Game: FC Dallas vs Portland Timbers Date: Saturday, April 29th Time: 7:00 PM [CST] Location: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas, United States of America Weather Forecast: Thunderstorm; H 77, L 48 Competition: Major League Soccer Last 5 for Opponent: W-L-W-D-L Record & Standing of Opponent: 5-2-1 | 16 pts | 1st in the West (1st overall) Live TV: TXA-21; FCDallas.com [DFW Only]; Direct Kick/MLSLive Radio: KWRD 100.7 FM [English]; KFLC 1270 AM La Voz del Pueblo [Spanish] Looks like it might be a late night with the weather forecast. Hope it doesn't spoil our form.
In the future there are two possible conversations that could take place that involve laughter: 1) remember how poorly Colman started, he sure turned out to get the last laugh by showing MLS how good he was. 2) Colman. Lol. What a waste of money.
I want to be patient with Colman, give him a shot, etc., because he's getting himself into really great scoring positions, but man, it's almost as if he's trying new and different ways to NOT put them away at this point.
He needs a lot of work. He doesnt know where to be, his feet arent up to speed, and he keeps making egregious mistakes. He needs to be sent down a level to get developmental minutes. Id say Pomykal is more ready at this point, and thats not an exaggeration.
On the game.... Urruti was the man of the match for me. Yet another game that he comes up with multiple ways to impact play. His goal was equal parts guile and skill. He is the heart of FCD. Still team mvp to this point for me. Jesse Gonzales had a poor game. Both goals were saves he should have made. They are the kinds of saves that quality pro keepers make. It may be time to move Seitz back into the line up. Excellent subs and tactical approach from Pareja. Inserting Barrios late saves his legs in the early season and maximizes his impact. Fresh Barrios vs. tired defenders is huge advantage. Tesho looked good. I think you have to go with him over Colman for the forseeable future. The team needs a midfielder who can hold the ball, distrubute, and key transition as well as to play killer balls. Is it time to start giving important minutes to Paxton? On a different note...i feel the team slipping into a victims menality a bit. They need to change that mentality to one with confidence that they can fight and set the tone...like you see from Urruti, Gruezo,and Zimmerman.
Where do I start? 1st half was a dumpster fire that I put all on Papi. Why keep starting Morales and Tesho? He's not a starter and he doesn't play like Diaz (anymore). Last week we won, yeah but only after he put Barrios on and changed the strategy. I don't understand how many times we have to play Adi before we don't leave him alone in the box. Why wasn't Hedges glued to him like he was with Dwyer last week? Also, what a whiny little bitch Adi is. For someone that tall and powerful, seemed like everyone was able to knock him over and (of course!) he got a foul. Toledo is hot garbage and called a horrible game. We definitely shot ourselves in the foot on that 2nd goal with that poor clearance by Gruezo. The least I can say for this group is they kept fighting and found the goals to save this mess. Ok, settle down. I would say the main thing that Colman needs to work on is his finishing. He gets into the right spots and feels like he has the right tools to be a top target striker. Confidence has a huge role to play in this.
Sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree. I am fully aware of what i am watching. Colman is struggling with the speed of the game and with FCDs system. In another league across the pond hed be sent down for awhile until improvements showed in training and he became more integrated into the system. Hes just not up to speed. His form is awful right now. Pomykal's transition to the first team was seamless by comparison. Pomykal also showed that he can learn from game to game. His integration with the first team has been much, much smoother. Id stick with Pomykal and Tesho and sub Colman into the game in smaller bits until those improvements are clear.
i asked him this in the post game conference.. Basically, it's a mixture of tactics and giving Barrios a rest was the answer. He likes the injection of speed late in the game, and I think he believes the "4-2-4" formation he's been shifting to suits Barrios better because it affords him more space to run into. (yes, Pareja calls this a 4-2-4, and not a 4-4-2).
