SB Nation - Daniel Hernandez

FC Dallas Scouting Report : From the Ashes

sidereal — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:00:12 -0000

The Sounders put a big dent in Chivas USA's playoff chances last week and have a chance to finish them off with a knockout punch next week. Sandwiched between is the first of a one-two punch against the other team vying for the playoff spot the Vancouver Whitecaps seem so desperate to vacate.

FC Dallas won three matches in the first four months of their season — from March to the middle of July. Earlier this month they won three matches in a week. That's the difference that David Ferreira makes in their midfield. A single player making that much difference to a team might be hard to believe, for anyone who wasn't a Sounders fan and considered what would happen if Osvaldo Alonso were absent for a year.

It's probably no coincidence that both keystone players are central midfielders. Alonso is the glue that holds Seattle's defense together, but Ferreira is his mirror image. He's the glue that makes Dallas' offense work. In those four Ferreira-less months, the Hoops scored 2 or more goals three times. They've scored at least twice 5 times in the month and a half he's been back.

Unfortunately for Schellas Hyndman and his players, it's probably too late. Even their scorching pace coinciding with the ongoing collapse of the Whitecaps leaves a difficult road to a playoff spot for Dallas, who have to play Seattle twice more and San Jose again in a treacherous close to the season. On the plus side, they face Vancouver head-to-head once and Chivas USA twice, so they'll have plenty of 6-pointers to contest. But to have a real shot they have to beat the teams at the top, too. They failed against Los Angeles last week and will have to try again to prove they can do it tonight against the Sounders.

Here's the average position map from their loss to the Galaxy. The lineup against Seattle should be largely similar, though they will likely have Blas Perez in at the start and Fabian Castillo out with a hamstring injury.

The narrowness in the offensive half is mostly a result of wing switching. Brek Shea had quite a few events on the right wing in the first half, so he averages a central position. But make no mistake, Dallas is a team that can attack the wings. Shea tends to stay out wide before cutting in for a shot and Castillo burns up the right sideline with his pace.

Julian de Guzman was a nice midseason pickup for FC Dallas after a seemingly endless career of disappointment as a Designated Player for Toronto FC. He's now doing a decent job of holding down the central midfield and is threatening to move Dallas talisman (and all-around nice guy) Daniel Hernandez to the bench.

Despite playing a midweek game in CCL play, Seattle's lineup won't be dictated by injuries or fitness. The team is as healthy as it's been all season, with only reserve Andy Rose a recent addition to the injured list and Steve Zakuani and David Estrada both recovering from long term injuries. And even though there's a short turnaround for this match, the schedule further ahead is as light as we've seen all season. After working through the grinder of two games a week for months, Seattle is a on a steady diet of one game a week for the next few weeks, until we see CCL play again against Marathon.

So the usual starters should be starting, with the caveat that there is no usual left wing starter. Brad Evans has staked a strong claim for it after being bumped out of central midfield by DP Christian Tiffert. His crosses with his left foot haven't been stellar, but he's been able to contribute to the attack when he cuts in, including an assist against Chivas. Mario Martinez is also a contender but is less available after playing a lot of minutes on Thursday and heading off to join Honduras for a World Cup qualifier in Cuba on the 7th. Steve Zakuani's availability continues to be a question mark (as is the question of whether he'll play at wing or forward). And there's Alex Caskey as well.

As familiarity continues to develop between Fredy Montero, Tiffert, Mauro Rosales, and Eddie Johnson, they will get even more dangerous, which should terrify the rest of the league. But against Dallas the Seattle fullbacks may be the most important players. Alonso will be tasked with keeping Ferreira from having too much time on the ball, which will drive the Dallas attack to the wings, from where they're quite comfortable attacking anyway. Zach Scott has made a bit of a name for himself keeping Brek Shea in his pocket, but he's a significant offensive liability compared to Adam Johansson. Assuming the Swede plays, he'll have to put in heavy work against Brek Shea. And even without Castillo, the right wing will have to be covered carefully by Leo Gonzalez (or Marc Burch). If all of that works out, the only danger left is the individual ability of Perez to create chances, but if he's isolated from Ferreira the Seattle center backs should be able to manage him.

