Monday Morning Gaffer: FC Dallas vs TT Pro League Local Stars
December 4th, 2007 . By: Buzz CarrickThis is last item from our trip coverage to Trinidad. Cap played the early 4PM game against the Foreign Stars that FCD played last time and your home town team finished up the tourney with a Hislop cameo. Game 2: CAP vs TT Pro League Foreign StarsI’ll kick it off by saying the Foreign Stars are the worst team here. No offense meant to them, but I’m even more convinced today there’s no one on their team that can help FCD. Are there players as good as or better than some FCD guys? Of course, but that’s not the point of a foreign signing coming into MLS. The foreign signing needs to be clearly better than any FCD option. Unless the player is a very young prospect like Ricardinho, he needs to be a starter level high impact player. Atletico Paranaense CAP, on the other hand, is a terrific team. Again they are in the their red and black stripes, and they play their modern 4-4-2. CAP has several players I bet money FCD will inquire about, one can hope to maybe get one of them, two would be sensational. Their team is made up of about 5 guys who are in the CAP’s first 22 (they had a game against Sao Palo I believe this same week). Also making up their team are some Juniors (u20) and some players who have just come back to CAP after being out on loan. CAP is a club that is in the business of creating and selling players. It’s how they make their club go. With their new stadium and new lessons from FCD they are learning to make money in other ways and as they move forward will be keeping more players than ever before. Still they are a club willing to deal and FCD could benefit. I got a better list of names and numbers having seen them two games now and I feel much more confident I am matching the right people to names. Here’s their 4-4-2. I’ll write them as nicknames if I can find them.
I’m annoyed I can’t figure out who the #9 is, or at least find him on a website. TT Pro League Foreign Stars The TTPLFS again in Cletic’ish uniforms, green hoops white shorts, green socks. They play in a classic 4-3-3 with a large center channel striker and two wings.
There’s not really much on this team worth mentioning. Perhaps the #6 has a little something. He’s physical and likes to run, I wonder if he could play in a 3 man backline? He’s got some good raw tools but would need work. Notes and Observations: CAP vs. TT Pro League Foreign StarsThe I liked the same there players for CAP today and added two more that impressed me in this game. They are clearly the best team at this tournament. A fully loaded FCD could play with them, but recall this is not CAP’s first 11… Call it their second 11 if you will. - I have a CAP player infatuation, #7 André Rocha is the real deal. He’s a tall central mid with brilliant awareness and subtle game. What a player. He totally dominates this game with two goals and an assist. First goal a blast from 30 yards out, second off a corner, and his assist comes on a double overlap with the right back and a cross for a goal. The score sheet doesn’t tell the whole story. Immense range, great ball winning, just total midfield domination. Until CAP takes him out The Foreign Stars barley cross midfield. Wow, do I want to see FCD go after this guy. Two straight games he’s the man, tournament MVP. Can play anywhere in the midfield and in any formation. - CAP #2, Murilo. The right back again impresses with work rate, effort, and tenacity. He also knows how to defend and play going forward. He’s would be a great need filler for FCD on the right side. - CAP #9, Everson Lins Ferreira was still good but was less dominate today. I still like him, but I’m not as 100% sold on second viewing. He reminds me even more of Razov today cause he takes a while to get into the game. Still plenty good enough for MLS. - I’ll add #8 Chico who makes a better impression on me in this one. He’s not a game breaker like Andre Rocha but he’s big with solid passing skills and decent feet. He’s also tough as nails and will flat out drill a guy. A poor man’s Dunga, if you will, in style. Would make a nice holding mid or center back. Hum, FCD might need a center back. - A nice game from #11 Rogerinho as well. He’s nifty and super quick. Very, very dangerous. He’s like I hope Ricardinho could be, a guy you hate to play against that will score if you give him even 2 inches. He’s a bit tiny, but fun to watch. Not sure if he’s too small for MLS, sometimes quick and ruthless can overcome that. He takes advantage of space so quickly. So there’s a quick list of 5 players I’d love to see FCD inquire about. Can they get a couple in for a look? Probably. Sign one or two? One I bet, two? m]Maybe… Game 1: FC Dallas vs TT Pro League Local StarsAnd now for the main course in our soccer feast. Like the food here, this one’s just a touch spicy and there’s plenty for everyone. FCD, playing a mix of levels of players and making wholesale changes, never really go into a Rhythm, still plenty to talk about though. We’ll start with the TT Locals. TT Pro League Local Stars TTPLLS again in the Tottenham Hotspur like white top and blue short with white socks. They line up in a 4-4-2 although today it’s a touch more diamond’ish as Oliver get’s a more free role.
