The Soccer Thread

[wolf stansson]

Dallas v The 1989 Detroit "Bad Boy" Pistons, I mean, the San Jose Earthquakes just kicked off on NBC Sports. Shea back from suspension and playing lone striker tonight. San Jose's dirty play is a wonder to behold. Late night soccer. Do it.

[wolf stansson]

San Jose's dirty play is a wonder to behold

Aaaaaannnd some scrub named Bernardez elbows Brek Shea in the spine deliberately on a corner.

I don't really have an MLS rooting interest, but I have nothing but disgust for this SJ team.

[wolf stansson]

Jose Villarreal, our latest teen striker hope/hype, scored his first pro goal for the Galaxy tonight, and it's a stunner.

http://m.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-07-18-van-v-la/highlights?videoID=193103

[wolf stansson]

Ever since Shea spent the winter with Arsenal, he's come back and languished. Happens all the time when transfers don't come off. He buts heads with his coaches and he drifts in games because his teammates aren't at his level. Its all very 2006 Landon Donovan-ish.

 

He needs to move.

[wvcbxl]

Eden Hazard is silky in his movement and clinical finishing. Why doesn't Belgium ever qualify for anything again?

 

Too much delicious Belgian beer.

 

Actually, we just blame the coach (like every other fanbase in the world :wink: ).

[USSoccer]

Eden Hazard is silky in his movement and clinical finishing. Why doesn't Belgium ever qualify for anything again?

 

Because they're Netherlands-lite; incapable of getting along and working together.

[USSoccer]

Ever since Shea spent the winter with Arsenal, he's come back and languished. Happens all the time when transfers don't come off. He buts heads with his coaches and he drifts in games because his teammates aren't at his level. Its all very 2006 Landon Donovan-ish.

 

He needs to move.

 

It can't be said enough how useless Dallas' attacking players are around him.

[wolf stansson]

This is going to be long, and I'm not sure how interested casual fans are going to be in it, but I've got beef with Brek Shea and FC Dallas.

 

Brek Shea is, physically, the most gifted American soccer player I've ever seen. He can do it all. Right now, he's in a very bad position. He's partly responsible for the situation, granted, but the way this has gone down is really bugging me.

 

Let's start out by acknowledging the inherent problem with American player development. This guy has Ibrahimovic talent, but he's 22 and he's gone from runner-up league MVP to barely a factor on one of the worst teams in the league. Why? Part of the reason at 22 he isn't already contributing to a huge European club despite being ultra-talented, is that he's American. As far as we've come, there are two major flaws in how we develop professional players. The first is obvious and it's starting to change. That being the lack of professional clubs having their own academy system. As MLS grows, they are being very smart and are investing in their infrastructure rather than the NASL model of investing in importing players. Stadiums, training facilities and professional youth academies are sprouting up all over the country. That's great, but we've still got a long way to go. If Brek Shea had been born in London or Madrid or Amsterdam, I don't think there's any doubt that he'd currently be one of the brightest young stars in the world. What we saw last night in the Chelsea friendly vs Seattle from players like Marko Marin, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaky, we could be seeing from Brek Shea. No doubt.

The other problem is coaching. Our coaches play to win. That's fine, I understand why they do it, but it's a real problem for players like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and especially Brek Shea. Because these youth coaches are playing to win, not to develop talent, it takes American players well into their 20's to develop a consistent position and playing style. Since they are the best players on their youth teams, coaches stick them where they need them most. Brek Shea has been a professional for 4 years and playing for 2. He's played center back, he's played central midfielder, he's played left back, he's played lone forward, he's played right winger, he's played withdrawn forward, he's played false 9, he's played left winger. Essentially, he's been plugged in everywhere except keeper. If he had been allowed at age 16 or so to stick at any one of those positions, he would be much better off for it. Our coaches aren't sophisticated enough to develop total footballers or Barca do-it-all players and because of that, they're really best off sticking at one spot and mastering it.

 

Right now, there is a story that just came out ( http://www.dallasobserver.com/content/printVersion/2746134/ ) about Shea's time in Dallas. It's chock full of all sorts of disturbing tid bits like how two years ago, in order to get Shea on the field, THE COMMISSIONER OF THE LEAGUE had to call his coach, Schelles Hyndman, and tell him to either play Shea or sell somewhere where he would get time. Hyndman, a prototypical American soccer coach, (emigrated here at a young age from a soccer playing nation/scrappy type who did a lot with very little talent and extremely conservative, pragmatic tactician) thought Shea was too much of a wild card to play him. Dallas sucked two years ago, then as I mentioned, Don Garber called him, gave him the ultimatum to do something with the player that US Soccer had sunk thousands of dollars into developing at the youth level, and then lo and behold, Dallas set the all-time MLS unbeaten streak and made it to the MLS cup final. Shea helped spark that run. The next year, Dallas lost their best player to injury, and Shea stepped up, scoring 11 goals and leading them back to the playoffs. He became the hottest thing in US Soccer when he got called up and in JK's first game as manager, single-handedly sparked the US to a draw v Mexico after being down in the second half. He went on a crazy run that year and it was capped with all kinds of rumors of big clubs showing interest and the training stint with Arsenal.

