November 2nd, 2007 . 9:38 am . By: Jason Benfield

FCD went into the game last weekend as a team against all odds.  All of the numbers pointed in the direction of failure – a poor run of form, bad results against good teams, and even worse results against the Dynamo.  But somehow, they pulled it together and came out with a win.  But it wasn’t because of the efforts of the team MVP, the headlining forwards, or the Designated Player.  Instead, an oft-maligned defense and a struggling veteran keeper came to the rescue.  But first and foremost, the Dallas manager constructed a fantastic tactical game plan.

Houston’s attack is successful because they can score in two different variations.  The first is through DeRosario up the middle.  To counter this, Morrow switched the roles of Serioux and Ricchetti.  The last time the two teams played, Ricchetti was only able to stay with DeRosario for about 35 minutes, and then was worn out and the Houston attacking midfielder dominated from that point forward.  In this match, Ricchetti became the two way midfielder, helping out defensively but also joining the attack.  Serioux moved to the defensive midfielder position, and was fantastic.  His athleticism and fitness allowed him to hound DeRosario all over the field, and deny him the ball.  When DeRo was able to get the ball to his feet, Serioux’s grit and physical play often dispossessed him.

The second avenue of the attack for Houston is down the wings.  The Dynamo like to penetrate deep down the flanks, where Davis and Mullan are threats to send the ball in to their two target forwards or cut inside and shoot; they are at their best with ball at feet, facing goal.  Morrow pushed the outside backs higher so that they could mark the wingers tight and deny them the ball.  Toja always plays as a two way midfielder, but after the FCD goal was scored, even Alvarez pinched back to help out on the wings.  Because the Dynamo midfielders were not able to get the ball deep and wide, they were unable to take advantage of their strong aerial game.  Instead of receiving the ball near the box, the majority of Ching and Ngwenya’s touches came 35 yards from goal, and neither of the two are threats to score from distance or take players on the dribble.  The defensive gamelan and consistent organization worked perfectly, and shut down the Houston attack for most of the game.

THE GOALIES

Onstead wasn’t at fault for the goal, and wasn’t called upon to make many saves.  Which pretty much sums up his season.  He positioning has been outstanding when he does face a shot, and will be called into play, especially if Houston are forced to open up the attack and send players forward.  His lack of athleticism can be exposed in 1v1 situations, so keep your eyes on Cooper and Oduro if Dallas can hold their lead late into the match.

Wow, did Sala show us.  No way I thought he would be in goal on Saturday, but supposedly he has been fully fit for two weeks now and was only held out of the KC game so as to not risk injury.  Sala did a great job of coming out on a couple of balls, his distribution was good, and he came up huge in the second half – making a great save on DeRosario at the start of the half and playing aggressively and making himself big against Ching at the death.  A less experienced  or less healthy keeper stays on his line for that last one, and would have cost Dallas the win.

Advantage:  What a difference a week makes.  Dare I say even?

THE DEFENSE

Houston still have the best defense the league has ever seen, and other than the clumsy clearance on the Dallas goal really denied the Hoops from creating many opportunities.  Robinson absolutely owned Ruiz.  He totally dominated Pescadito for the entire match.  For that matter he also dominated Cooper when they were matched up.  The surprise was that neither Dallas forward had any success against Cochrane either, and his speed was effective in clearing out any chances over the top.  Barrett and Waibel did not have a huge impact on the match, as Dallas did not send the wings up as often as usual, especially in the second half.

The Dallas defense was fantastic all night.  Extremely well disciplined and organized, players marked tightly and did not roam or let players run free.  At the end of the match, Goodson just let up a bit on Jaqua, and Moor was caught napping on Ching, but that was about it.  As a whole, this was the most organized and disciplined the Dallas defense has been all season.  Goodson really did a good job of maintaining concentration and not losing his mark.  His decisions were made a lot easier because Gbandi and Rhine both did a great job of stepping up and denying the wingers service.  When players have the ball at their feet and are running at the Dallas outside backs, Goodson tends to drift, wait for the opportunity to cover for a beaten player, and loses his mark.  Moor had a very good game in the center as well.  Rhine in particular has to be commended because neither Davis nor Holden were heard from all night long.

Advantage: Houston

THE MIDFIELD

Houston’s midfield did not make enough of an impression on the game Saturday night.  Mulrooney was adequate with his tackling and distribution, but with Dallas bunkering in, he needed to join the attack more often.  DeRosario ran all over the place, but was taken out of the game by Serioux.  He had more touches in the second half, but wasn’t the dominant factor we are used to seeing.  Mullan, Holden and Davis should have adjusted to the Dallas tactics by making runs to the inside.  Instead, they were very static and it made it easier for them to be marked out of plays.