And that will give Seattle's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse the freedom to run over de Guzman, George John, and rookie center back Matt Hedges just as they tore up the Chivas USA back line. Montero and Johnson are scoring for fun, and if Dallas wants a win here to springboard them back into playoff contention, they might need 3 goals to do it — a feat that Alonso, Michael Gspurning, and company will make tremendously difficult.

What's on my mind - August 31 Edition

Daniel Robertson — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 23:10:26 -0000

Ah another edition of what's on my mind....lots and lots we could talk about around the soccer world but here's the top three things kicking around in my head right now.

Dempsey to Tottenham

Texan Clint Dempsey is headed to Tottenham on a 3-year deal for around 6m pounds. He wanted to go to Liverpool, but they wouldn't offer up the money

As a Fulham fan(one of the few who wanted Dempsey to go), I'm happy that FFC was able to get a decent, if still small, fee for the player and I think Dempsey has gone to a perfect club. At Spurs, he has some stuff competition for playing time, but it's a club that will have a ton of games to play between Carling Cup, FA Cup, Europa League and Premier League. There will be no problem for minutes to go around.

A good club that tends to do things the right way rather than Liverpool who seem to make one mistake after the next. I said it on Twitter and I'll say it here: Daniel Levy is the Jon Daniels of the Premier League.

Keep reading

The Future of Zach Loyd

In watching Zach Loyd today, I was just hugely impressed by his first touch and vision on the pitch. It got me to thinking, is right back really the long-term spot for Loyd? I would imagine he signs a new contract here soon and is quickly becoming one of the faces of the franchise.

With outside backs like Carlos Rodriguez, London Woodberry and even Boyd Okwuono in the waiting, would it behoove FCD to begin to groom Loyd for a defensive midfield position? I would just really love to see what Loyd has to offer at the position as he is one of the fittest players on the team, can cover a ton of ground, has good vision and can certainly tackle the ball. Just thinking out loud....

Warshaw's Situation Highlights League Deficiencies

Bobby Warshaw was really good in practice today in the 5v5 games. His team won almost all their games and he was flying around the pitch like a madman trying to impress the coach. Bobby was making some huge steps forward early in the season and was the first option behind Daniel Hernandez, starting two games in a row before breaking his foot at the end of a reserve game in Kansas City.

It was really just an awful injury for a player that looked to be set to compete for a starting spot, but Warshaw has obviously recovered and is very hungry for playing time. The problem is, this is what Schellas said when I asked him today about Bobby and how crucial the upcoming friendly/reserve games are for him:

Those are the environments that we need to see him in. These are nice little competitive games but we’re looking at 35 yards by 30. Not a lot of space to get exploited in or space to go at someone so the game is the best teacher and the game is also the best place to look at the player.

The problem is, Bobby has been in practice for well over a month now, almost six weeks. You can completely understand wanting to see a player in a game before putting him out in an MLS environment, but Warshaw has literally not had one game he can play to impress the coach as Dallas hasn't played an official MLS Reserve game since June 16! Having not scheduled any other friendlies, there hasn't been a single game to get his match fitness back.

That is a huge deficiency in the MLS system and something that needs to be fixed. Not one un-official or reserve game in nearly three months? It's a problem for both coaches and players.

The Three Biggest Factors (Beyond Ferreira) behind Dallas' Resurgence

Daniel Robertson — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:20:48 -0000

As I read the Ferreira article again, it made me realize that while Ferreira deserves the lion's share of credit for turning things around, simply praising him and ignoring everyone else is a pretty big injustice. Here are my three biggest reasons (beyond Ferreira) that things have turned around.

3. Julian de Guzman's insertion into the lineup

With all due respect to everything Daniel Hernandez has done to stabilize the midfield in 2009 and 2010 (which will probably be forever underrated by many fans), the trade for Julian de Guzman could end up being the best move of the entire season. The Canadian has provided a range in the midfield that was missing while bringing out the best side of Andrew Jacobson's game. Perhaps the thing I've been most impressed with is just how rare it is that JDG turns the ball over in bad areas. He's so good in tight space that most times he's able to wriggle out of trouble and find the open man or at least dump the ball to safety.

