Zip It: Columbus Crew vs FC Dallas
June 21st, 2009 . 12:03 am . By: Jay Brownlee
With FC Dallas trailing 1-0 deep into the second half, Avila struck gold only four minutes after running onto the pitch, curling a lovely shot inside the far post. Then, just four minutes from full-time, Avila again provided a spark, springing David Ferreira into a one-on-one with Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum. Chad Marshall had no choice but to drag Ferreira down from behind, earning FC Dallas the spot kick. Kenny Cooper would not falter, calmly slotting home the game-winning goal. It would not be a stretch to say that the FC Dallas comeback seemed an unlikely result. And the game started off all too eerily familiar for FC Dallas. Fans were surely confused to see Marcelo Saragosa start the match at right wing for the Red Stripes, Head Coach Schellas Hyndman relegating the recently resurgent Avila to the bench. And once again, an opponent came to Frisco all too happy to bunker down defensively, hoping to rely on a Dallas mistake in transition on the counter-attack to bury the home-side. And Dallas responded by controlling both the possession and tempo of the match, the Crew rarely going forward with any intent other than to punish Dallas for any defensive miscue. Then FC Dallas provided the opposition with the expected gaffe. Sound familiar? A free header from Eric Brunner on a corner kick was deflected off Pablo Ricchetti and past ‘keeper Ray Burse to thrust Columbus into the lead, 1-0 just 17 minutes into the match. It began to look like déjà vu all over again. Thank you, Yogi Berra. The first half would play out without another score, but other than a furious flurry at the half-hour mark, FC Dallas controlled the match, yet failed to find the back of the net. As the second half began, Hyndman went to work. First, he pulled off the player who should have never started, inserting Brek Shea into the match for Saragosa. If Avila was last year’s “super-sub” story, surely this year is all about Shea. Shea went to work in the middle of the pitch as Cooper began to play deeper in the formation. Shea’s speed, work-rate and ball-handling helped Dallas gain momentum. Then Hyndman brought in Jeff Cunningham to relieve the ailing Dave Van Den Berg, who quickly found ice for his banged-up right ankle as he returned to the bench. But it was Avila’s insertion for Anthony Wallace that changed the match. Avila, playing the left side of midfield, was simply unstoppable. His goal at the 80’ mark was a thing of beauty. What started out looking like a missed opportunity to spring Ferreira on a through-ball, was instead teed-up and buried into the back of the net. His savvy ball into Ferreira that resulted in Cooper’s penalty kick was no less impressive. Dallas has been looking for a difference-maker all season. On this night, Dallas found him. Meanwhile, this victory in no way numbs the heartache of this year’s campaign. But there is no doubt it provided the team with something they needed at this time, right now: Relief. The camera showed it on Hyndman’s face and on the face of every FC Dallas player. It could be felt all through the stadium, and in every living room of every FC Dallas fan watching from afar. This match will most likely blend into the blur of the season sometime in the future. For a club that has already dug a hole that most likely leaves them on the outside of the playoff race, it’s just a nice moment in an otherwise terrible season. But if Dallas continues their recent run of play, and they improve on it, perhaps this match will be remembered as the beginning of a new era for this organization and this team. Until then, enjoy the relief of a very nice win. 25 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
What no armchair manager mention? We AM’s weren’t and are never surprised to see Saragosa shoe-horned into a spot. Our favorites played pretty good huh? I don’t want to see calls for Avila on the right either. He should play in the middle for Ferreira or Rocha. Shea should start up top for a while and then Cooper will get his mojo back.
Ferreira is best when he has people he can combine with around him, e.g. McCarty, Sanchez, & perhaps now Avila. Clearly, Wallace, Avila, Shea need to play, Rocha, Saragosa need to sit.
Give us hope for next year, please!
MY man of the match . . . Dax. He was simply everywhere sparking all possession. Saragosa was dreadful. All credit to SH (of whom i’ve been critical) for pulling him and out coaching colombus.
Why is Rocha still starting?
Agreed. Dax was amazing last night.
The crowd was really great last night too. The morale was a lot better.
I think Dallas should play something like a flat 4 4 2 with Cooper and Shea up top and Avila, McCartney, Ferriera and Van Den Berg in the middle.
Cooper has been called up for the Gold Cup camp, so I think we’ll see Shea starting there for a while. That was a well deserved win last night and I thought our defense did a good job of containing threats — they deserved a clean sheet, but Richetti’s unlucky own goal kept them from it. Perhaps the best overall performance of the season.
the team wasted a spot again, 41 41 formation is a joke. mccarty plays 5 yd safety passes, or tries to play a real thru ball and can’t.get a REAL playmaker and goals will start to come
I agree with saban’s comment. From our vantage point, I thought Ferreira was doing a good job combining with both Dax and vdBergh adn even Rocha (I thought Rocha did okay in this game). David does have an impact already, ihmo. He seems to be a player who combines to help others create chances, as well as managing to steal the ball back sometimes to frustrate the other team. Given more time, I think his impact will only increase.
