Posts Tagged ‘fc dallas’

Wednesday Lunch: MLS MVP Race

Posted: August 24, 2011 in mls, professional sports, soccer, sports
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By Evan Ream

With the 2011 MLS season winding down, I wanted to take a closer look at the MLS MVP race. As it always an award that sparks much debate (last year I was in favor of Chris Wondolowski over David Ferreira), I would like to give my two cents to the discussion. Each team has ten games or fewer left, and it will be what each player does over the last games that most people remember. But before I get to my shortlist of candidates, I would like to first take a closer look at what I think the definition of an MVP is.

Many times the voters will vote simply for the best player on the best team for MVP. While doing so may seem like it makes sense, it doesn’t. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player, and if I understand that correctly, that means the player isn’t the best in the league but rather the most valuable. In theory, the league’s MVP would be the player who if taken away from his team, would cause the most damage to that team. A good example of a misunderstanding of this definition would be last year’s “case” for Sebastien Le Toux. In 2010 Le Toux scored 14 goals and added 11 assists for the expansion Philadelphia Union. Le Toux was the heart and soul of that team and a few blogs (such as the Shin Guardian) pleaded for people to vote for him. This was a mistake. Le Toux’s Union finished 8-7-15, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference and 14th overall. Without Le Toux, how much worse would they have been? One place?

The clear MVP of 2010 was Chris Wondolowski. Wondo scored more than half of San Jose’s goals and led a mediocre team to the playoffs. Without him, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs. No player meant MORE to his team than Wondo. That is the true definition of a Most Valuable Player.

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Monday Lunch: For FC Dallas Selling George John Would be a Mistake

Posted: August 22, 2011 in mls, professional sports, soccer, sports
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By Evan Ream

Last week, I wrote about FC Dallas’ chances to win multiple trophies this year. Though Dallas’ loss to Seattle this weekend probably puts them out of the running for the Supporter’s Shield, they still have very good shots at the US Open Cup and MLS Cup (as well as the CONCACAF Champions League, which doesn’t end until next year), but there is just one problem: George John.

George John’s play isn’t the problem nor is his value to the team; the problem is what FC Dallas would lose if (more likely when) they lost him. According to multiple sources, John is just a work permit approval away from a move to Blackburn Rovers in the EPL. From Ives Galarcep’s Twitter, “Blackburn and MLS have reached an agreement on George John, but nothing signed yet. John still needs to secure Greek passport/ID.” There isn’t any doubt that this move would be good for both John’s career and the United States Men’s National Team if he chooses to play for them, but why is FC Dallas letting him go?

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Friday Lunch: FC Dallas’ Treble Chances

Posted: August 19, 2011 in mls, professional sports, soccer, sports
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By Evan Ream

In 15 previous years in MLS, a team has done the double (defined as winning two trophies in one season) nine times. No team has ever achieved the treble. It is nearly September in MLS year 16, and FC Dallas could very well be the first team to achieve this rare feat. FC Dallas are currently still alive in four competitions: MLS Cup, Supporter’s Shield, US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League. Obviously they can’t win the Champions League this year because the final isn’t until 2012, but what are their chances of winning the other three competitions?

Note that for all purposes pretty much ever on this site, I don’t count the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the predecessor to the CONCACAF Champions League, as a major trophy based on the lack seriousness that teams took the tournament.

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Tuesday Lunch: MLS Playoff Picture

Posted: July 19, 2011 in mls, professional sports, soccer, sports
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By Evan Ream

At the end of Week 18 in MLS, every team (except Real Salt Lake) has played at least half of their games. For a great look at the standings, check out the always amazing Setting the Table. But I’m not here to give you the standings; I’m here to talk about who I think will be in those coveted ten slots that will qualify for the postseason when the regular season is finished.

Before I talk about the teams that I think will make it, I want to eliminate two teams from consideration: Vancouver and New England. Vancouver just signed their second Designated Player, but even think he will take time to acclimate to the league. With the roster Vancouver put out every week, their team was always going to be more than a one-year project. They don’t have enough quality or depth to compete right now. Sitting at just 14 points from 20 games, things don’t look so bright.

New England has just two more points than Vancouver has and has played 19 games, but they have picked up just 3 points in their last five matches and are trending the wrong way. New England’s entire organization is a mess right now, on and off the field. On the field, they can’t find a goalscorer or a consistent defense. Even with the strong midfield duo of Benny Feilhaber and Shalrie Joseph, they aren’t getting things done. New England has scored just 16 goals this season, the fewest in MLS. They also sport the second worst goal differential in MLS at -11. For these two clubs, it would be wise to focus on next year.

