Match Day 6: FC Dallas at San Jose Earthquakes
May 3rd, 2008 . 6:49 am . By: Jason Benfield
The Earthquakes are coached by Frank Yallop and will run out a 4-4-2 formation, which he has preferred in his time coaching in MLS and has been used by the team in every game this season. Yallop’s reputation took a bit of a hit after the LA fiasco, but he remains one of the top coaches in the league and does a fantastic job of evaluating talent coming out of college and developing young players. These characteristics make him an ideal coach for an expansion franchise. The backline is a flat back four, focused on organization rather than allowing the outside backs to run up the flanks. The midfield four is often called a diamond, but it does not truly fit that look. The outside midfielders are expected to press forward into the attack, because their fullbacks stay put behind them. In the middle, the pair may be anointed with defensive and offensive tags, but in reality they are asked to play on both sides of the ball. A perfect illustration of the idea under Yallop was the pairing of Mulrooney and Ekelund, where Mulrooney had a “defensive” tag, but was often asked to direct the attack, and Ekelund was “offensive,” but certainly played his share of defense and operated more as a traditional defensive mid. Up top, Yallop might prefer a target forward with a secondary runner, but most of all he looks for energy. The forwards are expected to move all over the place, work back for the ball, and disrupt the organization of the defense. Speed is a valued asset at the top under his system. San Jose Earthquakes RosterJust a reminder of the rating system: 1 = Developmental player Burpo – 3 - Experience in the A-league and with Chivas USA makes him one of the top backups in the league. Easily capable of starting. Good size, good positioning. Cannon – 4 – Good goalie; is a bit overrated because he has played behind some great defenses in the past. Can get caught anticipating a cross and leaving his net, making him vulnerable to shots from odd angles. Otherwise, positions himself well. Not great with the ball at his feet, and not a great jumper, although he has good natural size. Distribution could improve as well. Liabilities have kept him from making an impact at the national team level, even though he has put up good numbers on the club side. Cochrane – 4 – Made a step forward into a solid MLS starter last season for Houston. Inconsistent in the past but was part of a great Dynamo defense last year. Decent speed, decent athleticism, good size as a starting center back. Benefited last season from being paired with Robinson, who is underrated and cleaned up a lot of messes. Struggling a little at the start of this season without that cover. Suffered a concussion in a midweek game and should be out against Dallas. Corrales – 4 – Has always been an underrated player in MLS who can excel at left back, but also can play left mid and defensive mid. Plays defensive mid on this team. Very smooth runner with and without the ball. Can tackle well, but one of his best traits on the outside was the ability to get forward and serve in a cross, and that is eliminated in the middle. Is also too reliant on his left foot to excel in the middle. Lacks top speed to make it at the national team level at left back, but that is his best position. Playing in the middle for San Jose out of necessity. Cunliffe – 2 – Reserve forward acquired from Chivas right before the season started. Decent passer, seems to get in the right position, and a good finisher. Lacks speed, size, and athleticism to be a starter in MLS, which shows as he is fifth string on a team that is horrible in the attack. Denton – 2 - Left back has never established himself as a starter in the league. Lacks athleticism and passing skills. Can occasionally serve in a deep cross. Comes off the bench for San Jose and is a solid player to have coming off the bench as he has shown in the past for several teams. At one time was considered a promising prospect, but has never developed. Garcia – 4 - Other starting center back has played the position the last couple of years in Kansas City after starting his career as a right back. At one time was seen as a future national team player after a promising first couple of years in MLS, but development plateaued and never made the step forward. Very physical player but doesn’t have the speed to be an elite player on the outside or size to be elite in the middle. San Jose is relying on him to run the show and cover for Cochrane, but he had cover from Conrad in San Jose. Solid starter in the league, but not much more than that. Glinton – 2 - Plays forward, but can also play on the right wing. Pure speed, and can finish when he gets the opportunity, but has nothing else. Poor first touch and a poor passer, not good in the air. Similar to what Lassiter was, but the level of play in the league has improved such that pure speed isn’t enough. Scored a ton in the A-league in his MLS hiatus, but can’t put it together at the higher level. Should be a reserve off the bench, but starts for this team. Grabavoy – 3 – Played well at the beginning of last season for Columbus, but slipped as the season went on. Is a two-way, central midfielder, but lacks the vision to be a distributor and not big enough or strong enough a tackler to be a defensive asset. Can be a glue piece on a strong team but isn’t a good enough player to carry the play on a bad one. Hits free kicks well, but other than that is not a threat to shoot from distance. Not a bad player, but doesn’t excel in any one area. Guerrero – 4 - Left midfielder has been a solid MLS player for years. Was tremendous when he first came in the league for Chicago, but his form has slipped since. Last season was coming off the bench quite a bit. Natural position is probably a left back, but is a solid left mid. Better defensively than going forward because his crossing is erratic. Good speed and good work rate. Has occasionally