120 Fahrenheit: The 2010 Hyndman Off-Season Plan
November 10th, 2009 . 3:38 pm . By: Buzz Carrick
Every season about this time I write a little piece about what I think the off-season will hold for FC Dallas. Usually there are a great many questions that must be answered and a great many holes that must be filled. Strangely, for a team that missed the playoffs, that’s not really true for FC Dallas. Hyndman is a firm believe in his system and the guys he’s brought in this year. Given the run at the end of the year one could make the case only tweaks are needed. But what tweaks and how many? Good question. The SystemFirst let’s break down the Hyndman 4-1-4-1. I’ll keep calling it that cause Hyndman keeps calling it that. It’s a modified version of the system he ran in college, which was a diamond 4-4-2. The modification comes with the fast and aggressive outside and mids, backs Hymdnan has at the MLS level but didn’t always in college. The main modification is the deep lying holding mid, the position we used to call a stopper in my youth. The deep lying mid makes the normal a-mid a two way linking player and drops the 2nd striker into more a pure #10 role. In this system there are a lot of pieces in place. Let’s look at how the season ended.
The following we know for sure: all the major pieces are under contract for 2010, that includes Cunningham, Pearce, and Ferreira. The only major component out of contract is, or was, Dax McCarty. So this lineup above could in fact be the opening day line up. But standing pat is never good in MLS, teams must improve or they get left behind. That’s particularly true of FC Dallas who hasn’t made the playoffs for two years now. So how can this lineup improve? Well frankly there are a lot of ways. The key question really should be: how will Hyndman try and improve it? Job 1: Re-sign Dax McCartyMcCarty was coming off a terrific season in which he won 3rd Degree’s Napalm Award as team MVP. Even if he wasn’t the MVP you would have picked, it’s still clear he had a amazing year. McCarty wants to come back and Hyndman wants him back. Indeed, before I could even got this article written, FC Dallas got the job done and re-signed McCarty (Although FCD has yet to confirm it). Re-signing McCarty was paramount because his loss would have meant a big hole needed to be filled. So a good proactive move on FCD’s part to lock up the midfielder. No, re-signing McCarty doesn’t make the team better, but it does keep it from getting worse. That’s a good first step. Job 2a: StopperDaniel Hernandez did a fantastic job after coming into the team late in the season. He wasn’t fit when he showed up, and maybe wasn’t even totally game fit by the time the season ended. But it didn’t really matter. Hernandez showed how important a stay at home, defense first, tough as nails, hard working, and composed holding mid is in this system. With the outside backs constantly going forward, the covering holding mid is vital. McCarty, as good as he was in this makeshift role, wasn’t a stay at home player. He would go forward from time to time, effectively mind you, but it would expose the back four. To really lock down the defense this spot needs to be a stay at home guy. So if Hernandez was so good, why does FCD need a player here? Partially because Hernandez is 33, is (I believe) out of contract, and expressed a desire to play in Mexico again. But mostly because if this position were a top tier deep midfielder in his mid 20s, then FCD could take a big leap forward. If Hernandez comes back, then great. But imagine if you will a Shalrie Joseph type in that spot, or an Osvalso Alonso. Perhaps even a 24 year old Daniel Hernandez. So where does FCD find one of those? No idea. Yet it’s a position American can play quite well. Your Chris Armas, your Jesse Marsch, or even your Kerry Zavagnin. The name Brian Carroll comes to mind as does Ricardo Clark and Maurice Edu. I won’t even mention my favorite name, Kyle Beckerman, cause some FCD fans hate him. You can’t get any of them, but this is a spot that can be filled domestically. Some day the light may come on for Anthony Wallace as he could be wonderful here. But right now the drive, focus, and determination just aren’t there. Oops. Can you draft one? Sure, maybe, see Sam Cronin. One that can play at the level needed from the get go? Hum… probably not, that’s rare. But I bet if you look around CONCACAF or perhaps in South American you might find someone. For example, I know a name at FC Dallas sister club Atletico Paranaense that would be perfect, but I don’t think FCD can afford him. Chico, before you ask. Keep an eye on teams FCD plays this winter. You just might see something… that’s how these things go sometimes. Job 2b: StrikerEqually as important as the stopper is a striker. So why did I list it second? Cause Cunningham is the man for now. Any striker coming in will be second fiddle to start the year. Cunningham is coming of a career season. 