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Shea loan cut short at Barnsley following fan incident

Brek Shea Barnsley (Stoke CIty)

By RYAN TOLMICH

U.S. Men’s National Team winger Brek Shea had his loan stint with English League Championship side Barnsley cut short after a post-match incident involving fans. Shea will return to Premier League club Stoke City, despite the fact his loan stint had been extended to April 3 back in January.

The club released a brief statement stating that the 24-year-old midfielder would return to Stoke, just days after being left off the squad for Saturday’s match with Nottingham Forrest.

“Winger Brek Shea has returned to parent club Stoke City,” said the club on its official website. “The 24-year-old made eight appearances for the Reds after arriving on loan on New Year’s Day from the Premier League club.”

Shea’s departure comes on the heels of an incident involving fans of Championship opponent Huddersfield Town, who defeated Shea’s Barnsley 5-0 March 1.

Late in the game, Shea reportedly gave the middle finger to Barnsley supporters after teammate Steven Dawson got into an altercation with a group of fans. Shea took to twitter to apologize for the incident six days later.

“I would like to unreservedly apologize for what happened at the end of the Huddersfield match last week,” said Shea via his twitter account. “Although my actions were aimed at one person who was abusing a teammate I realize I should not have reacted in that way in the heat of the moment. I regret those actions and the offense it has caused. I did not intend to offend the Barnsley fans who have shown tremendous support for the team. The best way I can show this and repay you, the fans, is with my performances on the pitch.”

Shea started five games during his time at Barnsley, but did not record a goal or an assist. Shea will now head back to Stoke, which currently find themselves mid-table, but just six points above the relegation zone.

Comments

    • Okay John, it was great going on with you. I know you love football and so do I. I hope we do it again. And also, I do hope Brek Shea gets to play somewhere.

      Reply
  1. What an idiot. This, pictures with guns, stupid practical jokes. He has really distinguished himself. Some bad behavior can be toleratred if you are playing well (and it’s not like he bit anyone), but there’s no forgiveness when youre fighting for minutes on a team facing relegation.

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  2. LOL, also John, and I don’t know why you do this, sometimes I thing you are a biff sock puppet, please see the above exchange re: the main assistant coach to Klinsi. Thanks

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    • Yeah sorry maybe i’m just tired, haha
      On Vasquez , i think alot of those questions came up about a year ago when it looked like the US could struggle to qualify. it’s hard to know if anything has really changed or some better results just fell our way.

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      • Thanks John. I wasn’t here a year ago, I was someplace else so I didn’t get that. Anyway, I really want the U.S. to advance out of group in Brazil. I know it is, at this point, a long shot but I think some things are going on.

        What I want to hear is an announcement that someone else has been appointed assistant coach to Klinsi. Maybe some German from the Bundesliga, or an Italian, or anybody.

      • Thanks again John, I wasn’t here then but I did pick up on the sporting news article. Especially what Phillip Lahm said in his book. Plus I was living in Munich at the time and the whole Klinsi thing with his yes man Valsquez from LA, plus Klinsi commuting to Germany from LA, and sending his assistant Löw to a World Cup coaches meeting while he had better things to do, like going back to LA. That almost did it, Klinsi almost got sacked 3 weeks before the 2006 world cup.

        I tell you, it was big news in Bavaria, it was what most everyone in the bars and coffee shops were talking about.. Then things settled down when the players said to Süddeutschland Zeitung that they were all working good with Löw.

      • Sorry, it’s late. Vasquez wasn’t there in 2006, my mistake, that fiasco happened when Klinsi got the coaching job at Bayern

      • Or maybe better Brett, and I agree Shea is not good enough, but what do you think of Martin Vasquez being Klinsi’s main asst. coach on the field in Brazil

      • I’m fine if people have opinions. I know when I’m speculating and I know that no matter how many obvious signs point to my belief I will never tell someone else they are wrong until it is certain.

        I learned my lesson from Subotic… He played with us, even said playing for Serbia would make him feel like a traitor. I thought he was as good as capped, but many people disagreed and I let them have it on a regular basis. Yet, when it came down to his career, he knew that Serbia was the better choice. I fully believe Dortmund sends him packing if he declares for US. I now approach not only duals with that caution (see: J. Green) but all players.

  3. Okay John, while we strongly disagree about this let’s wait a week or so. If Stoke takes him back and puts him on their 18 man team then you are right.

    If Stoke does not take Shea back, and does not put them on any part of their team then I am right.

    Deal?

    Reply
      • Yes John, even if Stoke loans him to a MLS team, you are right.

        But if Stoke does not put him anywhere on their team and doesn’t loan him out to any team, then I am right.

        Deal?

      • By the way John, did you see that I gave you a window in your favor. I said if Stoke takes him back and put him on their 18 then you win. However I made it harder for myself to win. I said if Stoke takes him and puts him on any part of their team, (meaning Stoke can put him on their reserve team) then you win.

        What more can I do John?

  4. Dang, are all, or rather most of you, commenting here biff and his sock puppets. I mean really, what do you not understand, Brek Shea was sacked, dismissed, kicked of the team. Don’t you know that Barnsley couldn’t do that without solid reason?

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    • no, a club can cut short a loan for pretty much any goddam reason they want (and they do it all the time). this occasion was obviously due to brek’s behavior, but i’m not sure why you think this is some groundbreaking occurrence.

      Reply
  5. American players just don’t have the work ethic to succeed in Europe. Shea, just like many others, will be remembered more for his tweeter account than for his football

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    • You loan a power saw to your neighbor, the saw teeth break and the motor gives out and he gives it back to you. Who you going to loan that thing to

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    • I believe Ives reported as many as 5 other Championship clubs were interested when Brek extended with Barnsley. Hopefully one will give him a chance.

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      • Even now John? After Shea set a record, his being sacked while on loan? Tell me, which “Championship Club” will take him now? I think you are grasping at straws.

        Of course, that is not saying I haven’t done some grasping in my life

      • John, please reread my comments, I never said this was the first time this ever happened. I did, however, ask if anyone else has ever heard of such a thing.

        Okay, would you please answer my question and tell me when was another football on loan ever sacked before his loan date was up. I am all ears.

