Top Ten Players in FCD History
October 17th, 2007 . 10:14 am . By: Buzz Carrick
As I mentioned before I have been planning to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 3rd Degree’s founding with a series of Top Ten lists of FC Dallas history. We’ll kick that celebration off with something simple that still manages to create a large amount of discussion, the Top Ten Players in FC Dallas/ Dallas Burn history. Top Ten: Players in FCD History1. Jason Kreis - Well duh. First American Born MLS MVP in 1999 with 18 goals and 15 assists (first 15-15 player in MLS). 7 time MLS All-Star including 1996 as a midfielder. MLS Best XI in 99, seven MLS Player of the week awards, a player of the Month, and two 3rd Degree Napalam Awards (Burn MVP). At the start of the 07 season he led MLS all-time in goals (100) and game-winning goals (30), and ranked among the top five MLS career leaders in games (271), starts (251), minutes (22,450), points (269), shots (751) and shots on goal (344) most of which came in a Dallas uniform. Kreis became the league’s All-Time Leading Scorer with 89 career goals in 2004, surpassing the record previously set by Roy Lassiter. Kreis was the first player in MLS history to break the 100 goal mark while playing for RSL. Kreis is the current head coach of Real Salt Lake. 2. Oscar Pareja - Came to MLS from Deportivo Cali and played 13 games for the Revolution before being traded to Dallas for Damian. As the long time Burn captain and heart and soul of the team, Pareja was selected the Dallas’ Most Valuable Player twice (2001 and 2002), twice Napalm winner, and was also voted to the MLS Best XI in the 2001 season. He finished his MLS career having scored 13 goals and assisted on 52 in 189 games. Oscar scored a goal in his last regular season game, a 2-2 tie vs. Kansas City on Oct. 15, 2005. Pareja has 11 caps and scored three goals for Colombia. Pareja is currently an assistant under Steve Morrow in Dallas and has been arguably the most influential player in franchise history. 3. Leonel Alvarez - Alvarez joined the Burn in 1996 and immediately set the tone that would last the franchise into the next century. MLS Best XI in 1996 and an All-Star in 96 and 98, his influence rarely shows up on the score sheet but can instead be seen in the development of other players, most notably Jason Kreis who credited Leonel with making Jason into the player he was. Alvarez had both impact on and off the field as the clear team leader, even going so far as to hold player only training sessions with the midfield. Allowed to leave in ‘97, presumably over money, Dallas suffered as a result and the hard nosed midfielder was brought back in ‘98 before being traded to New England in late in the ‘99 season for Ariel Graziani. Alvarez is now a coach in the Colombian National Team program after having won the Colombian version of Survivor a few years ago. 4. Ariel Graziani - A player of immense talent that was incredibly difficult for coaches to deal with, Graziani has rarely spent more than one season with a given team in his career. His three season in Dallas marks the longest single stop in his career with one team. Graziani was acquired by Dave Dir from the Revolution for Leonel Alvarez and was a big part of the best team in franchise history in 1999 with 5 goals in the Western Final playoff run. Two All-Star nods and there time MLS Player of the Week. In his 2 and a half season in Dallas the Little Mermaid scored 30 regular season goals, 5 playoff goals, and 1 All-Star goal before being traded to San Jose in 2002 by Mike Jeffries. Graziani is still playing his trade somewhere in South American. 5. Ronnie O’Brien - After arriving from Juventus in 2002, Ronnie was always a fantastic asset on the field, when healthy. The Irish mid lost almost an entire season with the leg broken by Demo Kovalenko. Most of his time in Dallas coincided with a bad period on the field through no fault of his own. In five season ROB scored 12 goals and had 39 assists most form the right side of midfield. Three time All-Star in Dallas, MLS Best XI in 2004, three Goal of the Week nods, two Player of the Week, two time 3rd Degree Napalm Award winner, and one 3rd Degree Band -Aid Award (Best mid season acquisition) winner. O’Brien was traded by Steve Morrow to Toronto prior to the 2007 season for Adrian Serioux. Ronnie is still on the Toronto FC roster but has played little in 2007 due to injury. 