 

This year, he has faced more adversity. The Olympic qualifying failure apparently hit him very hard. He's had nagging injuries. He had the BS suspension after hitting a ref with the ball after a whistle. He's shown real petulance and the kind of entitled attitude that conservative coaches like Schelles Hyndman hate. As a result of the injuries, the olympic qualifying campaign and senior national team call up's, Shea has missed over 70 training sessions with FC Dallas this year, a fact that Hyndman recently let slip when questioned why there was obvious friction between Shea and himself. Did he mention why those training sessions were missed? No. He just put it out there, I believe, hoping that people would interpret it as an immature young star thinking he's too big for the team. That and other comments have led me to believe that is a more than reasonable interpretation of Hyndman's message.

 

Brek Shea isn't Derrick Rose. He's not a humble robot programmed to love being coached and give credit to everyone first and himself second. He's a brash, ultra-creative person with freakish athleticism and skill. Last night when substituted, after being visibly frustrated and justifiably impatient with the level of skill around him, he got into a short shouting match with Hyndman. After the game Hyndman banned him from talking to the media and pretended to take the high road by deflecting questions regarding the incident, but then slipped in a few obvious shots at Shea.

 

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/mls/story/_/id/8179796/mls-notebook-brek-shea-struggles-epitomize-tough-year-fc-dallas-jeff-carlisle

 

Amid the chaotic scenes at the end of Wednesday's match between FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes -- a game in which FCD defender Jair Benitez missed a stoppage-time penalty that allowed San Jose to escape with a 2-1 win -- the present form and mental state of Dallas attacker Brek Shea still managed to take center stage.

 

Dallas is currently tied for the fewest points in the league alongside Toronto FC and the Portland Timbers and Shea's performances have mirrored those struggles for much of the season. Fatigue caused by his frequent stints with various U.S. national teams over the past 12 months has been the usual explanation, but there have been other incidents that have indicated all is not well with the 22-year-old. Shea suffered a three-game suspension for kicking the ball at an assistant referee in a match against Columbus back on May 12. He has tallied just three times in 2012 league play and was also part of the U.S. U-23 team that failed to qualify for the Olympics.

 

On this night, with usual forward Blas Perez not only injured but back in Panama due to the death of his father, Shea was deployed as a lone striker in the first half. While Dallas threatened often from set pieces, he labored to connect with any of his teammates and plenty of promising Dallas attacks died at his feet. Things improved (albeit marginally) in the second half when he was moved to his more natural position out on the left wing.

 

So in the 64th minute with Dallas trailing 2-0, manager Schellas Hyndman opted to pull Shea in favor of Carlos Rodriguez; that was where things got interesting. Shea voiced his displeasure at Hyndman as he exited the field and the two appeared to exchange some sharp words. Shea then proceeded to sit by himself on the end of the bench with a towel wrapped over his head as his team's late rally fell agonizingly short.

 

After the game, Hyndman declined to make Shea available to the media and did his best to bite his tongue as he fielded a steady stream of questions relating to his young star. "I think it's better that I don't make any comments about [shea's] performance," he said. When asked what Shea had said to him, Hyndman responded, "I think it's probably better I don't make that comment, either."

 

Hyndman later said he didn't know what was going on in Shea's head at the moment, even apologizing for not making the player available to the media. Though he then stated, somewhat cryptically, that, "I think [shea's] in enough hot water already." Hyndman said that any decisions about disciplining Shea for his outburst would be handled once the team returned to Dallas.

 

FCD captain Daniel Hernandez was more forthcoming, however. "I thought [shea] was very disrespectful, not only just to Schellas, but I thought to the rest of the team," said Hernandez as he stood near the team's bus. "He's a young guy still, but this shows the immaturity there in him, and I think a lack of professionalism that right now, at this point in the season, the way things have been going for us, we can't have.

 

"Nobody likes to come out of a game. I don't like to come out of a game," continued Hernandez. "I'm pissed off when I come out of a game, or when I don't play. But when things are not going well for you, or you're not having a good game, and coach needs to make a change, you have to respect it. At this point in the season, we can't have those breakdowns right now, because we need everybody. We need him. He's one of the stars of our team, and we need him to step up with his leadership and his play. He's obviously one of the best players in the country. In order for us to try to fight to get into the playoffs, we're going to need him and everyone else, 100 percent."