      • The link you provided talked about a footballer being returned from loan. It has nothing about the Brek Shea situation. Brek was not returned, he was sacked.

      • “Winger Brek Shea has returned to parent club Stoke City,”
        thats right in this article, I think you’re just messing with me now

  6. So Dawson who starts the fight with the person in the stands, starts he next week and Shea who went to break it up is off the team. Hopefully he can find anouther move, other teams were interested before. I’ll give you Shea can be the most frustrating US player by far. However he shows these little sparks of something that we just don’t have from any other players in the pool.

    Reply
      • I’m not saying he didn’t give the guy the finger, he did but it was directed at one guy who was in a fight with Dawson not the supporters in general as some headlines ran with. Dawson had to apologize the next day and gave some money to a charity or something.

      • Don’t you think there has to be more? I mean Barnsley sacked him, sent him packing, before the loan period was up. I have never heard of such a thing.

      • What Brek did was wrong but it was also just easier to put it all on him because he was only there on loan while Dawson is under contract. It would have blown over if the team was in a better situation but they are at the bottom and people are calling for the manager to be sacked.

      • If it really was Dawson who started a fight with a fan in the stands then it would be clear as day. Dawson would be punished. But if Dawson did not start any fight and it was just Brek Shea’s word that that was what happened and he made up this story to protect his own self then that is a purple horse of another color.

        And I am not so sure Brek didn’t know before he told, or maybe made up, his story as to what happened that there were cameras recording everything.

        And you can be sure of one thing because this happened in Europe, they have strong laws about this sort of thing, If Barnsley didn’t have convincing reasons for sacking Shea, they would not have done it.

      • Thanks for the link John. The article you linked only talks about Dawson and his saying he was sorry for what he did. It did not say a word about Shea.

        That only makes me more convinced that Shea screwed up, real bad

      • It does talk about Shea about mid way through the article.

        “The Irishman had to be restrained by team-mates after being involved in an altercation with a visiting fan and has now said sorry for his actions and made a ‘significant donation’ to Barnsley Hospice.”
        The Shea part:
        “Meanwhile, the Reds have also issued a club apology following incidents just after the final whistle, with the club investigating an alleged incident involving Brek Shea, who appeared to make a gesture towards fans.”

        Perhaps it takes alittle to connect the dots, but it people at the match on the Barnsley forums confirmed it. Shea was one of the players restraining Dawson and as he pulled him away gave this guy the middle finger.
        Shea was in the wrong and shouldn’t have done it. However my point was just he didn’t walk off the pitch and give the entire supporters section the middle finger as many headlines ran with.

  7. Has it ever happened before, where a player on loan was sacked before the loan date was reached?
    If nothing else, Brek Shea may get himself into the Guinness Book of Records.

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  8. I have a question. Does anyone know who will be Klinsmann’s main assistant coach on the sidelines with him in Brazil?

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      • I did not know the answer. If I did I would have had no reason to ask the question.

        I do know this, Vasquez has zero coaching experience at the world level, although he is known as the number 1 Klinsi yes man. And I know this too, when Klinsi was head trainer of the German National Team in 2006 he had Jogi Löw as his assistant. Jogi had a lot of coaching experience and wyx known as a master football tactician. That can not be said for Martin Vasquez.

  9. Shea has the highest cealing out of any attacking player in our pool imo.He has all the physical tools to be a Zlatan type player.That being said his mentality is closer to that pigs head than to Zlatan’s ruthlessness.

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  10. This is so dumb its not like he jumped in the stands and beat someone up, and he was protecting a teammate. Its dumb, sorry. Now if I was Shea just train hard play in the reserve games and ball out at the world cup. He’s going people other than Bedoya we have no true wingers, his size and pace are tremendous he just needs to spend the next 2 mths focusing on the final product.

    Reply
    • I agree. But he has shown unique ability to defeat himself in a 1-on-1 situation that is par excellence– just nutmegged himself off the plane. Brek is rewriting the Gazza playbook sober, using only the tools God gave him, plus a ham, a very photogenic collection of machine guns, and a couple of mercifully discontinued social media platforms.

      Reply
  11. Brek Shea is one more example of how wrong Klinsmann’s insistence on pushing players to Europe is. Where would he be right now had he stayed in MLS? Possibly going to Brazil like Besler and Zusi.

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  12. If he can’t handle the pressures of a game against Huddersfield how on earth is he going to cope with pressures of the World Cup. No thanks. He is not worth it.

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    • +1 Shea played 8 games against inferior competition and didn’t play 90 minutes all those 8 games. He didn’t score or make a significant lasting impact for the worst team in the English Championship, His “moments of brilliance” aren’t even 10 minute stretches of brilliance but 10 seconds of brilliance in a 90 min game. Can we really over look Zusi, Bedoya, Torres, Corona heck even Feilhaber. Those guys can at least turn it up for a 10 min stretch

      Reply
      • Cuba got the entire US team suffering for more than half a match, you cottage cheese head. Everybody was hurting against Cuba. Shea was mediocre in Gold Cup, but he is talented, tall, strong, fast, young, brave and Klinsmann likes him. And I take Klinsmann’s opinion over yours any time now.

      • I disagree with the specifics of the your remarks. True the team played poorly, making bad passes and playing lethargically, but Shea that half was a special kind of horrible. He looked like a jv h.s. player unable to control the ball. He looked like a big awkward dufus with his stupid hair cut. Not a coincidence when the team woke up in the second half. And while Cuba sucks, they were not the worst team at the Gold Cup. But until Shea does something other than a friendly against Mexico, he is a waste of a space. He has potential but how many chances are you going to give a guy when there are three or four hungry players waiting in the wings (pun intended). I was willing to accept the risk of Shea on the roster, but if you’re too immature to control yourself, you are a risk to your team. You could get a stupid red or second yellow or give up a free kick to the likes of Ronaldo. The negatives must outweigh what is simply potential.

  13. Sure, let’s give Shea the 23rd spot instead of Julian Green after he sits on the Stoke bench the rest of the season, while Green starts getting more time after Bayern locks up the Bundesliga title in the next few weeks.