taken over a game and dominated, but it doesn’t happen often, which can be frustrating. Hernandez – 3 - Serviceable right back; can also slide into the middle. Made his mark as a reserve for New York a few years ago before moving to Chivas in the same role. Doesn’t provide a whole lot going forward on the outside, but does a solid job defensively. Doesn’t stand out in any area, but has adequate size, adequate speed, and is a decent passer out of the back. Peguero – 3 - Target forward played well for Colorado a couple of years ago. Has above average speed and is strong in the air. Inconsistent finishing and poor passing skills keep him from moving to the next tier of forward. Coming off a bad knee injury suffered in Denmark, so his fitness level is unknown. Is normally a 4, but coming off the bad injury and long layoff, will keep as a 3 until he proves he is fit. Johnson – 2 – Played one season with RSL and Chicago before moving to the Swedish league. Did not see much action in either MLS or Sweden. Probably best as an outside defender or midfielder, but has seen time for San Jose at defensive mid because of their lack of depth at the position. Not up to the speed of MLS play. Kamara – 3 – Forward; saw a decent amount of time at forward for the Crew over the last two seasons. Good size, but not strong in the air. Good speed, but lacks first touch and doesn’t produce goals. Has not established himself as a quality starter in MLS, and a 3 rating is a bit generous. O’Brien – 4 – Right winger FCD fans are quite familiar with. Delivers one of the best crosses in the league, has a great work rate when healthy, and has a very nice shot from distance. Can create issues in the locker room, but is an all-star when on his game. Is injury prone, which keeps him from being consistently effective. Still has some knee issues from an injury suffered a couple of years ago. Riley – 3 - Can be a decent MLS player at either outside back, and can also play center back and outside midfield. Nice player to have on the roster because of his flexibility. Was a primary backup for New England the last several years. Played most effectively two years ago, but last year was beaten 1 v 1 on several occasions at the beginning of the year and was eventually displaced in the starting lineup by Avery John. Can struggle individually, but contributes okay in the team defensive concept. Good passer out of the back, and has made his way forward more often than in the past. Salinas – 2 - Rookie forward has not been all that effective, but his start in the opener shows the potential Yallop sees in him. Probably more of a natural fit at attacking or outside midfield. Seems to have a good touch and decent pace, but still coming up to the speed of play and is not very involved at this point. Vide – 2 - Showed in New York that he is a decent option as a reserve defensive midfielder in MLS. Limited abilities, but is a decent passer and a hard tackler. Can get forward and join the attack and doesn’t look awkward when doing so. Kind of surprising that he is not the first choice off the bench at defensive mid, because is probably more effective than Johnson at this point. Ayres, Curry, Hatzke, Roberts, Sloustcher, and Smarte are all developmental players I have never seen and as such I have no report to give. EXPECTED SAN JOSE LINEUP
EXPECTED DALLAS LINEUP
KEY TO THE GAMEThe strength of the San Jose team is their defense, and even that is banged up at this point. Dallas have a habit of only pressuring the other team over the first 20 minutes of the game and then backing off. The key to the game is getting an early goal. FCD need to press the San Jose backline from the start. If they can get a goal, San Jose will be forced to put numbers forward because they do not generate a decent attack relying on their forwards. This will open up the counter attack game for Dallas, which we have seen be effective several times this year. If Dallas sit back and absorb the attack, the intimate crowd will get behind their team and the result of the game will be called into question. 6 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jason,
Another great report. I would be interested to see you do a scouting report on our team using your new rating system. I imagine that would generate quite a few comments.
Buzz mentioned in his “120 Fahrenheit” column that it will probably be necessary to rest Davino over the course of the season to keep him fresh, and I agree. This strikes me as the perfect game to rest Davino and start Pitch. The only attacking option for SJ is going to be in trying to play over the top to Kamara and Glinton and hope that they can out pace our back-line. Pitch obviously has better pace then Davino, and if you can’t rest one of your top players against an expansion team, when can you?
I, too, would like to see you rate our team with your rating system. I was trying to remember if you already did, before the season started . . . but even if you did — I’d love to see updated ratings, now that they’ve played five games.
Thanks for the report!
Interesting observations. They help me focus up on the match tonight. In a constructive tone, I would suggest you use the players’ first and last names, since your audience includes newbies as well as old bees. From this angle also: O’Brien, Johnson, Garcia, Hernandez are common names. And even there’s probably a new fan who confuses Guerrero with Guevara, so the “Ivan” in there would help differentiate.
btw Ronnie O’Brien’s significant knee injuries were suffered in ‘07. He said so in a recent interview, iirc on GolTV.
Go Ronnie and FCD!
“Go Ronnie and FCD!”
Isn’t that a contradiction?
This rating syatem would not work anywhere in the world including MLS. 60-75% of all employees in any orgaization are rated competent/average yet not one player in MLS is average per this system. It’s worse than flawed.
Ronnie O is in good form and looks motivated. It will be interesting to see how Wagner holds down that side of the field.