Category Archives: FC Dallas

More Set-Piece Genius from Papi

Posted on by
Reply

One of my Radar posts back in March featured a short paragraph titled Papi’s Set Pieces. Obviously the focus was on the second year head man at FC Dallas, Oscar Pareja, and his brilliant set piece tactics early in the 2015 season. I’ve taken that paragraph and re-posted it below. Below that, you’ll find a new paragraph and video featuring another creative play Oscar drew up during the MLS Cup 2015 Playoffs.

Papi’s Set Pieces

Pareja also deserves attention for drawing up a clever set piece in three consecutive matches to start the season. Each one is unique, taking full advantage of Dallas’ legitimate dead ball threats: Mauro Diaz’ right foot and Michel’s left foot. Video links and a brief description of each play are listed below:

Week 1: FCD v. San Jose: A sneaky, clever design as everyone in the building thought Diaz would try and curve it over the wall and under the cross bar. Perez should have scored.

Week 2: FCD v. SKC: I thought Michel would whip one directly into the box, but he caught SKC off guard by quickly tapping it to Mauro Diaz, who tapped it right back to Michel in a more advanced position. Just like the chance in week 1, this was quite simple, but the play utilized the threat of Diaz and Michel to trick the defense and create a quality scoring chance.

Week 3 in Philly: The Union were surely concerned about Michel putting a dangerous ball into the box on this one, but then he tricked them, chipping to an open Tesho Akindele. This one put FCD in a fantastic attacking position again. Defenses across MLS are showing FCD respect inside the 18 yard box, giving us room to work the edges in dangerous set piece situations. Not the best video, but you get the idea.

All of that was back in March, and FC Dallas never amounted to a very dangerous set-piece club in 2015. It’s November now and the Hoops just polished off Seattle in the Western Conference semifinals. During the first leg of that series, in the 45th minute, Oscar Pareja’s club ran another clever and gashing play off a dangerous dead ball situation. Unfortunately, Dallas came up empty again, letting another of Oscar’s brilliant set-piece designs go to waste.

Here’s the link: watch as Mauro sends the D one way, gets the ball back, and places a beautiful thru ball at Watson’s feet.

MLS Radar: Week 12

Posted on by
Reply

FC Dallas dropped all three points to start off a daunting road trip. The MLSinVegas series is in shambles. As a result, I am going to give the Radar Series a bit of a breather to refocus my energy on the MLS Timeline Series. You’ll still find the F-Up, Surprise, Goal and Tweet of the Week sections on this blog every Monday, but unfortunately, excitement and promise are the winds that move my blogging sails, and those winds have been absent lately. So have a look at what the Radar Series has to offer this week while I get to work on finishing off the MLS TL Series 2001 Tile.

F Up OTW 2Jonathan Osorio – Toronto FC

Toronto won the match so Osorio’s error didn’t cost his club any points, but I simply hate seeing a great buildup and composed effort on goal end like this. The play reminded a lot of this one http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/07/13/shot-fabian-castillo-blocked-teamate-kenny-cooperI am sure there are more deserving individuals for this distinction. DC had a two man advantage in Foxborough but couldn’t take all three points against rivals New England. Columbus had a 2-0 lead at home over Chicago before deciding 60 minutes of soccer was enough for them. The Crew eventually settled for a 2-2 draw after Chicago’s equalizer at the death. The ref awarded a soft PK to Montreal that cost Dallas a point on the road. And I’m sure someone was to blame for Houston and Vancouver as they both lost narrowly on the road, to LA and Colorado respectively.

Surprise of the Week
NYRB 0 – 2 PHI

This one cost the MLSinVegas series a clean three hundo. I did not watch (Happy Memorial Day!), so I have no idea how this could have happened. I saw this match playing out either 2-0 or 3-1 to New York and thought the Red Bulls would make short work of The Union in Red Bull Arena.

GOTW imageIt comes down to three standout goals for me in week 12. Each one is listed below:

It’s clear that these three are the best of the bunch from round 12 in MLS. The voting on MLSsoccer.com will likely comes down to the long distance blast from Giovinco and the volley from Pittinari – each strike finished off a nice passing sequence and stood as the game winner. Both were top notch strikes and worthy of the award, but I’ll go with Pittinari for GOTW thanks to Gabi Torres’ brilliant flick, which was no doubt the Assist of the Week.

TOTWimageThere won’t be an official winner this week. I’ve got a pair of fascinating photos to share and a couple of decent tweets as well. Nothing great from the TwitterSphere in round 12, but interesting as always.

1) One of the most gorgeous pregame displays I’ve ever seen.

Picture12) A hilarious response to the Revs Twitter post regarding their own Chris Tierney seeing red against DC United. Even though he is a Galaxy supporter, @SeanSteffen is a massive smart ass (I mean that as a compliment) and a great follow.

Picture33) The sky is cryin’, Can’t you see the tears roll down the street… – SRV

Picture24) Anytime I get a retweet or a response out of MLSsoccer.com’s Matthew Doyle, I’m going to pat myself on the back for it and post it on the blog.

Picture4The days of the long Radar and MLSinVegas posts may be be coming to an end. The Radar Series, when done well with time and effort, is too much work. MLSinVegas is a blast, but until my picks and earnings start to improve, I’ll be minimizing the length of those posts as well. But I am always fascinated with soccer in North America. So if and when something “crosses my radar” that I simply must share, I’ll still be posting here on SoccerTherapy.net.