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      • I still have Rimando penciled in for the 23rd spot, which he has earned through years of service and the bad luck of being good at the wrong position during the past couple decades. But I don’t see the value in taking Green or any other player without having a specific idea how he would contribute, who he would replace, what he does well within our setup… How can anybody make any specific case for how to deploy him? I have no idea how good he is and most of what I’ve been able to gather sounds exciting but it’s hearsay based on a very weak data set of first team games. Unless I am missing something badly, I cannot see how he steps on the field in Brazil without another massive expansion of the “Klinsi knows best” theorem.

        Inviting him on the trip for the experience is another case but I don’t buy in at all. Another Sven Goran Erikksen contribution to international management that was rightfully adopted by nobody. This group exists for one month in time and never before or again. Everybody should have a sense of their value and and specific idea of how they will contribute to the immediate goal if called upon to do so. Shea might be a goof who has played himself into a free June calendar, but I do get this sense he has a role and a set of situations where he has unique value in JK’s thinking. Would you doubt him playing if he does make the trip? I wouldn’t bet against it…

        Klinsi isn’t going to waste a card. In his head there will be 23 guys on that plane who he can make a clear case why they are there and what situations would see them play. Cap-tying is probably not one of the acceptable reasons (I should hope not anyway), and I am hard pressed to think of a good case that involves helping the team beyond “he’s good” and “throw him on when you’re down and need a guy who can make something out of nothing”. Maybe so, but I don’t see it yet.

      • Um, he would replace Brek obviously….
        Also note, my statement was contingent on him playing in the Bundesliga…..

        Also Everyone loves Rimando. He is going as 2rd/3rd choice keeper. No questions asked.

      • I understand he would be replacing Brek in the theoretical 23…. the question was more about how Green would be deployed on the field — it would seem to me based on his utilization of Shea that JK now has a very specific idea of the differentiating qualities that Brek brings, and when they might be introduced to maximum effect. You probably watch enough to have a simlar idea so I won’t list them off, but I can’t point at anything that is proven to any degree about Green that replaces this in a like-for-like sense.

        That’s ok– the (not uniformly productive) role Brek had played is not a “must have” for a team, but I would just like to see something specific about what Green *does* do in relationship to our needs. Where are the redundancies to our existing core players? What gaps could he fill that are missing in our starting group? Could we do something more with him than throw him on as a 3rd or 4th attacker when chasing late-on? Does he have an analogue in the current or recent player pool that could give an idea or starting point for how we should look at him? Or in a more practical and immediate sense, can we say who he replaces directly on the depth chart come June in the event of injury or suspension? What tactical or formational shifts could be made that might play to his strengths?

        I have no answers to the above questions. And it’s fine if you don’t– if you do, please share! I would love to learn given it sounds like he is increasingly likely to be joining the pool eventually, regardless. Heck, even if your answer is, “dude, here’s the thing for now– this guy is REALLY fast”… well hey, I am not sure I had heard that but if it’s true then maybe that’s the beginning of the answer… AJ has some good wheels and Josh Gatt is a name for another time, but a freakout teenaged speedburner is not a bad card to play when you are starved for chances, and I think we should probably prepare for that ummm… possibility.

        Like I said, no idea what is true and what isn’t… but make a case and I will listen. Just want to focus the lens down from “potential” to something I can visualize, with the assumption for the moment that the USMNT decision is settled and has no bearing.

      • As to where he would play, I can’t possible answer that unless he gets time in the Bundesliga. But you are right, as it is. Green has no position. Not for Bayern and not for the US. He is just a fairly vague “forward.”

      • Bongwater,

        “Inviting him on the trip for the experience is another case but I don’t buy in at all. Another Sven Goran Erikksen contribution to international management that was rightfully adopted by nobody”

        SGE did not originate that move; in 1994 the 17 year old Ronaldo went to the World Cup but did not play a minute. Of course the difference is that Theo Walcott has done nothing for England in the World Cup and probably never will while Ronaldo is an all time great.

      • Mr water,

        “ But I don’t see the value in taking Green or any other player without having a specific idea how he would contribute, who he would replace, what he does well within our setup… How can anybody make any specific case for how to deploy him? I have no idea how good he is and most of what I’ve been able to gather sounds exciting but it’s hearsay based on a very weak data set of first team games.”

        If Green does wind up declaring for the US in time for the World Cup people may look back on the Ukraine game as being something of a milestone because the game gave Green two days to train with the US.

        To the best of my knowledge this is the first time Green did this so JK and his staff had two days to run him through his paces with some of the starters. It gave them a chance to see what all the fuss was about and it gave Green a chance to see where he might fit in. I would be surprised if that wasn’t a major focus of the training camp.

        If Green declares for the US in time and if he manages to get into the Bayern first team in the next two months then I’m confident JK and his staff will have already figured out where to deploy Green. It’s not rocket science especially because he is an attacking player not a center back like JA Brooks, where experience really matters.

      • As long as you address me as “Mr. Water” I will find a way to show you the same respect. SBI folks are a good bunch.

        Your points are not illogical and I think it may just boil down to a philosophical difference. Strangely I’ve started to come around to slowleft’s perspective more than I had imagined I could. This just all feels way too much like a high-pressure, high stakes sales pitch where winning has become an obsession to the extent that nobody seems to be able to describe the prize anymore.

        You may be right, but I would encourage you to circle (or more likely recircle, if you are on SBI) one more date in the calendar, because Jogi Low may well have earmarked 5 mins for Green himself.

        I’d say on June 26, Green is going to have a day he will look back on many times throughout his professional career and perhaps well beyond, regardless of the outcome. I am a die-hard USMNT homer and my own visualization of this day is super and and I hope he can be part of the mix.