Now, for the teams that have a chance at making it, I will split them into four groups and rank them in their group as the most likely to make it.

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>Wednesday Lunch: MLS Team Preview – FC Dallas

Posted: March 9, 2011 in mls
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>By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Last Year: 12-4-14 50 points, 3rd in West, 4th overall. Beat Real Salt Lake 3-2 in Western Conference Semifinals, Beat LA Galaxy 3-0 in Western Conference Final, Lost to Colorado Rapids 2-1 in MLS Cup.
 
Key Losses: Heath Pearce, Jeff Cunningham, Dax McCarty, Atiba Harris
 
Key Additions: None
 
Projected Starting XI: FC Dallas probably plays the most unique formation in MLS. It can be best described as a 4-1-4-1. Their back four consisting Benitez, John, Ihemelu, and Loyd is pretty much your stereotypical back line, though the outside backs are allowed to get further forward due to Daniel Hernandez playing in a deep lying midfield position in which he is always providing cover. In the midfield, Brek Shea and Marvin Chavez do a lot of the creating, but also have defensive responsibilities. Eric Alexander will try to take over the linking role that Dax McCarty performed so well last year. David Ferreira may be listed as a forward by some, or a midfielder by others, but he really doesn’t have a position. Ferreira, last year’s league MVP, has the license to roam. He drifts in and out, here and there, gathering the ball deep and distributing it, or creating goals up top. So many teams can’t guard him because he is moving so often off of the ball. Ferreira creates most of their goals, usually from different positions, and he is always the key to the Dallas’ team attack. Milton Rodriguez is a classic target forward who seems to be a somewhat limited player. Rodriguez hasn’t really impressed me, but the team was still successful last year without him making major contributions, so they should be alright without relying on him this year.
 

Milton Rodriguez
 
David Ferreira
 
Brek Shea                Eric Alexander            Marvin Chavez
 
Daniel Hernandez
 
Jair Benitez          George John          Ugo Ihemelu          Zach Loyd
 
Kevin Hartman
 

Prognosis: Dallas should still be a playoff team this year, but they lost a lot of good players, and thus their depth will be tested when players inevitably get injured. Zach Loyd may be as good as Heath Pearce, and Eric Alexander is a promising young midfield player, but Daniel Hernandez turns 35 this season, and they lost Jeff Cunningham’s off the bench spark as well as Atiba Harris’ versatility. Many young players need to contribute this year. If Kevin Hartman has the same sort of season he did last year, I can see them matching their success, but it just seems like they have lost too much depth and didn’t really try to replace it with anything. They still have their core of players, but losing Dax McCarty will cost them ultimately. I see this team being a lower playoff seed that can upset teams, but due to a lack of depth will not be able to find the consistency they had last year.
 
The Intern’s Take: The losses up top of Jeff Cunningham and Atiba Harris, who together scored over a third of Dallas’ goals last season, will be a hard to fill for FCD. Once again, the key to Dallas’ success will rest with David Ferreira. More so than last season, the reigning MVP will need to lead this team if they are to secure a spot in the playoffs. The youth and inexperience of some of the midfield behind Ferreira will be an interesting part of FCD to watch and I expect them to improve quite a bit as the season progresses. Brek Shea will need to increase his role in the team, becoming more reliable and a smarter player (no more of these). Although Eric Alexander will likely struggle to fill the gap left by Dax McCarty, he is a promising young player and will have a lot of pressure upon him in his sophomore season. Daniel Hernandez is getting older and had to undergo knee surgery in the offseason for an injury he played through during last year’s playoffs, but will still be able to provide an effective leadership role for the rest of the midfield, assuming he can stay healthy. FCD’s greatest strength will be its defense, and despite the loss of Heath Pearce, they should be strong again. Without as many goal-scoring threats, Dallas will rely heavily on their defense to keep them in games. As previously mentioned, the lack of quality depth on the Dallas roster will not make this season easy for them, especially considering they will be playing in CONCACAF Champions League as well. Despite Dallas’ success last year, they simply got rid of too much talent to repeat what they achieved last season in my opinion. I do think that this slimmed down squad will still be competitive and that Dallas will make the playoffs, but possibly because of the decision to include ten teams in the postseason instead of eight. I can easily see FCD finishing somewhere between the sixth and ninth spot in the standings.

>Monday Lunch: MLS Cup Recap

Posted: November 22, 2010 in mls
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By Evan Ream

 

 

So of course, just two months after I name the Colorado Rapids the worst franchise of all time, they come back and win MLS Cup. I can honestly say that I didn’t see this coming and so for the second straight year, we have had a surprise MLS Cup Champion. While it is another debate completely (and possibly another article that I will write) if the playoff system and low seeded champions are good for the league, I want to take the focus off of that and just focus on the game last night, and what a game it was.