While David Ferreira brings out the best in everyone else's game, you wonder if Julian de Guzman brings out the best in Ferreira....

Keep reading

2. Fabian Castillo Raising His Game

It's clear for all to see the effect that Ferreira has on Fabian Castillo's game, but it's not fair to Fabian to simply chalk all of his success up to Torito. You've got to make the runs and put the ball in the net too, some would even say that's the most important part.

We've seen flashes of greatness out of Castillo before but his last month he has simply come of age. It's truly amazing to think about what Castillo has done when you realize he turned 20 years old just a couple months ago. Castillo has four goals and two assists in eight games while three of those four goals opened the scoring in the game and the other one was the game-winner in Colorado.

Out of the 41 players in Major League Soccer with at least five goals, Castillo is the youngest by nearly two years.

1. Kevin Hartman

Where would FC Dallas be in this stretch without Kevin "El Gato" Hartman? I wrote about it after the Colorado game where Dallas would not have won if Hartman hadn't saved their butts and that's the same for games in Vancouver and Salt Lake as well. All you need to do is go back and watch the highlights to see big Hartman saves before the Dallas goals.

You're watching a living legend in action.

Honorable Mentions

Matt Hedges proving that he's a slam dunk finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year...Contributions from homegrowns coming off the bench...No red cards

What is the Optimum Lineup and Bench for FC Dallas?

Daniel Robertson — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:53:29 -0000

With the signing of Jara today and the loan of Ruben Luna yesterday, it looks like FC Dallas is probably done with their player transactions for the season leaving just the 7 game sprint to the finish for Dallas as they try to sneak into the playoffs and make some noise in the Western Conference.

The team isn't drastically different than it was a month ago, they've only added two players and subtracted two homegrowns, but with injured players coming back and suspensions having been (mostly) curbed, it almost feels like new additions to the roster have been made.

So with seven games to go, what is the ideal XI for FCD and what kind of bench should they throw out there assuming everyone is ready to go? Here's mine

Keep reading

I think the starting XI is pretty straight forward except for maybe choosing Fabian Castillo over Jackson. I actually think Jackson is probably a better player, but with goals in his last three games coupled with the obvious affect that David Ferreira has on the youngster, it's pretty straight forward.

Also, you have to take into account the fact that Dallas is trying to win every game from here, a draw isn't acceptable, and the other fact that Jackson seems to generally be much better in the second half than the first half.

In the midfield, I chose Julian de Guzman over Daniel Hernandez and I think that one is pretty straight forward as well. The Canadian has been more than serviceable at the position and I think an underrated aspect of his play is how it seems to bring much better play out of Andrew Jacobson in front of him with a little less defensive duty.

The bench is kind of a tough one to decipher. With Ugo Ihemelu out for what should be the rest of the year, Hernan Pertuz is a slam dunk and you've really got a starting quality center back there in reserves which is obviously a huge benefit.

Carlos Rodriguez is definitely a slam dunk as he can fill in at all four flank positions and is a glue guy you have to have on the gameday roster.

Things get a little muddled when you figure out which defensive midfielder(s) to include as you've got three serviceable ones in Daniel Hernandez, James Marcelin and Bobby Warshaw. I think Warshaw will end up being the most important of the three next season, but right now you're looking for experience and I think Hernandez is a guy that you need out there if you're trying to hold onto a lead in the last ten minutes while Marcelin also gets the nod.

Jackson and Jara are also obvious choices which leaves two big holes, a backup for Ferreira and a true backup for Andrew Jacobson. There's really no linking midfielder in this as if you have to bring Marcelin or Hernandez in, things turn decidedly defensive in the midfield, while as long as Ricardo Villar is injured and Bryan Leyva is not trusted by the coaching staff, there's really no one on the roster to sub for Ferreira.

Did I get it right, is there a different starting XI or bench you'd like to see?