MLS Radar: Week 11

Posted on by
Reply

Logo 11Unfortunately I can’t fully recap a fascinating week of action in MLS. This abbreviated post will include all of the usual content, the GOTW, Surprise of the Week, F-Up of the Week, and the Tweet of the Week, but little more. I’ll dive a bit deeper into the meaning of the results with my Friday morning #MLSinVegas post, but the main take away from week 11 is that Major League Soccer remains wildly unpredictable. Montreal picked up their first win of the season, crushing a solid Real Salt Lake team by four goals to one. Toronto’s draw in New England came unexpected after their dismal home performance against a lesser Dynamo side in week 10. Orlando City picked up their first home win of the season, taking advantage of a badly struggling LA Galaxy side and exploding for four goals in the Citrus Bowl. For some perspective, The Lions had scored just three goals in their first five home games on their way to two draws and three losses – needless to say, four goals and three points seemed unlikely for Orlando prior to the match start on Sunday. And then, as if we hadn’t seen enough craziness, the Sunday night cap saw a dog Philly team take down red hot DC United 1-0 with a stoppage time winner.

pOINTS pARTYEvery time we begin to think we have this league figured out, something crazy like week 11 happens to remind us that parity rules the day. On a good day, a bad team can always spoil a Three-Points-Party, and no matter how many patterns emerge between now and the end of the season, that will always be the case in MLS as we know it today.

F Up OTW 2Everyone!

I thought about giving this award to the Galaxy for their 4-0 loss to an expansion side. I thought about the Chicago Fire for this award after they squandered a two goal and one man advantage in New York (also against an expansion side). I also thought about giving it to RSL for getting thrashed in Montreal. Vancouver came out flat at home against a top of the table competitor and hated rival. I just couldn’t decide, and unless I’ve overlooked something, I couldn’t point to one player costing his team the game in a single boneheaded moment.

Surprise of the Week
MTL 4 – 1 RSL

I’ve covered all of the surprising results already in this post, but Montreal deserves the shout out here. They’ve struggled to find their league form early in 2015 thanks to a miraculous run in the CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal were burdened by more non-MLS action right after that run with a home-and-home Canadian Cup semifinal against rivals Toronto. They advanced from that series in dramatic fashion just three days prior to meeting RSL, so I thought they’d struggle to find the energy and motivation in this one. Obviously that wasn’t the case and The Impact were damn impressive in their 4-1 win (it should have been 5-0: Piatti missed a PK off the post for Montreal and Sandoval’s goal for RSL was about as likely as me winning the lottery). Montreal have some quality, they can counter as well as any team in the league, and now they can really hone in on collecting points in MLS. The top four in the east will be tough to deal with in the table (DC, NYRB, CLB and NE) but perhaps Montreal could make a run at the five or six seed in 2015.

GOTW imageDevon Sandoval’s lovely one touch finish from the corner of the 18 yard box will likely take the honors on MLSsoccer.com’s GOTW voting, but I’m giving him the runner up. For me, this week’s winner is Michael Bradley, what a beast mode run and quality finish. Bradley’s return to MLS has been marked by visible frustration at times. On this goal, I feel like he channeled that frustration positively, using it to make a strong play and earn his club a point on the road.

TOTWimageThe TOTW section has been a little light on numbers lately. This week we’ll give credit to the two fellas below for sharing these stats about two of MLS’ best.

TOTW 11Hopefully week 12 will give us just as much to talk about as week 11 has. FC Dallas, who’ve played 7 of 11 matches at home, are about to embark on a five game road trip. It all starts Saturday at 8 ET in Montreal where we’ll see two of the best counter attacking sides in MLS go head to head. A lot could be learned about FC Dallas and the seriousness of their title aspirations from this road trip.

I’ll finish off this post with a quick mention of one of my favorite aspects of American soccer. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the oldest soccer competition in the United States, is in full swing with the second round (featuring lower division and amateur sides) taking place this week. Check out the tournament schedule here. If you’re interested in watching the Austin Aztex throughout the competition (or in any of their matches for that matter), go ahead and bookmark the club’s YouTube page, where all their matches are broadcast live and for free. Cheers, and look out for the MLSinVegas post on Friday morning.

MLS Radar: Week 10

Posted on by
Reply

wk logo picWeek 10 offered some attractive soccer and nice story lines to follow. One of the trends that caught my attention in this round was the dominance of the west over the east. With four strong sides in Columbus, DC, New England and NYRB, the east is looking a more impressive conference than usual, but it’s evident to me ten weeks into the season that the west is stronger top-to-bottom. Chicago were on a three match win streak (all against east clubs) before losing at SKC in round 9 and at home to RSL in this round. Toronto FC seemed to be building some momentum with two straight Ws against eastern conference opposition, but western conference stragglers Houston came to town and defeated the Reds 2-1. We’ve seen DC United represent the east well with wins over LA and Vancouver, but it’s the middle to bottom of the table teams where the west has been better. NYRB will get their chance to represent the east’s elite in week 11 as they head to Frisco to take on an FC Dallas side that’s currently hauling in two points per match.

Speaking of FC Dallas, they are becoming easier and easier to figure out. It was Mauro Diaz who came to the rescue on Saturday night, providing two brilliant assists in a ten minute to boost the Hoops to a 2-1 win. While Fabian Castillo continues to wow, Blas Perez continues to score, and the homegrowns continue to flourish, it is and always will be Mauro who makes the difference for Dallas. Check out this stat from an article on Big D Soccer.

“Diaz effect. According to the game notes from the club, since Oscar Pareja was named head coach of FC Dallas, the club has only lost one game in matches that Mauro Diaz plays at least 45 minutes – a 3‐2 loss to Seattle – 12‐1‐4.”

That’s 13-1-4 after the win over LA this weekend. Dallas are a dangerous club with a wealth of attacking options, but the fact remains that Mauro Diaz is the piece that truly makes them a contender for MLS Cup. Below I have written about how Columbus are the most exciting team to watch in MLS. In terms of the most exciting player in MLS, that title may well belong to Mauro Diaz, Dallas’ Magical Little Unicorn.

