July 29th, 2008 . 10:42 pm . By: Lorenzo de Medici

Having sat there as shocked as any of us at FCD’s performance this past Sunday, I got to thinking about what exactly we had just witnessed. Without question this was FCD’s most complete 90 minute game in a very long time, so why did this happen and why did it happen now?

Finally the coach got the balance of the team right, whether by accident or design. To start with, the enforced absence through suspension of Saragosa left Ricchetti as the loan defensive midfield player and he responded with his best game of the season by far and it will be interesting to see if Schellas stays with Pablo at the expense of Saragosa. To me this is the obvious thing to do.

The biggest change however was in going to a legitimate back four and the abandonment of the season long supposed back three. That back three appeared in reality to actually be a back four with the wrong players playing in the wrong positions. Moor was invariably playing like a center back and Rocha invariably as a right full back, thereby nullifying each player. Neither Moor nor Davino are tall enough nor strong enough to cope with some of the bigger bodies playing as strikers in MLS and had both been exposed during various parts of a heretofore disappointing season.

Enter a legitimate back four of Moor, Pitch, Davino and Serioux (although I remain unconvinced left back is the latter’s best position) and all of a sudden the defense, with Pablo shielding them, looked more solid and compact than at any time this campaign. Davino in particular had his best game to date and we’ll begin to find out this Sunday whether or not that was due to the back four set up or Duilio’s immediate opponent.

Carlos Ruiz is tailor made for Davino. He’s not quick nor very mobile. He doesn’t drift too much from his station in the center channel and I felt going in, that if Davino struggled in this game then the word “bust” should be attached to him and he’d be filed along side Hislop and Denilson in the litany of errors made by this front office. He got at least a one week reprieve with this performance. Now what will happen when he comes up against the bigger more active forwards in this league ? Will he revert to type or will he begin to half way justify his salary? We may begin to get an idea at Toronto this weekend.

Pitch could be the wild card in this whole Davino scenario. Sure he’s still pretty young and relatively inexperienced but he sure looked the part against the Galaxy. Chances are he’ll make the occasional mistake (though I doubt he’ll make as many as Davino already has). The thing is, quite often young players thrive on the confidence that comes from an extended run of games, the knowledge that a single mistake isn’t going to result in a spot on the bench. With this in mind then Pitch should be told this is his job until the end of the season, regardless of the occasional blip which may be encountered along the way.

Both Moor (and to a lesser extent Serioux) were able to maintain real width when FCD had the ball, something we haven’t seen this year, and the “balance” set in. Rocha was given the freedom to get forward more and on a luckier day might have scored his first goal for the club. Arturo was a bit up and down but did deliver a superb ball for Oduro’s well deserved goal. The mid field revelation was Avila. His work rate, energy and willingness to get forward as rapidly as he got back were commendable for a young player playing in a difficult position. Sure he made a few mistakes, gave the ball away on occasion and had a couple of positional errors, none of which were fatal. He also did enough to earn an extended run in the starting line-up. The balance in mid field was easily the best its been all season.

With Alvarez now gone and Toja maybe gone by the weekend it will be interesting to see who Schellas slots into the wide left m/f position. It should not be Saragosa, and if Juan is gone Wileman may be the better option. He did fine in his sub appearance and deserves another look.

Up top, well what can you say. Both Cooper and Oduro were outstanding and Dominic seems to be getting better all the time. His assist on Coopers second goal was pure class and something he probably wouldn’t have managed earlier in the year. He also kept his composure on the goal he scored, he didn’t snatch at the chance once he had rounded the ‘keeper and his run had taken him to a somewhat difficult angle. Rather he stayed cool and slotted the ball home for the back breaking goal.

What a week for Cooper: starts in the all star game vs. West Ham, has two goals and an assist vs L.A., and is named MLS player of the week. He managed all this despite rampant speculation over his possible move to Europe. He kept his focus (as he always seems to do) and gave the L.A. backline a torrid time the whole game. What a player he’s been for FC Dallas since they signed him. Still young at 23 he too seems to get better and better with every game and I’m sure we haven’t seen the best of Cooper yet.

So, Arturo aside it would seem that Schellas’s job just got easier and yet more difficult at the same time. The easy bit is staying with 10 of the same 11 who started, if Toja is available and his head’s on straight he goes in for AA, if he’s not around then stick Wileman in. The difficult bit is telling Saragosa he’s on the bench. That however is what coaches get paid to do and It’s time for Schellas to earn his coin and prove he was indeed, the right man for the job.

Categories: Match Preview, News.

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