I would also like to see Avi start. It would be great to see if he can have the same sort of impact throughout the game, as he does when he comes on as a sub and injects tons of fresh energy.
Ron, were you at the concession stand at the 70th minute? Because you must have missed Dax’s fantastic one touch, defense splitting, 40 yard pass to Cunningham in space. And that was after he had won the ball from Rogers at the edge of the penalty area just a few seconds earlier. I’m not sure what your problem is with Dax, so I can only conclude that “Ron” is a screen name for Denilson’s agent.
I like the 4-1-4-1 formation given the personnel. A few points: it’s hard to give credit to Hyndman for taking Saragosa off at the half when he never should have started to begin with. That was not an own goal on Richetti, as the replay clearly shows. Poor marking? Sure. Richetti more than handled Schelotto, his assignment. Lastly, I like Ferreira, but he had 1v1 on the keeper very late in the match and squared a pass to the Columbus defenders. Poor choice that led to a Crew counter. Best game we’ve played all year, and I for one feel vindicated by Avila’s and Davies’ strong play and Saragosa and Rocha’s continued malaise.
A good FCD performance. The problem is not so much going forward where we continued to create chances (although burying them continues to be an issue), the problem is a strong centre back pairing. Davies played well but week after week Richetti has proved that he is not a good central defender. The guy is great in his natural holding midfield role and is a great leader, but just does not have the positional nouce, discipline or experience to be a starting centre back. Until we can replace him with someone who genuinely knows what he’s doing back there and can form a true partnership with Davies we’re always giong to concede stupid goals out of nowhere while we’re dominating a game (San Jose, Houston, LA, Columbus….). How far off are our various options from fitness? Could we get someone in on a trade?
Don’t think Pablo is that bad, but I agree that Davies has been very solid. Once the other defenders are fit again – Purdy, Torres, John, it will create an interesting situation.
I think Wallace and Davies have both earned spots in the starting eleven.. No way, you bench those guys. You’re not going to drop Moor to the bench either. Pablo’s spot in the starting eleven is solid, although Hyndman may want to push him into his holding mid role which would force out Dax from the holding mid spot, which I think he has done well with… I don’t know if you want to do that.,, and if Hyndman did, I’m sure he would find a way to fill the vacated CB spot with his boy Saragosa rather than John,Purdy or Torres.
The other issue for Hyndman is what to do with Eric Avila. He continues to push for a spot in the starting eleven also. How long will Hyndman continue to play him off the bench? Avila is not going to replace DvB, but could / should beat out Rocha.
Nathan, what do you think about pushing Pablo up to the holding mid and putting Dax at RM for Rocha/Saragosa?
Drew played a great game at right back. service could improve
Pablo continues to make mistakes that are costly but is still a leader on the field. He gave Columbus that corner.
Davies was outstanding
Wallace was the worst i’ve seen. bad pass after bad pass.
Mcarty worked hard to recieve the ball but made to many bad passes. Needs to be stronger with the ball if he is going to be the DM.
Saragosa at least gave us an OMid that would get back & try and defend. Subbed because to get another attacker on the field.
VDB played his normal game. Solid in the back but a defensive liability
Rocha played a good game in the middle & gives us a hard player
David is creative but sometimes very weak on the ball. Needs to finish better.
Cooper needs to score & quit falling down so much. Brek will replace him if hard work is rewarded.
Cunningham defends less than VDB
Avila is a creater and should be starting.
Fortunate that Columbus tried to hold on to a one goal lead. Lost their legs in the heat. Should have scored more with dallas commited to defend with only 5 men.
My family lives in Ohio. So when I spoke with them yesterday, they said that the news articles had the Crew complaining about the heat and humidity. Poor babies.
Not sure I’m buying “to” many bad passes. It’s the default criticism but it’s not warranted, especially in this game where there were only a couple of giveaways. I don’t mind a few give aways trying to create something in the attacking 3rd.
Not to echo what most people have said, but I agree Saragosa and to a lesser extent (but still) Rocha need to spend some time on the bench. No credit will ever be given to a coach that starts Saragosa, he should be coaching PDL somewhere.
Carlos(above) is right on an unbiased. Mcarty did make lots of bad passes dispite his work rate being good. Rocha did way better and even came back and broke up some plays. Every one needs to finish better. Cooper included. Wallace/Avia long shots are much needed. Our forwards don’t want to shoot unless they are super close.