 

Last night on Twitter, many people were disappointed with the game and a few even called it the worst MLS Cup ever. I don’t think this was the case. It wasn’t an amazing game, but it was definitely exciting, and as a side note, I am going to rank the MLS Cups from worst to best right now.

 

15. MLS Cup 2000 – Sporting KC 1 Chicago Fire 0

14. MLS Cup 2005 – LA Galaxy 1 New England Revolution 0 (After Extra Time)

13. MLS Cup 1999 – DC United 2 LA Galaxy 0

12. MLS Cup 2002 – LA Galaxy 1 New England Revolution 0 (AET)

11. MLS Cup 1998 – Chicago Fire 2 DC United 0

10. MLS Cup 1997 – DC United 2 Chicago Fire 1

9. MLS Cup 2006 – Houston Dynamo 1 New England Revolution 1 (4-3 on pks)

8. MLS Cup 2010 – Colorado Rapids 2 FC Dallas 1 (AET)

7. MLS Cup 2009 – Real Salt Lake 1 LA Galaxy 1 (5-4 on pks)

6. MLS Cup 2007 – Houston Dynamo 2 New England Revolution 1

5. MLS Cup 2001 – San Jose Earthquakes 2 LA Galaxy 1 (AET)

4. MLS Cup 2003 – San Jose Earthquakes 4 Chicago Fire 2

3. MLS Cup 2004 – DC United 3 Sporting KC 2

2. MLS Cup 2008 – Columbus Crew 3 New York Red Bulls 1

1. MLS Cup 1996 – DC United 3 LA Galaxy 2 (AET)

 

This list also probably deserves its own article, but I’m just trying to make the point that this game wasn’t bad; it was essentially an average MLS Cup, which is actually very good considering the quality of some of these games. ANYWAYS, I should probably start actually analyzing this game so here are my thoughts:

 

The game started out at a quick pace with FC Dallas looking intent on throwing numbers forward. They got their first shot off in the game in the 1st minute and it was actually a decent chance, with Atiba Harris heading wide. From here Dallas did not let up as attacking, for once, seemed to be a team’s game plan in the final. During the game, Dallas created a plethora of opportunities as evidenced by their 17 shots to Colorado’s seven. Unfortunately, some poor finishing and some late-game heroics by Matt Pickens undid them. Colorado, however, won the battle in the midfield, as Jeff Larentowicz was clearly the man of the match with Pablo Mastroeni having an excellent game as well.

 

In the 35th minute, Jair Benitez played an excellent switch to Martin Chavez, who was for some reason all alone on the right side. Chavez had the time and space to take a few touches before expertly picking out David Ferreira with a bending cross. Pickens came off his line too slowly and Ferreira finished easily in what was to be the best moment for Dallas all night. Highlights:

 

 

From here, the game got quite chippy, with fouls going both ways, but mostly Conor Casey (or Casey Conor?) fouled everyone that he got near. Casey most definitely got under everyone’s skin, leading up to his 57th minute goal, which although scrappy, showed what a true goal scorer is willing to do to score goals. I loved this goal (around 4:25 in the highlights). Casey never thought about anything else but scoring. Even when he was on the ground in between two players, obviously hurting from the collision, he didn’t hesitate for one second. Sometimes games are won by who was stronger mentally and Casey showed that he clearly had a stronger mentality than Jair Benitez who he abused all night.

 

The Rapids then had a great chance in the 62nd minute with Kevin Hartman making an amazing save on a Jeff Larentowicz blast (5:30). Though it doesn’t show it in this particular highlight reel, the shot was so nice that Larentowicz actually started to celebrate before Hartman made a save that could only be described as “top drawer.”

 

From here, however, the game slowed down quite a bit, with neither team wanting to give up a decisive goal. It would play like this until extra time in which Macoumba Kandji, an afterthought of a player at times, would make the biggest impact of his career. Kandji entered the game for Colorado’s best player, Omar Cummings, in the 98th minute. Though Kandji would play just nine minutes, they were the most important nine minutes in the 15-year history of the Colorado Rapids.

 

In the 2nd minute of the 2nd extra time period (107th overall), Casey found Kandji with a long diagonal ball in an unassuming position near the goal line. Kandji, with his fresh legs, easily beat Jair Benitez (who was beaten on both goals) and played in a hopeful ball, injuring himself in the process, that took a very unfortunate deflection off George John and left Kevin Hartman with no chance (6:50). Kandji would stay down for a few minutes, adding to the drama, and giving FC Dallas a chance to collect their heads.

