I wouldn’t call the playoff system screwy at this point. 7 teams are out 8 teams are in. A couple years back when only 5 were out it was absurd, but if FCD does make it, they’ll have an overall record of 12-12-6, which isn’t bad, and they’ll be the hottest team in the post-season.

Man, this is exciting!

I would like to point out that FCD got lucky because Cunningham was offside when the ball was played and it should have been called. I guess good luck comes to teams who are playing well.

I gotta tell you guys, I’m feeling better about this team than I’ve felt in a long time. I know San Jose was understrength, but they played with some desperation in that game and but for one gross defensive lapse FC Dallas was capable of bottling them up (with the help of some astounding timing/luck on Sala’s part.) And there was none of that booting the ball up the field and hoping for the best; this team has turned into a squad that can move the ball up and down and around the field. I saw a ton of crisp passing and fantastic off-the-ball movement, the kind that quality clubs display. I really feel like they’re coming together at the right time, and I think winning a must-win on the road against a desperate team is evidence of that.

Cunny didn’t come close to being in play for the initial ball. Onside. Goal. Game Over.

I don’t think JC was offsides. The camera angle isn’t crystal, but it looks like he’s behind McCarty and the ball when it’s squared, thus onsides. Good win for the boys last night. As a guy who has been complaining about Sala lately, I will readily admit that he was huge last night. Getting down to parry Corrales’ shot was beautiful. Can we make the playoffs? Yes. Will we make the playoffs? I don’t know. Do I think some magic can happen if we make the playoffs? Absolutely.

Where would this team be without Dax? He played an important part in most goal scoring opportunities last night. We need to keep him! When Sala is on, he’s the best keeper in the league!

FCD wins another game we never thought they’d win 4 months ago. I could swear that Yallop saw the problems we had with the overly wet field in NY and told the grounds crew to make the situation similar. Did we get lucky? Yes, but good teams get lucky (granted – this time we got REALLY lucky).

Cunningham’s form is dipping but he’s still scoring. 7 straight games – holy crap! I think, to paraphrase from Buzz, that the midfield will slam the ball off his face to keep scoring if they have to. I keep in mind this could still all end for us but the ride sure has gotten fun at the end.

[...] games, and they did so in impressive fashion last night, surrendering only one goal in San Jose and coming away with a 2-1 victory that also eliminated San Jose from the playoff hunt. FC Dallas is in this position in part thanks [...]

Another GWG for Cunningham….anyone heard from ScaryIce lately? LOLZ.

“Cunningham’s form is dipping”… ok, where’s the punchline? ‘Cause that’s a joke, right?

The offsides that I think FCDallas96 is referring to is when David F. first made the through pass to Dax. At that time JC was in an offside position, but accoring to the judgement of the officials, he was not involved in the play. For the screwy way the rule is now, the non-call was correct.

I have to admit I’m surprised at how well Ihemelu is playing at CB and also how well Pearce is playing at RB. But, I think Hernandez at DMid has really helped settle the defense down. It feels really to good to have gien up 1 goal in 3 games! It feels really good to be able to win games 1-0, 2-1. That’s winning soccer.

This team has transformed from having their entire defense being a huge liability, into a solid team with quality on both sides of the ball. The team is built on speed and ball movement thanks to the two “generals” on this team, Ferreira and McCarty. The only two “weaknesses” this fast team has is that when they are playing on a small field, their pace and movement are hampered, and secondly, we still appear more vulnerable on set pieces then we should. Yallop leveraged these advantages the best he could given that his team were missing several key people. On the numerous set pieces SJ had, their players booted them (for which I am thankful).

I would disagree with the comment that JC’s “form has slipped”. Playing on a small field at SJ and previously in KC, reduces the type of blistering runs he has been capable of making on a larger-sized pitch. Where JC’s quality really shines is when he is 1-on-1 in an open field.

We definitely were more than a little bit lucky last night, and quite frankly, it is about time that those fickle Football Gods tilted fate in our direction.

The big question now is how healthy is Heath Pearce? We absolutely need his veteran quality to finish out this amazing run of play.