        But I’m getting less and less comfortable with the implications of the “other” results scenario the oddmakers and pundits prefer. I don’t like the idea that a teenaged kid walking out of that stadium on that day, after watching a group of players familiar to him (in some cases quite personally) advance to the knockout stage among the favorites to lift the trophy, with the realization that he is now excluded permanently from ever joining up alongside those guys as a peer representing the country of his upbringing. Can we really hold him liable for a permanent decision affecting an identity that he may only just be understanding (FIFA says we can I guess). What is he supposed to think about any of it? A German soccer legend came and recruited me away from Germany while I was learning the craft at Bayern and suddenly what?. Here I am, 19 years old, and I’ve barely had a chance to consider the question of national identity — rather I was asked to make an accelerated, clearly unnecessary and permanent decision for the sake of a tournament nobody expected me to participate in to any meanigful or integrated extent? Why am I even in Brazil, other than to close doors on my future by answering questions that did not demand responses other than from parties with self-interested and contrived deadlines?

        In this scenario (which I repeat is not my “expected” case as results go), I’m not sure how you can answer this using the facts available. Unless you think he will start maybe? That’s quite a claim. Not there at all on that front. Exerpience is nice but the value is disputable if he is not clearly there to contribute, and if the value is cap-tying, I am most certainly out.

        I’m sure our guys have done everything to make him feel welcomed and appreciated and perhaps it is a new experience to really sense that you are being viewed as a first-teamer at the top level. If those in the know told me this was the primary purpose of the efforts of the last few months, and no bid has ever been forthcoming, I would be very happy and complimentary of the approach,. But if a bid to Brazil and cap-tying scenario is the strategy and standard for success, then I am ashamed of us. All this is is a kid with potential who hasn’t even played consistent first-team soccer, and who we wouldn’t even serve a beer in the country we are asking him to commit his considerable international future to without a demonstrated utilization plan. Personally, I doubt this is the plan and I believe this strategy would be openly and immediately reviled by US Soccer among countless others and most importantly Klinsmann, who cares deeply about development and passed on a couple of very cheap opporutunities to cap-tie Brooks in qualifying.

        I found it reprehensible when Qatar was openly selling nationality to fat Adriano. But those guys were adults (or as close as they’ll get). All they did was soil their own $5,000 suits with the runny remains of their own credibility. And in the end, Fat Adriano got a couple of Brazil caps and the Qatari guys found a much better utilization strategy for their soccer-related bribe money.

        Pressuring a decision out of this kid smells rotten to me. He can’t be ready to make that bet, regardless of what he may have picked up from a couple days in Cyprus as an invited guest of a German idol. I hope he comes our way, but not at that price. I can roll with your suggestion of seeing what the final months of the season bring, but it would have to be pretty special and very specific to have any meaning (the points won’t matter, and none of the regulars will be doing a thing to risk injury… could be a pretty uninspired spactable)

      • Mr. water,

        I don’t know Julian Green; everything I have to say about him is pure speculation based on media sources that have varying degrees of reliability

        The point is I have not seen him play and I don’t know what he is thinking or feeling. And frankly, I don’t care what he thinks or feels. If he is not a USMNT player then he is dead to me.

        But one thing I do know is he is not a kid. He is 18 and in America that makes him an adult.

        He is a professional soccer player for arguably the best team in the world. He is well traveled having shuttled between Europe and America on a fairly regular basis and has had to work with the cosmopolitan squads that make up the various Bayern teams, exposing him to many different nationalities. Having lived a somewhat similar lifestyle at one point I can tell you that, chances are, he is not an innocent babe in the woods. It’s not as if he was born and spent his whole life flipping burgers in Monett, Missouri. Not that there is anything wrong with Missouri. Or with Monett. Or with flipping burgers.

        He has an agent and is probably very shortly going to be making a lot of money.

        I think you are projecting your ambiguous feelings about the entire dual national debate onto this situation and onto Julian. I’m sure a lot of people feel as you do but I don’t think Julian Green is a regular person which I presume you and most of us are. So your projection probably doesn’t fit exactly.

        He is not proven yet but just to get to the level where he already is, well there aren’t many in the world who could. You might want to give up on the idea that he is anything like you or Mr. left arm.

        Obviously there is a fair amount of emotion involved but Mr. Green has been very deliberate and careful about keeping his options open, most likely on and off the field. He is a young professional who is trying to decide how best to maximize those options. And while JK is a German legend, Pep Guardiola and a large number of the players and staff on Bayern are a pretty big deal as well. So why should he be any more star struck by the Baker’s son than by any of a number of guys he interacts with at Bayern? Surely he knows Ribery who thinks of MLS as a retirement league?

        Bayern have recently made a big show of expanding their brand into the American market so Green has to be aware of how big he could be in the US if things break right. As an American hero he would not have anywhere near the competition for the spotlight that he faces in Germany or Europe or even on his own team. Whether that is something he finds appealing I have no idea but he could be the next Landon or even bigger in the US market.

        In America 18 year olds get sent off to fight and die so forgive me if I don’t think that asking this young man to choose which country to play soccer for is anywhere near to being the most agonizing decision he might have to make. Julian’s own father could tell him that.

        From what I can see the US is being aggressive but have no credible way of pressuring this kid. And if JK was not being this aggressive y’all would be giving him a great deal of grief. More to the point, his job is requires him to recruit the best eligible players he can. So JK is just doing his job.

        The interesting thing about your ambiguous feelings is that the 2003-4 FIFA rule changes on eligibility were allegedly instituted to, among other things make the system more orderly and to give young players more of a chance to figure out who they really wanted to play for.

        http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamBack/Eligibiliy.html

        http://www.soccertimes.com/wagman/2001/apr30.htm

        As for whether Green would actually help the US in this World Cup, did you see how his training sessions with the US went? I didn’t. Maybe they were incredible or maybe they were awful. No one seems to know.

        Therefore, about the only relevant fact I can think of is in terms of predicting the results of the opening round is that the US has the lowest talent level of any of the Death Group teams. On paper the US has zero chance of advancing.

        Yet in 2002 when Donovan had that glorious WC run he came into the WC at about Julian’s age and having led the Quakes to the MLS Cup. So if Julian can put in some strong performances in the next two months for Bayern’s first team would that give him about as much experience going in as LD had? I know that I’d feel a lot more certain that Green would do well for the US than I do about Gonzo doing well for the US. I’ve seen Gonzo play and I remain fearful.

        The thing to remember about the World Cup is that it is a short term thing, 3 games minimum and 7 games maximum. If the USMNT can get off to a good start who knows?