Real Salt Lake 1 - FC Dallas 2 - Reaction and Recap

denz — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:33:09 -0000

Sorry for the delay in getting all of this posted, it was a combination of frustration and a busy weekend. So I will get this out early and then be done with it, while I can rarely blame a loss on an official who doesn't issue a stupid red card or an undeserved PK, I can say that I thought the officiating on Saturday night was at least inconsistent and at worst incompetent. The play which resulted in Tony Beltran getting a yellow card was a foul that was called in RSL's favor and the ref called advantage when there was any, then Tony slides in on a rough tackle of Hernandez which he is give the card for, the whistle should have blown on the original foul.

The yellow given to Kwame Watson Siriboe was a joke as he jumped to head the ball on goal and his eyes were on the ball and at no time was their a deliberate collision with the FC Dallas defender, it was instead it seemed like a reaction to the FC Dallas player staying down after the play. There was contact as both players were looking at the ball with Kwame going forward and John going backwards, but I don't see how you call a foul on one over the other. It results in a play in which George John was clearly attended to by a trainer but deliberately attempted to stay on the pitch despite the rule that players receiving medical attention have to leave the pitch until the ref waves them back into the action. It was only after the ref told him to leave the pitch that he did, and I believe he likely should have gotten a yellow card for time wasting, but that wasn't the first or last time FC Dallas players would do this, it started with Jair Benitez in the 4th minute of the match and continued all night long.

Now this play results in actually two yellows for RSL, the second would come later but you can see Juan Guzman the official start to react to Fabian Espindola's complaint about the card. That would continue as just a couple minutes later when a semi foul by Daniel Hernandez goes uncalled but a similar play just seconds later by Fabi is called, that is the inconsistency that drives players (and me nuts). Then in what should have been a clear yellow to Kevin Hartman for delaying the restart, the ball goes out for a goal kick at 24:03, but Hartman waits to start while Benitez gets a drink and has a chat with Schellas Hyndman, 30 seconds after the ball goes out and FC Dallas hasn't restarted the match a yellow is given to Fabi for dissent. Nothing is said to FC Dallas for delaying the start of the match, again something they would do all night long, that play took them over 1 minute to restart from the time the ball went out until the ball was back in play.

After the jump, more thoughts and the official match recap:

It was that type of thing all night, combined with FC Dallas playing it up on tackles all night long that resulted in a match that I believe Juan Guzam thought RSL was slighting him and he called the match as such, but in the second half a lot of things went uncalled that looked like fouls against both teams. Perhaps the controversy of the night is the late non-handball call against Jackson on a cross by Tony Beltran, now the camera angle sucks on this play but I was at most 7-10 yards from it and while Jackson jumped up, and sure looked like it hit his arm to me and bounced down. Now the AR had a good angle on this play as well but indicated nothing, I talked to a couple of photographers with similar angles and two thought it was a hand ball and two didn't see the play. The fans behind me seemed to think it was a handball, but no call was made. That play in stoppage time directly lead to the winning goal for FC Dallas, it was typical of what I think was a very inconsistently called match. RSL had plenty of chances on the night but to me this was a match that simply was impacted the entire 90 plus minutes by an inexperienced official who started out calling a tight match and then simply refused to make many calls after giving 3 yellows in short order in the first half.

So another loss at home for RSL, one in which they had plenty of chances and one in which we saw FC Dallas play like a team that was tired and looking for every advantage they could get and it worked for them. I thought on a night where RSL dominated every stat except the final score we can see how it was frustrating for the team, staff and fans and heading into Tuesday's CCL match on has to hope for better finishing.

Here is the official match recap from RSL Communications:

RSL ALLOWS STOPPAGE TIME WINNER TO FALL 2-1 TO FC DALLAS

David Ferriera's 94^th-Minute Stunner Sends RSL to 4^th-Straight Loss

SANDY, Utah (Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012) - Real Salt Lake (13-10-3, 42 points, West #2) lost in brutal fashion on Saturday night, conceding a stoppage-time winner to fall 2-1 to FC Dallas (8-11-8, 32 points, West #6) in front of a sold-out crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium. The loss is the fourth-straight across all competitions for Real Salt Lake.