Cunningham was pretty bad last night. Hernandez doesn’t need to be trying any ambitious passes, just be a disruptor.

If “pretty bad” means getting an assist and scoring the game winning goal and the team winning vs playing exceptionally well and the team not winning, I’ll take playing pretty bad any day! At the end of the day, there are no style points. All that matters is who scores the most.

Sorry, I missed the fact that the offside reference was for the first ball through to McCarty. Yes, JC was offsides there, but as Saban pointed out, that’s a judgement call. I think it was a good call, especially since it worked out in our favor. But sometimes you need a little luck. Like when JC misplayed the Pearce pass and it rolled into the path of DF’s run for the opening goal.

I’ve never really been able to figure out the rubric for judging a forward that misses multiple great chances in a game but puts one away. Is he bad for not scoring the easy chances? Or does it not matter how many he missed and is great for scoring the game winner?

Another very good performance last night, I’m really liking the new look side. The back 4 just needs time to get to know each other more (they’ve now got 10 days of solid practice so that’s a definate bonus) and we do need to find another goal scorer to support JC for next season (if we can get 2million pounds for Shea, take it! Buy someone who can score). David Ferreira is my MVP this season, he’s played almost every single minute and has consistently been one of the best players on the pitch from about the 6th game of the seaosn onwards, and since Cooper has gone he’s stepped up even more.
Oh, and i’d take a player who scores 17 goals a season out of 100 chances over a player that scores 10 goals a season out of 15 chances any day of the week. Goals pay the rent and 16 of them in 13 games can’t be criticized.

I can’t wait for the Colorado game, even if it’s a small crowd we’ve all got to do our part to make it a raucus one!

If it ever comes down to goal differential, then missing those easy goals will matter. However, until then, I’m excited about this team for the first time all season. Here’s to hoping we make the playoffs! Go Jeff, kick some @$$ and get that golden boot too.

Who needs scaryice when we have anonymous letting know how we suck LOL! I always found his predictions a little… well… how do I put it…. bull crap! GO FCD!!! You are rocking the house and I love it!!!!

The striker’s job is to score. He can miss 45 times, but if he gets his goal, then he’s done his job. Cunningham is definitely doing his job.

FYI I wanted to see how Jeff stacked up on shots on goal/shots.

Ante 48%
Kreis 47%
Cunningham 49%
Preki 42%
Moreno 58%

I agree that if a forward keeps scoring then you keep starting him, no matter how the goals come. However…come on guys, that assist was a total accident. Even Cunningham said so to the press after the game. And the goal was a tap-in. Just being realistic. For the entire rest of the game he wasn’t that great. Think of it this way….he still scored and we still won during his “bad” games, so he can return to the form for the rest of the season and score 2-3 more hat tricks.

How about that #14 (G.John) his passing and ball control is on point. I Also like the way he bully’s Strikers

I wasnt sure at first, but i like the bite that Hernandez brings to the middle of the field. we were missing that in the beginning of the season (as I pointed out before) when there were games in that we’d only have 4 or 5 fouls committed in the entire match while teams were running thru the middle of the field unabashedly.

i’m not sure if it’ll last, but SJ wasnt able to do that last night and i’m good with that.

FCDallas96;
Cunningham was in an offside position when the ball was played through, but because it was McCarty who recieved it while onside, the play was correctly allowed to continue. He in no way interfered with any of the SJ defenders, and he gained no advantage by being there. Good goal.

For those keeping track this weekend, Dallas is further helped by the following winning:

Crew over Revs
Quakes over Toronto
Bulls over RSL
Chivas over KC

As far as the “rubric” is concerned….

Consider that last season in the EPL, Cristiano Ronaldo became only the fifth player in the league to notch 30+ goals.

He also topped the league in shots attempted, 176,

In other words, when Ronaldo took a shot, he scored about 17% of the time, and he won FIFA player of the year.

I say way to go Jeff!!! ;- )

Aggiecat,

Thanks for that good news!