The Crew
A lot has crossed my radar this season about Columbus and the attractive, attacking style that they play. I had the chance to watch them host a dangerous Seattle Sounders side and it’s true, the Crew are unquestionably the most entertaining team to watch in MLS. They have talent up and down the pitch with young midfielders and veteran forwards, but it’s the selflessness with which they play that makes them so dangerous. The 3-2 win over Seattle was the best watch in MLS so far this season, so I’ve included a few highlights of Columbus’ brilliance from the match below. If you are a neutral and ever looking to watch some MLS, Columbus is a great place to start.

These are only a few examples as Columbus does this kind of stuff throughout almost every match they play in. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Crew for the rest of 2015 and posting videos of their attacking prowess on Soccer Therapy’s YouTube page.

F Up OTW 2Junhino and Gargan – LA Galaxy

Junhino missed a 92nd minute PK attempt on Wednesday in Utah costing LA two invaluable points on the road. Give legendary ‘keeper Nick Rimando the credit for an amazing save, but you simply have to put it in the back of the net when the ref awards you a stoppage time PK in a 0-0 game on the road.

Dan Gargan cost the Galaxy another point on the road when he failed to close in on Dallas forward Tesho Akindele, who put this 86th minute strike in the back of the net. Nothing angers me more than a goal that could have been avoided if the defender had simply stepped up and taken away the attacker’s space. But Gargan kept backing and backing and backing away and Tesho made LA pay the price, sending the Galaxy home with one point on the week when they could have had four.

A quick shout out to Rafael Ramos in this section for this careless back pass that cost OCSC another two points at home.

Surprise of the Week
TOR 1 – 2 HOU

The entire Toronto FC team almost took F-Up of the Week honors for that horrendous effort in their nationally televised home opener on Sunday. Instead, I’ll give Houston some credit and call this match my Surprise of the Week. Toronto were playing in their home opener and enjoying the momentum of a two match win streak while the Dynamo had dropped eight of nine points in a recent three game home stand. Naturally, most of us in MLS Land believed Toronto, seemingly a stronger club with a massive home field edge, were a lock to win.

Unfortunately for the Toronto faithful, the Reds were outclassed and outplayed by an average side on a day that was supposed to be theirs. We are now back to questioning how the team was constructed and if the three DPs can carry a thin roster through the season. Some folks in Toronto and around MLS would say this isn’t a surprise, but simply Toronto FC reverting back to their traditional form.

GOTW imageSoccer is loved and hated around the world for many different things, but if there’s one thing we can all agree on (even those who dislike soccer), it’s that goals are awesome. I like the selfish ones, the selfless ones, the long ones, the short ones, the hard ones, and sometimes even the soft ones. There were a handful of classy goals from round 10 in MLS, and most of them I enjoyed for different reasons. Because of this, my week 10 GOTW section is a top 10 list rather than a small sampling of highlights. The list ranks in order my favorites from the week and includes a video hyperlink for each goal.

#1: Darren Mattocks (VAN), 81′ v PHI – I love Jamaicans. I loved this move and the confident finish. Mattocks is a player who has loads of potential but hasn’t performed consistently. More please.

#2: Diego Valeri (POR), 70′ v MTL – Great commentary, great finish, and great to have one of MLS’ finest back in action with a world class, game winning curler.

#3: Blas Perez (DAL), 77′ v LA – A great chip assist by Magic Mauro and a calm finish from the Super Rat.

#4: Luke Mulholland (RSL), 56′ v CHI – A nice buildup of nine or so passes and the perfect cross from Sandoval to put it on a tee for Mulholland.

#5: Clint Dempsey (SEA), 24′ v CLB – A great finish. Deuce has always been good with his left.

#6: Tesho Akindele (DAL), 86′ v LA – A UCL caliber assist and a nice finish from the Canadian.

#7: Alvaro Saborio (RSL), 13′ v CHI – Quick and precise with a fine finish from the Costa Rican.

#8: Pedro Morales (VAN), 32′ v PHI – Well timed run and a finish only the Chilean could make look so easy.

#9: Chris Wondolowski (SJ), 19′ v COL – This one won’t get any “aesthetic build up” points but I thought it was vintage Wondo move. Three great touches in a tight space. How does he do this and then whiff the way he did against Belgium? I guess some folks were meant for the big stage and other weren’t.

#10: Charlie Davies (NE), 19′ v ORL – The defending was soft and the chance came from a poor giveaway, but I love seeing the aggressiveness and killer instinct from Davies on this play. It was a great finish (his fourth of 2015) from a player who has resurfaced on the USMNT radar after a horrifying car accident derailed his career in 2009. I don’t pull for the Revs, put how could you not pull for a guy like Davies?

Honorable Mentions.
Columbus had some nice goals but I featured them in their own section above. NYRB had a  pair of nice ones and BWP’s opener was nominated for GOTW on MLSsoccer.com. Giles Barnes sparked a brilliant counter that Will Bruin finished off nicely to seal the three points on the road for Houston.

TOTWimage

A nice selection this week. On your left you will see a brilliant John Terry joke, the top right shows Bruce Arena busting out the baseball cap like a boss (rare to see Bruce with the head-wear), and on the bottom left is the Third Rail, the most prominent SG for expansion side NYCFC.

TOTW wk 10That’s it and that’s all for the Radar Series here in week 10. This concluding paragraph provides an opportunity to look at some of the action to come. Week 11 features a Wednesday night match on ESPN2 with DC United set to host Orlando at 8 ET. Perhaps the best match of the week will take place in Frisco on Friday night at 8 ET as second in the west FC Dallas host third in the east NYRB. Over the weekend, a lot could be learned from matchups like MTLvRSL, VANvSEA, NEvTOR, HOUvPOR and ORLvLA. For now, I leave you with this.

