Game: FC Dallas vs Arabe Unido Date: Thursday, February 23rd Time: 7:00 PM [CST] Location: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas, United States Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy; H 82, L 55 Competition: CONCACAF Champions League Last 5 For Opponent: L-L-W-L-D Live TV: Univision Deportes Radio: KWRD 100.7 FM [English]; KFLC 1270 AM La Voz del Pueblo [Spanish] Let the games begin.
Arabe Unido Scouting Report: Mirror Image Let's make a couple of things clear: If FC Dallas was playing the same Arabe Unido team that defeated Monterey twice, and won the LPF Apertura Championship, FCD would be a prohibited underdog. Let's take a look at the lineup that Arabe Unido used to reach the CCL Quarterfinals: Arabe Unido 2016 Apertura Champions 3 players in this lineup had breakout performances in group play, and in the Apertura title run. All 3 players were young, and were quickly sold by Arabe Unido. The 3 players were the Right Middfielder-Barcenas, the Forward-Cox, and the Center Back-Ariano. Barcenas and Cox were the two most dynamic players on the field, and Ariano proved he could hold his own, against the Liga MX attackers. The rest of the players are still part of the team. Arabe Unido 2017 Clausura: What has changed? #12 R. Chen is a re-enforcement, and has recently won the starting CB spot, starting the last 3 games. #80 R. Addles spent last season on loan in Peru, after being a regular starter for Arabe Unido the 2 prior seasons. It should be noted that Addles is more likely to start at LM, and Gonzalez at RM, but they are interchangeable. #58 C. Small is a re-enforcement, and has started or played in every match he's been available for. #2 R. Nino has actually been the regular RB starter for several seasons. #11 E. Small was Arabe Unido's leading scorer during the Apertura, with 16 goals. He has been starting at forward in the Clausura, but can play anywhere in the attacking 3rd. Tactics, Strengths and Characteristics: Arabe Unido is pretty much the same team from the Apertura, but has been integrating 3 players into their starting lineup, and a couple of new reserves. This is a very young team, averaging 26 years for the starters, but that average drops to 24 years if you remove the two longtime veteran starters (Gk-Lloyd 34yrs/CB-Cesar 32yrs), and even younger once you delve into the reserves. Arabe Unido is a very aggressive, and very physical team, that will press high, and whose players will swarm to the ball on defense. This team is fast and volatile, feeding off their emotions, and playing with unmistakable passion. Expect things to get chippy, and expect a suffocating press that will see 3 to 5 guys swarm whichever FC Dallas player has the ball. They play very solid team defense, and teams have a very hard time breaching their defense during the run of play. M. Lloyd is the longtime starting GK. He is a top level player at his position, combining for 12 saves in the 2 games against Monterey. F. Cesar is the Captain, and at 6'3, the most imposing defender on the team. He'll help press high, but is not likely to join the attack. Like FC Dallas, Arabe Unido likes to overlap their fullbacks and wings on the attack. The LB, Ortiz, is very aggressive coming forward, so expect to see a lot of him in the attacking third. The 2 midfielders are more defensive in nature, and are solid, but don't really stand out on offense. Like FC Dallas, Arabe Unido will invert their wing players, and pretty much all their players in the attacking 3rd are interchangeable. The Arabe Unido attackers, have the green light, to shoot from anywhere and everywhere. E. Small is the faster of the 2 forwards, and will attack from the wings. He likes to breach the back corners of the box, and whip in dangerous crosses. He is the co-leading scorer during the Clausura, with 2 goals. C. Small is the younger (21yrs) stronger forward, and has good hold up play skills. Yet to score, his hold up ability has resulted in a couple of assists. Renan Addles has recently looked like the most dynamic player on the field. Think of him as a Tesho Akindele with superior footwork, and excellent long range shot capabilities. He is most likely to be the main man on set pieces, and corner kicks. Addles is the co-leading scorer with 2 goals, all of which came in the most recent match against Clausura leaders, Tauro FC. Full of dynamic players, and confident in their defenders, Arabe Unido loves to catch teams on the counter, and have the capability to score on bang-bang plays within seconds. Weaknesses In the lead up going into the start of CCL group stage, Arabe Unido entered group play on a run of good form, and stayed in excellent form through out group play and all the way to the Apertura title. Bad Form: The current squad, enters the CCL Quarterfinals, on a run of bad form. Currently 7th (out of 10) in the Clausura Table, with a total of 7 points in 7 league matches. Arabe Unido has been particularly bad on the road, as they have yet to win a single road game, losing all 3 of them by a combined 1-4 score. Arabe Unido has yet to collect a victory against a single opponent that is ahead of them in the standings (0 wins - 4 losses - 1 draw). After winning the first game of the Aparetura, Arabe Unido has gone on to win only 1 game since then (1 win - 4 losses - 1 draw). The offense has been mostly stagnant, with 3 players tied for most goals, at 2 goals each. One of those players was Blass Perez, who scored a brace in leading Arabe Unido to it's last victory. Super Raton was quickly transferred to Bolivia, after only having played 2 games. Set Piece Defending: Robert Chen, the new starting CB, is only 5'9. Combined with poor marking habits by the new starters, and communication breakdowns that have not been resolved to date, and this has been the biggest Achilles Heel during the Clausura. Opponents have game planed around this weakness, and most of the goals scored against Arabe Unido, have been some variation of set pieces. Card Accumulation: With all that youth and also comes recklessness. Add to that the very volatile nature of the squad, and the cards just pile up once frustration sets in. In only 7 Clausura matches played, Arabe Unido has accumulated a staggering 15 yellows, and 3 reds. They have had at least 1 red in each of their 2 most recent games, during their current 2 game losing streak. Over Aggressiveness: With their penchant for swarming defense, Arabe Unido leaves itself open to counters. Teams attack Arabe Unido by constantly attempting to switch sides on the field through long crosses. The very overly aggressive nature of the team, also leads to many fouls on defense. This often helps expose the team to further set pieces, as they have a penchant for fouling teams just outside the box. Poor Fitness: This only really applies to the new starters. The new starters, and new reserves, simply haven't looked capable of playing a full 90 minutes. In the most recent match, Renan Addles had to be carried off the field, following serious cramping in the 72nd minute. Renan, was in the middle of a monster game, having scored twice, and getting one assist. Conclusion and Prediction: This is a winnable game for FCD. FC Dallas has the necessary players to target and exploit all the weaknesses that plague Arabe Unido. The most likely outcome is a 1-0 victory at home for FC Dallas. My official prediction is a 3-1 victory at home for FC Dallas. PS The match between Arabe Unido and Tauro FC, this past Friday, has been declared the most exciting match of the LPF Clausura so far. The truth, is that everything happened in the second half, and the second half will likely go down as the best half of soccer played this Clausura. Please do yourself a favor, and watch it for yourself. E. Small was serving a red card suspension and did not play. All of Arabe Unido's strengths and weaknesses, are laid bare for all to see, in one amazing half of soccer:
Will this game be streamed on facebook in English? My spanish isn't near good enough to watch the univision commentary.