6. Mark Dodd - An 1996 draft pick by the Burn, Dodd won a few titles with Dave Dir and the Colorado Foxes prior to joining MLS for it’s inaugural season. Dodd got off to a fast start winning the 1996 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award and 1996 MLS Best XI Goalkeeper. Dodd was named an MLS All-Star twice, in 1996 and 1997. Dodd lost his starting job to rookie net minder Matt Jordan in 1999, but made several key starts in the playoffs to spark the run to the Western Final. Dodd finished his MLS career with a not too shabby 1.57 regular season GAA. Mark is working and coaching in the Dallas area and can frequently be seen at FC Dallas games. 7. Chad Deering - Deering joined the Burn after playing for the US in the 1998 World Cup and played six seasons in Dallas before retiring after the 2003 season. In his time in Dallas, Deering first played sweeper but spent most of his time as the holding midfielder. Twice an All-Star in 2001 and 2002, Deering finished his MLS career with 16 goals and 31 assists. The end of his career coincided with the downturn in Dallas Burn fortunes on the field leaving a bad memory of him for many fans. Deering won 3rd Degree’s Band-Aid award in 98 after joining the team and solidifying the defense from the sweeper position. Deering currently coaches for the Blackwatch Soccer Club in Ft Worth. 8. Jorge “Zarco” Rodriguez - A long time steadying influence in the Burn backfield as a marking back, sweeper, and holding midfielder. Rodriguez spent several years as the Burn’s go-to PK taker, most notably notching the PK to win the 1997 US Open Cup. In six years as a starting defender from 1997 to 2002, Zarco scored a stunning 27 goals, almost all from PKs, and garnisheed it with 19 assists. Zarco garnered little recognition outside of Dallas beyond being named to Soccer America’s Team of the Year in 1998 and 2001. A long time fan favorite, like Alvarez, Zarco had more impact as a leader than in terms of production. At least word, Zarco was still playing in his home country. 9. Carlo Ruiz - “Fish” is still plying his trade in Dallas, but hasn’t quite lived up to the standard he set in Los Angeles. Yet he still remains one of the most dangerous strikers in MLS. A MLS All-Star in 2005 and an “inactive” All-Star in 2006 for Dallas, Ruiz’s time for FCD is most notable for winning the MLS Goal of the Decade award for his bicycle kick goal in the 49th minute of a game against D.C. United on May 28, 2005. Ruiz has scored 34 goals for Dallas, three of which were MLS Goal of the Week, and has been named MLS Player of the Week once. Ruiz’s career has been marked by short vanishing stints around national team callups and a reputation for partying rather than staying fit. A regular member of the Guatemala national team, Ruiz has appeared in 52 international matches with Guatemala, scoring 23 goals, prior to this season. Ruiz was named MLS MVP in 2002 with a stunning 24 regular season goals, unfortunately for the Los Angeles Galaxy. 10. Mark Santel - Perhaps one of the most underrated players in Burn history, Santel had an impressive career in the early days of MLS. One of the initial allocations for Dallas, Santel spent five years as a starter for the Rojonegro before being traded to Kansas City. An All-Star in 96 and 97, Santel had 6 career goals and 27 assist in MLS play from wide in midfield, a remarkable achievement given he was playing wingback in the Burn’s every present 3-5-2 under Dave Dir. A graduate of St Louis’s storied soccer program, Santel played for The Colorado Foxes from 92 to 95 prior to joining MLS. Santel was capped 8 times by the US National Team. He currently works for MLS in the fan development dept and coaches soccer in Missouri. 26 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
Don’t agree about Deering and Santel but will have to think a bit to see who I believe is more worthy.
Agreed – Deering is very questionable. I’d certainly put Simo ahead of him – and that is saying something.