 

The impulse is to think that this is just the kind of bump in the road that most young players encounter, but it has been almost a year since Shea delivered a performance, either for club or country, that had the kind of "wow" factor fans and coaches had grown to expect. Shea's talent level is beyond debate. The big question now is whether Shea has the mental fortitude to fight through this extended rough patch.

 

It's possible that Shea might require a change of scenery if he is to come out positively on the other side. Yet it seems unlikely that MLS would allow one of its young stars to exit the league at a time when his valuation is well below its peak, especially given the current transfer tug-of-war that has taken place over another hot commodity, Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron. A trade within MLS seems unlikely as well given Shea's considerable upside.

 

Some will no doubt suggest that Hyndman is the one who should go. Without question, his reputation has eroded since leading Dallas to the 2010 MLS Cup final and results like Wednesday's don't help, especially with a normal penalty taker like Shea stuck on the bench. That said, FCD's difficult injury glut this season can't be laid at his feet and while tempers appear to be fraying, that's not uncommon for a side that is propping up the rest of the league. Besides, Hyndman was chased by Dallas owner Clark Hunt for years before finally agreeing to leave SMU -- where he had coached for 24 seasons -- to take over FCD. It seems like it will take more than one bad season for Hunt, who played for Hyndman at SMU, to pull the plug.

 

Either way, plenty of eyes -- from Hyndman to U.S. national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and everyone in between -- will be watching to see how Shea fares.

 

 

I'm very aware that my interest in FC Dallas and Brek Shea is strictly as a national team fan. I could care less if FC Dallas ever wins another game as long as Brek Shea is developing his game and reaching his potential. I'm very aware that Schelles Hyndman, Daniel Hernandez and other FC Dallas players who are critical of Brek care very much about the success of FC Dallas. Rightly so, obviously. The probelem is that this stuff seems to happen all the time in the US Soccer world. Players like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Tim Howard have all come under similar criticism at various times in their career. Not always regarding commitment to their team, but ALWAYS something about how they seem to think they're better than their surroundings. Well if you've noticed a pattern in the names I listed, you'll realize that there's a reason they think that about themselves. It's because it's true. They're the best players we've ever produced and all too often, former players in the media like Eric Wynalda re: Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey (Geez...Wyno is a super hater) or every defender at one point or another in MLS re: Landon Donovan and his on-field histrionics and attitude or Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey's outspoken desire to GTFO of MLS and on and on our best players come under criticism of jealous, less talented players and pundits. I don't think I'm throwing that accusation out too loosely or being an apologist for those players. I think the jealousy is very real. What Brek Shea is going through right now is unfortunately way too typical and I want to be clear that I'm not excusing any behavior that is detrimental to his team or disrespectful to his coach. All of that behavior is wrong and inexcusable, but what I am saying is that it doesn't make his beliefs about his coach, his team, his league and all of that, incorrect.

[shnsajax]

The worst part about it is that they missed a chance to cash in. I talked to a rep from FC Dallas about Shea. While I doubt he knows much he thought Shea would be around another two years before the season started. I said they need to sell him now and all they care about is marketing and tickets. He's a product of Plano so the local ties are strong. It's all about club not player.

[wolf stansson]

The worst part about it is that they missed a chance to cash in. I talked to a rep from FC Dallas about Shea. While I doubt he knows much he thought Shea would be around another two years before the season started. I said they need to sell him now and all they care about is marketing and tickets. He's a product of Plano so the local ties are strong. It's all about club not player.

on twitter, one soccer writer i follow was saying there were offers last year, from Arsenal and other, but they were looking for a Jozy Altidore 8-figure pay day and shot them all down. Disappointing.

[wvcbxl]

...What we saw last night in the Chelsea friendly vs Seattle from players like Marko Marin, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaky, we could be seeing from Brek Shea. No doubt.

 

As shnsajax already pointed out, the basic business model of MLS may be part of the problem.

Just to illustrate: Eden Hazard started his playing career with his hometown/village club (Stade Brainoise) like most young players and was subsequently picked up by the "bigger" club in the region (Tubize, currently in the Belgian second division). When he was 14, he was poached away by Lille to join their academy and the rest is history. Now here's the crucial part: under UEFA rules, both Stade Braine and Tubize get paid a part of subsequent transfer fees as a "training fee" for the formative years he spent with them. They don't control their youth players (on their 16th birthday, a player can sign a contract with any club they like), but they do maintain a financial interest in developing them.

Romelu Lukaku has a similar story; he joined Rupel Boom when he was 5 years old (my youngest is the same age and did train there a couple of times, for all I know they may have played together at some point). He moved to Lierse (easily the best youth system in the country, by quite a margin) when he was 9, and joined Anderlecht when he was 13. (caveat: his dad was a professional soccer player, so all those moves were probably carefully thought through with a long term goal in mind).

