| POS | TEAM | PLD | PTS |
| 1 | LA | 15 | 36 |
| 2 | RSL | 14 | 27 |
| 3 | CLB | 13 | 27 |
| 4 | NYRB | 13 | 24 |
| 5 | COL | 13 | 22 |
| 6 | FCD | 13 | 21 |
| 7 | TFC | 13 | 19 |
| 8 | SJ | 13 | 19 |
| 9 | HOU | 15 | 18 |
| 10 | CHI | 13 | 17 |
| 11 | SEA | 15 | 15 |
| 12 | KC | 13 | 12 |
| 13 | PHI | 12 | 11 |
| 14 | CHV | 14 | 11 |
| 15 | NE | 14 | 11 |
| 16 | DC | 14 | 11 |
Many fans and readers of this site appear to have already given up on this season due to the teams very poor start. I however am not one of them. I believe this coach and this team can still turn things around and that the club can and will make the play-offs. Several things have to happen and to happen now to make this optimism a reality.
It has long been said that soccer is a young mans game and that the game seems to be getting “younger” all the time. In a sport where you are old at age 30 and most likely finished by age 34 there is a continuing emphasis on younger and younger players. Arsene Wenger at Arsenal seems to be a master of knowing just when a young player is ready to step in to his first team line-up, his nurturing and development of Theo Walcott just the latest of several examples.
FC Dallas now has one of the worst home records in MLS so it’s no wonder that concerts have become a priority for HSG, at least they are a win-win situation. FCD has now won a total of four of eleven home league games, hardly the sort of situation that would strike fear into any USL team (as we have seen), much less anyone from MLS. This team seems incapable of holding on to a lead, and in fact have the league’s worst record (by a decent margin) when scoring first. So lets look at just exactly why this is the case.
Having sat there as shocked as any of us at FCD’s performance this past Sunday, I got to thinking about what exactly we had just witnessed. Without question this was FCD’s most complete 90 minute game in a very long time, so why did this happen and why did it happen now?
Having watched the European Championships over the past week and a half or so I’ve come to the conclusion that there is indeed a God, he has a sense of humor and he isn’t Greek. Four years ago these Gods of anti football had their days in the sun and, against all odds, managed to win the second most important football tournament on the planet. Of course they then started to believe their own hype, actually thought they were a “great” team, got murdered in the confederations cup and failed to make the 2006 world cup.
As a young lad growing up in Europe way back in the day I was a member of my school “soccer” team. I would check the school notice board on the way out on a Friday afternoon checking the line-up for the next morning’s game.
Steve Morrow got the ax yesterday and already the vultures are circling, some to pick over the bones of an apparently failed regime and many others to throw their own hat into the ring, the very large ring, of potential successors.
Being somewhat familiar with the behind the scenes goings on during a soccer telecast (several years ago, in my home country, I was involved with the televising of soccer games on a regular basis) I have been appalled by the quality, or lack of, of the production of recent FC Dallas games as well as some of the other MLS games.
It is often said that the mark of a good team is to get results when not playing particularly well. For long stretches of all four early season games FC Dallas has been outplayed, that they are now the only unbeaten team left in MLS hopefully adds credence to the old adage about getting points when not at the top of your game.
A world cup winning captain once said that 95% of genius in a truly great soccer player consisted of doing the simple things well. Soccer is the simplest of games made complicated by players and coaches, in fact soccer could well be the simplest game of all, it is certainly a game for players rather than coaches.
Volume Fourteen
John has extra motivation; ratings, etc.
Here are the final #s.
It’s World Cup Tuesday, and all is well in FC Dallas land
Dallas beats Kansas City, 1-0
Big game against the Wizzz…..
Classy video from Nike.
On the opening day of 1860 training camp.
Cruz Azul has pulled out of the event.
El gato is cool like that.
FC Dallas doubles up Chivas USA, 2-1.
The MLS disciplinary report came out today and Arnaud’s on it.
So with the USA out, who will you be cheering for?
vs Cruz Azul on July 7th
… and we are back.
Here’s the audio from the interview.