MLS Radar: Week 9

Posted on by
Reply

wk 9 radar logoWeek 9 is in the books and the season fully under way as most clubs are starting to reveal their 2015 identities. RSL and San Jose played to a 1-1 draw in Utah, further establishing themselves as mediocre clubs with little hope for playoff success. Portland did the same in their scoreless performance at home against rivals Vancouver. DCU continued their early season run, taking down a good Columbus team 2-0 at RFK. United are now off to their finest start in franchise history, averaging 2.13 points per match through 8 games. That’s remarkable considering how successful the charter club has been over the last two decades. One club we haven’t had the chance to analyze in league play is Montreal, who’ve played just four matches so far this season while MLS accommodated to their unanticipated CONCACAF Champions League run. Speaking of that, it was fun while it lasted for the Impact, but inevitably, Club America finally turned it on with four goals in the second half of the second leg to take the final 4-2 on aggregate. In the midst of America’s goal explosion, Dario Benedetto stole the show with a nifty hat trick in a span of just 31 minutes – this highlight video was the best I could find, but some of those strikes are worth a look.

I frequently reference Matthew Doyle and his Sunday night piece that you can read on MLSsoccer.com. I’ll go ahead and throw in the hyperlink to his week 9 piece because it’s always a good read. Doyle has a way of describing things effectively and concisely. He’s long referred to FCD playmaker Mauro Diaz as a “Magical Little Unicorn” – which is both apt and hilarious. This week he offered another perfect player description – I’ve included the excerpt below:

Chris Rolfe is in one of his “I’m a freaking Wizard” streaks

I love this quote. It perfectly sums up Chris Rolfe because he really does look like a wizard on the pitch at times, whether creating quality chances or finishing off a world class goal himself. But then of course, he does have those stretches where he goes unnoticed and fails to impact matches, making him a streaky player.

BpyMzr6CUAAXcGaUPDATE:

The Aztex are 3-3-1 and currently sit tied for 4th in the USL’s western conference. Not bad at all for the club’s inaugural campaign in the USL, but a closer look at the results reveals a disturbing trend: they are struggling with the better USL clubs and picking up points against the weak ones. Six of the club’s 10 points on the year have come at home against expansion side Colorado Springs (While Austin are new to USL, we are not a new franchise. ATX were founded in 2011 and have three seasons of experience in the USL PDL. Colorado Springs Switchbacks were founded in 2014 and played their first ever competitive match against Austin in the USL season opener, a 2-0 win for the Aztex).

Three more points came from a 2-0 win on the road against Tulsa Roughnecks FC, another expansion club playing in their first ever competitive season. And the tenth point ATX has so far in 2015 came at home against OKC Energy FC – a 2-2 draw in which Austin allowed an 87th minute equalizer (OKC, founded in 2013, are another relatively new club and have just one season of competitive experience). On the other hand, Austin have dropped points against stronger USL opposition: losing at home to Whitecaps II and Arizona United, and on the road against Galaxy II.

The team is young and the current group has had relatively little time to gel. This trend is no cause for panic, but Austin will want to grab a win against a quality opponent soon, before their confidence suffers as a result.

F Up OTW 2Victor Bernardez (Defender) – SJ

Picture1Any time I get the chance to give this award to Victor Bernardez I am going to take full advantage. I hate this guy. Victor was the clear winner in week 9 with this hilarious own goal that cost the Quakes a pair of points on the road. That was the GK’s ball all the way and an easy stop, but no.

Runner-Up

I hate to give commentators a hard time as I appreciate the difficulty of talking for two straight hours without sounding like an idiot at least once (or twice or a dozen+ times). But Paul Caligiuri must be mentioned for his clumsy and hilarious analysis of FC Dallas’ opening goal on UniMas’ #ViernesDeFutbol. Before watching, note that Houston’s ‘keeper is named Tyler Deric. The Dallas ‘keeper is Dan Kennedy.

GOTW imageI love seeing two FC Dallas players nominated for GOTW on MLSsoccer.com, but all four of our goals against Houston were classy finishes. Week 9 offered a nice selection of goals to choose from, but two in particular caught my eye. Some might wonder why I didn’t choose Sebastian Giovinco’s 35-yard free kick goal that decided the 1-0 match in Philly over the weekend. I hate to take anything away because it was an awesome strike, but I believe a better GK would have read it earlier and made the stop. Thus, no GOTW for you, Sebas.

My official week 9 winner is the third and final goal in Seattle’s 3-1 win over NYCFC thanks to the sublime assist by Clint Dempsey. Once Deuce put him through, the control and the finish from Obafemi Martins was pure confidence and quality. Those two have been downright filthy of late and are proving to be in a class of their own every time they take the pitch. No play illustrates that better than the week 9 GOTW.

There’s nothing wrong with silver and I simply loved this goal, so the GOTW runner-up goes to the entire Revs attack for their second of the night in a 2-1 win over rivals NYRB. What amazing team work, kind of like a slow version of Arsenal! The passing was quick, crisp and crafty, and I love seeing the patience and composure from Teal Bunbury to finish off the move.

TOTWimage

@HeyHayward, producer of top notch programs Soccer Morning and The Best Soccer Show, had the best of the CCL tweets from Wednesday’s second leg. This is Jurgen Klinsmann in a nutshell, apparently Piatti was running his ass off at that stage in the match.

But the tweet below Hayward’s is the official week 9 TOTW. @BBCSporf deserves credit for spotting it, but the distinction is awarded to the Notts County FC social media team for their perfect response to a fan’s inquiry.