I think a big game to watch closely will be Saturday’s fixture of the Sounders vs. Wizards. If Seattle wins this game, they will have 44 points and a playoff spot wrapped up. Teams who are a playoff lock in any sport tend to play conservatively on the final game(s) of their regular season. Preventing injury and resting key players becomes at least a peripheral concern in the minds of the players and coaches.

I mention this as a big context set-up for our last game of the season, because I think FCD has every reason in the world to believe they can take down Colorado at home. However, to beat Seattle on the final game of the season in front of a packed house presents a huge challenge. Thus, anything and everything that can offer FCD even a the smallest of advantages will be needed.

Oh, and for us to win that game, Hernandez will need to minimize the degree to which Ljungberg controls the run of play in the deep MF. That is NOT an easy task, and since Freddie is in top form right now it makes it even more difficult. Good luck FCD!

Will I get slammed if I offer a little credit to SH for putting together this team, even if it did take most of the season to assemble it?

If you are a Hoops fan (YEAH I SAID IT) with a least a pulse, you gotta be excited that things are finally come into place. SH’s vision for this club and the speed of play was amazing tonight…the defense…the midfield…the fowards…its all good. I am glad about the acquisition of Daniel Hernandez. I saw him just bust a shot from 35 yards out cause it kinda looked like a good idea. I doubted SH’s vision for the team for most of the season….it seems that after tinkering with the team, the players on the field are coming into their own as a unit and fighting together.

AggieCat,
Since with 40 points FCD will almost surely NOT make the playoffs, we need to win our last two games garnering 42 points. If we do so, we guarantee finishing above KC. Therefore, we want KC to beat Chivas so that Chivas still feels the need to get more points. Chivas later plays Chicago and we’d like them to want to get points in that game.

Let me put something else out there. Hernandez (with his frame/body size and his bite) is doing a better job than Richetti probably would have done in his preferred position. I don’t wanna say this to loudly but Hernandez is not even 50 percent fit yet. That is scary to opposing teams if they count him out. I didn’t see Richetti trying to bust 35 yards shots, destoying people, and standing up to Beckham and co. I am just saying.

Cunningham was behind Dax. No offsides. Quit complaining. Enjoy the ride.

FWIW, Ronaldo is also a midfielder, but more importantly goals vs. shots attempted isn’t a proxy for “easy opoprtunities missed.”

I laid out the playoff scenario in another thread, but here goes again (there are still a lot of permutations here, but I’ll give it a go):

We HAVE to win the next 2. There’s no scenario that gets us in with less than 42 points. I will assume for the scenarios that we win out.

Chivas is in. They only need one result out of 4 matches, 2 at home vs. KC and San Jose. I don’t see them losing 4 straight, 3 at home.

New England needs 2 results (at least one win) vs. Columbus twice with half their team hurt. They also play Chicago. I’m assuming Chicago gets it done vs. New England or at home vs. Chivas after Chivas has likely already clinched.

Which leaves 6 teams for 2 spots: DC, Colorado, NE, Toronto, Salt Lake, Dallas. Even if DC wins out, they are on 42 and we will likely have the goal differential on them. They are toast if we win out. New England needs 2 wins in the next 3 against tough teams to get in. The wrinkle is if they beat Chicago and Chicago beats Chivas, both Chicago and New England are in, which leaves one spot for 4 teams (CO, Toronto, RSL, and FCD)

The real tricky scenario here is Colorado/Toronto/Salt Lake. Salt Lake plays both Colorado and Toronto. Toronto has to run the table to get in, which includes a game vs. Salt Lake. Colorado, if they lose to us, will also have to win it’s last game, vs. Salt Lake. However, if both Toronto and Colorado win out (after Colorado loses to us in this scenario), it would put Colorado on 43 and Toronto on 44. No matter what happens in that scenario, we are out on 42.

If New England doesn’t win 2 of 3 and are out, We need Real Salt Lake to take points in one of those games, or we need Toronto to lose vs. San Jose or New York. If New England is in, we are pretty much in trouble; we would need RSL (assuming they beat NY at home this weekend, if they lose they are out and we want them to beat Toronto and Colorado) to take points from both Colorado AND Tornto, but NOT win both. So they’d have to tie EITHER Colorado or Toronto (or both).

