After their first loss in more than two months, FC Dallas are back home this weekend as they look to bounce back and maintain the league's best overall record.
Dallas's opponents tonight are the San Jose Earthquakes, who pulled off some more second-half heroics last weekend to tie the Colorado Rapids.
Last week, we put together a list of Dallas-Fort Worth products currently playing in Major League Soccer. Now it's time to look at former FC Dallas players who remain in the league. Here's the breakdown:
CHICAGO
F
Maicon Santos (2011)*
Season: 2 goals and one assist in 9 GP (1 GS);Came on in 73rdminute of 1-0 loss at Philly on May 11.
Chris Wondolowski #8 of San Jose Earthquakes (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
The San Jose Earthquakes head to FC Dallas Stadium to take on FC Dallas on Saturday evening in what should be a thrilling match from start to finish. As Kenny Cooper and Chris Wondolowski headline each of the potent attacks, MLS fans both in attendance and those tuning in should be in for a shootout.
Editor's note: Each week, the Soccer Perspectives MLS Expert Panel will rank Major League Soccer's 19 teams from best to worst. FC Dallas kept the top spot this week despite losing 4-2 at the surging Seattle Sounders. The New York [...]
The Colorado Rapids are the only MLS franchise with multiple players named to the most recent U.S. U-20 Men's National Team roster with Shane O'Neill and Dillon Serna being named to Tab Ramos' squad for the Toulon Tournament. While the tournament runs from May 28 through June 8, O'Neill will stay with the club for its June 1 match with FC Dallasbefore flying to France.
This is a case of beer. We are making an argument or case about something. See the connection?
Last night 20,465 "fans" attended a Major League Soccer game between FC Dallas and Los Angeles Galaxy. We say "fans" because late in the match there was one person who couldn't help himself from being not a fan, but a massive idiot.
"All good things must come to an end", and for FC Dallas it was the end of its lengthy unbeaten streak. Coming in the form of a thorough 4-2 loss up in Seattle, Hyndman's troops simply played their first really lousy match in a long while. And they paid for it.
Notice the difference between Dallas' win using the 4-4-2 against DC and the loss using the same formation against Seattle?
[[Show as slideshow]]Seattle Sounders looked to keep the winning streak alive by making it 3 in a row versus FC Dallas on a mild night in Seattle. Dallas had been red hot riding a 9 game unbeaten streak (6-0-3) and are 1st on the table comfortably with 6 points on the next in line Portland Timbers.
The Seattle Sounders are on a roll, having put together a five-match unbeaten streak to climb out of the Western Conference basement and make their march toward the top of the standings.
Waiting for them at the top is FC Dallas, which is in Seattle tonight to try and keep their own nine-match streak alive.
With FC Dallas venturing to CenturyLink Field in Seattle this weekend to face Seattle Sounders FC, a club lauded for having one of the best if not the top gameday atmosphere in Major League Soccer, let's take a look at the clubs who have the most home wins since 2009, the year Seattle entered the league.
With FC Dallas visiting CenturyLink Field this weekend to face Seattle Sounders FC, it's a great time to look back on what to date has been FCD's lone win in the Emerald City. It happened on May 25, 2011 when Brek Shea scored in the 18th minute to send FCD back to the Lone Star State with the full three points thanks to a 1-0 win.
What a difference a year makes for the San Jose Earthquakes. At this time a year ago, Frank Yallop's club was rolling, scoring tons of goals and continuing an all-out assault on the league en route to capturing the MLS Supporter's Shield.
Through 13 games in 2013, things have been a bit different.
Zach Loyd vs Colorado Rapids (Matt Visinsky, 3rd Degree)
FC Dallas right back Zach Loyd missed training on Friday after picking up a knock in training on Thursday.But according to Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman, the veteran defender should be fine in time for Saturday's visit from the San Jose Earthquakes.
Maybe a lot is made out of a team's record coming off a loss, but considering how much FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman talks about character, how his side responds on Saturday night against San Jose at FC Dallas Stadium could say a good deal about how this team will be playing as the calendar gets ready to flip to June.
Now that the first part of his season with Saprissa of the Costa Rican first division is over, FC Dallas had a familiar face visiting practice on Friday at FC Dallas Stadium in Homegrown defender Moises Hernandez.
The Dallas native had been on loan to Saprissa since the start of 2013 after being on loan to Comunicaciones of the Guatemalan top flight in 2012.
When FC Dallas inked McKinney native London Woodberry to a Homegrown contract in January, the conventional thinking on the ex-Maryland defender was that he'd best serve FCD as a right back.
However, that logic has been tested a bit in recent weeks as Woodberry has made three straight starts at center back alongside Matt Hedges in the wake of George John's knee injury suffered in a 2-2 draw at Vancouver on April 27.
The book on how to supposedly stop FC Dallas has been in for a few years now, foul central attacking midfielder David Ferreira repeatedly to choke the flow of the attack from the middle to out wide. But now that Jackson and at times Fabian Castillo and even Kenny Cooper have helped make FCD more formidable on the flanks, there could be another strategy at work here.