TOTW wk9

I’ve got little more to add to this week’s post. Week 9 was fun but 10 could be even better with matchups like CHIvRSL, MTLvPOR, CLBvSEA, DALvLA and a game the folks in New York have been waiting to see for nearly two years now: NYRB vs. NYCFC, 5/9, Red Bull Arena, FS1, 7 ET.

MLS Radar: Week 4

Posted on by
Reply

wk 4 radarThe Charm is Gone

The MLS product has improved over the years and currently features a handful of global icons and dozens of internationals from all over the world. This improvement has made the league more attractive to star players, TV networks, wealthy investors and even a few sports fans, but it has also diminished one of the little charms I always liked about MLS. While most domestic leagues around the world are on break this week for the FIFA international date, MLS has a full schedule with eight matches on Saturday and two more on Sunday. MLS has been criticized for not adhering to the international standard of pausing league play during official FIFA dates. But while charging through the domestic schedule with little regard for international play has its drawbacks, I’ve always enjoyed watching MLS during those international breaks. However, now that MLS clubs employ so many active internationals, league action during the FIFA dates isn’t as enjoyable, or charming, as it once was. The week 4 schedule offered MLS fans a brilliant set of matches, but unfortunately the games could not be fully enjoyed. With difference makers out of the lineup for most of the 20 clubs in action over the weekend, the games felt less meaningful and lacked entertainment value. Bringing in stars is a double edged sword; it’s cool when Toronto signs Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, but then it’s not cool when those two are with the USMNT the same week that TFC has a nationally televised game on FS1. It’s becoming more unhealthy than charming for the league to schedule matches when 50+ of its best players are not available. Taylor Twellman addressed the issue during ESPN2’s Sunday MLS broadcast and recognized the league has smart people that are aware of the situation. I don’t have the entire quote, but the gist of his point was that “This league needs its stars to be playing.” I believe he is right. Somehow, MLS must find a way to schedule around international competition going forward because week 4 was not a fair reflection on the league.

F-up OTWF-Up #1: MLS Scheduling
This is a 3-part rant. I am not outraged and I understand how difficult scheduling is. Still though, I would like to see the league try to improve some of these things:

Gripe 1
For the second straight week we did not get Friday Night Soccer – Boooo! It wasn’t scheduled this week, and likely for good reason. With the FIFA date and March Madness in action, Friday Night Soccer would have really struggled for ratings this week.

Gripe 2
It’s great that MLS has regularly scheduled matches on ESPN2, but this week’s offering of Chicago versus Philadelphia does the league a disservice in my opinion. Chicago and Philly have been struggling and were never likely to play an entertaining match, but it was actually a decent watch in terms of the soccer (Chicago took the match 1-0). The problem was the nonexistent atmosphere at Toyota Park. The match box-score on MLSsoccer.com says there were 12,815 people in attendance, but watching on ESPN2, it sure didn’t look like it. The best part about a TV deal with ESPN is that it allows MLS to showcase the cream of its crop in nearly 100 million American households. There are countless reasons why MLS can’t just hand pick a game with two great teams and a thrilling atmosphere to put up on ESPN2 every Sunday, but I think it’s important for the league to ensure that nationally televised matches have more than that (below) in attendance.

Chi empty standsGripe 3
MLS was guilty of this through three weeks, but now in the fourth week, I must say something. Saturday match overlap has become incredibly frustrating. I understand that scheduling is a massive and intricate puzzle, but it seems the league could do better than what they did this week, where a pair of overlapping afternoon matches were followed by a long break before the final six matches of the day all kicked off within 90 minutes of each other. If the league could pull it off, I’d like to see staggered match times so that MLS soccer is on for eight to nine consecutive hours on Saturdays.

East Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-DCU v LAG kickoff at 7:00 PM ET
-CLB v NYRB kickoff at 7:30 PM ET
Not only two great games for the weekend, but two of the more intriguing matchups so far in 2015. Only separated by 30 minutes, I’d love it if these two matches were separated by 90 minutes or more.

West Conf. Scheduling Blunder from Week 4:
-VAN v POR kickoff at 8:00 PM ET
-FCD v SEA kickoff at 8:30 PM ET
Two great western conference matchups. I think soccer fans around the country would love to have watched all 90 of each game if the start times had allowed.

F-Up #2: Kellyn Acosta
Kellyn Acosta, filling in at left back for starter Moises Hernandez (int’l duty, Guatemala), got his first start of the season and the opportunity to show coach Pareja that he deserves a spot in Dallas’ starting XI. He played an uneventful 17 minutes before a horribly timed challenge found his boot firmly in the stomach of poor Andy Rose (see below). Kellyn will want that challenge back as it cost him 73 minutes to showcase his value to the team and quite possibly cost Dallas two points (Seattle and Dallas played to a 0-0 draw).

F Up KAF-Up #3: David Texiera
Despite not picking up a red card, striker David Texiera (getting his first start of 2015 in place of Panamanian Blas Perez) accomplished about as much as Acosta on a discouraging night for the young Uruguayan. Jason Poon, who writes about FC Dallas at Big D Soccer, had this to say about David Texiera’s shift against Seattle.

Publication1Surprise of the Week:
CLB 1 – 2 NYRB

Week after week MLS matches end in surprising score lines, so I question if I can even label these outcomes as truly surprising. But for me, NYRB going to Columbus and taking all three points was the biggest surprise from this weekend. Columbus were certainly hit harder than New York by the FIFA international date, missing three of their best players in defender Waylon Francis, midfielder Wil Trapp and game changer Justin Meram.