Long story short, for this weekend, cheer for the teams AggieCat said.

Andy, DC has the tiebreaker on us – head-to-head results.

Actually, it’s much simpler than that, El Andy…

Assuming Dallas wins out,

If Seattle loses to KC, then Dallas has 42 pts to Seattle’s 41.

Then, FC DALLAS MAKES THE PLAYOFFS as long as Columbus (the best team in the MLS) can at least tie vs. D.C. United (who have lost 3 of 4, and have gone 2-5-2 since july).

(UNLESS Toronto AND RSL both win out. And even then, Dallas still gets in if Colorado ties or loses to RSL.)

SEE? It’s that simple, really!!! (jk)

Oh, and New England has to do no better than a win and a tie in their last three games, or Dallas is out. But this assumes BOTH Toronto AND RSL win out, too.

In other words, if Seattle loses, we’re probably in like flynn.

so, this weekend, root for columbus to beat new england.

Rex, that is interesting; DC comes into play and it makes it even harder to figure out.

If Seattle loses to KC, we have to beat Seattle IN SEATTLE with playoffs on the line. Not the easiest feat

No, but it sure would be fun to watch!!! (And Dallas would have the momentum.)

Just wanted to point out that the tiebreaker between FCD and DC United is not head-to-head. The first factor is the Goal Differential, and we have them beat there almost certainly.

Also, the only problem with the idea of Seattle losing to KC is that we then play Seattle next. It is one thing to play a team who already has the playoffs locked (the tendency to rest key players, avoid injury, play more conservatively). But it is another thing to be playing them in front of the sea of green when the playoffs are on the line for them! Perhaps I am overestimating the psychological element here, but I am just going on how I have observed athletic teams to perform in the past.

http://web.mlsnet.com/standings/

click “Playoff Standings”, then scroll down for the tiebreak rules.

First FCD match I’ve watched entirely since early in the season. Main differences I saw:
1) In form Sala.
2) Posession in the midfield.
3) Speed.

Defense is still suspect but at least healthy.

Now will the Colorado curse continue?

robert,

I see your point, and it’s a good one. I would MUCH rather be playing a Seattle team that doesn’t care if it wins or loses. But I figure if we can’t beat a borderline team on the cusp of the playoffs, how can we expect to beat anybody once we get in, especially since our first matchup will be against a powerhouse?

Plus, FC Dallas will have all the momentum, and right now I like their chances against any team in the league. It will be a fun match to watch, if it happens like I hope.

ALSO, I checked the playoff rules and the first tiebreaker is indeed head-to-head. goal differential is the 2nd tiebreaker. DC has the advantage on us.

Wacko4Burn – The so-called Colorado Curse only applies to playoff games. We are more than capable of beating them in the silence of their stadium, and in the confines of PHP. Try to make it to the game on the 17th and help us make some noise to support FCD!

Defense has been suspect all year but of this is largely due to the lack of minutes together. This seems to be coming together – won’t really solidify until next year though.

I do wish Richetti was a part of this though. I’ll be sad to see him go.

G John is the man. He hasn’t settled quite yet but you can tell he is the ideal middle back. As WRXnFX said, I like how he bully’s strikers. Strong in the middle. Paired with someone else in the middle with some speed and you have your bases covered.

Did anyone else catch that ‘moment’ after the JC goal? Dax was so happy for being able to help JC towards the golden boot.

Sounders fan here.

I’ve been an FCD sympathizer for several years now, and I just gotta say how happy I am for the fans and the team right now. I know the first half of the season was rough but I can’t think of a better story than a miraculous play-off resurrection led by Jeff Cunningham, one of the league’s all-tie great characters. If FCD makes the play-offs and Cunny wins the golden boot it would be truly remarkable.

I am bummed we’ll meet on the last day, and hoping that both teams make the post-season regardless.