      • Green won’t have to be cap-tied if he files the one-time switch w/ FIFA. That’s why it’s a one-time switch since he played for Germany at the youth level and he’s under 23. If he switches, he’s cap-tied by definition.

    • That’s going to be the real question.

      We’re going to carry three “pure” strikers because Dempsey and Donovan can play up top. Right now it’s Altidore and Johanssen, and the real question is going to be whether Klinsi takes Wondo for his finishing, or Eddie Johnson for his athleticism. I think the next two and half months of MLS determine that. Agudelo has an outside – outside! – chance of bagging that #3 spot as well if he keeps scoring in the Netherlands. Right now Eddie Johnson probably has the spot but if he fizzles over the next couple months that could well open the door for Wondo or Agudelo. Especially with Altidore badly out of form right now, Klinsmann will be looking for a striker in form.

      We’re taking Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones, Dempsey and Donovan for sure as mids. I think Mixx Diseruud and Kyle Beckerman make the plane. I think Fabian Johnson is considered a mid but he’s also the #2 (or #1) left back and that frees up a spot. Zusi and Bedoya look like the next two up. After that…you start looking for the wild card. Is it Julian Green? Is it Brek Shea? Is it Brad Davis with his dead-ball ability? It’ll likely be one of the three, in my opinion. I think right now it’s Shea…but Julian Green will get that spot if he decides to take it, and if I was 19, and had the chance to play in a World Cup RIGHT NOW, especially for a German-speaking coach (who was contracted through the next World Cup) on a team with a bunch of other half-Afro-American/half-Germans from similar backgrounds…it’d be a durn hard sell to turn down, rather than waiting and HOPING Germany likes you four years from now. I think it’s a much better than even-money chance we get him.

      Geoff Cameron and Fabian Johnson give you the ability to only carry six defenders. Cameron is quietly locking down the RB spot, and he also gives you cover at center back, meaning you can get away with only carrying three CB’s. Right now those three are Gonzalez, Besler, and Clarence Goodson. Gooch and Brooks pretty much eliminated themselves with their shambolic showing against Ukraine; if anybody beats out Goodson it’s going to be Orozco-Fiscal. DaMarcus Beasley is going as a left back, and like it or not, Brad Evans is going as a right back because absolutely nobody besides Cameron has shown up. Edgar Castillo isn’t going unless somebody gets hurt because he’s effectively the #3 option behind FJ and Run DMB.

      All of which is to say…circumstances and personnel have contrived to give Julian Green that twenty-third spot on the plane, IMHO…if he wants it.

      Reply
      • I wouldn’t write out Boyd without a mention. Klinsmann really likes selecting Boyd. Doesn’t really like playing him all that much, but def selecting him– must be a super phone conversation. He’s consistently been selected for competitive matches and Euro-based friendlies when available. Sven-Goran Erikkson had a thing like that for Kieron Dyer. Guy could be invisible for two years with injuries or bad form but for whatever reason he was always on the flight come summer.

        As for me, I really just feel like I don’t know Boyd. I see his scoring record at Rapid which is respectable if not earth-shattering. I see his Youtube clips which show some nice technique at times but tell me nothing otherwise. And I see a guy who gets a few minutes for the USMNT with minimal instructions outside of his obvious mandate to get goals, which he has not yet been able to do but probably deserves some slack for being unable to deliver a banquet off the few table scraps he’s sniffed. Obviously, Klinsmann has better data and reference points.

      • Interesting post, quozzel. Two more wild cards, I think, are Joe Corona, who I think is better than Mix and Shea, and Michael Parkhurst, who apparently played central defender in his first MLS game over the weekend. If he continues playing CD and does well, he could earn a ticket to Brazil as back-up CD and back-up fullback, leaving Evans at home.

      • Actually I like Corona better than Mix too. Tougher league. Sorta depends how much he plays in the next few months.

      • Don’t forget Danny Williams playing himself into the MF mix. He’s looked good and aggressive for Reading.

      • I 100% agree with you about Green quozzel, but not for any, not a single one, of the reasons you gave.

      • I don’t suppose you’re going to buck the trend and make an argument about any quality Green himself possesses? So far the file on Green consists of German American, black, eligible and considering USMNT, high potential, currently a standout for the reserves of the German champions. Not a bad start, plus it’s efficient in that you can just copy it verbatim from Boyd’s jacket two years ago

        Maybe the information just doesn’t exist yet. But it seems like we are just picking through the sqaud for a weak or underperforming player to replace with a totally unknown quantity based on a vague notion of potential, and elsewhere I’ve even seen people hint that this is an opportunity to cap-tie him. A baffling proposition which I trust you don’t espouse (not sure we have a nice home-and-away with Antigua in this particular tournament to slip him on for adiministrative purposes — there are some other arguments involving the US being eliminated by the last game and Klinsmann using the Germany game to cap-tie a kid from ever representing country where he has lived his whole life by participating in a meaningless game AGAINST THAT VERY TEAM. Consideration of this hare-brained thesis qualifies you as a sub-par human being for all eternity).

        Anyway, whaddya got Expat? Team me cos I’ve heard about the other guys enough! Tell me about the man himself! What is he bringing in his locker Unseal the J. Green file! For the moment, stories from your drinking buddies in Munich (or anywhere actually) are in play… Just don’t pick out guys who gotta give up their imaginary seat for a kid with an imaginary purpose. We’ve beaten that one pretty bloody recently.

      • “it’s efficient in that you can just copy it verbatim from Boyd’s jacket two years ago”

        Not exactly.

        Klopp never showed the kind of love for Boyd that Pep is showing for Green.

      • Encouraging for sure but not a meaningful data point objectively. All Guardiola has proven in Germany thus far is that he can take the pieces he inherited and dominate in similar fashion (this is actually not so easy as it sounds so I can give it some value). Pep’s value add has yet to be seen, and through no fault of his own he has never had to pluck diamonds from the rough and integrate them into a wildly original finished product the way most managers are asked to. The talent has always been stacked up internally at Barca and Bayern. His man-management abilities ensure that the results are consistent with the known quality of the inputs and system. Not his fault and a very credible and unique skill, but I don’t know what it can tell me about Green that I hadn’t heard. Kid has potential. Show me what it looks like on a pitch.