Half Surprise:
MTL 2 – 2 OCSC

A very shorthanded Orlando City picking up a point in Montreal comes as a bit of a surprise, especially after they went down 2-0 (until this week, Orlando had managed just 2 goals in 3 matches!). But Montreal simply cannot be counted on to get a win in MLS under any circumstances these days, so this is only a minor surprise.

The Rest of the Action

NE 2 – 1 SJ
Kellyn Rowe scored a brace for New England’s first two goals of 2015, helping the Revs to their first win of the season on a nasty day in Foxborough. Wondo scored a PK for his third goal of the year.

NYCFC 0 – 1 SKC
Defender Ike Opara scored his second of the season (get him on your fantasy team ASAP) to give SKC their first win of 2015 against a David Villa less NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.

DC 1 – 0 LAG
In typical fashion, LA Galaxy blamed themselves for losing the game rather than crediting their opponents for finding a way to win. LA may have been better on the day, but forward Chris Pontius took all three points for the home side in the 93rd minute with this header.

VAN 2 – 1 PTFC
Another game where the road side felt they were better, but lost the match late in a week 4 that was filled with extra time drama. Recently acquired Vancouver striker Robert Earnshaw scored the winner in the 90th minute, having just come on in the 87′. David Ousted could be the early frontrunner for GK of the Year at the rate he is saving points for Vancouver.

HOU 0 – 0 COL
This game was not even slightly interesting and these two teams are looking like playoff long shots early in the season. Somehow, I saw this one coming.

RSL 2 – 1 TFC
Olmes Garcia nearly cost RSL two points late with this selfish decision as former Dallas hothead Jackson tied the match just moments later. Sadly for Reds fans, TFC gave up the winner about 75 seconds after equalizing. It was a thrilling conclusion to the game and probably the best action of the weekend. RSL have their first win, but haven’t found top form in 2015 as they continue their transition from the diamond 4-4-2 to the new 4-3-3.

GOTW

Jack McInerney’s brilliant chip takes the cake in week 4, but I would have liked to see Ike Opara’s furious header make MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week video (maybe at the expense of Jordan Allen’s game winner).


TOTWUp to this point, the Tweet of the Week (TOTW) has been the funniest tweet I find on Twitter in a given week. But this week I’ll introduce a different TOTW: The Stat or Fact of the Week.

Funny TOTW Winner: @theodorelasso

TOTW jokeStat TOTW Winner: @SteveDavis90

Picture2That’s it and that’s all for week 4. Be sure to check back on Thursday for MLSinVegas and the week 5 Bettor’s Advice column!

MLS Radar: Week 3

Posted on by
Reply

wk 3 radar logo

Someone pooped on my radar screen. Week 3 was about as uneventful as they come. Sixteen teams, eight matches, and only ten freaking goals! After a gut-wrenching injury on the New England turf, a whole mess of red and yellow cards, and of course some hopeless finishing in front of goal, the black hole that was week 3 is finally over. Because the action was so bad, I’ll be abbreviating this week’s Radar Series post so we can all just move on.

F-Up of the Week

This distinction goes to all 16 MLS clubs in action this weekend. What an awful show it was to watch. Even FC Dallas, which managed a comfy and at times attractive 2-0 win in Philly, failed to convert on too many quality chances – they should have had at least five on the day. NYRB was also impressive in their 2-0 win over bitter rivals DC United on Sunday. If this blog cared about the east coast, I’d give the Red Bulls a mention in the Talking Points section below because their performance generated a lot of positive buzz on my MLS radar. Beyond New York and FCD, the other 14 clubs in action this weekend turned in careless and unattractive performances. The games lacked both sharpness and intensity as not one of the eight matches saw two quality sides share the pitch.

One more F-up goes to MLSsoccer.com for not even nominating the best goal in their week 3 GOTW video. Read more and watch the video in the GOTW section below.

Talking Points

Oscar “Papi” Pareja
One of the main talking points around the league after Saturday was FCD head coach Oscar Pareja and his never ending tactical genius. I personally thought the folks at MLSsoccer.com gave Pareja too much credit for making an obvious substitution against a shabby Philly side this week. To be fair, though, there wasn’t much to talk about. At halftime, Papi brought on young jack-of-all-trades Ryan Hollingshead to replace Michel, the dead ball specialist who was on a yellow. Despite his inexperience, Hollingshead is a starting XI caliber player in MLS and more versatile than Michel so I thought the substitution Pareja was praised for was an obvious one to make. However, it should be said that every single adjustment Pareja has made through three games has been spot on.

Papi’s Set Pieces
Pareja also deserves attention for drawing up a clever set piece in three consecutive matches to start the season. Each one is unique and takes full advantage of Dallas’ legitimate dead ball threats: Mauro Diaz’ right foot and Michel’s left foot. Video links and a brief description of each play are listed below:

Week 1: FCD v. San Jose: A sneaky, clever design as everyone in the building thought Diaz would try and curve it over the wall and under the cross bar. Perez should have scored.

Week 2: FCD v. SKC: I thought Michel would whip one directly into the box, but he caught SKC off guard by quickly tapping it to Mauro Diaz, who tapped it right back to Michel in a more advanced position. Just like the chance in week 1, this was quite simple, but the play utilized the threat of Diaz and Michel to trick the defense and create a quality scoring chance.

Week 3 in Philly: The Union were surely concerned about Michel putting a dangerous ball into the box on this one, but then he tricked them, chipping to an open Tesho Akindele. This one put FCD in a fantastic attacking position again. Not the best video, but you get the idea.

Defenses across the league are showing Dallas respect inside the 18 yard box, giving the club’s attacking talent room to work the edges in dangerous set piece situations.

