Clash and Burn
May 5th, 2008 . 8:36 am . By: John CarltonAn ugly word in American sports culture is becoming an apt descriptor of the current state of affairs in Major League Soccer: parity. Last year’s MLS Cup champs Houston Dynamo and last year’s Supporter’s Shield winners DC United have a combined ten points through a combined twelve games; that’s the same number of points last year’s expansion team Toronto FC have through their first seven games. Among casual observers and rabid fans alike, these results have created a bit of confusion, as it nearly impossible to ascertain who are the good teams and who are the bad. FC Dallas seems to have benefited from some of the wobbliness of the early season shakeup. When the Red Stripes hit the road against CD Chivas USA a couple of weeks ago, they were facing a team severely depleted by injuries, and took advantage of the situation to post a shutout victory. The following Thursday Lady Luck appeared to smile on the boys from Dallas again, as New England came to Texas with a lineup missing six starters. A good team would have won that supposed mismatch, but FCD gave all three points to New England. Ten days off and a trip to play expansion club San Jose Earthquakes represented yet another potential victory served on a silver platter, but again the Hoops could not deliver a victory. San Jose re-christened their old stomping grounds at Buck Shaw Stadium in front of a sellout crowd. The Quakes were missing their best defender, Ryan Cochrane, who sat out due to a concussion he suffered in last week’s match. Dallas was forced to scratch defender Adrian Serioux because of a leg injury and inserted youngster Anthony Wallace to take his place in the back. Early in the match, neither team could establish effective possession, but the home side generated the first chances. Around the eight minute San Jose forward Kei Kamara received a nicely placed pass from midfielder Ned Grabavoy but couldn’t get any precision or power on his shot and Dallas ‘keeper Dario Sala saved it easily. San Jose winger Ronnie O’Brien, who was active throughout the evening, curled in a dangerous corner kick to the back post in the 22nd minute, but San Jose’s James Riley shanked a open shot wide right. FCD’s first good chance came when Anthony Wallace hit a fifty-yard ball that found forward Kenny Cooper on the right edge of the penalty area. Cooper did well to hold up the ball to allow his teammates to join the attack, but when Arturo Alvarez appeared all alone at the top of the six-yard box to receive Cooper’s pass, the big target man instead took a shot near post with his left foot that hit the side netting. Early in the second half, Arturo Alvarez cut inside from the right wing and hit a low, bending cross into the area which Kenny Cooper one-timed into the gloves of San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon. A moment later San Jose was on the attack as James Riley lifted a ball into the penalty box for Kei Kamara, but the big forward from Sierra Leone could not get a shot on target from close range. Despite the poor finishing, Kamara was one of the better players for the Quakes on the night. In the 54th minute Kamara ran down a ball in the right corner and sent a very dangerous cross that went skittering past the goalmouth, nearly joining the outstretched legs of Ned Grabavoy. If Grabavoy were any taller, it would have been a goal. The rest of the match saw both coaches go to their benches for tactical reasons, resulting in a more defensive posture for the balance of the match. Very few real chances were generated after the substitutions, and despite FC Dallas’ lack of imagination in the final third, their defense played solidly enough to earn the scoreless draw. Summarizing the mixed bag of poor attacking and strong defending, Hoops coach Steve Morrow said afterwards, “I don’t think we moved the ball quickly enough. A lot of our passes were sloppy; a lot of needless giveaways in possession. But you go through that sometimes, and when you do, it’s important that you defend well and keep a clean sheet, which we did.” It may be a good sign that when the offense fails to generate good chances, the defense is there to pick up the slack. What still isn’t clear is whether this Dallas side is actually “good”, or whether they are swimming in the sea of parity that characterizes today’s MLS. FC Dallas (2-1-3) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (1-3-1)May 03, 2008 — Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara Univ. Scoring Summary: FC Dallas – Dario Sala, Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Blake Wagner, Anthony Wallace, Pablo Ricchetti, Andre Rocha (Dax McCarty 69), Marcelo Saragosa, Juan Toja (Aaron Pitchkolan 89), Arturo Alvarez, Kenny Cooper (Abe Thompson 83), Substitutes Not Used: Ricardinho, Ray Burse, Dominic Oduro, Bobby Rhine San Jose Earthquakes — Joe Cannon, James Riley, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton, Ronnie O’Brien (Shea Salinas 75), Ramiro Corrales, Ned Grabavoy, Ivan Guerrero (Ryan Johnson 87), Gavin Glinton (Peguero Jean Philippe 55), Kei Kamara, Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, John Cunliffe, Jamil Roberts, Joe Vide
Misconduct Summary: referee: Shane Moody 6 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
To give the defense credit for this shutout is pretty silly, the Quake finishers are teerible. SJ was 2-3 goals better in this one but we survived and stole a point.
I think you are being a little tough on the team. Sure this was a stinker of a performance that we really didn’t deserve a point from, but we really played quite well last week against the revs.
We learned that Rocha isn’t a winger and Ricchetti needs to be re-signed. Didn’t we already know these things?
Buzz, isn’t Ricchetti re-signed? I was under the impression he had a contract with FCD, he just doesn’t like the contract he has and the FO promised him a better deal. I think it’s more accurate to say we need to keep him happy.
The defense deserves a lot of credit for this game. Just like they get all of the blame when goals are let in they should indeed get all of the credit when they shutout the other team.
Ricchetti is in year two of his original three year deal (1+1+1). He has one club option for 09 left.
Is it parity or is it a lack of depth?
And I’m not sure parity is such an evil thing in such a young league – the last thing we need is some dynasty making the rest of the league irrelevant at a time when we need as much interest from all the different venues as possible.
I totally agree with dick. FCD is lucky to escape with a point. With the MLS structure and relatively low pay, it’s wonder parity is just now being discussed. Especially, after the new DP rule and what-not. Maybe expansion is to blame. I for one like parity. It gives otherwise mediocre teams a fightin’ chance.