I'm of the belief that Papi is trying to get the team used to playing both formations so that when Diaz returns, it won't be the totally new again thing. problem is Javi is really showing his age and seeing him last night showed me he's just not a dynamic as he once was and his teammates seem reluctant to give him the ball when he's in tighter spaces. He looked very frustrated last night. This also is a byproduct of being a very vertical team for the last several months and playing thru the midfield isn't their jam at the moment. I'm of the belief he's trying to shape them up for going back to the 4-2-3-1. Because Diaz doesn't work in another formation. I'll add, that starting 11 is woefully slow, at least compared to what we've known FCD to be in the last few seasons. and while I know all of you want to see Paxi and Jesse, please. they are 18 & 17 respectively. In Paxi's two starts he was VERY reluctant to attack and take on players and is very different from the confident attacker he was in Dallas Cup. While I am sure they will eventually get time, they are not the answer. This team is undefeated, and PDX is a very good side (even without Diego) let's realize we're nit picking here.
Pomykal isnt needed to "take on players", hes needed to receive, hold, and distribute the ball to maintain possession and also to play killer passes in transition and when the team has the bass in the final third. Basically what Morales is supposed to be doing and some of what Diaz does. Pomykal can already do these things. Having that on the field, growing with the first team is possibly more valuable right now than having Colman kick his confidence in the jimmy over and over again.
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be an ass and I want more discussion in these boards (so I'm not trying to tell you off) but you can't seriously be advocating for a (barely) 17 year old to get minutes over our big money signing because he's having a rough start. Colman scored twice in the CL. He is getting in the right positions (or else we wouldn't be cursing his misses). He has all the tools to be a consistent goal scorer. What he needs is minutes and confidence. He's not going to get either by replacing him with a child, even if that child is special.
JaviMo has not been good, but I doubt the solution is to ask a high school kid to be the midfield creator. I'm OK with giving Pomykal some time here and there to acclimate and get used to playing with adult professionals in real games. I'm also curious to see what he can do. He looked good earlier against SKC - didn't look overwhelmed, looked comfortable on the ball, but didn't set the world on fire either. I see the argument, that as bad as Javi has been, it's possible Pomykal could be an upgrade. I can't blame Jesse for either goal. On Adi's goal, it looked we were playing a match-up zone instead of strict man-to-man. As Adi and his teammates moved around, Hedges and Zim picked up whoever was closest. Unfortunately, this seemed to leave Tesho to take Adi. Tesho ended up on the wrong side of him. Adi looked like he might have been offside. It's asking a lot to stop an open header hit with power. On the second one, Acosta slipped when he went to get in front of the shooter who then had the whole goal to shoot at from about 8 yards. Anybody hear details on the 20+ who were ejected from the Beer Garden for cursing? It's a rumor a friend passed to me via Reddit.
You can tell me off...I don't need to be affirmed by anyone here and I'm not trying to be. Colman needs to be corrected. The team can't continue putting him on the field when its borderline embarrassing to he and the other players. At some point something has to give. If I was in Pareja's position, I would be proactive in giving him a subtler approach where I make him a sub and give him time to see the game before he enters it. On the other side of the coin, Pomykal is in a different stage of development. He has shown that he can play. He is ready to be tested more. So you put him in the 18, start him when you can, give him simple instructions, and sub him off if he struggles. They are different situations, and fortunately for Pareja, they require complimentary approaches. The idea that these two players are being rotated in according to who is better is not how coaches approach games. Players play according to what the coach needs at a given time in the context of what he already has. Pareja has Tesho, who is playing well enough to get Colman's minutes to start games. He also has Pomykal who at his floor has impacted games to a greater degree than Morales.
You kids need to trust Oscar. He's given us no reason to question his judgment. Even after his mom died, he was solid.
Seriously. We haven't looked great since Diaz went down (and really haven't replaced Castillo's impact yet), but we're grinding out results. As far as I'm concerned Pareja is getting the best from this group right now. We're sitting here two points behind the top of the West, with two games in hand over Portland. People realize that, right? I mean we're really nitpicking and complaining about a group that's actually doing quite well. On a PPG basis, are we ahead of last season? We all know JaviMo was a temporary stand-in for Mauro. There's a reason RSL let him walk away. I don't know what folks were expecting. Anyway who watched him with RSL the past two seasons saw a guy with only a little left in the tank. And we always say that players need time to adjust to MLS. Give Colman some time, folks. We paid a lot for him, and we're going to keep giving him chances. As far as Pomykol goes, I'd like to see Pareja continue to find ways to get him in the 18. However, I don't think Pomykol solves the problems we're having. Our problems will be solved when our unicorn returns. Diaz is the "straw that stirs the drink." Right now we're playing like Seattle pre-Lodeiro, however we're actually grinding out results and points. I personally think we need to go back to a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 until Diaz returns. I think that system maximizes the guy who's our best player right now, which is Kellyn Acosta. I understand the logic espoused above that we're getting the players comfortable in a 4-2-3-1, so they're ready to go when Diaz is inserted. It just doesn't work as well with this group of players........................... -----------Colman----------- ----------------Urruti---------- Lamah--Grueso-Acosta-Barrios Figueroa-Hedges-Zim-Grana ------------Seitz/Jesse------------
I like Pareja immensely, probably more than most. I hope he's in Dallas for most of his coaching career. But it's much more fun to discuss issues in a discussion forum rather than to cheerlead, IMO. FCD fan culture should be more sophisticated, and that happens by having knowledgeable discussion about team issues.