Christian – Better option than Rocha/Cunningham, but Dax isn’t a true right sided mid either… nor for that matter is Avila. Dax always plays better in the middle of the field.
I think Avila also shows us his best when he has freedom to roam like a second number 10.. but he’s not going to be able to displace Ferriera.
I also agree with Carlos on Dax. He tends to make bad passes and give the ball away. On the other hand he does a great job of stepping up and intercepting passes and linking up with the defenders.
David F, also does a great job of stopping the opposing defenses from getting things moving from the back. He intercepts quite a few linking passes.
To Christian,
I concur with Nathan that Dax is not a good choice for wing play. He is currently playing in “the” choice spot that matches his talent…the middle. Dax had a ton of touches on the night…literally hundreds. It is easy to focus on the few bad passes he had and forget about the 100 solid touches and passing executions.
When he blew a cross late in the game, you could see how mad Dax was at himself. THAT is what is missing from Rocha, who remains an under-performer given his superior natural talent. If Rocha were to gain some maturity, focus, and work ethic, he would become a monster of a player. He has size, decent speed, and can play off both feet. In part I blame Shellas for not doing better at connecting with Rocha as a mentor, but ultimately, 90% of the accountability falls to the player.
One way to give Rocha a kick in the seat: Avila needs to be a regular starter on this club at midfield. Rocha should be benched until he fights his way back into the starting lineup.
The same thing goes for Saragosa. He needs to ride the pine.
Brek Shea needs to be a starter, Cunningham needs to be a late game sub for either Coop or Shea, and not be used as a starter anymore. I grow weary of SH starting Saragosa and Rocha and Cunningham while sitting Avila and Shea. This is NOT merely an issue of building for next season, it is also a way to win games this season too!
I also agree with Nathan that Avila is not a replacement for Ferriera, at least not for now. David Ferriera has struggled to adjust to MLS, but he gets better and better. I think David needs to wake up every day and watch the two Houston games, because both times Houston spanked his miniature ass. The MLS is a different game than what David has played his entire life. That being said, you can see the quality vision, position, and ball skill that David has, and you cannot teach that!!
Okay, one last issue. Having 1 guy like Ferreira on your team (short and small) is not a big deal, but having multiple players on the pitch at the same time who are short, small finesse style players is a huge coaching mistake. We lose 75% of all headers that otherwise would be 50-50% chances, and many of these lost opportunities have led to quick counterstrike goals. Shellas likes to blame the cruel Soccer Goddess of fate for our so-called “soft goals” but the truth is we had earned these goals by fielding a small team that gets pushed around.
If you notice, no one pushes Brek Shea or Avila around. Shea goes right through them, Avila goes around them. Wake up Coach! Sense the obvious truth that the fans can clearly see!!
ivan and carlos,
Not really sure what game you were watching. Like Robert said, when almost every FCD possession goes through McCarty in the middle, he is bound to have a few giveaways. For the most part, he does very well at being available for his teammates and keeping the ball moving.
Dax is the best option we have at dmid & although I think he made some mistakes, I am not saying that anyone else should play there. When his is on he is good. When he is not on he makes up for it with hustle. We have something we can always count on with Dax. SH puts Bruno their because he thinks he is stronger defensively. Dax will outwork Bruno evertytime. Only one should play and right now it is Dax.
Avila is a better option out wide because of his pace with and without the ball
GO FCD
Pegasus has it down here, except he didn’t mention McCarty being the difference.
Everyone with as many touches as he gets gives the ball away several times a game. It is a function of the odds. I like the possession soccer they’re playing. Now if they can get someone to finish, this team could really put together some wins.
Oh yeah, Saragosa is Schellas’ boyee.
i think the FSC guys hit it spot on w/ their comment that our MFs aren’t really the attacking type besides ferriera. so, no one can really comes up to support the attack w/ kenny.
and some of the comments are spot on that ferreira seems to flourish when he has someone that he can work in combo w/. when tom was playing, he and ferreira worked well and looked dangerous together. when avila was inserted into the game, low and behold…ferreira seemed to have been more effective.
SH complains about attacking….he has one under his nose. it’s time to see what avila can do to impact the game from the beginning since we’ve already seen others. put him at RM, or pair him w/ ferreira in the middle. SH can keep his beloved rocha at RM.
I read the ‘town hall’ transcript, and while I don’t agree with them, SH comments about Saragosa made some sense.
But I do not understand his attachment to Rocha who seems to be talented, but not an SH player in any other way.
To me it’s clear he just doesn’t get things done on the field.