        As much as anything, I worry we have discarded Boyd entirely as a child would a new(er) toy. There is nothing we can prove about Green that reads materially differently. Nobody gets Austrian league on their home set. Maybe not even Austrians. And JK brings him along plenty but never starts him or puts him in a position that made me feel that it was tailored for him to succeed. Until I see an argument that convinces me we have used the available facts to make a decision on a remarkably similar predecessor, I don’t know how we move on with the assumption that this will be any different. Boyd may not be lighting the lamps like Messi but he is producing in the categories that count and isn’t a failure other than a new “wild card” has taken his seat at the ball. I’m not sure we get enough raw talents with credentials like Boyd to discard resumes so easily as this.

      • As you point out, JK is not discarding Boyd.

        He gives him a few minutes here or there but it is on Boyd to make the most of those minutes and so far he has not impressed in any way when on the field for the US.

        As far as I’m concerned it’s up to Boyd to push his way up..

        For what it is worth, Austrian BL is ranked 14th by UEFA. The Eredivisie by comparison is ranked 8th.

        And according to most of you on SBI scoring goals in Holland is child’s play so what does that tell you about Austria’s BL?

        My guess is Boyd like Mix, Gatt and AJ need to move to a tougher league.

    • Did I miss Green committing to the USMNT? Oh that’s right – that didn’t happen. And it isn’t going to in time for Brazil. Sure, he’d love to play in a world cup right now, but if he’s good enough to play for Bayern, he’s good enough to play for Germany – and then he has a chance to win a world cup.

      Only way USMNT gets Green is if he’s not as good as people hope. The way to avoid these types of scenarios is to develop good players in the US.

      Reply
      • @slowleftarm, that’s what I thought too, but now I have changed my mind. I talked to 2 German friends from Munich today about Green. They both think like I do.

        And btw, the kid is good enough!

      • “Only way USMNT gets Green is if he’s not as good as people hope.”

        “because i can’t imagine anyone actually *wanting* to play for this country.” that’s what you meant to say, right?

    • Considering it’s his career, I think it’s a bit rich for people to say he shouldn’t concern himself with money. These aren’t mlb players making millions a year. Sure, they make nice salaries (Shea’s making $310k this year) but nowhere near enough to be set for life.

      Reply
      • You mean Shea WAS making $310K with Dallas. He is making 7 figures in Stoke according to ESPN FC a few years ago.

        Besides that, I agree with you. I don’t understand when people don’t like it when players chase money. You can criticize the quality of the team or fit of the situation, but not the desire for the money. VERY few American players make enough money to set up their families for life or would alleviate the need to take financial compensation into account when making career decisions.

      • I think they should pay Brek a nine figure guaranteed salary as an illustration of the futility of the exercise. Probably would be a good bonus for local merchants of ATVs, fireworks, and whoopie cushions. But his family would probably prefer you just didn’t encourage him. They have enough dough to eat squirreled away in the bookshelves

  14. why did he even go to STOKE? I know MLS is all about money but when it comes to our young NT players, could they even give a concern to their future? Shea should have left summer 2012 for a Dutch club. Heck even now he should try for a move to the Eredivisie. Ajax or Twente or PSV or Feyernoord. His salary isn’t so high that he’d have to slash it big time. Shea needs to find a club that will allow his abilities to flow better. Otherwise Stoke will dump him in 2015 and he’ll be back in MLS as a flop.

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      • Not really the case. Americans seem to migrate to the English speaking countries. Dempsey turned down a few Italian offers for Tottenham

      • Tottenham gave fulham and then clint an offer and it was accepted by both clint and fulham, not sure what your point is. Clint didnt just out of the blue pick tottenham to play for, they had tomake an offer first

      • you’ve made your point (twice). most everyone understands that there needs to be an agreement between teams and the player, that players don’t just get to pick where they want to play. stop trying to sound more informed by stating the obvious

      • it gets kind of annoying when someone says, x should play at z. that is maykol’s point. players don’t just get to pick where they think they are going to be a good fit.

      • I think you guys are being harsh. All the stakeholders in the game have some degree of power in the politics of transfers, no different from a “real world” professional using a headhunter. He can’t “demand” to play for a Dutch team, but he can certainly tell his agent to identify a market in these places and see if he can source a bid — Agudelo can even relax some of his salary considerations in order to either sweeten the pot or fund the payment of the fee (or some portion thereof). Players don’t just have to wait by the phone all day… there are plenty of proactive strategies available to them and their agents. For example, I would think that the fee Stoke just paid should benchmark him well enough to draw an audience, particularly as scouting a comprehensive US-based player pool is often a luxury expense for these clubs. In a case where an EPL club as already set the player’s market value (to some extent at least), a smaller club can have great comfort in the carrying value of their investment than they would relying on their own (limited) in house diligence.

      • Yes I said Agudelo by accident. Point is the same. Maybe it’s best at this point to transition the Brek Shea name out anyway at this point, and least until he stops staining it so consistently

      • Ali dia,

        The point is no one here was, I think, party to the negotiations between Brek, Dallas FC ,MLS and whatever clubs were interested in his services.
        So we don’t know how they were conducted and what preferences if any Brek stated. Or if moves to clubs in Holland, France, Italy, or Tierra Del Fuego were even possible.
        All we know is Stoke bought him.

      • Fair enough. As an afterthought, I loved the glum finality of your final sentence “All we know is Stoke bought him”, which could be used as-is in a long-cold Missing Persons report, and which is now the clubhouse leader for the epitaph on my own tombstone. Word.

    • I think what people do not realize about the Stoke move, is that Shea was brought in to fit Tony Pulis’ system. Unfortunately, Pulis was gone before the season started, with Hughes making player moves of his own. Shea was injured in a preseason “friendly” with the Philly Union (bastards!) so he simply never got much of a chance to prove his worth to Hughes. It happens all of the time in this game.

      That being said, Brek Shea’s biggest liability is between his ears. It was true here in Dallas, that’s for sure. Until Brek matures emotionally and mentally, he will never be the complete player that his formidable talent suggests.