17 goals and the Golden Boot, he’s now a finalist for the league MVP Award. This system only uses one high striker, so why does FCD need another one? Cause stuff happens and Cunningham isn’t a spring chicken. Cold streaks happen. Injuries happen. Motivation happens. Call ups happen. No team can afford to go through the MLS season with only one guy who can do the job up top. Even if it’s just off the bench FCD needs one. And before you say Peri Marosevic, I will remind you he’s not ready to carry the load. What would happen if Cunningham were to pull a hamstring and miss upwards of two months? Season wrecked, that’s what would happen. Not to mention that every coach loves having two good players at each spot. Competition is good. I’m not talking DP here, this should be someone young but good enough to play some serious minutes if needed. Job 3: Center BackDown the stretch as FCD played themselves back into contention the center back pairing that finally stopped the bleeding was Ugo Ihemelu and George John. Kyle Davies also had a strong season with a run of well deserved starts. He’s shown real upside and potential. So why does FCD need another one? Cause a MLS team needs four of them. Daniel Torres, he of the 18 games missed via injury, just doesn’t cut it. Even when healthy he’s not good enough. Steve Purdy, who I still think has some potential, didn’t play well enough. He spent a lot of time at outside back late in the year. You can’t count on him to be an answer. Heck before he joined the starting lineup Hernandez spent most of his training time at center back. Blake Wagner and Anthony Wallace have also had to play there in training and scrimmages cause FCD is short one to often. If you find one good enough you can even move Ugo Ihemelu back outside. We’ll come back to why you would want to do that. Can you draft a center back good enough? You bet you can. Ike Opara of Wake Forest, perhaps the best defender to come out of college since Eddie Pope, may be in this pool. He will be gone before FCD picks in the 5th spot, but FCD has a lot of picks. Maybe something could be worked out. Job 4: Right BackHeath Pearce has been nothing but terrific since joining FCD. He brings a calm composure the back line and some savvy in his timing of runs going forward. He even likes the right side, cutting inside and shooting. FCD isn’t a outside backs to the end line and cross team anyway, it’s a possession and break you down team and Pearce on the right fits that. So why does FCD need a right back? Well first, cause right now Pearce is the the only one really on the roster as long as Ugo is central. At the very least FCD needs a right back back up. Secondly, because of Dave van en Bergh. Wait, what? Sorry, I should have said, “Because Dave van den Bergh is 33, played in every single game, and isn’t getting any younger.” But what does that have to do with right back? If FCD had another good right back, or another center back allowing Ugo Ihemelu to go to right back, then Heath Pearce could play left mid. Van den Bergh could either be spelled, replaced, or shifted to other positions. Van den Bergh could spell McCarty at times and give Harris competition on the right. Think squad rotation. Yes, van den Bergh finished second in the league in assists with 11, one behind Brad Davis and Omar Cummings, he should play a lot at left mid and all over. But modern teams are fluid. Things change, pieces are moved, and worse yet players get hurt. You don’t want guys turning 34 to be forced to play every single game of the year. Every good team has some flexibility in it to deal with a long season and the adversities of that season. Anything Else?That’s about it: striker, stopper, center back, and right back. All four of those moves will increase the FCD depth and make them a better team. Some of the bottom roster fodder might get jettisoned and replaced with better players. More talent is good. Beyond these specifics I mentioned, I would expect Hyndman to continue to look for upgrades across the board. I don’t think there’s a single position on this team that couldn’t be upgraded for the right price. Even guys like Cunningham, Farreira, and McCarty are at this level replaceable and upgradeable. Would it be smart to move those three? Probably not. It would waste to many resources trying to replace good players. But talent is talent. Find some and bring it in. If it happens to be where you already have some talent, then you can burn that bridge when you get there. 32 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Of course an important question is where these changes fit on the roster. But that’s a long way away.
