The first time I saw Sean as an under17 national, I was impressed with his skills on the ball and I thought well he maybe one for the future. After seeing him in the under 17 World Cup, he looked overwhelmed by the level of play, and as you know he ended sitting on the pine for most of the tournament. He lost a lot of confidence during that tournament, I thought. Well, fast forward that moment to now and it looks like not much have changed other than the fact that he got older. Well, I would be lying if I said he doesn't have any confidence at all, he does have a little bit.
After seeing him in a couple of preseason games for the Earthquakes, I wondered what happened to Sean. He is dangerous as a dead ball specialist and on corners but that is about it. His field of play was lacking in most areas that a midfielder must have to play and make a difference at the MLS level or any level above college and minor league football for that matter. He lacked creativity, vision, the desire to want the ball, the technical skills to get out of tight situations, and the ability to turn on a dime from a defender. It was as though Sean was not sure of his role on the field. He was not impressive at all. Just was not good enough for the MLS level of play. I came away from his performance or should I say lack of performance feeling very disappointed. I thought maybe Coach Yallop did not explain things clearly to Sean. It looked as though he did not want to be on that team. If that was the case then why even train with them if you are not going to try to impress the coach. You never know who could be watching you.
That is my take on what I saw from Sean DeSilva.