A game on I feel better about the names and numbers having listened to the PA and watched some of the game on TV again that night. I for sure know the names I need to know and I’ll put them in here. - TT #10 Marvin Oliver. I still really like this player. Word on the street is he’s the TT Pro League’s best player. I am again impressed as he’s given a free role and he dictates play quite a bit. If FCD were going to play a modern 4-4-2 with to holder’s he’s make a great high-left kind of player. He he might even make a nice #10. He’s not as good as CAP’s #7 but is a different kind of player. He’s more mercurial and artistic, plus the dreads rule. - TT #17 turns out to be Hayden Tinto I again like him as he’s got some real jets and loves to run the line. He was even better and more dangerous today than in the previous games. Looks like a solid crosser of the ball and he made several dangerous penetrating runs into the box. He’s be an ideal wingback or wide midfielder and is more pure athlete and less nifty ball handler than say CAP’s #2. Good MLS fit I think. - TT #15 Andre Toussaint. Not quite as bright a day from Toussaint. I still think he’s got skill and would be a great squad player that could blossom into something like Ngwenya perhaps. I wouldn’t build a team around him, but would love to have him as a top four striker in a team. Those are the three for my taste I’d like to see brought into FCD camp for a run. FCD should take a look and see how they stack up. FC Dallas FCD in the hoops again, also again in a 3-5-2. Clearly still trying to work the kinks out of playing this shape. It’s a different mix of players today so I don’t think FCD really get’s going.
FCD loses 1-0 despite having numerous chances in front of goal. Notes and Observations: FC Dallas vs TT Pro League Foreign Stars- 1-0: Hislop is in for about 5 minutes and he gives up the goal. Tinto splits the gap in the defense and in led with a pass by Noel into the box. Hislop comes out and stands up against Tinto who goes to his right around Hislop (who has zero chance) and plays across the box to a streaking Jorsling for an easy put away.
- More Scouting Report on Martin Pautasso. Pautasso is a smart player. He combines really well going forward and reads the game early. He does have good work rate but is not particularly fast, he is quick by thought rather than by foot. He hits a nice cross, gets into dangerous spots on the wing, and is a sound tactical defender. He’s got some real quality. However I will predict FCD doesn’t sign him because he’s more of a Clarke player than a Morrow kind of player. He’s just a ball player if you will and that’s not the kind of player Morrow tends to go for. Man of the Match: Juan Toja. I quite enjoyed his linking play from the deeper role. Let’s be honest this is probably his ideal spot if the man next to him is a pure destroyer. He ran the field and created almost all the transition play into the spot Denilson kept vacating. He wasn’t getting a lot of love from the official, but that’s typical. - A second solid performance by Dan Kennedy, FCD could do a lot worse as a third guy. - Saragosa had a bit of trouble with Oliver. Rust I’m sure, although Oliver is very mobile and that’s something Saragosa has always struggled with a bit. - Much better day from Oduro. He was really moving and looking to make a difference. He didn’t score of course but he was dangerous on several occasions early. - FCD finishing today was atrocious. Cooper and Ricardinho in particularly were a mess. Both had 3 chances or more they didn’t put away. - Workman like effort for Wagenfuhr playing Wag-back today. He puts in the work and is willing to run up and down with a wide player. Wagner is still going to get the first shot I think at Wag-back cause he has so much upside, but David is going to be contribute at some point. Wagner was again very good in the second half. - Good 90 minutes from Pitch, despite the goal which I can’t blame him too much for. He’s not the starting answer there I don’t think, but he’s given himself more reasons to be kept around. - Much better from Dello-Russo today than on Friday. He was much more aggressive in defense, not letting passes get through and anticipating play. He is always going to be a player that needs to get it done by mental skill rather than athleticism. Good step up after the previous poor game. - The T&T commentators complimented Rhine on his engine room work when I caught the game on TV. He really drove the team in this tournament and showed great leadership on the field. Once again this underlines why Rhine is on this team and will be so again in 08 if he wants to be. - Jamie Watson was stronger going forward this game than in the last. He absolutely shredded a guy in the right corner on an overlap and then put in a nice cross to Cooper who headed it right at the keeper. Watson found Cooper again later for another chance that wasn’t finished. Admittedly I’m a fan of Watson’s game and mentality, I’d really like to see him on the FCD developmental roster if they can keep him Generation adidas… or even just as a developmental player if he’ll take the money. It’s going to be almost impossible to make the 18 just based on pure numbers. - Scott Jones put in some more good work up top. He still makes the wrong decisions from time to time, but then he turns and does something really impressive in beating two or three guys. You just never know what your going to get with him. Ok that’s about it from the second game. FCD has a lot of work to do if they are going to play 3-5-2 next year. I don’t think Morrow is decided on that, this was just a chance to try it out with some of the player he knows he’ll have around. 33 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Great information — thanks!