      Reply
    • Ajax or PSV would take Shea? Are you serious?! The only reason either of these clubs would take on Shea would be for him to clean the dressing rooms!

      Reply
      • I meant to reply to a comment posted above by “argh”. He mentioned that Shea should try to go to Holland and play for the likes of PSV, Ajax – which is just plain silly.

    • Outside Cameron I didn’t understand the Stoke magnet, they used to play a 442 hoofball style like the Dynamo at their most negative. It was effective under Pulis for a bit, and I know there is some sort of link to Orlando ownership (or was), but it’s the same kind of one after another silliness where everyone signed at Fulham and only Dempsey actually played. Rangers a few years back is one of the few times a whole clique of Americans succeeded at the same foreign team.

      People can say you can only go where you are wanted but you can be persistent like Kamara (OK, if not Norwich, then Boro), and there is enough spread across various Championship teams where there is obviously interest there.

      I see the bigger problem as perceived American inexpensiveness at cross-purposes with the work permit in the UK. The quality and indispensibleness needed to get the caps to get the permit drives your price up and then you become too expensive to be a cheap gap filler like we used to be. You become a major signing like Jozy expected to pay off, or you don’t sign at all like Landon because ManU and the elite don’t want you and the teams that do aren’t interested in our cost.

      Considering what Jozy did and AJ is doing in Holland, as well as Agudelo getting a fresh start there, maybe the trendy destination is changing (and should be). I continue to think some of the better leagues for Americans to make their mark are the second tier Northern European ones, not necessarily the obvious England.

      Reply
      • “another silliness where everyone signed at Fulham and only Dempsey actually played.”

        Gee, and all this time I thought Boca and McBride played a little bit at Fulham. I guess I just imagined that they named a pub after McBride and that Boca once scored 5 goals for them.

  15. For the most part I am pretty enthusiastic about what the USMNT has become and the direction of our players. But there are bad days. And right now, I’m thinking the “American Messi” is never actually coming other than as some kind existentialist half-joke, complete with Brek Shea’s intellectual stunting, Marvell Wynne’s undiagnosed cataracts, Alexi Lalas’s nose for the ridiculous, and Giuseppe Rossi’s nose for the exit… which is probably a good thing considering the prototype will definitely be constructed using poor Stu’s knees.

    This too shall pass… Sigh.

    Reply
    • There may never be an American Messi, but then there aren’t any other Messis. The US can field a good team and win a lot without a global superstar.

      Reply
      • Yes you’re right of course. Not having a Messi is a common problem and at least we don’t show withdrawal symptoms like Barcelona does when their dosage gets cut back. Heck, I’m proud that we have the talent level we have in a good group instead of guys who embarrass us… for the most part we have a collective character and identity that does not involve diving, cynical tactics, or individuals making divas of themselves (this label is occasionally applied to Donovan, which in my view really shows how few “problem” players we have). And we should always feel good about our chances of getting to the World Cup, which is a plus, even though we will all still feel some combination of anger and nausea when we go out. That’s life for 31 sets of fans. And we do win sometimes, although we don’t seem to enjoy leading.

        I suppose I wouldn’t mind if Brek just started branding himself as the “American Messy”… I would enjoy that, provided he did not attempt any explanation of it using any medium, which would most certainly be even more sad.

      • Forget about the American Messi. We need to find the next Donovan. There’s absolutelly nothing on the pipeline.

      • It’s true. We haven’t replaced him… and there are times when I’m reading an article about Ben Lederman knowing that a person looking at my screen is probably much more convinced that I am a pedaphile than a soccer junkie. We have good players but not a “wow” talent like he brought back then. Sometimes I drive to LAX and wait by the gates to see if another Landon is coming back to the mothership with his earthly belongings packed into some Leverkusen bags.

        But it never happens, even with Klinsi mining the Bundesliga full-time for Americans. I see plenty of one-time successor Freddy Adu on my visits, who is always running somewhere. It reminds me of that movie “Up in the Air” which is also depressing but as I recall that guy was flying around all the time firing people, instead of being fired.

      • Brazil, for all the talent they keep producing, still have not replaced Pele.

        When you look at his overall career and his talent level, there is no American player who comes close to Donovan and there may never be a replacement.

      • Brazil has never needed to replace Pelé.

        What a stupid comment. Seriously, do you know nothing about Brazilian football?

        Ronaldo, number 9, also known as “the phenomenon” was much more important to Brazil’s success that Pelé’s ever was. To this day no one has scored more goals than he in the World Cup.

        Pelé was great but your comment is ridiculous.

      • There’s actually a nice article on ESPN that’s actually states the opposite. And culturally there’s no one that sniffing peles jockstrap. Ask 100 kids in my neighborhood who Ronaldo is and they ll say “oh yeah he’s number 9 on the celtics “

      • You wouldn’t say that if you actually saw Pele play. I was lucky enough to see the NY Cosmos version. It wasn’t the same thing as the Pele of WC 1970 or earlier, but a mediocre aging Pele was still an incredible player. What has Messi done in the WC? What has Argentina done with him? Pele won three WCs and was a big factor in the first and the last. He was injured during the 1962 WC in Chile and missed the final. Plus the dictatorship in Brazil had a law that he couldn’t sign w/ a foreign club.

      • I even think while Messi scores a lot of goals, he’ s not even been a fraction of the WC player that Maradona was. And it was drugs that took Diego down. He could have been an even better player which is frightening. But Messi is great for Barcelona but has never been a factor at the WC.

      • I did see Pele play live for the Cosmos and the thing that struck me about him,besides his overall skill level, was how well he took care of himself.

        The Cosmos were playing the Rowdies at the time and Rodney Marsh was giving Pele a lot of grief. On one play, Marsh wound up sliding out of bounds near Pele and as Pele went to get the ball for the throw in he very carefully noted the location of the linesmen and the referees and then proceed to jump on Rodney and grind his cleats into Rodney’s chest, not his face which would have left a more noticeable mark.

  16. MLS get him, he would do good with timbers or even red bull, I can’t think of another team, or how about galaxy?

    Reply
      • It will come down to who is on top of the allocation order.

