Ah yes the monthly sky is falling article from Welpton.

Frequent enough to set your clocks to.

I actually thought the team played better this week than last. They just seemed to stumble in the final third of the field. Part of the stumbling is due by Guarda’s terrible decision making. I do not see what SH sees in this boy.

what are the grades for?

I thought the game was horrible…but i am worn out with complaining. They were all over them but let 2 goals in. Good teams dont play that way.

Worst it that the remaining players i like will be leaving within weeks to play somewhere else…

No more complaining from me. We are stuck with SH for a while so i will make the best of it. Of course another season of 5 season tickets is out of the question untiil i see how much the Hunts are committed to winning.

You’re too generous with a 5 for Sala. He could not have played the 2nd goal any worse.

Yep, these grades are about right. I think Dax was the best player we had Saturday night and he only played 15 minutes. Maybe Wagner deserved a 6. He played behind the offensive kryptonite in Saragosa and fared well, and was still able to make the transition and link well when Dax came in. Otherwise, very lackluster and fortunate to get a draw.

Between Hyndman and Ellinger this is par for the course if not better? Nothing personal towards them but look at their track records. Should we be surpised of where are in the table? No. We do have a load of talent. Time to look for the boot straps. When I see the same problem over and over again… whether here or across the pond… it usually points to a higher power… gm and the owners…. IMHO. Sometimes I wonder… a loss will teach us to clean house but that happens too much so just let the coaches do their thing and let it mature. It could be a painful or a rewarding experiment… I think we are already in it? Come on FC Dallas. The crazy thing is in MLS… not only do we still have a chance to get in the playoffs BUT win the Cup too. This could work to our advantage…

I’m convinced that Sala has a vision problem.

Did anyone notice how many crosses he misjudged on saturday night?

One went flying over his head by ten feet!

Maybe he just can’t play under the lights.

Maybe he was worried about Hunter Freeman sucker punching him.

Lock in cooper with DP $$$$$$
Dump sala.
Dump guarda.
Dump davino.
Hire Bobby Rhine as a youth team coach/FO type.
Pitch to Ctr Back

This ouse is a mess.

I saw Guarda play at SMU and was willing to give him a pass while he got his feet MLS wet, but time’s up and I fear he’s a bust. Saragosa? He must have pictures of SH. Or somebody. Rocha a 5? No way. And what the **** was he doing strolling off the field in the closing seconds of added time, while we were trying to sub in Oduro? Maybe he personally felt wasting time and playing for a tie was the better FCD strategy. Q: SH, just how unfulfilling was the college game in retrospect?

This games was so important and I felt in the bag (5 players missing for TFC) that I gathered my non-soccer watching family to experience FC Dallas football. PHP looked great on TV and got comments about how peaople are actually going out to wacth soccer. I also got this gem from my wife “that Guarda guy, he plays for our team, right?” I had to explain why he was out there (his link to SH) and felt utterly ashamed at our performance.
On the bright side, 2 years ago I kept telling anyone who would hear me that Corey Ashe was garbage, but this year he is turning into Shaun Wright-Philips. So maybe we need to give Bruno another 2 years?

Correction to the current top photo caption…FCD still control their own destiny: win the last two and they’re in as the 3rd place team in the West.

So despite it all, FCD could actually enter the playoffs on a 7 game league play unbeaten streak (4 wins, 3 draws) and then you never know.

I’m just sayin’…

This is one of the rare occasions in which I agree with Peter. This team is terribly under-performing based on the Talent:Results table. To only get a draw against a depleted TFC side is simply embarrasing. I almost hope they don’t make the playoffs, if only to prevent further embarrassment.

Hmm… well, I actually thought this was Guarda’s best game yet. In the first half he was connecting passes, making tackles and involving himself in some combination plays… Second half was not so good.. he should have come off 10-15mins earlier than he did. I think I would have given him a 4.
While Avila was an improvement, he didn’t have a stellar game either.
Personally I felt that Wagner played best for us.. I would have given him a 6. Richetti was great at breaking down Toronto plays, but not so good coming forward.
I liked a lot of the combination plays in midfield, but the final 3rd was just awful.
Davino did nothing for us. He’s the one who should get the 3.