The Dallas midfield played a great game on Saturday.  They kept their shape well, and were able to both defend and join the counter.  Alvarez has to be commended – he is normally not a very defensive player, but did a nice job of pinching back and helping out on the right side.  Toja worked his tail off as usual, and protected Gbandi on the left.  Ricchetti was surprisingly involved in the attack because of the role reversal.  He was quietly effective with short passing and disrupting Houston possession, but was not great getting forward.  If he cannot play on Friday night, expect to see Dax in his role.  Dax provides quite a bit more at the offensive end, but also tends to give the ball up a lot, a dangerous mistake to make against Houston.  It should be noted that the Houston attack picked up significantly after he entered the game.  Serioux was the best player on the field for Dallas.  Not only did he create the goal through a long throw, but he was vital in shutting DeRo down.  In fact, I will go as far as to say his performance was very reminiscent of what Toja was doing at the start of the season before he hit a wall after the all star break.

Advantage: Even.

THE ATTACK

Ngwenya looked great with the ball at his feet; unfortunately for him, the only time he touched it was about 40 yards away from the net.  Ching was not a big factor in the game at all.  One has to wonder about the Houston attack, as Ching is coming off of injury, and both Jaqua and Ngwenya have slowed down quite a bit after initially arriving via mid-season trades.  They struggled to create chances over the last three games of the season, and struggled again on Saturday.

On the other hand, Cooper and Ruiz were not all that effective either.  Ruiz is just has a horrible match up against Robinson.  The surprising thing was the lack of effectiveness from Cooper in winning balls in the air.  His timing just seems to be off.  Dallas are really struggling in the attack right now as well, and the hope has to be that if one of them scores it will allow them to relax a bit and the chances will flow.  Both Oduro and Thompson had their moments as subs, and their energy and speed will be useful if the Hoops are trying to hold a series lead late in the match.  If Houston are forced to push up, their back line can be beaten with speed over the top.  On a side note, one has to wonder if Saturday was the last time we will see Ruiz in an FC Dallas uniform at home.  His performances have generally lacked quality this season, and with much talk about a lack of bang for the buck with Denilson, the payback isn’t generous with Ruiz right now either.

Advantage: Even.  None of the forwards for either team are in their best form right now.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

FC Dallas

If Ricchetti is unable to go, Dax will fill his spot.

Houston Dynamo

Holden could start for Davis again, but with the Dynamo playing at home, I expect to see Davis.

WHEN DALLAS ATTACKS

The Hoops are going to need to possess the ball better than they did on Saturday if they are going to hold their aggregate lead.  Too often over the course of the match, they resorted to high long balls to the targets Ruiz and Cooper, and this was extremely ineffective.  Both wide midfielders were not as involved in the attack as in the past because they were busy helping out with the defense.  The player to watch, if he comes in for Ricchetti, is Dax.  Dax will be more effective in getting involved and could provide an attacking spark to the game.  As long as the series is tied or Dallas are leading, don’t expect much in the attack until Oduro is subbed in, because his speed play a major role in this type of game.  Also, for reasons I will discuss in the next section, look for Cooper to get the ball a lot more on the wings; Dallas’s best chances may come when he has it wide and provides service to Ruiz.

WHEN HOUSTON ATTACKS

Dallas are going to try and mark DeRosario out of the game with Serioux, and will keep the backs tight against Mullan and Davis again.  On Saturday, the Houston attack was crippled by the fact that Barrett and Waibel did not get as involved as they normally do.  Now that Houston are at home, I expect this to change.  Houston will take advantage of the tight Dallas marking by either sending Barrett in on the overlap on the left or by dropping the ball back to Waibel on the right so that he can cross the ball in from about 35 yards out.  This adjustment will make the Houston aerial game much more effective than it was in the first leg.  If Dallas are going to win the series they are going to need a great defensive performance from Alvarez.  If Barrett runs free down the line, Goodson will start sliding over and losing his mark, and Houston will have open chances in front of the goal.

FINAL ANALYSIS

The first leg in this series was fantastic, and this game should be even better.  I believe it will be every bit as good as the DC-Chicago game was tonight.  As I said in my preview of the opening leg, whichever team scored first in this series would have a great chance to win the series because of the struggling offenses.  I still fully believe that.  However, anyone who reads this column on a regular basis knows that if I pick Dallas to win, they lose; conversely, every time I am critical of the team, they seem to pick it up a notch and come out with a win.  Therefore, for the good of the team…

Houston 2, FC Dallas 0

Let’s go Hoooooooooooops!

Categories: Match Preview.

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