often. I think it'd do well for him to do a loan stint in Germany or Spain (obviously not Bayern or Barcelona, but maybe Hoffenheim or Mallorca).