 

Kandji was hurt and had to leave the field while FC Dallas would spend the rest of the games pumping balls into the box against a team who was playing down a man. Dallas actually should have scored, with George John striking an amazing left footed shot, but Pickens made the save of his life to preserve the victory (7:40). From here there was only one more real chance with Cunningham whiffing on a great chance in the box (8:45) and FC Dallas castoff Drew Moor clearing the ball for the victory.

 

In the end, Colorado were deserving winners, perhaps a bit opportunistic, but definitely deserving. Dallas should have finished Colorado off earlier, but they lacked the killer instinct to do it. Jeff Larentowicz won every single 50-50 ball in the game and should be commended for his efforts in helping Colorado bring home the title. For Dallas, Jair Benitez was the goat, despite being involved in the Dallas goal. Dallas must ponder what went wrong and decide what changes, if any, they need to make in the offseason. The first step: sign David Ferreira to a long-term deal.

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This concludes my recap on what was definitely a memorable MLS Cup, congratulations Colorado! Join my brother, Matt Ream, and me tomorrow as we are going to do a mock expansion draft ahead of Wednesday’s expansion draft between the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC for their inaugural seasons.

>Monday Lunch: MLS Cup Week

Posted: November 15, 2010 in mls
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>By Evan Ream

Hello everyone, and welcome to The SACK Lunch’s MLS Cup Week. We are going to up our coverage this week to an unprecedented amount in anticipation of Sunday’s final. Here’s a look at what to expect for the rest of the week:
Monday: This article (obviously)
Tuesday: Will’s NFL Recap, Colorado Rapids Team Preview
Wednesday: Dylan Jamaal Davis’ College Football Recap, USMNT vs. South Africa Recap
Thursday: Nick’s weekly article, NFL Predictions, FC Dallas Team Preview
Friday: MLS Cup Predictions from everyone who has ever written for The SACK Lunch
As you can see, we are pulling out all the stops this week to ensure that you guys are well-informed come Sunday night in what will undoubtedly be an epic match-up. With all this being said, today I would just like to take a quick look at this weekend’s games.


Colorado Rapids 1 San Jose Earthquakes 0www.stamfordadvocate
As disappointed as all of us Bay Area natives were to see the Earthquakes’ playoff run end, the better team won here. Last week, I called for Gary Smith to play Brian Mullen wide left in order to follow Chris Wondolowski’s great runs, thinking that Smith wouldn’t do it. Maybe Smith read my article though because that is exactly what he did and Wondo was a non-factor the whole game. At times, the Earthquakes controlled the game, but they just couldn’t put one in the net. The best players on the field were Kosuke Kimura, who shut down Bobby Convey, and Omar Cummings, who was a threat the whole night. It was unfortunate for San Jose that Kimura scored a pretty fluky goal, but it was the speed and intellect of Cummings that they could just not deal with. Colorado should have scored more goals, but Jon Busch was playing like his usual stellar self and single handedly kept the Earthquakes alive. In all, not really much went on in this game; it was just an average defensive playoff matchup.
 
FC Dallas 3 LA Galaxy 0
They call him El Gato for his cat like reflexes and the nickname is well deserved. Kevin Hartman has put in the best performance from a keeper in MLS since Tony Meola’s epic 2000 season, and maybe the best ever. Hartman made six saves Sunday, preserving the shut out with a late save on a Brilliant David Beckham free kick, in what was the biggest playoff surprise since Chicago beat DC United 4-0 at RFK in 2005. The amazing thing about Kevin Hartman’s play though, was that he hasn’t even been the best player on his team throughout these playoffs. David Ferreira has been otherworldly throughout the playoffs as well. FC Dallas has scored six goals in their three playoff games, and Ferreira has been directly involved with five of them (1 goal, 4 assists). This was the other part of the story last night for galaxy7Schellas Hyndman’s  men. Ferreira was simply too good and too fast for the often slow-looking Galaxy side. The LA club’s defense, which had looked so strong in past weeks, just couldn’t contain Dallas’ attack force of Ferreira, Martin Chavez, and of course Brek Shea. The Galaxy definitely had their chances, but it seemed like their only player that actually wanted to win the game was David Beckham; everyone else just looked burnt out. The Galaxy will ponder what happened to their promising season, but FC Dallas deserved the win and they got it, pulling one of the biggest upsets in MLS history.
 
Join me tomorrow for an in-depth preview of the Colorado Rapids.