Okay . . . a question, now. Based on what you saw in these two games, if you were the coach, what would you choose as a formation and starting lineup for FCD, given the current players (which, I know will change by the end of March)? Who would you have play in what position? Just curious.
Thanks again, for all of the photos and info!
P.S. You didn’t really talk about how Denilson played this time. . .
Apparently, the T&T papers really liked him. I found this article about Friday’s game, this past weekend:
http://www.trinidadexpress.com...pl/article_sports?id=161244284
“Denilson was there, though, and in the mood to delight.
The former Brazil World Cup winner, deployed in a roving position behind Dallas’ two strikers, was predictably yards ahead of teammates and opponents alike with his early vision, technique and strength in possession-not to mention his step overs, feints and tricks. . . ”
Hmmm . . .
Buzz, i asked this question in the earlier forum but i was late……Where are the TT foreign stars from in regards to their countries?
Buzz,
I really enjoy your articles. They are definitely insightful and I rarely disagree with any of your comments. You know this game better than I do.. but I get the distinct impression that you throw up in your mouth every time you see Denilson in Hoops. What gives? Not trying to stir the pot, just trying to understand what it is that makes you feel that way. The T&T coverage was quite positive and the FCD blog was positive on him, but your comments were mainly negative.
Like I said. Don’t be offended. I’m just wondering if I’m missing something.. or if it stems simply from his overly generous salary? Cheers!
Buzz, I asked a question about Guarda on another forum, but since this is newer! You said “you dont believe he would make #9″ Is there any chance they might pick him at number 2? Cause i personnaly dont see him being picked up before pick 10, since SMU again failed to reach final four and he wont win the Heisman for sure!,
Hutch, first I would say that I would not want to go into the season with the team as it is now. It’s not balanced right at the current moment. The answer would take an entire article and since things are going to change it’s not really worth saying. I will say that if all things are equal I prefer a 4-4-2. But as I have said I think a 3-5-2 works best in the Texas heat.
Hutch2, that quote is actually about the first game, which as I said in the article about that game was the best performance I have seen Denilson have in a FCD uniform. The second game wasn’t as good from him, certainly less influential. I didn’t have much to say about it frankly. I’ll get to him more in another answer here in a minute.
TT, I want to say as many as 6 of them were Brazilian. There were four or more from Ghana I believe. I can recall them being mentioned. Outside of that I’m not all that sure. A few were from other Caribbean countries.
Nathan, I take no offense. We each have things we like and dislike in players.
rant on…
But yes, his contract is certainly part of the issue. For $800k this year and (if they pick him up) over $1 mil next year… the return needs to be massive. Juan Pablo Angel massive.
But even if he was getting paid $100k I would not want him playing for FCD and I will tell you why. MLS is one of the fastest and most fit leagues in the world. Not fast in ball skill and passing, fast of foot. Denilson just can not do the running required for MLS. His game has never had the right kind of style for this league. All the ball tricks and fancy moves produce no result. He simply can’t beat a defender on the dribble anymore. 1 goal on a PK, no assists in 8 games.