I disagree regarding Acosta. I think that our best player has been Urruti, followed by Gruezo and then Acosta. Acosta started well but has fallen back to earth. As Pareja has said, Acosta needs to become consistent with his performances. Both Urruti and Gruezo have been consistently exceptional. Urruti in particular has been very, very good. He doesn't get service from the midfield, so instead of moping around, he chases the ball and forces turnovers. Urruti has a winning mentality.
I always liked Urruti when he was with Portland, though I thought they really misused / underused him. Whenever they put him in against us, I'd think, " Uh oh, this guy." I was happy when we picked him up. He's been much better than I anticipated - better goal scorer, willing to do some dirty work, tracks back when he's asked to do it, great attitude. I think you're comparing apples and oranges (and apricots?) when comparing Urruti, Acosta, and Gruezo. Right now, though Urruti is our best attacker and Gruezo is our best midfield defender, Acosta is our best all-around player and most suited out of those 3 to be the guy getting the most touches, hopefully transitioning from defense into attack.
What's with the weather gods anyway? Two games in a row with unseasonable cold. The only way the weather could have been any more accommodating for our visitors on Saturday would be if the rain turned the grass into fake turf. Hopefully we'll roast those old men of NYCFCEIEIO in two weeks.
I love the fact I'm in the cheerleader category now! I made my comment about Colman before he was here and it's been dead on. I haven't seen enough of Paxton to pass judgment on him. I do know he can hold the ball and seems to make few mistakes. If you want goals... get Kenny Cooper in here. There's your pot stirred!
Saturday's game wasn't good, but the result wasn't so bad. It looked like we struggled to adjust to the wind and wet field. I didn't understand the coaching staff's reaction to the foul leading to the first POR goal. It was a simple delayed call after allowing a possible advantage that didn't pan out. I think this reaction may have been a distraction when setting up to defend the ensuing direct kick. All things considered, if you asked any of us at the end of last season what our opinion of OP would be if he could get the team through the first 7 games of this season undefeated without Mauro, we'd be nominating him for Soccer God.
You like depth? Here you go... when we sell Acosta and Gruezo (both will go for good money in 2-3 years) we need to bring Gary Medel in to replace them.
Just got to watch this one on MLS Live. I really didn't think we started too badly. Remember that we were playing Portland, one of the better teams in the league. We looked about even with them, which is about where we are as a team, realistically. Toledo called an absolutely atrocious game. Acosta's foul leading to the first goal was ticky-tack and wasn't in keeping with his other calls. Tesho should have had a penalty. Figueroa's yellow card was BS. Adi got pretty much every dive called his way. It was bad. I actually thought JaviMo looked fine. He's not Diaz, and he's really not expected to be. He's not as mobile as Diaz, but his passes were generally crisp and accurate, they set up attacking plays, and he generally played smart. I thought his sub was a tactical change rather than a need for fresh legs. I do think Pomykal should get some minutes off the bench on the regular, but until he proves himself at the senior level he absolutely shouldn't start. Urruti's goal was ridiculous, and it was classic Urruti. Hustle, hustle, miss, more hustle, hustle, goal. Credit to Lamah, too, to push that play forward and initially get the defense in disarray. I thought Lamah played really well all game. For the amount of money we're paying Colman, he should be able to find the net. We said that about Urruti not too long ago, though, so I'm definitely willing to let him have some time to find his form. Grana and Tesho, both of whom have taken criticism from me in the past, played quite well too.