OCSC Attack is in Trouble
They are missing a key contributor up top in Carlos Rivas, but Orlando City are in real trouble in the attacking third right now. Their two goals on the season can be chalked up to luck (a deflection and a GK error), and other legitimate chances have been few and far between. Analysts in the media that have watched more Orlando City and know the tactical side of the game better than me have suggested that Kaka and Kevin Molino, the promising young Trinidadian, are carrying the attacking burden all by themselves. That sounds like something a team does when they are on two red cards. Depressing. Not to worry though, Colorado, New England and Montreal have all failed to find the back of the net in 2015, so sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good!

International Call Ups
By my count, 56 MLS players have been called up for international duty during the March 23-31 FIFA dates. That’s a lot, even if many of those call ups are for U-20, U-23 and some average CONCACAF teams. FIFA dates are impacting MLS more and more as the league’s talent improves and teams with fewer internationals gain a significant advantage in MLS matches that overlap international competition. Orlando City SC for example, an expansion side with little depth, may struggle to field a full 18 in Montreal on Saturday after seven of their players were called up for international duty this week.

GOTW

I was going to skip this section because, as I pointed out above, MLS’ 16 clubs playing in week 3 combined to score a paltry 10 goals, and not a single one was worth writing about. Anyhow, I thought BWP’s opener on Sunday night was the clear cut winner, yet when MLS released their GOTW nominees for week 3, BWP’s was nowhere to be found!

Historical Note: The San Jose goal nominated on MLSsoccer.com was trash and would never have made the cut, but the Quakes christened their new home on Sunday, Avaya Stadium, and that goal was the first ever scored in the new venue. I guess the historical value got it onto the GOTW list, and likely at the expense of BWP. On a related note, it seems something borderline groundbreaking and positive has happened for MLS in all three weeks of the 2015 season. This week’s positive offering was the debut of Avaya Stadium (shown above). It’s a gorgeous building and rightfully so as San Jose, an MLS charter franchise, has never truly had a home they could call their own.

Surprise of the Week

No real winners here. I find it somewhat surprising that DC United looked so listless against NYRB on Sunday night, but they are missing two of their MVPs in Luis Silva and Fabian Espindola. New England struggling early on is a bit of a surprise, but they are dealing with key injuries as well. I’ve got nothing in this section, and that is representative of how unexciting week 3 was. The games weren’t destined to provide us with great entertainment this weekend (COLvNYC ending in a scoreless draw was hilariously predictable) but I’m counting on week 4 to make up for that with match-ups like DAL v SEA, DC v LA, CLB v NYR and VAN v POR.

Twt of the wkI couldn’t decide, so I chose three good ones.

Picture1 Picture2 Picture3

#MLSinTX

Posted on by
Reply

I cannot think of a better day than this one, the kickoff of the ATX Pro Challenge, to post one of my favorite pics: MLS in Texas

MLSinTexas

With the tourney kicking off in a few short hours from now, I am making gameday preparations. I plan on getting some good pictures and putting a nice album together. I’ll try to live tweet the games as much as I can (@SoccerTherapy) and I’ll post a recap after the weekend. Hopefully we will get a nice turnout, tough to really know though.

Soccer Therapy’s 2015 Calendar

Posted on by
Reply

Soccer Therapy's 2015 scheduleNow that the 2015 schedules for both MLS and the USL are available, Soccer Therapy can finally start planning the year! This column looks at the Austin Aztex home schedule to see which clubs are coming to House Park during our inaugural USL Pro season. More importantly, I’ll line up Austin’s home games with FC Dallas’ schedule and determine how many weeks I’ll be able to catch a live game in ATX without missing one second of FCD’s 2015 campaign. Below, I have written about parts of the schedule that caught my eye:

SIX! – Only six of Austin’s home matches occur on match days for FC Dallas (listed below and marked on the calendar above). The times for most of these matches are TBA and hopefully they won’t all overlap. However, it’s likely that most games listed below will start somewhere between 7 and 8pm central time.

  • Sat 3/28: FCD v. SEA / ATX v. Colorado Springs
  • Fri 5/1: HOU v. FCD / ATX v. OKC Energy
  • Sat 5/9: FCD v. LAG / ATX v. Real Monarchs (RSL II)
  • Sat 5/23: FCD v. MON / ATX v. Tulsa
  • Sat 8/15: FCD v. LAG / ATX v. LAG II
  • Sat 8/22: FCD v. VAN / ATX v. Orange County

Friday Night Soccer – In 2013, I launched a Twitter assault of sorts on MLS commissioner Don Garber. For about two months, I bombarded him with “You guys should have Friday night soccer” tweets, especially on Fridays. Check out the image below to see my efforts at encouraging MLS to schedule more Friday night games. The efforts paid off and the league has responded favorably. Univision, the Spanish language television network, will show MLS Friday Night Football on all but five Fridays throughout the season. Not only will we be getting more Friday Night Soccer in 2015, we will be getting more FCD on Fridays as the Hoops play nine of their 34 MLS matches (more than 25%!) on a Friday. Friday night offers a nice little window in the sports schedule for MLS to showcase itself to the traditional North American sports fan, so hopefully the league will offer up some entertaining matches.

FNS garber assaultBrutal Finish for FCD – Five matches in the final 22 days of the season to be specific. We will be hosting bitter rivals (1)Houston Dynamo, traveling to BC Place where (2)Whitecaps FC are one of the toughest home clubs in MLS, hosting those same (3)Whitecaps in Frisco, traveling to Rio Tinto where (4)RSL are nearly impossible to beat, and then hosting a (5)Quakes squad who could be good, bad or anywhere in between come October. All of that, in just 22 days. FCD would be wise to earn themselves a nice cushion in the table going into this brutal run.