Denilson came in out of game shape as all players do when out of contract, but he never improved in that regard. FCD has to tactically compensate for him on the field for his lack of mobility and defense and Juan Toja suffered the most as a result in trying to cover for him. He is consistently outplayed in training by some of the young Americans and people like Moor and Pitch take the ball away from him whenever they want.
So after three games I had seen enough. For me every time he plays is time taken away from a young FCD player who needs time to develop. McCarty for certain lost valuable playing time.
The 3-5-2 Morrow rolled out in with Denilson as the #10 is the best way to get anything from Denilson at all. In the first game against the Foreign team that was slower and sat deep off him, Denilson was given time to turn, survey the scene, and make a play. That NEVER happens in MLS. In the second game when the pace stepped up because the local team is better, Denilson was once again neutralized.
As for the FCD blog, what do you expect them to say about the player making twice what anyone in team history has made.
In my opinion he Denilson signing wrecked the FCD season. FCD was playing well near the top of the table when he was signed. The changed required to try and force Denilson into the lineup derailed all the good things FCD had going.
I do not lay the Denilson at Morrow’s feet either. I think he did the best he could when the cards he was given.
Rant off.
Phil. If Guarda comes to MLS, which is not by any means an assurance… FYI I do hear he is leaving SMU, just not that MLS is a sure thing… then it will probably be because he is signing in advance of the draft. Although SMU didn’t do well he’s far and away the class of that team. I would have said he needed to leave last year.
If he comes to MLS I don’t think FCD will take him at #2 and I don’t think he will last to #8 (FYI if my order is right FCD picks #8).
I will also say it’s a bit early to say for sure as we don’t know the draft pool. The amount of Generation adidas signings could really effect things. You may be right that he could last past 8… by draft day I may agree with you. Given what I think of him I would predict he won’t make it to 8.
Buzz,
I actually appreciated your rant (and I knew the article was about the first game — so I appreciated the contrast with the second game). . . it confirmed from a more experienced/informed source everything that I felt . . .
I watched AC Milan play (and beat, rather easily) Celtic on ESPN2 yesterday. They had Cafu out there, whom I didn’t realize is 37 years old. Yet, he was all over the place. Way faster than Denilson.
Ah, well, the season’s over, and I am HOPING that Denilson flies back to Brazil . . . and stays there.
Buzz,
Thanks for the post.
Agreed on Denilson being slow. That was something that I really did not expect. If you look at some of archive footage of him you can see that he’s lost a ton of speed. I saw this on his first initial games, but it was well known that he wasn’t match fit. So, a few games later and although I could see some improvement, it still wasn’t there. You’re absolutely right on two counts.. 1) you need ball control + speed in order to beat defenders and while he has the control the speed is gone. 2) MLS is all about fitness and a lot about speed.
I kept wondering if he would be able to regain his speed by stepping up his fitness, but I haven’t seen anything yet to make me believe that. I’m not quite sure what to think.
Where I do give him high marks was on vision and passing, which is something that I rarely see from anyone else on the team. Some of our passing last year was downright infuriating to watch.
But, if the speed issue was simply a fitness issue then I would have liked to seen more of him, but I still agree that the pay check was too high.
When I think of players and Brazilians in particular who have turned their career on it’s head when they lost their speed I instantly think of Ronaldo. That poor guy is a shadow of his former self. I think that was lost due to injury and mental issues which led to weight issues, etc.. I have no idea what Denilson’s excuse is. I’m not aware of any bad injuries, mental issues and the guy is anything but fat. He’s only 30, so the guy should still have some legs - Ryan Giggs is 34 and still has amazing pace.
Buzz, any rumblings from the FCD FO group that went to Argentina to look for talent? Thanks.
buzz,
enjoy your work. love the deep insight which really help out new soccer fans like myself. anyways, where do you think morrow’s place is in all of this. how much coaching experience does he have? now that oscar is gone, how will he be able to handle the team, much less the latin players who had a liking to pareja? is he the right man for the job? i know it’s only one year…but, i had to throw it out there.
The problem with Denilson’s passing is the same problem he always has had everywhere he has been. His teammates never know when he is going to make a pass or try to do some fancy trick to get by two or three defenders. So most of his passes that are good ideas are not completed because his teammates don’t make the runs.