MF David Ferreira scored the decisive goal for Dallas, finishing a counterattack by collecting MF Brek Shea's pass and slamming a 15-yard shot inside the top right corner in the 94^th minute.

RSL ran out a makeshift starting lineup, beginning the game with captain Kyle Beckerman, leading scorer Álvaro Saborío and regular MF Will Johnson on the bench after all three played 90 minutes for their respective national teams on Wednesday.

Despite the provisional first XI, RSL was the better team for the entire game, dictating the play and creating a multitude of chances. The Claret-and-Cobalt had its first opportunity in the 11^th minute. MF Javier Morales played FW Fabían Espíndola in on the left edge of the area, allowing the Argentine striker to rip a first-time shot to the near post that Dallas GK Kevin Hartman parried away for a corner.

The match got a bit heated in the next 15 minutes. Both sides went in hard on several challenges, leading to some frayed nerves on the field and three yellow cards for RSL - one each for DF Tony Beltran, DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Espíndola.

Espíndola nearly put RSL up 1-0 in the 30^th minute. He collected MF Yordany Alvarez's pass at the top-right corner of the 18 and cut in on his left foot, ripping a low 20-yarder to the near post that Hartman tipped away with a fine diving save.

Real Salt Lake kept the pressure on after Espíndola's chance, coming close again in the 35^th minute. Beltran had the chance, absolutely ripping a long range curler from the right side that Hartman did incredibly well to tip away.

Beltran's chance took the game into halftime, which saw both sides make a change. RSL brought Saborío on for the yellow-carded Espindola and Dallas inserted FW Jackson for FW Jonathan Top.

RSL started the second half brightly, attacking the Dallas goal with tenacity. The Claret-and-Cobalt had its first chance of the second frame in the 51^st minute, when Saborío dribbled into the left side of the area before hitting a low shot that the onrushing Hartman blocked.

Saborío had a golden opportunity in the 55^th minute, getting on the end of a Morales free kick for a free header from the penalty spot. Unfortunately, the Costa Rican international couldn't do anything with the chance, meekly heading wide of the left post.

Dallas made RSL pay for not taking advantage of its opportunities in the 61^st minute, when MF Fabian Castillo scored against the run of play to put FCD up 1-0. Castillo combined with fellow Colombian MF David Ferreira on the play, connecting on a give-and-go with the 2010 MLS MVP to round Beltran on the left side of the box before curling a shot inside the far post from a tight angle.

Dallas got a boost from the goal, getting good looks in both the 68^th and 72^nd minutes. RSL GK Nick Rimando came up big on the second chance, diving to his right to keep out a low drive from Castillo.

RSL turned the pressure way up after Castillo's 72^nd minute opportunity and came incredibly close to equalizing in the 75^th minute. Watson-Siriboe got on the end of a Morales corner at the right post and hit a powerful header to the far post only for FCD DF Jair Benitez to clear the ball off the line.

The Claret-and-Cobalt didn't have to wait much longer for the equalizer, getting a goal from Saborío on the ensuing corner to tie the game at 1-1. Morales had the assist, hitting a corner to the right post that Saborío nodded past Hartman and inside the far post.

RSL pushed hard for the win after Saborío's goal, but couldn't quite find it, eventually getting caught out on another counter to set up Ferreira's winner. Shea led the break, collecting a pass on the left wing and switching fields to Ferreira to set the Colombian up for his screamer of a goal.

The Claret-and-Cobalt return to action on Tuesday, when they'll host Panamanian champs Tauro FC in a crucial CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage battle at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Real Salt Lake Match Notes - RSL 1-FCD 2