As for exuberant transfer demands from the "holding" club: since the Bosman arrest, a player can free himself from contractual obligations with a fixed financial penalty (and a waiting time) - that has changed a lot in the European soccer landscape (a bit similar to free agency in MLB)

[Guest]

I wonder how much more motivated FC Dallas would be to sell Shea if MLS weren't basically one big puppet show financially. I don't know exactly how the revenue distribution works, but I'd have to think the club would reap greater rewards if they were actually an independent entity.

[wolf stansson]

Yeah, they get about $250,000 of the "allocation money" while MLS does whatever they do with the rest of the 6.75 million that they would probably get from him. I understand why they don't want to sell him, especially with the lure of his charisma and being a local kid, but this situation is not working out for either the team or the player at this point. Edited July 19, 2012 by wolf stansson

[shnsajax]

I wonder how much more motivated FC Dallas would be to sell Shea if MLS weren't basically one big puppet show financially. I don't know exactly how the revenue distribution works, but I'd have to think the club would reap greater rewards if they were actually an independent entity.

 

Doesn't that one Florida Agency/Marketing firm have a [expletive] ton of power too? Without going on too much of a sidetrack rant Title IX really fucked up soccer in the US too.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Arsenal; throw down a low-ball bid still since that is sort of their way.

[wolf stansson]

I wonder how much more motivated FC Dallas would be to sell Shea if MLS weren't basically one big puppet show financially. I don't know exactly how the revenue distribution works, but I'd have to think the club would reap greater rewards if they were actually an independent entity.

 

Doesn't that one Florida Agency/Marketing firm have a [expletive] ton of power too? Without going on too much of a sidetrack rant Title IX really [expletive] up soccer in the US too.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Arsenal; throw down a low-ball bid still since that is sort of their way.

Traffic Sports? They only own the right to players who sign with them.

[USSoccer]

-Traffic only controls the rights to the players they "own" EDIT: Wolfie beat me to it

 

-While in general, MLS's single entity status is a problem with regards to clubs not seeing the majority of the benefit for selling a player on, there are so many other positive/necessary aspects of the current MLS business model that it really can't change for the forseeable future. What does need to change, however, is the overall league philosiphy on when they let players leave and when they don't. If they continue to dick around Gen Adidas players and other youth prospects/promising young players and act difficult when it comes to accepting offers from abroad, eventually kids who do develop through our academy systems won't sign with the league for fear of the same dicking happening to them. Additionally, when players consider coming back toward the end of their careers, they may be reluctant to deal with the league again (Clint has straight up refused to consider coming back to MLS as a result of how they jerked him around vis a vis the Charlton bid, but in hindsight that worked out for Clint). Luis Gil's contract actually contained a provision regarding this; he had refused to sign with the league unless he got assurances that they won't stand in the way of a move when he's ready.

 

-Shea's coach is a jackass, and while I understand why they have to focus on the team first, all they're doing is damaging their most valuable asset, and their reputation as an organization for future signings.

 

-Shea needs a move. Whether or not that's within MLS or overseas, he needs to get away from that enviroment.

[wolf stansson]

-Shea needs a move. Whether or not that's within MLS or overseas, he needs to get away from that enviroment.

Brek Shea for Pavel Pardo and Marco Pappa. Let's go.

[wolf stansson]

Jose Villarreal's goal last night getting some Grantland love: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/32608/eat-my-goal-jose-villarreal-gets-on-the-board-for-l-a-galaxy

[shnsajax]

Claudio Reyna's son passed away yesterday from a brain tumor at 13.

[wolf stansson]

Terrence Boyd's Austrian League debut. 2g, 1a.

[shnsajax]

Best way to end a home winless streak is to have Portland come to town. Dallas up 5-0.

 

Shea didn't dress today.

[Guest]

Hey, check out Michael Bradley at Wrigley!

[wolf stansson]

Hey, check out Michael Bradley at Wrigley!

Looked good. Came out at 64. No-nonsense performance. Nothing got through the middle.

[shnsajax]

Fulham stating that they won't welcome any offers for Dempsey or Dembele. Not exactly sure as to what they are trying to accomplish here. Then again a free transfer next year might be the easiest way for Clint to make it to Arsenal.

[wolf stansson]

Fulham stating that they won't welcome any offers for Dempsey or Dembele. Not exactly sure as to what they are trying to accomplish here. Then again a free transfer next year might be the easiest way for Clint to make it to Arsenal.

It's weird that they keep warning people off of their two best attacking players, all while being linked with transfer interest in other team's attacking players.