Zip It: New York vs FC Dallas
July 4th, 2009 . 11:10 pm . By: Jay BrownleeThe good news is FC Dallas dispatched the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on a balmy July 4th evening at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas in front of 14,327 onlookers. The bad news is it should have never been that close. New York came into the match winless in their last nine and missing seven players, five to injury and two to Gold Cup call-ups. While Kenny Cooper was warming the bench for the USMNT in Seattle, Jeff Cunningham was a man on a mission. Cunningham, attempting to prove he is fit to play a full 90 minutes as the lone striker, struck twice only two minutes apart early in the match. Cunningham’s first strike resulted from a lazy back pass by Luke Sassano and his determination to intercept the ball, which he coolly slotted inside the far post at the 15’ mark. Shortly thereafter, Dave Van Den Berg placed a perfect ball to Cunningham’s feet inside the six, and Cunningham punched the ball past Red Bull ‘keeper Danny Cepero. A good team that knows how to win would have buried a thin Red Bulls line-up, unaccustomed to the Texas heat, only able to suit up three players on the bench, and their best player, Juan Pablo Angel, playing on a bad hamstring. But let’s face it, Dallas is not a good team, they don’t (yet) know how to win, and poor defensive play would allow New York to contest the match. Instead of burying a struggling team, Dallas allowed Angel to notch an uncontested goal to close the score at 2-1 near the end of the first half. Anthony Wallace would again be the culprit. Wallace allowed Angel to slip in behind on a run from the back post and then made practically no effort to recover from the blunder. Wallace paid for his apparent unwillingness to defend by earning a trip to the bench at half in favor of Blake Wagner. Head Coach Schellas Hyndman is showing an increasing lack of patience for non-contributors, later yanking ineffective Andre Rocha in favor of Eric Avila. It seems Hyndman’s leash is getting shorter, even for players who some perceive as his “pets.” But thank you, Ray Burse, the Dallas goalkeeper who proved himself equal to the task more times than necessary, including a slick save on a breakaway from speedy Mathew Mbuta that kept Dallas ahead. Add in some amazingly poor finishing on open net shots by New York, and this contest was even uglier than the patchwork-quilted turf of Pizza Hut Park. Of course, the end result is Dallas did hang on, however precariously, to win the full three points. Now Dallas heads back to Denver to face the Colorado Rapids, who controlled all but the final score in a match only a week ago. Yet even as Cunningham answered questions, and Brek Shea did everything right but score, Dallas finds ever more issues which must be addressed, not only defensively, but just where this team’s heart lies, if there is a heart present at all. But winning a bad game is a start, and that, surely, is good news.
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I think you were way too critical… I rarely sense that, but I think your frustration with the team is boiling over, and deservedly so…
I found much to be excited about, and would really be excited if I thought Avila would start.
I was very pleased with the crowd. Baby steps.
Good report. I thought richetti, Ferriera, Cunningham, and Burse all had excellent games. You could argue that Ray was out of position on the first goal, but he didn’t get much help and came up big when we needed him…AGAIN…
Take the 3 points, but NY was awful and we let a bad team stay in the game.
Cunningham quote transcription hilariousness from ESPN.com: “”I heard earlier in my career that I played with a chip on my *soldier* and that was a bad thing,” Cunningham said. “If you don’t play with a chip on your *soldier* you’ll get pushed back.”
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=261934&cc=5901
A couple of observations. I didn’t think Rocha was all that ineffective. As I recall, the first goal was caused by Rocha putting pressure on the NY defender, who then made the bad pass that Cunningham stole. Sometimes little things like putting pressure on a guy in the attacking third can make a difference.
And not to make an excuse for Wallace, but in watching the replay of that goal, it looked like Wallace was trying to play him offside…it didn’t look like laziness so much as misreading the situation. Still, I think that it was good that SH took him off, as he has so much talent (I thought he was particularly effective paired with Shea) but needs to learn to concentrate the whole match, and only that kind of accountability will force him to learn that.
Also, I think that Cunningham works really well up top of the formation because his speed forces the defense to collapse back a bit, while Cooper’s lack of pace means the defense can step up to him. I think his speed creates more space for everyone else.
Not too much to criticize. No Saragosa (although injured so no real credit). No Cooper so Cunningham is a good fill-in. Shea in at mid and a thoughtful swap to right mid for DVB. Leave the defense alone – check. Could nit pick on why Rocha over Avila. Wagner should be the backup left mid as that is his real spot. Good to Samarai Jack (George John) back in action. My son thinks Dax looks like the guy in Back to the Future so FCD should be invincible with both Marty McFly and Samarai Jack. BTW, where has that Cunningham been all year?
Forgot to mention the DMN said Wallace told SH he was sick at halftime.
Bit overly harsh on the main review i thought, yeah we weren’t greast but not quite as bad as all that. A win is a win is a win. DVB, Shea and Cunnigham looked pretty decent, as did Ferrera in patches. My biggest complaint was there was too much of a gap between defence and midfield which gave NY far too much space to run at our back 4. Dax wasn’t up to the high standards he’s set the last few games and Rocha was largely annonomous. The biggest complaint was that in front of pretty much the biggest crow we’ll get all year the work rate for the whole second half was pretty poor. THis was a chance to make a statement and it was missed. I’d like to see Avilla get some more time also, he provided some much needed spark again. Still, one loss in 8, long may it continue!
Wallace did not return to the bench after halftime. Maybe he was a bit sick??? Cunny was on fire. I have always liked him and can’t understand why people call for him to be benched/cut. He makes too much $$ (IMO ) but seems to be a team player. Ray was lights out! Pablo is such a smart player, never seems to panic! Shea seemed to tire and be invisable around the 75th. Avila needs more minutes, he brings so much energy to the game. With all the bad….a good result.
It looked to me like Richetti was the one who lost Angel on the goal, not Wallace.