Think Brek could be our 2b Striker?
Say we find another center back, could Davies or Pearce fill the Stopper role?
I think you want to get Davies playing time. And Ihemelu on the right still hits my fancy.
You didn’t mention young players stepping up (except hoping for Wallace). Will Shea be back? If so would he finally decide playing time is good whereever he played and play CB or Stopper?
I was thinking Brek at Right Back. He definitely showed that he is not an up top lone striker. I have not seen Brek play defense, but I have read that his skill set is good for playing defense
What about the most important upgrade scheduled for the offseason? The kits. They change every two years, and I’m tired of jagged half-hoops. Here’s my proposal:
– straighten the striped
– home back patch in red instead of white.
– make the white stripes thinner than the red ones (dramatically or subtly). Waldo-effect gone. Reflect the change on the road kits with blue thinner than the white (Reading/WBA effect gone).
– hope and pray that MLS as a hole starts to use a better font where you can at least tell the difference between a 1 and a 7.
What do you think, people?
I think I agree with most of that Steve, though I would like the hoops all the way around, but with the single-color numbers I don’t see it happening. I hate the 1s and 7s too, I wish we could just use the generic adidas numbers that they put on the WCQ jerseys for their teams.
http://www.mlsarchives.com/dal...n-awayjersey-chad-deering.html
I think they should bring this road jersey back, but in white, with red and blue pinstripes (or even keep it as-is, I would be cool with that too.
Great point, Steve. I would be happy with one kit without any stripes at all. THAT is Job 5.
Jamex, sure. but you cant assume so. They still need to sign one.
Mike, Pearce maybe… Davies hadn’t thought of that one. The January transfer window is when Shea will be at risk. Hard to predict but it wont shock me to see him sold.
Steve, ive heard the back patch on the home is goign red. Otherwise there will be few changes.
love DVB but man he looked gassed by season’s end. we need a reliable replacement.
remember the supposed Man U interest in Shea was shifting him to FB a la Spector. It’s worth a try if he buys in.
tweak the kits by all means- agreed!
Did not like Ugo at right back at all. He was very good at CD, don’t mess with him. As much as I liked George John at CD if you find another he is the FCD defensive mid answer to Shalrie Joseph – tall, physical and played that spot in college. Not sure Pearce is skillful enough as a starter at left mid. Wagner would be a better backup there but expect him to be dealt or claimed in the expansion draft (Shea was decent there too and both are very young and will get better).
Best position this team has been in the offseason for about 4 years, I think. Finally, we don’t go into the offseason thinking “how are they gonna fix this defense”. That alone is a huge accomplishment for this club. So looking forward to next year.
I agree that creating more depth at that Dmid spot is a high priority, as is depth at the forward spot. As for the defensive positions? Meh…that stuff can and should be solved with draft picks. The backline was solid all through the 2nd half, despite the injuries. Schellas shouldn’t mess with that. Ohh..and I would get rid of Burse and look to pick up another backup keeper….I love the guy, but he’s not going to get any better at this point.
Forgot to add: Thanks, Buzz…for being the only guy in the Metroplex that cares to keep FCD relevant during the offseason.
You really think Brek is gonna go in January?
He doesn’t get many minutes with us, and still has yet to score a goal. Nats aside, if he doesn’t produce for his club team, what makes some European team think he is gonna produce for them?
The Euros always think they can better develop young players than “those stupid yanks”.
Sorry for off topic, but in today’s Si.com “Hot Clicks” section there’s a video of a Saudi player scoring 2 seconds into the game.
The ball is tapped to him on the kick-off, and he just boots it on goal.
The goalkeeper was a little off his line and the ball hits just under the crossbar.
It’s nowhere near as impressive as Cooper’s goal this year. But it’s interesting & fun.