The Guarda issue has been beaten plenty of times, and it makes complete sense to. The other argument I’m seeing to somehow defend the coach or the player is that when Avila does play, he’s not a whole lot better.

What do you guys think happens when you take a guy completely in form and playing very well, bench him for a month or two, and give him garbage minutes? He probably won’t be in that same form right away. Just sayin’.

Casey, I would agree with that, except that Avila had been coming off the bench and playing well previously. I still prefer Avila over Guarda, just saying that in my opinion Guarda has improved and Avila hasn’t impressed as much. I’m not making excuses for the coach.. I would stil prefer to start Avila over Guarda and Pitch over Davino.

Nathan,

Not sure how you’ve seen Guarda improve. I can say that he has remained consistent in his play, though. That is he… consistently turns over the ball, consistently makes bad passes, consistently makes poor decisons by not reading the flow of play well. This guy has been this team’s albatross. And believe it or not I don’t blame Guarda for that but rather Hyndman. If SH believes in this guy so much then great. But, let him get his experience in reserve games, friendlies, or loan him to the USL where he stands a better chance of not being in over his head. If he can do well at that level, then give him a look with the main team.

Either way, this team is in for an overhaul in the off-season, win or lose.

Bruno/Avila and Pitch/Davino are pretty much a wash in my opinion. Davino got beat by Wynne on the second TFC goal, but most defenders would have been torched by Wynne’s speed on that play. I agree with Nathan – Bruno has definitely improved. He drew fouls in dangerous areas and had some nice combination plays in the game, but the fact he and Avila are rookies becomes very apparent in the final third. Both can get there through nice passing, but once there they hesitate and usually give the ball away. Size-wise, they also get pushed off the ball too easily.

The main changes I would like to see are in the midfield – Sikora for Saragosa and McCarty for Rocha (b/c of Rocha’s yellow card accumulation). This is a must-win match, and Sikora showed he can go when he played the full 90 against Tigres. If FC Dallas has the lead in the second half, Saragosa could then come in as a defensive sub. Dax fills in nicely for Rocha on the right – they have similar skill sets and Dax can capably handle set pieces and free kicks.

RSL’s strength is the m/f as such there is no way FCD wins this game starting BG and Saragosa.

someone over at the blog said that Dax was not on the bus to RSL

Oh Schellas, whiskey tango foxtrot?

Dax has done a Toja but for different reasons. Dax should fight for his place, bust his ass and not go into a funk over his mistreatment by SH. Unfortunatley he’s done the opposite and chances are he will never play for FCD again. RSL wins this game and wins it easily.

FCD’s website has a Steve Hunt article saying it’ll be Sikora on the left and Avila on the right. Serioux’s still a question mark, so…

——Cooper—-Cunningham——–
—————————————-
————-Guarda——————-
—-Sikora—————Avila———
————-Ricchetti——————
—————————————-
-Wags—Davino—Pitch—-Moor—-
—————————————
—————Sala——————-

Or Wags-Davino-Moor-Serioux. I’d rather have McCarty, but I’m guessing either Dax is out for legit reasons or Schellas picked Avila instead to take Rocha’s spot and Dax didn’t take it well.

I doubt you usee Wags in the lineup as he is out due to the concussion from earlier in the season. You’ll probably see Serioux instead.

Oh dear lord… why am I not surprised to see Bruno in there. Wait a sec… I get it now! We’re deliberately trying to lose and not make the playoffs so we can get a better pick in the next MLS Super Draft!

By “Wags” I meant Blake Wagner. Were you serious, or was that dry and somewhat dark humor?

mentally Dax seems to be in a funk due to no playing time anywhere, olympic team or FCD over the past year…don’t know if this is the first time he has had to overcome obstacles, but it seems pretty apparent that he lacks something up top to improve himself and make it a no-brainer to earn game time ala David Beckham at Real Madrid and w/ England…if you want it, get it

Ooops… forgot about Wagner. Gosh darnit they shouldn’t have two guys who names have the same three letters.

About the other part, it wasn’t so much dry and dark humor as it was sarcasm and a crystal ball look into the future.