MLS Realigns – With the additions of NYCFC and Orlando City and the retraction of Chivas USA, MLS has realigned its conferences again. MLS is making the obvious geographic decision by moving Sporting KC and Houston Dynamo over to the western conference to make room for the two new east coast clubs. Despite both struggling in 2014, Houston and SKC have been two of the east’s stronger clubs in recent years, combining to win the east in 3 of the last 4 years. This could make it tough out west, which was already the stronger and deeper of the two conferences. It’s not just LA Galaxy and their dominance, it’s RSL and Seattle too. Portland, FCD and Vancouver make for tough midtable opposition as well. Houston and SKC are two of the best run clubs in MLS and they have the trophies to show for it. Adding them to the west will make the conference that much more difficult to compete in.

Tough Venues – SKC’s addition to the west is unfortunate because Dallas will be traveling to the Cauldron twice in 2015. That is a damn tough arena to get points out of and we can’t realistically expect much from those two matches. It’s not all bad. Like SKC, Portland, Seattle, RSL and LA are some of the toughest teams to beat on the road. All of these teams have quality squads, great fan support, and tend to handle FCD when we travel to their place. Fortunately we will only be traveling to Seattle, RSL, Portland and LA once apiece in 2015. This is a massive break for FCD as we have dropped countless points on the west coast over the last few years (not to mention a frustrating playoff draw(loss) in the Emerald City last fall).

clint-dempsey-zach-loyd-mls-playoffs-seattle-sounders-fc-dallas-850x560

Thoughts on Aztex Inaugural USL Pro Campaign – I do not follow the USL closely, so I look forward to learning more about the league as I track the Aztex in 2015. I have read about clubs like Sacramento Republic FC and Indy Eleven and their MLS aspirations. I have also followed the growing number of MLS clubs that now field their own second squad in the USL. While I don’t know much about the league, I do have a sense for which clubs I’d like to see live. The Aztex host 14 USL matches from late March to early September. Here is my list of marquee home games that I’ll be sure to attend in 2015:

  • March 28th – Colorado Springs, Inaugural USL Match + Home Opener
  • April 1st – Whitecaps II
  • April 11th – Arizona United SC (FC Dallas affiliate)
  • June 27th – Sacramento Republic FC
  • July 17th – Arizona United SC
  • August 1st – Portland II
  • August 15th – LA Galaxy II *Side note: FCD hosts real LA Galaxy in Frisco on this day
  • September 5th – Sounders II

Other Notes – (1) I did not address the US Open Cup in this column because it does not begin until April and MLS Clubs do not participate until June. Make no mistake, Soccer Therapy loves the USOC and will be addressing the topic when the time is right. (2) Preseason is an afterthought on this blog but one 2015 event needs mention on this post. The ATX Pro Challenge happens in February, when the Aztex and FC Dallas will be sharing the same venue and potentially going head to head in the final round. (3) I will be heading to San Antonio on April 15th to see the USMNT take on El Tri for what should be a breathtaking experience. I hope to have quite the 2015 photo album when all is said (snapped?) and done.

Link to each club’s complete 2015 league schedule:
Austin Aztex 2015 USL Pro Schedule
FC Dallas 2015 MLS Schedule

Soccer Therapy Goes to the ATX Pro Challenge

Posted on by
3

ATX Challenge logoThe greatest soccer tournament in the history of Austin, Texas is happening in February. Why is it so great? My club, FC Dallas, the classiest club in all of sports, is coming to town. This post details all of the need-to-knows for those interested in celebrating this unbelievable occasion.

WHAT: Basically the most awesome thing ever. The inaugural ATX Pro Challenge is a preseason soccer tournament consisting of four games to be played between three MLS clubs and the Austin Aztex!

WHO:
Austin Aztex – Founded in 2011 after the old Aztex bailed for Orlando. The Aztex were champions of the USL PDL (4th tier of US professional soccer) in 2013. In 2014, the club earned a promotion to American soccer’s third tier, the United Soccer League (USL). They make their USL debut this spring against the likes of Sacramento Republic FC and LA Galaxy II.

Columbus Crew SC – Founded in ’94 as one of MLS’ 10 charter clubs. The Crew are a significant franchise in the history of US Soccer as they were the first MLS club founded and built Crew Stadium, the first ever soccer specific stadium in the United States. In addition to these momentous achievements, Columbus has been equally impressive on the pitch with one MLS Cup (2008), three Supporters’ Shields (2004, 2008, 2009) and one USOC Championship (2002).

DC United – Another MLS charter club. DCU are arguably the proudest and most successful club in MLS history. They have been rotting away in RFK, but with a new stadium deal secured, the franchise is certain to become one of MLS’ shining stars once again. They are one of only two MLS clubs (LA Galaxy is the other one) with a CONCACAF Champs League title (1998), they’ve won four MLS Cups (’96, ’97, ’99, ’04), four Supporters’ Shields (’97, ’99, ’06, ’07) and three USOCs (’96, ’08, ’13). That kind of trophy case can really take your breath away.

FC Dallas – Like the Crew and DCU, FCD is a charter club and has played in all 19 MLS seasons. Unfortunately, being a classy club is about all FCD supporters can brag about. Their lone trophy came in the ’97 USOC, back when the club was branded as the “Dallas Burn.”alain_sutterWHEN:
Friday 2/13: Semifinals
4:45pm – Gates open
5:45pm – Crew SC vs FC Dallas
8:00pm – Aztex vs DC United

Sunday 2/15:
12:00pm – Gates open
1:00pm – 3rd Place Game
3:15pm – Championship Game

WHERE: Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field – UT Campus (just behind the east stands of DKR Memorial)

HOW MUCH:
$20 – General Admission for each match day
$40 – General admission for the weekend
$8 – 16oz Beer

***For more info, or to purchase tickets yourself, click here***