Top Stories

Report: Shea to go on 10-day training stint with Orlando City

Brek Shea Stoke City (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Brek Shea might currently be in the beginning stages of his Stoke City offseason, but that is not stopping him from going to train with a U.S.-based club.

According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, Shea is set to begin a 10-day training stint with USL Pro’s Orlando City on Thursday. The 24-year-old winger is coming off a season in England in which he made a combined nine appearances for Stoke City and Barnsley, and is apparently keen on keeping his fitness up ahead of the upcoming preseason.

News of the training stint with the MLS-bound Lions should not be completely surprising given that Shea has some connections with the club. His former agent, Paul McDonough, is now Orlando City’s general manager and club president Phil Rawlins recently ended a 14-year stay as a Stoke City director.

The report states that those connections have Orlando City interested in acquiring Shea for their first season in MLS. Shea’s rights in the league do not belong to his former club, FC Dallas, because it lost his MLS rights when it sold him to Stoke back in January 2013.

Shea was hoping to be included in the U.S. Men’s National Team headed for the World Cup in Brazil this summer, but his lack of appearances at the club level seemed to have doomed his chances. He was not included in the 30-man provisional roster that Jurgen Klinsmann announced a couple of weeks ago.

—–

What do you make of Shea training at Orlando City? Surprised to see him training with a club at the start of his offseason? Would you like to the see Lions make an effort to sign him ahead of their MLS debut in 2015?

Share your thoughts below.

 

Comments

  1. This would be good for all parties involved.

    Shea needs a solid place to land and get playing time. Shea is a good player with potential to be very good (if he can grow up a little and work hard). He has name recognition which will be a good thing for Orlando City as well.

    Reply
  2. Shea’s main issue is that he is a hot headed player. He is always getting in trouble with his coaches, fans, etc. He wanted to make it in England but he crashed and burned. The grass is always greener on the pitches of Europe.

    Reply
  3. From MLS MVP contender to epl to USL ….lost soccer generation indeed. Thankfully Germany developed our soccer future for us

    Reply
  4. I’d like to see a MLS club sign both Kljestan and Shea. Kljestan distributes really well to wingers, finding them quickly on the ground. Kljestan had a lot of success getting it wide then making runs into the box. Also Shea needs that vision from the midfield to bring him into the game. I think they would be a good match.

    Reply
  5. it’s not a bad plan, especially if they get Kaka and Robinho too. either way, Shea needs playing time and if that means coming back to MLS, then he needs to do it.

    Reply
    • Kaka I would love to see. But I wouldn’t spend a nickel on Robinho (not even on a free transfer) unless the two were tied as a package for some reason. I don’t think a single club has ever felt they got their money’s worth out of him. Except Santos, where he will likely be headed as soon as both parties decide it isn’t working. Which won’t be very long.

      At least as far as reliability and professionalism go, Robinho is the Brazilian Brek Shea. And I’m not sure either of them could find Orlando on a map.

      Reply
  6. Yea, i always had Shea on my imaginary roster for the World Cu and thought he could be one of our breakout stars in Brazil. I know he is frustratingly inconsistent, but there is still no one on our team who can do what he does on the outside and with the speed and size he has. But hey, no crying over spilt milk, glad to see he is working hard and 2018 will be his time!

    Reply
  7. I really like Shea – his size and speed on the wing can’t be taught, dude is a horse. I thought he might have a shot as being a late game sub on this year’s WC squad, bullying tired defenders late in games. But, admittedly he was admittedly inconsistent in form in the Gold Cup and obviously struggled in England.

    Not surprised that he wasn’t called in to the 30 man camp, but I am hopeful that his work ethic will allow him to continue being in consideration for 2016/2018 squads.

    Good luck Breky Brek.

    Reply
  8. There’s always the expansion draft around the corner 🙂
    By the way, Shea is better than Davis and zusi. Shea reminds me of player who needs to play his real position no matter what since he was born to play that position. Simple as that 🙂

    Reply
      • Not better than Zusi, but I’d say better than Davis when he’s on and his head is right.

      • He’s better than Davis when you talk about overall talent. But Davis is way way way more consistent in every aspect.

      • Brek is a great athlete who needs to become a great soccer player, and has fallen behind the curve considerably over the last 18-24 months. He has some great skiils and an ability to beat people one-on-one around the box. This is a rare commodity for USMNT players, but it’s not enough on its own.

        He would do well to look at Davis, whose career really started to change when he was about Brek’s age. Focus and consistency turned Davis from a tricky but ulitmately expendable winger, into an MVP candidate, and a day-in, day-out force for a perennial top-5 MLS team.

        As a Galaxy fan, I’ve disliked Davis for a long time now. Becuse he is a nuisance for 90 minutes and a fantastic player. I don’t begrudge the guy his success — I’m looking forward to seeing him be a thorn in somebody else’s side for a change (though I’d prefer it wasn’t other USMNT fans)

  9. One thing I appreciate about Brek is that he is always wanting to improve with no preconceived limitations of how to achieve that. Maybe we will see him back in MLS next year

    Reply
  10. Anything that gets Shea on the field is a good thing. If that means a move back to MLS, so be it. The guy just needs to be playing before he’s even a part of any other conversation.

    Reply
    • The Stoke – OC linkages might be useful for dealing with the basic conundrum that he has a 4.5 year deal to which either side could probably hold the other. Presumably Stoke loans (if they want the door open) or releases (if they’ve made their mind up) him to OC, who pays him in the neighborhood of what his Stoke deal was, perhaps with a small paycut. Stoke clears him out for a bit and he gets a chance to rebound.

      I felt like he started going downhill while he was here once the European ambitions got rolling (then he got hurt). But when healthy and motivated he was a force in MLS and relevant to the NT. He either needs to come here or drop down in Europe to a suitable league where he’ll play. But otherwise it’s another cautionary tale about European ambitions, he went from moving into the rotation to that Cuba debacle to off the 30.

      Reply
      • Well said, TIV. I hope the best for Brek—I still remember his national team debut and thinking, “This guy is going to terrify right backs: 6’3″ agile speedster.” Maybe he gets back there…

      • I see some Dempsey in him. But Dempsey went from good to Something Else when he became less of the dancing stepover merchant he started out as at NE, and more of a super-fit, hard-running, sharp-shooting player. Shea is capable of interesting skill and incisive runs and passes but is also only seemingly good for a few of those runs a game. He needs to be super fit, relentless, and maybe a little better playing defense too.

      • Dempsey’s biggest problem is he has bad socks. Everytime he dives, it takes him forever to fix his socks as he sits on the ground looking for some call

      • Edu is on loan with Philly from Stoke and he had to go through allocation. as a DP. so who knows what MLS will come up with this time.

      • Hopefully this leads to a loan to OCFC this summer.

        USL Pro teams don’t have to abide by the MLS allocation rules, and OCFC doesn’t join the MLS ranks until January.

      • Loans have always gone through allocation. Charlie Davies was allocated on loan from Socheaux to DC.

      • i didn’t say otherwise. i was pointing out that even a DP coming in on loan was subject to allocation. something that MLS decided at that moment because they didn’t “pay a transfer fee”. basically, im just saying MLS is gonna do what they want.

Leave a Comment