It would seem that his teammates would learn how to read “him” at some point, but it really never has happened anywhere he has been.
so, in that case, it’s definitely him and not everyone else. he’s needed to mesh w/ the team and not vice versa…that’s what our downfall was. he probably didn’t anticipate the level here was better than what he thought.
much like everybody, i was excited about denilson joining the club. and, like everyone else, i was disappointed. buzz brought up some good points about better players shutting down denilson. he’s not worth $1million.
Buzz:
This article has everything I wanted: I got a sense of the players we might look at, and you finally told us what you think about Denilson (or maybe I just read it for the first time), and you explained why.
Maybe the only thing I would wish for is one of those “translate Morrow” conversations, where you just throw each of those players that caught your eye at Morrow, and “translate” his reaction
Chamo,
I think some of the players were actually starting to mesh with him. The only one who definitely was not meshing was Toja.. and unfortunately I think he was the most vital one. I think this is why Toja “looked bad”. He wasn’t necessarily playing badly, but it looked that way when he couldn’t mesh in. I saw a lot of misunderstanding in their link up from the get go that just never got sorted out.
On the other hand, I think Arturo and Ruiz were beginning to figure Denilson out. There was some flashes of brilliance that was encouraging at times.
Whatever.. it’s all moot, because it was too little, too late. The experiment may have been more interesting if he were brought in earlier, but if his speed and fitness level was not fixable then it was never going to work.
My only problem, really, with Denilson was that he was brought in at the wrong time. we were playing well and should have never put him in there at that point. Can he contribute next season? Only if he wants to. I really don’t think you can judge him on this season at all.
Buzz, you said Cooper missed alot of chances. Just didn’t finish them..Is he still rusty?? SHOULD he still be rusty, as some on BS say he is????Or, is he just not the world beater everybody thinks(except me) that he is????
DMN reported that FCD picked up Ruiz’s extension and would be open to bringing back Denilson at a lower rate.
KD, the guy had his leg snapped in two and missed most of the year. Give the guy a break, and perhaps prepurchase your 08 ticket to jump on the bandwagon after he gets back from ManU in the spring.
Ribvii, without speaking for Morrow I think the names I listed stand a very good chance of being some of, if not the, names Morrow liked. Know what I mean?
KD, just game rust. Form, confidence, etc. It takes a while for a player to find it again after a leg break like that. I am not worried.
David, FCD has to pick up Ruiz’s option in order to be able to trade him. If they were to let the option expire Ruiz could sign anywhere outside of MLS. This way he’s bound to MLS and thus is very tradeable.
As for bring Denilson back for less, do you think he would sign for $100k or $200k? Would you pay him $400k? Hell no, and I wouldn’t either.
David09.. Not me babe..
Buzz, I ‘ll give ya the rust thing.. BUT, how far into next season do you give the guy before he starts to finish those?? And, if he doesn’t can I say “I told ya so?”
I wouldn’t..I didn’t see it anywhere else. Just shocked they would think about it since he didn’t do a whole lot. I guess you have to have some kind of P.R.
One last question about the trip how bad was that field really? Do you think that had something to do with it. The box on the video looked like they were trying to combine beach soccer to it, also gotta love the sand corner kicks.
let’s play hypotheticals here. if we WERE to trade carlos, what would his value be? would it still be pretty high being a proven scorer, or only minimal since being pedestrian the past 3 years? what possible name(s) could you get w/ a carlos ruiz? pavon? that former NY redbull latin player that was a former MLS MVP before getting kicked out of the league?
KD, some time. At some point he will be back on the bench if he doens’t start scoring. Yes you may say I told you so if he doens’t return to scoring.
David, the field was pretty bad. I played on better in high school. But that’s not enough an excuse.
3nOut, It depends on how much other teams value him. There are some GMs and/or coaches that still place a great deal of value on Ruiz. Ww’ll just have to see. If it’s not enough value then Ruiz will still be here in 08.
Kennedy is playing at a lower division in Chile, but he starts. Why would he come to Dallas to be #3? For the money?
Maybe he would like to be back in the USA?
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