I would love to wear an fcd shirt aeound town but there is no way I will buy one as they look at present.
In England and Europe they buy, dare I say it, “Asian” players etc just to be able to flogg heaps of extra jerseys to make some extra cash.
Why doesn’t fcd take this philosphy and change the shirts to something many, many, many fans would be proud of and feel “attractive/comfortable” wearing it in public.
Wouldn’t sales rise and FCD have more moolash to spend?
buzz, you forgot another reason to find a right back. Its probably the most importnat reason also, its that Heath Pearce wants to get back to Europe & get paid. If he works out right, he’ll be gone next summer after the World Cup. I strongly believe he’s Cory Gibbs part deux.
So is Farreira signed or not signed for next year? I thought someone had written that FCD still needs to get him signed. But Buzz says he is signed.
ike opara would be a great addition here. i’ve heard so much about him, and would have been strongly considered #1 overall if he came out last year. well, w/ the #5 and #6 overall picks, we definitely have the ammo to move up for him. the last thing we need is more bodies to fill our already young roster. opara’s young, but from what i’ve heard, could step in right away. we could add bruno to the mix if they so desire. so buzz, what’s the likelihood of that happening?
It’s possible. But not probable.
I’d trade all our picks for him. And maybe through in a body.
Getting him to sign with MLS is the first step. But moving up to get him is going to be very tough to do.
Buzz – what’s the word on Farreira?
historian,
Buzz said in an earlier comments section that Ferreira’s loan isn’t a concern. He was pretty sure it was a 2 year loan deal from the start with an existing option to buy. He also said the relationship w CAP still seems to be solid, so no need to fret about David’s contract status right now.
Everyone clammering for Ike Opara, and wanting to trade away all our picks PLUS a few players for him needs to take a refresher course on former MLS #1 draft picks. Success rate is somewhere in the 40-50% range. Your typical rookie of the year isn’t the #1 or #2 pick. Not smart to throw all your eggs in any one basket. Better to trade draft picks for allocation $$ if you don’t want to use them on multiple players.
tex,
do you recall the success rate of FCD in acquiring top talent prior to this year? it’s been hit or miss as well…mostly miss w/ this organization. to me 50% sounds much better than what our prior moves have been. but you’re right, many top picks are gambles…but i’d rather gamble on the ones w/ the highest potential.
tex,
This isn’t the NFL, draft picks aren’t as inherently valuable as in the NFL. Most first round picks are GA because they’re cheap and it’s a crap shoot anyway.
FCD has 6 picks I believe, they need quality not quantity. If other teams are willing to trade known commodities or allocation $, you’re right we could certainly go that way. I just don’t think you’ll get the return expected.
I’m with tex. Opara isn’t a known quantity just the most hyped player. Unless they can move up cheaply (the #5 and #6 picks plus something minor maybe), they use the picks they have and see which ones pan out (if there are too many, you have tradable assets), or use them to sweaten deals for know players.
Buzz,
no chance of roster expansion and/or return of development games, right?
When does the current CBA expire? End of 2009 isn’t it? I hope you (or maybe Richard or Dave??) are going to take a run at explaining what changes are under consideration – what the impact of those changes may be, and what would happen if a new CBA is not in place by the deadline.
By the way – when is the deadline to get the new CBA done?
CBA = Collective Bargaining Agreement
between MLS and the players
Chaz, end of 2009 I believe. I know very little about it frankly.
CBA runs out December 31, 2009.
How about this for uniform change: Before he was sacked, I talked to Hitch about a trip he was about to take to Argentina to sign a deal with River Plate ala CAP. How about the Red Stripe diagonnally across the front like them? I don’t know if the deal was done, but this could help it along. Tnen we would truly be the Red Stripes, and maybe we could get them to shirt sponsor us.
I do think they should run out a 3rd jersey to honor one of FCDs partners. They did it for a Tigres a couple years back. I CAP-inspired kit would be well-deserved at this point.
Chad, I wouldn’t think copying River Plate’s kit before a partnership was in place would be looked on very kindly.