Saturday's loss is RSL's fourth-straight defeat across all competitions. The team hasn't won a game in over three weeks, last picking up three points in the July 27 2-1 home win over Vancouver.
Ferreira's stoppage time winner gives FCD a bit of revenge on RSL, which got a stoppage time winner of its own from DF Nat Borchers in the Claret-and-Cobalt's 3-2 home win over Dallas on May 26.
RSL finishes its regular season series with Dallas with a 1-1-1 mark. As mentioned above, the Claret-and-Cobalt beat FCD at home on May 26 - the sides tied 1-1 in their first meeting of 2012 on April 25 at FC Dallas Stadium.
Saturday's game kicked off a busy three-game in six-day stretch that will see RSL take on Tauro in the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage on Tuesday and travel to Philadelphia for a league date with the Union on Friday.
FW Álvaro Saborío's 76^th minute tally gives him 14 goals in league play, four behind San Jose's Chris Wondolowski in the race for the Golden Boot.
RSL FW and Salt Lake City native Justin Braun made his home debut on Saturday night, coming on in the 67^th minute for FW Paulo Jr. Braun, who was acquired on July 11 in a trade with Montreal, had one previous RSL appearance, starting the Claret-and-Cobalt's Aug. 4 loss at Colorado.
Real Salt Lake had four regulars start on the bench, with captain Kyle Beckerman, leading scorer Alvaro Saborio, MF Will Johnson and DF Jamison Olave all out of the first XI. Beckerman, Saborio and Johnson were available off the bench after going 90 minutes for their respective national teams on Wednesday while Olave was out with a hamstring injury suffered on July 31.
A very limited number of tickets remain for Tuesday's CCL match against Tauro. Tickets can be purchased online at www.RealSaltLake.com or by calling 801-727-2700 Mon-Sat during business hours 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fans can also purchase tickets at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office or the RSL Team Store (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) on the northeast corner of the Stadium.

OK, there you go, not a night that many RSL fans will want to remember as the struggles to get results continue as RSL still sits 5 points out of the top spot in the Western Conference and overall league standings as well, the gap with 3rd place Seattle is now just 2 points and the Sounders have 2 matches in hand. The final 8 MLS matches are going to be very interesting.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Matchday 23: FC Dallas vs Los Angeles Galaxy

Daniel Robertson — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 20:32:38 -0000

It's taken some hard work for FC Dallas (22 points, 5-10-7) to even make this sold-out match against LA Galaxy (30 points, 9-10-3) meaningful. FCD, having dropped as low as last place in the Western Conference at one point, can pull within five points of the final Western Conference playoff spot with a win while a fate of missing the playoffs can be all-but-sealed with a loss. Things are sold-out but if you don't have a seat you can probably still get a standing room only ticket and head over to the beer garden for a decent view of the action.

Game Notes

FCD Getting Healthy Amazingly, just two Dallas starters, Ugo Ihemelu and Blas Perez, will miss this match due to injury. George John will make the bench while Bobby Warshaw should at least be eligible for selection for the first time in months, though he may not make the bench for this one. Either way, injuries and fitness aren't really an excuse anymore and it has showed in recent results.

Missing Star(s?) We know that Landon Donovan, Dallas killer, will not be available tonight. However, David Beckham, mr. speedboat himself, could potentially make the bench tonight for LA, though that seems highly unlikely. It's obviously a huge break for Dallas, though you do worry that some unknown will come in and seize their opportunity. You do wonder how up for this game Robbie Keane is going to be playing in 100 degree temperatures without his stars around him.

Packed House As I mentioned earlier, tonight is sold out and the game is on NBC Sports Network. If you want to see kickoff, get there early as Main Street struggles to handle the big crowds. They're hoping to break the all-time FC Dallas game attendance record at the stadium tonight which is 22,331.

Defensive Resurgence As has always been the case with this team, defense has been behind the FCD resurgence. Dallas has allowed just one goal against in their last four home games combined.

Keep reading

Keys to the game

Keep the Mojo Flowing I don't see one reason to change a thing from last week's starting lineup. Hernandez has been playing fantastically lately while the combination of Benitez and Rodriguez was lights out dominant against the Timbers.

Frustrate Keane early Daniel Hernandez threw in a hard(but fair) challenge on Khalif Alhassan minutes into last week's game and the dangerous winger was barely heard from the rest of the game. With Donovan and Beckham likely out, I'd love to see similar treatment to Keane as I wonder how much his head is going to be in this game with the heat.

No Silly Set Pieces Even with Beckham out, the Galaxy are a very dangerous set piece team with Omar Gonzales back and a serious threat on corners while Juninho can always hit a long free kick. I really feel like Dallas can dominate this game tonight with the heat, but a great way to lose a game that you dominate is giving up silly set pieces.