        Hahaha, just kidding, Seattle or LA will get him.

      • Hmm, let me see here. If I’m the Galaxy and my only true winger is Robbie Rogers, yes. I’ll take my chances with Shea.

      • In case you haven’t noticed, our wingers are now:
        1. L Donovan
        2. G Zardes
        3. R Rogers
        4. S Ishizaki

        Shea would be on the bench behind Donovan and Zardes.

      • You’re forgetting the formation JK uses. Eddie Johnson has been brought on both as a winger and as a striker. To me, his role is more appropriate on the left edge. Additionally, Zusi – who will make the team – has been traditionally placed by JK on the wing as a replacement on the right for Donovan. The wing will also be where Bedoya is stationed. And don’t forget that if JK wants to – which he shouldn’t – he can move Fabian Johnson into the LW role as well.

    • Shea would do very good with arena due to the quality of the team, timbers given that porter loves young n hungry players and red bull, which red bull is own by Henry will make Shea suk it up.
      There is no other teAm right…..

      Reply
  17. This headline hurts my head.

    Shea needs to get his butt back to MLS. I am amazed how poorly this move has gone after it got off to such a great start with that epic interview on SkySports after he signed with Stoke.

    Reply
    • Shea to nycfc next year and not as a dp. Come to think of it I don’t know if Kries could put up with him if he hasn’t outgrown some of this stuff.

      Reply
      • Wouldn’t he have to go through the allocation order? Or one of those 24 other mindless processes whereby the league assignes marginal players to teams through a wholly untransparent method?

  18. so funny how the fans can throw sh1t at players, verbally abuse them, be totally disrespectful but can’t take a middle finger. as a fan, i would be pumped if a player gave me the bird.

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      • Actually saw a friend get that response once at a basketball game. The dude taking the foul shot got a technical for flipping off the fan. Apparently some Eastern Europeans don’t like being called a goat lover (in cruder terms).

    • Professionalism. I understand he’s human but he’s on a loan and trying to salvage his Engish career and you might want to control yourself better while you’re in this kind of trial position. He has to be better than the jerk with the mouth.

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    • I’m totally convinced he will make it unless Julian Green replaces him. I wouldn’t mind personally if that is what it took to get Green. If it was like anyone else Bedoya, no way. or even Joe Corona still no.

      I dunno why but Brek rubs me the wrong way. That said he is super fast and has a left foot. Meh. I don’t care much either way if he goes or not.

      Reply
      • I agree that he is going to Brazil, even though he shouldn’t. I guess JK likes his ability to provide something different? I’m not a fan.

      • Are you delusional ? Joe Corona is way more deserving of a roster spot. He plays more for his club team and he was a solid starter ahead of Shea during the Gold Cup! I’m not too sure but I think Gringo Torres and Holden even got more minutes.

      • Shea is thought to be there because of the speed he brings with his left foot. Corona is redundant and Shea is more on his own in terms of what he brings

      • Yup, that kinda my point…..But he is “different.” Different meaning really fast in straight lines. But are both Gringo Torres and Corona better players? Yes they very much are.

      • We can’t rely on Shea’s being “different” at the WC Portugal, Ghana and Germany will capitalize on his 10 mistakes before he makes that one magical run! This is the WC not concacaf or League one or stoke reserves

      • Oh, I know it. That’s why I would like him cut. I really can’t see anyone on the USMNT really being shocked or upset by it.

        Any advantage he would give going forward would be negated by his inability to play defense/soccer.

      • Really? Hmmm…
        I’m judging a lot about him from what I saw in the Gold Cup last summer. I didn’t see it. That said I never watched him on FC Dallas or really outside of that.

      • Mr. 0,

        You don’t have a guy like Brek around for defense, though , as someone else pointed, he does that well..

        You have him there because when he has his head on straight, he is big, strong, fast, relentless and will actually attack a defense, something few other Americans seem willing to do. He makes things happen.

        And he can do it from either wing. Defenders don’t like guys like him.

        Most of his runs come to nothing but he can be a very big distraction and besides, he only needs to break one or two for him to be worth it.

        If Green declares for the US then Julian most likely replaces as the instant offense off the bench but otherwise, no other American can do what Brek does.

      • Hi GW,

        Yes, I understand he is unique on the US team. That’s why I rather neutral regarding him. I wouldn’t know what to do with him if I was Jurgen.

      • I don’t think he’ll ever be a lock to start for us, even after a lot of the older guys retire, but he has the ability to be a great late-game sub. You put Brad Davis out there, he’s not blow past defenders and get crosses in or pull something off like the goal Brek scored against CR in the GC. Davis and almost all of the other players are way too disciplined for that. Of course Brek will lose the ball most of the time, but sometimes his forays come off and in the past he has had a knack for producing game changing moments late in games for the national team.

      • Exactly. The guy can break a game…for either team.

        Especially against a team that is not overly large or athletic, like, say, Portugal, Shea can be a matchup nightmare. We’ve seen him be a nightmare to the likes of Mexico as well. He’s too big and they can’t run with him.

        If you’re trailing Portugal by 1 and you absolutely, positively need a goal with 20 or 25 minutes left…why not give Shea a shot? He gets hot, he can really do some damage. We’ve seen it time and again. Of course, he can literally stink out loud, too, but hey, that’s why they call it gambling.

        Nobody else in the US pool gives you that chance, and Klinsmann probably knows it.

      • I am not sure who you bring off, it probably depends upon who is having a bad game. Shea will be aggressive and it might work, but he will not replace the soccer brain who comes off, so putting him is a roll of the dice, hoping what he does well will overshadow what he fails to do well.

        Wow is the response slow!

      • You take off whomever is on the LM for that match. It’s where JK has traditionally brought Shea on for in the last 20-25 minute stretch.

    • Mixed bag, he looked better than many people in Cyprus so I don’t think this defeats his camp chances, but this might kill his PT for the balance of the season and hurt him over the next two months. I think he gets called for camp but maybe has to deal with the lingering effects of rust and fitness he’ll pick up…..remember how he played last summer against Cuba….

      This might be a good time to suggest a MLS loan.

      Reply

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