I'll start directing what I think is wrong based on what I've seen recently. Let's do a 4-2-3-1 because that is a standard formation and the one FCD uses the most when everyone is healthy. Urruti is the mobile forward you need. Diaz checks the #10 box. Acosta and Gruezo with Ulloa backing up are good fits in central mid. Zimmerman, Hedges and Gonzalez are above average defenders/keepers. So winger and outside back is where the problems are. Barrios is a great fit at one of the spots as a mobile and tricky winger. Grana is in the mold of a good attacking back albeit he's had way too many defensive flaws and needs to be much better at crosses and passes near the box. Lamah isn't really a good fit in that Castillo was a super speed threat that is now lacking. Lamah might be ok or even good if he had a truly attacking left back making overlapping runs of the Benitez variety. Figueroa is almost completely a stay at home back and all together it seems FCD is playing an odd 3-3-3-1 with Figueroa pushed more left and Grana pushed right as more of a right mid level with Gruezo/Acosta. All attacking is from the right side. Close that down and poof nothing. The team is very unbalanced towards the right side and that makes them easy to defend. Some good players need to sit to balance things out. Hollingshead should be the left back and Cannon should get a look on the right. Those two things would IMHO create a much more balanced team both offensively and defensively. Add your takes.
I'll just throw this out there. If you're willing to buy into the idea Saturday's starting 11, on paper, is Pareja's "best 11" - then dig this: Saturday represented the FIRST TIME that eleven started together in a game. The. First. Time. Personally, I believe the whole of the sum can be a league's best side, but not sure trying to build chemistry and understanding is something that can be done in 6 weeks. Additionally, if my research is correct, Pareja - for a wide variety of reasons - has only started the same 11/formation in back to back league games once this season. Consistency is a major factor into success. FCD has had little to none of that in 2017.
I know I should just look it up but what was difference from the lineup on Saturday vs the one at Atlanta?
Ok, I'll buy it. Who exactly has warm fuzzy about the Minnesota game? I sure don't. I'm going to be in Denton for American football but I'll be checking my phone and cringing.
If the dam breaks FCD will put a whipping on someone. They need a few breaks that they've had very few of this year first though.
you tell me who's got the best path - four teams, one 6th place. that three consecutive road games are are worrisome AF.
Unless a lightbulb goes off I don't expect them to make it. Something has been off all year and I hope Oscar learns from it. Don't change your methods for one year. So far it hasn't worked anyway and now the kids have barely progressed this year and you will soon need them. It used to be FCD DNA.
Barrios needs a defender behind him who can defend reliably because he doesn't have much defensive ability. If you put Barrios and Fig on the same side, that would work. You're right about the right side. When FCD attacks the south goal at home, I notice almost all our attacks come from the side of the field farthest from me (I sit on the sunny east side). I don't know what you'd do to make Lamah more effective except replace him.
I think Lamah is a left mid that plays narrow. To make him more effective you need a fast overlapping left back. He would do well with a Benitez type. Hollingshead is the closet we have to that. That would take some defenders away from him or leave the left back wide open to attack the goal and send in passes and crosses. I'm not saying that's ideal but it would help him and balance the attack. I also think Barrios needs that type of back but one that can also defend would be a help. Cannon or again Hollingshead would work. Grana if he can start making passes that lead to goals and cut out at least half of the mistakes.
Without question, must win the next 2. That will at least give us momentum into the final 2 road games which will both be tough in their own right.
How about we switch winger sides? Put Barrios with Figueroa on the left and put Lamah with Cannon or Grana both of whom like to overlap on the right.
Sounds good except can Barrios and Lamah excel on the opposite side like that? If not hen we have mismatched parts and the gears will grind to a halt.
Can it be worse than what we are already doing and failing at each week? Barrios has switched sides mid-game before. Personally I'd start Pomykal on the left and Cannon at RB this week just to switch it up. I'd also give Coleman a start and see if he can get something going or at the very least give Urruti a mini rest so he can come on at 60 minutes or so and try to be a super sub.
I think some youthful exuberance might a good tonic. I think we'll see one change with Atiba at CB. For some reason OP has been inhabited by the ghost of Schellas a bit this year. In the long run I guess the silver lining is it either works and we're all mostly happy or it doesn't and he never does it again.
Gloom and Doom in #FCDallas: The 4 signs of the Apocalypse https://t.co/TiB4vaoed0— Big D Soccer (@BigDSoccer) September 22, 2017
Love the analysis. I thrive on this stuff. When my husband saw this article he called me at work and told me to get on twitter and look at it because it is exactly what I have been barking in his ear for weeks. I love the dissection of the game and spacing issues and how one player affects another. Great work.
I decided to look at our past seasons' results in the modern era (2005-) to compare similar runs of ineptitude. Here is what I came up with... 10 - 2005 (3 D, 7 L) 13 - 2012 (6 D, 7 L) 11 - 2013 (6 D, 5 L) 8 - 2014 (3 D, 5 L) 10 - 2017 (5 D, 6 L) In at least 2 of those instances, Colorado was the slump buster. One could argue that any other season (aka, no VR), this slump would've ended a while back with a 1-0 victory over Colorado as well. Let's hope they're just what the doctor ordered on a Wednesday night in late September.
More of this please. As a new to soccer fan, this precisely described what I don't have the knowledge to articulate. Thank you!
You know Chico's analysis described a sort of black hole at left wing and voila where did two goals come from? That very spot. Grana put in some nifty curling grass burners and on the first it went by everyone until Figueroa who is almost never in the spot he was there shot it into the goal. I'm sure Colorado was thinking why is someone in that spot when they haven't been there all year?
How different were the loss in Minnesota and the win over Colorado for #FCDallas? Let us break it all down for you. https://t.co/UsEdQ0qIAX— Big D Soccer (@BigDSoccer) September 29, 2017
I expect Zim to start next to Hedges. Hedges is the glue for the defense, so the defense will be fine. If Acosta starts, then expect him to emulate much of what Javi Mo did. Sure they're not the same kind of players, but Acosta will be asked to come forward more and be more of a link between the defense and Mauro Diaz. I would hope Javi Mo gets extended minutes off the bench after his last performance, and maybe even the start ove Acosta. I'd actually prefer Javi Mo starts, then makes way early for Acosta.
You called it and Acosta looked like himself when he came in. Looked fresh, played multiple positions, had a goal stopped by a handball that of course wasn't called. He just glides all over the field and seems to play multiple spots at the same time effortlessly. I also don't hate Atiba at centerback. He has speed, skilled feet for a CB, height and strength. His problem is experience which gets him and the team in trouble at times. If he'd played that spot his whole career he might have gone places. Not sure what fountain Morales found all of a sudden but earlier in the year he couldn't do what he's doing now. In Open Cup he could have but didn't come close.