Referee

REFEREE: Hilario Grajeda. SAR (bench): Peter Manikowski; JAR (opposite): Eric Proctor; 4th: Armando Villarreal

MLS Career: 71 games; FC/gm: 24.4; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 14; pens: 11

Prediction 10-12 on the season

I was thinking that Dallas has struggled historically in front of big FCD Stadium crowds, but I found that isn't actually the case. Dallas is 6-2-2 in the 10 biggest attendances in Frisco and there seems to be some real good vibes coming from this team right now. With an unchanged lineup looking likely, I think Dallas rolls on with guys like Castillo and Shea that can be brought off the bench if things are close.

David Ferreira and the heat are too much for Los Angeles

2-0 FC Dallas

The Persistent Self-Destruction of FC Dallas

Andrew Wheeler — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:00:19 -0000

What the hell was Jair Benitez thinking?

FC Dallas has followed a path similar to the Portland Timbers this season. They started out the season by adding some high profile South American talent to their roster, had a couple of good results early on, but since then they have been just about the biggest disappointment in MLS, now tied for the league's worst record.

Both teams have allowed a pretty lousy 30 goals this season, while Dallas has scored one more goal than the Timbers (in one more game played). While Dallas is stuck on four wins for the season (to Portland's five) they have at least managed to win one on the road.

But it's the way in which Dallas has managed to lose some of these games that has been particularly sad.

Coming off a confidence building away win against Colorado (their first away win of the season) they traveled to California to face the Supporters Shield favorites, the San Jose Earthquakes. After going down 2-0 in the first half and struggling to create anything in the second, Schellas Hyndman took issue with the effort Brek Shea was giving on the pitch and removed him, to which Shea chose to react poorly.

In the 89th minute Hernan Pertuz took advantage of a free kick and some disorganization in the Quake defensive setup and narrowed the deficit to one. San Jose was looking weaker.

Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, Zach Loyd drew a clear foul in the San Jose penalty area, and Jair Benitez put the ball on the spot, claiming the responsibility, in spite of (or perhaps because of) his never having scored in his MLS career.

Hyndman said later, in all seriousness, "We had three guys in mind, and, looking back on it, I probably should have gone with one of the other two."

Ouch. Add Benitez's PK failure to a long list of Dallas failures this season -- the run of two games earlier this season in which the team earned four suspensions, the elbow dislocation Carlos Rodriguez suffered while taking a dive against Real Salt Lake, the excessive amount of time Ricardo Villar has spent on the ground this season, etc.

All of it is made so much more frustrating by the fact that they have such quality players in their lineup -- Jackson Goncalves, David Ferreira, Fabian Castillo, and their most recent acquisition, designated player Julian de Guzman. Not to mention defenders George John, Ugo Ihemelu and Zach Loyd.

With the quality they have up and down their lineup, they should be dominating the league, not eagerly scrabbling for every opportunity to self destruct.

Which begs the question: what kind of team would you rather have: a team that plays with lots of emotion but self destructs (and dives) on a regular basis, or a team that maintains a pretty even keel and gets along well in spite of poor results?

* * *

FC Dallas has changed significantly since the last time the Timbers visited, their second game of the season. Defenders John and Ihemelu are out with concussion symptoms, and backup defenders Bobby Warshaw and Alex Lee are also injured, leaving youngsters Matt Hedges and Hernan Pertuz in the central defense.

Veteran midfielder Daniel Hernandez has been replaced in the lineup with Julian de Guzman, while the exciting Jackson Goncalves has been a consistent part of the lineup for a few months. And David Ferreira has also finally returned after spending more than a year recovering from injury. Plus, some guy named Marcelin.

Up top, Fabian Castillo and Brek Shea have taken turns replacing Blas Perez at the striker position, while Perez recovers from a foot sprain. With Fabian Castillo serving a suspension, Brek Shea will probably get the start at striker, in spite of the spat he has had with Hyndman.

Whether the tantrum he threw on Wednesday night lights a fire under him or turns him off completely will determine whether the Timbers win, draw or lose this game.