My 11, for what its worth...................4/4/2 is my prediction. ----Colman----Urruti------- Lamah-Acosta-Grueso-Barrios Figueroa-Hedges-Zim-Grana ---------Seitz----------------
I agree this is the lineup until Morales gets in shape, Diaz returns or Pomykal emerges. Think there will be lots of rotation as the year goes on however so this lineup won't be used all the time.
Arabe Unido has announced the 18 players traveling to Dallas. They are at full stength, and bringing their best 18. Goal Keepers: Miguel Lloyd, Adán Córdoba. Defenders: Fidel Caesar, Rigoberto Niño, Daniel Ortiz, Roberto Chen, Rolando Algandona. Midfielders: Amílcar Henríquez, Abdiel Macea, José González, Leslie Heráldez, Alejandro Hincapié, Emanuel Mena, Josimar Gómez. Forwards: Enrico Small, Renán Addles, Gabriel Pino, Carlos Small. I'm monitoring Panamanian and Mexican Press coverage of this game. There's some very interesting quotes, and observations. I hope to post some of it Tuesday.
Hopefully some of those quotes contain locker room material for FCD. They probably think anything they say won't make it here.
Oscar Pareja was just live in the FC Dallas Facebook page. A must see. It was a press conference and he was fielding questions in English and Spanish, and was giving bilingual responses. He had some great things to say about MLS, American Players, and about teams needing to stop making excuses. Don't have time to find the link.
ttp://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/02/21/fc-dallas-vs-arabe-unido-champions-league-quarterfinals-1st-leg FC Dallas vs. Arabe Unido Champions League Quarterfinals, 1st Leg February 21, 2017 4:39PM EST FC Dallas vs. Arabe Unido 2016 - 17 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals, 1st Leg Toyota Stadium - Frisco, TX Thursday, Feb. 23 - 8pm ET WATCH: Univision Deportes Network in USA; Facebook Projected starting XI (4-4-1-1): Chris Seitz Hernan Grana, Walker Zimmerman, Matt Hedges, Maynor Figueroa Michael Barrios, Kellyn Acosta, Carlos Gruezo, Roland Lamah Maximiliano Urruti Cristian Colman
I personally am not sure Morales has much left in the tank. He's "this year's Rosales." That's not to say he doesn't have value. If we're counting on him to start a lot of games, however, we're in trouble. I mean, he's 37 after all. He's more than twice the age of at least 3 players on the roster.
If anyone can get Rosales in shape it's the other brother Bazan. In fact at the scrimmage on Sunday both brothers were working together on drills for the players and it indeed looks like a family affair where the players all get in "their" best shape possible. The difference in injuries since he joined is enormous and a very unsung part of what the team has done.
Hey guys, My first official article, as a writer for Bigdsoccer.com got posted today. FCD vs Arabe Unido: What they are saying
So about two hours after the article was posted. FCD Live discussed the article with Walker Zimmerman and Ryan Hollingshead. The article is discussed at length, about 20 minutes in. https://www.facebook.com/fcdallas/videos/10154086467641152/
Honestly, go watch the Pareja press conference. https://www.facebook.com/fcdallas/videos/10154084257841152/
So I tried to be fare and balanced in this article, so I toned 1 thing down. In their last 2 games, they have received a straight red. 2 games ago, against Chorillo, #11 E. Small, used an open hand strike to the back neck/head of the player with the ball. He got a foul but no card. In the second half, he got a straight red for an elbow to the jaw of a defender. They were so far away from the action. That the camera had to pan to the opposite side of the field when the whistle was blown. In the last match against Tauro FC, the other forward, #58 C. Small, got a straight red for high kicking a player to the face!
Damn, that was encouraging. I can't remember seeing a game this early in the season where we looked so complete. Grana and Colman looked great. Nice to be able to rotate the lineup a good bit to make sure we're ready for LA next weekend. Tesho looked motivated, it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.
Oh man................that was molestation right there. That was a beat down from start to finish. Super impressed with how the team has started this season firing on all cylinders. That was a CCL quarterfinals match for Pete's sake. I was insufferably positive going into last season. This year I'm just going to be too extreme to bear. There are too many variables in an MLS season to predict anything, but this team has a chance to be special.