Game Grades FC Dallas v LA Galaxy
June 13th, 2007 . 7:40 am . By: Peter WelptonBeating the Galaxy 3-1 is not something FC Dallas fans can take great pride in. LA is a horrible team, especially the lineup they fielded on Saturday night. That being said, Morrow has to come away from Saturday night’s performance with a touch of doubt and a bag full of bitterness. The facts are that his team did not dominate a weak team and the loss of Kenny Cooper could not have come at a worse time. This is a game that FCD should have controlled from beginning to end. Once Dallas scored their foot came off the gas and the Galaxy, who had produced almost nothing, suddenly turned into a Champions League-level passing squad and were allowed to pass the ball about from midfield into FCD’s penalty area and into the net for their goal without the slightest sign of resistance. You’ve seen this before. Luckily for Dallas that was LA’s high point of the night and the real question is just how bad are the Galaxy? Sure, Landon is on national team assignment and David Beckham is gallantly attempting to win a league title in Spain, but the remaining parts are mostly spare. You have to think that Yallop has an ulcer the size of the “O” in the Hollywood sign wondering who exactly is going to finish all of these wondrous services “Mr B” is going to be providing. If you think the world footballing community is already questioning Beckham’s decision to come MLS-side, just wait till they watch him in a few matches with his new side. New colors or not, Lalas and Yallop better get to work, and fast. And I don’t mean Abel Xavier… (seriously?) Back to the home team. It might be harsh to say that Morrow’s squad did not play very well, they did win 3-1 after all. But can anyone be pleased with difficulty the Hoops had in controlling this match? There was positives in Morrow’s decision to mix it up and make a move that many have fantasized about for some time – Toja in the attacking mid spot. The result? Toja filled that role very well, but the team missed him playing back with Ricchetti. Still, it wasn’t until Moor threw his well-being into the goal mouth for the 3rd goal did you get the sense that Dallas had a lock on the game. It seems that the problem stems not from the three in the midfield, but rather with what’s going on with the three in front of them. Thompson and Orduro worked very hard and there was solid spurts of play, but Alvarez was largely absent and it was shameful that he needed to be subbed in the 64th minute (!). {side note: Arturo might be FCD’s greatest enigma of all time. There is so much skill and pace in that body, but how can someone with all of that disappear from a match so easily?} No matter who Morrow puts up top, there is so little consistent attacking pressure the resulting argument can be made that the problem is large part in the formation, and not as much with the players. It doesn’t help that Cooper has been very stubborn about not floating out wide, or that Ruiz has mostly been lazy or that Nunez has been ball hogging. No, there certainly is enough blame to place on the players, but the formation… Could a try of 4-4-2 be worthwhile? Lastly, Abe Thompson is the Honda Civic of MLS soccer players. Solid and dependable, but not flashy. You wouldn’t drive him as your first choice, but is the type of player that any MLS team would want on their garage. Not fast or flashy, Abe is crazy soccer smart and will find ways to surprise you. With Cooper out for the long haul, we will now really get to find out what Abe can bring. GRADES: Sala: 6 – Not asked to do much SUBS: 10 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
I like my Civic! I like my FCD Civic too
A lot of different players up top for us – lots of shuffling of lineups. Now we will have to pick some guys and go with them. Unfortunately, it won’t include Cooper or Ruiz.
The grades are a bit high for Moor and Yi since they were most responsible for the LA goal. I spoke with one of the FCD Staff he said Alvarez had a great night which just goes to show how we fans aren’t always looking at th right things when evaluating play.
I thought Alvarez had a strong night, too. It was his and Sala’s heads up play on the goal kick that led to the penalty. If you’re going to knock Yi and Moor down for their roles on the goal, you gotta ding Goodson too. He and Yi were out of position, which allowed Finley to be onside. I think Yi was also the one who lost Jaqua on that header. Personally, I think the entire backline is improving and getting better. I’ll take a few gaffes now because I truly believe they are going to be clicking on all cylinders in October.
nice analysis. I am very puzzled by Alvarez as well. I think he works better off the bench when trying to make an impact in a limited amount of time. Less time to disappear.
I think you are a bit high on Moor, maybe 6 or 6.5. I think you are too hard on Alvarez, I watched him quite closely and he was quite good at finding space and passing it. His first shot on goal was a disaster, but I don’t think he’s a 5.
Toja actually gave it away quite a few times in the first half, but he was much improved in the second. What’s incredible about him is his grit determination and the ability to make something out of nothing. He goes for every ball and just when you’re about to think.. “yeah but you’ve got no chance of..”, you’re soon saying “Oh! wow! he did it! Go Toja!”. He got a huge applause when he came off for Wags.. seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole thing…
I do agree with the big picture. While 3-1 was a good result, it wasn’t so much that we were good, it was more about how abysmal LA were. I was sitting not far behind Yallop and at times he looked he had reached the depths of despair.
Most of the time our backline is solid, but we have these momentary lapses of concentration and we get punished hard every time.
The problem that I see with going to the 4-4-2 is, Who plays the wings?
I haven’t seen that any of our mid-fielders have the crossing skill to add anything to the attack in a 4-4-2, and where do we play Toja in that formation?
I am not sure we would be making the best use of his talents having him wide on the left.
I have no idea who peter welpton is. I do know that he has no business writing game reports or giving grades to anyone. What is this guys background? does he have any knowledge of the game? and if so where did it come from? Welpton is an idiot. Period.
the other alex,
This is for debate and conversation, not for name calling and challenges…you aren’t even the real alex. Chill out, I don’t always (okay maybe never) agree with the grades but I like 3D and it’s interesting to bat soccer stuff around. Oh BTW, you don’t have to read it just stay away since if offends you so much.
I’ll volunteer to write the next game report and guarantee It’ll be better than anything Welpton could write, it could hardly be worse.