Now that this is Schellas Hyndman's fifth full season at the helm of FC Dallas, it's time to look at where he ranks in terms of the longest-tenured coaches in Major League Soccer. So, here's the breakdown of the top five.
FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper (Matt Visinsky, 3rd Degree)
In the 64th minute of Saturday's 4-2 loss at Seattle, FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made an interesting decision when he decided to bring off Kenny Cooper, who had scored in the 54th minute for Fabian Castillo.
The young Colombian normally enters a game to provide FCD some pace at a time when the legs of the opposition could be tiring a bit.
(On the outcome of the game...) "It's about right. They created a lot of chances, a lot of breakaways, a lot of counterattacks. It seemed like the only time Seattle really put their foot on the ball is when we were down a man.
Officially, FC Dallas has already scored six goals off set pieces this season-three off corner kicks and the other three coming off free kicks. But if one were to count the own goal by Vancouver in the 2-2 draw at BC Place on April 27, then that total would balloon to seven.
Schellas Hyndman is of course no different than any other soccer coach no matter the level of competition in that he wants to see his club be quite formidable in set-piece situations, something FCD has already accomplished even in the early stages of the 2013 MLS season.
OK, so we're not even at the halfway point of the 2013 Major League Soccer season, so it is more than a bit early to talk about team MVPs and some such. However, it's never a bad time to talk about which players have clearly meant the most to FC Dallas so far this season.
But if there is one player who has surprised many of us, and in a pleasant fashion, that player has been Michel.
Neither David Ferreira nor George John trained on Thursday morning in Frisco, but there is a major difference between the two FC Dallas starters. Ferreira will be making the trip to Seattle and should start against Sounders FC on Saturday while John, a native of the Seattle area, will not be traveling with the team in order to give the young center back more time to rest his knee, which has been bothering him since a 2-2 draw at Vancouver on April 27.
FC Dallas doesn't play Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink until Saturday night, but FCD will be leaving Frisco this afternoon (Thursday) in advance of that match. While leaving two days before playing might seem a bit early to some, it's been a practice that has become commonplace over the last few years for teams in MLS traveling West.
Hello and welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now greedier than ever! Every week I dig through statistics, news and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that $100,000,000 can buy.
Exciting news for Red Bull fans this week: In order to alleviate the problems with the overcrowded stadium and exorbitant secondary ticket market prices, MLS announced the addition of a second New York team.
The hits keep coming for D.C. United. First, there was the nightmarish 4-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo at a damp RFK Stadium. Next, United faced FC Dallas - top of the table at the time - on the road and, while playing something close to competently, still lost 2-1. Most recently, the Black-and-Red managed to avoid defeat for the first time since the Nixon administration, putting up a decent 70 minutes before hanging on for dear life to hold Sporting Kansas City to a 1-1 draw.
Join the guys as they look back on United's past couple of losses and the upcoming match against Sporting KC. The boys also talk about recent United news and all things Black-and-Red.
Join the guys as they look back on United's past couple of losses and the upcoming match against Sporting KC. The boys also talk about recent United news and all things Black-and-Red.
Seattle Sounders FC 4 2 FC Dallas JOHNSON 16´, 62´ NEAGLE 30´ Cooper 54´ Michel 62´ MARTINS 83´ En el partido mas emocionante que se haya jugado en el CenturyLink Field, la aplanadora verde de los Sounders FC volvió a golear a otro equipo de la MLS Oeste. La victima esta noche ante los [..
Seattle Sounders FC 4 2 FC Dallas JOHNSON 16´, 62´ NEAGLE 30´ Cooper 54´ Michel 62´ MARTINS 83´ En uno de los partidos mas vibrantes que se haya jugado en el CenturyLink Field, la aplanadora verde de los Sounders FC volvió a golear a otro equipo de la MLS Oeste. La victima esta noche [...]
With their 7-6 penalty kick win over the Laredo Heat last night, the Fort Lauderdale Strikersof the NASL will now host FC Dallas in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup. The match will take place in Fort Lauderdale on May 28th at 7:30 PM ET at Lockhart Stadium.
During his nearly three full years with FC Dallas, Eric Avila came to be regarded as a great role player, someone who could come off the bench in the second half and provide some pace, vision and offensive creativity when the opposition might be starting to tire a bit.
It's a role the affable midfielder filled quite well until he was traded to Toronto FC in summer 2011.
Back in 2010, Zach Loyd was a rookie for FC Dallas, going fifth overall in the 2010 MLS Super Draft. The Oklahoma native ended up playing 24 games for FCD as a rookie, including 19 starts and was a contributor on a team that accomplished something no other Dallas team had ever done in franchise history, advance all the way to MLS Cup.
Of course, every rookie is different. But it's an interesting study in contrast to look at the difference between London Woodberry and Walker Zimmerman. After Woodberry made his first MLS start in last Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Portland, he admitted he was more than a bit nervous.
And while Zimmerman did not start in Saturday's 2-1 win over D.
FC Dallas doesn't leave for Seattle until early Thursday afternoon and it appears FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman won't make a decision on whether or not central attacking midfielder David Ferreira (hamstring), linking midfielder Andrew Jacobson (hamstring) and center back George John (knee) will make the trip and if they will play on Saturday night against Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field.
