FCD News Recap
March 22nd, 2009 . 9:05 am . By: Chamo JonesFCD stumbles out of the gate losing to 3-1 to Chicago. It was the first Brimstone win by Chicago in Texas this millennium. My quick hit impressions of this game: Horrible matches by Purdy and Moor as their mistakes led to all three of Chicago goals, and various other scoring chances for Chicago. Torres was the best defender of the back four often cleaning up the mistakes made by others, but he wasn’t flawless by any stretch of the imagination. Wagner spent most of the night supporting the attack, and did pretty well. If he ever learns how to cross, he could be a beast. If he ever leans how to complete half of his passes, he will be solid. The offense struggled as they did not show much imagination in breaking down the Chicago defense. Plenty of possession that did not result in serious scoring chances especially from the run of play. They did manage to hit the post a couple of times. And it took a once in a season wonder shot from Cooper to beat Busch. Cooper’s goal was the only shot on goal that Dallas had all night. Not good! What is the point of adding an attacking midfielder to the roster if they insist on playing the route 1 ball straight to the forwards? Ferreira needs to figure out how to impose his will on the game. All of the creativity was coming from McCarty on the right side of midfield. No doubt he was frustrated with all the route 1 balls, but he still needs to find a way to make himself available. Cunningham’s touch… brutal! It is a good thing that they signed Sanchez who reportedly hits a nice free-kick because last night’s efforts were pitiful. Blanco’s goal reinforced that point. Considering where they were a couple of weeks ago, that was a nice crowd for the opener. The previous coach got fired for losing home matches in front of large crowds. It also should be noted that last night’s attendance of 15,905 is by far the worst opening day attendance figure since the franchise moved to PHP. The previous opening day low at PHP was 17,540 last year. The PHP opening day high was 19,377 back in 2006. Solid job by Dir and Rhine on the broadcast last night. Here is what the professional reporters said about the match. FCD show nerves in loss to Fire – MLSnet.com – S. Hunt FC Dallas loses season opener, 3-1 – DMN – B. George Fire defeat FC Dallas 3-1 – Chicago Examiner – R. Kashuba The spin zone
Sanchez signing FC Dallas picks up Costa Rica’s Sanchez – DMN – B. George 3 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
We definitely missed Mr. Glue — Pablo — which is why so many “route 1″ balls as you called them. I think if we’d had him, it would have been a much better game. Cooper’s shot was not the only one on goal either.
“What is the point of adding an attacking midfielder to the roster if they insist on playing the route 1 ball straight to the forwards?”
I couldn’t agree more. It was absolutely frustrating to see the team repeatedly try to play the ball over the top, bypassing the midfield. How did they expect to do this when Chicago might have the tallest tandem of central defenders in the league in Conde and Soumare? It was absolutely frustrating, when the midfield could be considered the strongest aspect of this team!
K,
The official stats indicate that Dallas only recorded one shot on goal. The official stats aren’t always accurate, but in this case I think they got it right as I don’t recall Busch having to make a single save. Shots off the woodwork don’t count as shots on goal.