Obviously one man’s opinion but we clearly haven’t had too many decent players or we would have won some stuff by now.
Id say Ruiz is certainly better than Obrien
Alain Sutter led us to our only trophy.
Hugo Sanchez in our first year?
I agree about Simo over Deering. Santel? Hhmm….I would have preferred Ted Eck!
Minor note…Chad Deering’s Blackwatch club is in McKinney…not Ft Worth.
I would agree with Ruiz over ROB if you are looking at complete MLS career, but I think ROB has been more productive for our Franchise then Ruiz.
Agree ROB needs to be on the list. Deering was overrated. What if for Alain if not for that Blue Sky turf.
If being an all star is one criteria, what about Toja?
Pretty solid list there.
Honorable mention for Dave Dir and Lamar hunt…not eligible….but worthy
Deering needs to come off the list. Sergi Daniv was better.
Also, while he was with us, I think Chivas Martinez was a bit better than Santel, but not by much.
I’d give Graziani the nod as the #1 player because he was a pure money player — he showed up when it counted. Jason would come close, though, so I can’t argue with his being number one, especially with his stats.
Grazianni has retired and is living in Mexico..
What about Dante?????
Deering’s too high; the way it ended leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
And Zarco? How could you place him so low?
just look at the morons you have for coaches that create a system of play that make FC Dallas dull and ineffective. Ruiz with no impact for FC…the story has been that he plays up front all by himself covered by two/three guys that he has to fight with the entire game….no passing whatsoever from midfielders…so think about style of team play…what he has scored…he creates for himself…u can only understand if u have been in the pitch yourself to realize how difficult that is…plus add a whole year or year an a half where he was not treated well by the league after producing what he did with Galaxy…he’s the only one u mentioned his escapades…all others u focused on their contributions…fair? or too biased?
don’t get me wrong…i expect more from him too…but to say that others are better than him takes away credibility from your analysis…
what about Denlison?
only kidding…very solid list Buzz
Oh, poor little Carlos…..So put upon by the man.Just cant get a break.If I was the coach I would trade him for a bag of peanuts…..Big bag of course..
[...] Finally, 3rd Degree posted one of those items for which I’m a real sucker: FC Dallas’ All-Time Top 10 Players. Just seeing Ariel Graziani’s name reminded me why I developed that soft spot for the old [...]
in honor of denilson. lets make a top 10 worst signings in FCD history
If you were to ignore their performance while with Dallas and looked strictly in terms of their international pedigree, the list goes like this:
1. Hugo Sanchez
2. Denilson
3. Leonel Alvarez
4. Lubos Kubik
5. Alain Sutter
6. Ariel Graziani
7. Shaka Hislop
8. Carlos Ruiz
9. Steve Morrow
10. Jorge Rodriguez
11. Joselito Vaca
12. Ronald Cerritos
Very few on both lists.
Current players with the most potential to make Buzz’s list 10 years from now:
Alvarez
Cooper
Goodson
McCarty
Moor
Toja
I would rank Zarco higher, Deering much lower if on the list at all.
I would put Diego Sonora in there instead of Deering or Santel.
What about Richard Farrer?
Dodd was the 8th Burn player taken in the initial draft. Santel was the first ever allocation to the Burn.
I know it’s only been a little over a decade, but for some reason I get all misty-eyed and nostalgic reading about the likes of Leonel Alvarez and Jason Kreis, guys who go WAY back. I know MLS has taken off over the last decade, but for me nothing is quite ever going to match the old days in the Cotton Bowl…those horrible Burn uniforms notwithstanding!
“Perhaps one of the most underrated players in Burn history” – Santel
I have always thought just the opposite.
Zarco is too far down on this list.
use spellcheck…there are lots of typos in most of your reports.
other than that i love the list. deering played in the 02 WC too…remember that own goal? yuck! great for the Burn, though!
nevermind about deering in 02…just realized i had him confused with Jeff Agoos!