Brek Shea’s importance to FC Dallas at this pivotal point of the season is crucial.
Head coach Schellas Hyndman is only too aware of that ahead of Dallas’ trip to Chicago on Wednesday, with his sides playoff hopes on the line. Speaking on Monday exclusively on ExtraTime Radio, Hyndman revealed Shea will be jumping on a plane from New York to Chicago on Wednesday morning, after the US national team's friendly with Ecuador on Tuesday night (7 pm ET, ESPN2, Univisión, live chat on MLSsoccer.com).
“I spoke to Jurgen and the idea was to have [Shea] come back after the first game,” Hyndman said. “But because of an injury to [Landon] Donovan, he felt like he needed him. So after the US game, Brek is going to fly out to Chicago and he will be on the bench with us.”
Shea has been the main catalyst for Dallas all season long as they currently sit fourth in the Western Conference, needing a positive result against Chicago at Toyota Park. Having scored 10 goals and added three assists so far this year, Shea's impact even from the bench could prove the difference against an in-form Fire side.
“We hope that we don’t have to use him,” Hyndman said. “But I’d rather we have him on the bench [in Chicago] than back in Dallas.”
The towering Texas native has received much hype after his recent performances for the US national team, and while Hyndman praised Shea’s performance in the 1-0 win over Honduras Saturday, he feels there is even more to come from Shea in a US jersey.
“From what I saw I think he had a good game [against Honduras],” Hyndman said. “But there is so much more to come from him. You saw the ball he sent across that led to the goal and he got to the baseline two or three different times, he is capable of doing that many more times throughout the game. I think he has done extremely well.”
