Who stays? Who goes? Do we run out the kids in 2018 and make this a year where they cut their teeth with no real expectations? Season starts sooner than you think
My biggest takeaways from this season for FC Dallas: 1) We took 70% of the points available in matches against teams finishing below us in the table (both conferences), but failed to register a win against the Rapids (2 draws). 2) We dropped points with late goals away to SJ (93rd min), home to SJ (81st min) and home to Hou (86 min) turning wins into draws and draws into losses. We were always very shaky defensively late in close matches. 3) Hollingshead really struggled defensively this season. The shuffling along the backline was something that we never really adapted to. I blame the injury to Zimmerman and random loss of players to int'l duty, but never recovered early season form. 4) Urruti was held scoreless in 10 straight matches since late August. 808 scoreless minutes. FC Dallas needs to find a striker that has been proven to score 15+ goals a season. Urruti has had his two best career season with FC Dallas, but they have been on par with average MLS striker. This deficiency was covered over by outstanding production from the wings (Castillo, Barrios, Lamah) over the past 2 years. 5) As players age their production declines much faster. Will Lamah, Figeuroa, Harris and Grana be worth keeping around or should we move on? Those players played a combined 9,166 minutes this year. 6) Odd stat for FC. 2016- 33 goals at home, 40 points. 2017 - 33 goals at home, 31 points. Inconsistency is the name of the game for the 2017 season. As a relatively new fan (started following the team in 2013) I feel like I missed years of misery and mediocrity. However fans should demand more of a team that led the Conference table with 34 points from 19 matches and 2 games in hand in late July. The collapse of this team is one of the worst in the history of MLS, yet has no defining event beyond the Barrios-Urruti transfer story to trace a decline to. In his press conference Oscar looked glad that the season was over as he has agonized about the reason for this season's slide. He'd be wise to focus on where improvements are needed (forwards, LB, RB) and look for the teams veteran's to step up in the leadership department.
I'd say it's any or a combination of the following... Transfer rumors and heads turned A very poor transfer window that was finally exploited. Grana and Lamah were poor for a good portion of the season. Lamah makes up for it with a decent goal scoring rate but most of that was down to specific multi-goal games. Never felt like he was dangerous enough or anywhere close to what Castillo used to bring to the table. Brought in multiple players that saw little to no minutes on the field. Lastly, lots of cash spent on Colman who saw little minutes down the stretch and when he did, produced horribly. International call ups and the Gold Cup. I hate complaining about this because most teams have to deal with it. What I will dwell on a bit is that the Gold Cup returned our two Americans as damaged goods. The rub of the luck that we got a good dose of in 2016 was definitely gone in 2017.
I've been an FCD fan since the 2002 World Cup, and I have seen FCD miss the playoffs for 7 years. 1) One thing that has improved is our fight. Busca la forma. We are hard to beat. The last 6 times we didn't qualify for the playoffs, we won an average of 29% of our games, lost 43%, and tied 27%. In 2017, we won 32%, lost 29%, and tied 38% of our games. Yeah, we didn't win enough games, but we were much harder to beat. 2) It also showed us, like LamarHunting says, that we weren't plugged in in the final moments of many matches. In 3 matches, we lost points by conceding in the final 10 minutes. Twice at home. 3) Although we are tough to beat and always find a way, we simply can't keep fighting back from early goals. Half of our losses came from conceding early. We conceded in the first 20 minutes for 7 games this season, and that amounted to 5 losses, 1 tie, and 1 win. 4) Goal-less ties. We had 5 of them. Put the ball in the net! 5) Red cards. Tesho, Gruezo, and Jacori single-handedly cost us some points this season. Two losses and a tie in those games.
The thing that killed FCD in the second half of 2017 was the inability to score reliably after July. Up to July, it was because Maxi was on fire, with some scattered contributions from other players. After July, Maxi went ice cold and only scored once. In a related story, I can only think of three different games after July where FCD had the initial lead: home to Colorado, away to Minnesota, and home to LA. And this in turn hurt the defense. When you're having to chase leads, you're having to leave more stretched out and exposed at the back. This is not to say that this team didn't have its defensive derps along the way and was more than capable of blowing leads -- the loss at Minnesota and the draw at Houston come to mind -- but the inability to score hurt this team defensively more than anything else. As for players to keep and to ship... Keep Acosta Barrios Cannon Cermeño Colmán - TBH, I think he's Exhibit A for the loss of confidence that Steve Davis was referring to in the broadcast yesterday. He went from scoring for FCD in the CONCACAF Champions League to being truly snakebit early in the season to being unable to get off the bench. He's only 23 and FCD has put enough money into him that it's worth keeping him around to see if a fresh start in 2018 can help him get his head right. (If that sounds like the Sunk Cost Fallacy, you might be right.) Diaz - Duh. I think that if he continues to put in the work in the offseason on continuing to rehab and rebuild. Will he completely get back to his pre-injury form. I wouldn't put a whole lot of money on it, but he's earned the opportunity to work toward that.Figueroa Jesse Gonzalez Cariaco Gonzalez - We didn't see much of him, but I wonder if he's another one of those midseason acquisitions that don't really do much in the second half of the season, but blossoms in the following season. Gruezo Hedges Hollingshead - Basically what I wrote about Diaz. Lamah - I've actually come around on Lamah. The guy was a double-digit scorer this year, and even if so many of his goals came in multi-goal games, that still shows me that he can produce in this league. It'd be nice if he can be more consistent, but certainly worth keeping around for next season. Seitz - But this really depends on how much Clavijo wants to spend on a backup GK. Ulloa Urruti - And by "keep," I mean "throw money at him and try to help him out with his family situation and see if he's interested." If not, fair enough, he's been a hell of a player for this team and it's only fair for the club to do right by him and try to get the best deal for him back in Argentina. He's down to the option year of his contract, and if FCD can't lock him down NOW with an extension and raise, the best thing is to get something for him and not just let him walk for free this time next year. Zimmerman The kids - I suspect that we'll be seeing more of them next year, if El Profe's post-game comments about this being "the end of the cycle" are any indication. Ship Akindele - I like Tesho, but man, his production ain't been that great since his rookie season. Grana - Being a regular defensive liability is a bad sign when you're a defender Harris - I have a feeling that this'll be more wish than reality, since he's a player that has literally played every field position on this team in both of his stints here, and coaches LOVE "versatility." But someone needs to whisper in El Profe's ear that Atiba ain't really good enough at any position any more. Morales - While I appreciate his brief renaissance late in the season, I think that he's bad fit for this team because he slows down a team that's killed other teams with speed over the past few years. And he'll be 38 in January. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Chalá
Strange stat that I just saw from last season was that we didn't score a goal in any of our losses. We were shutout in all losses. I don't know what to make of that, but it's an odd stat for a team that won the Supporters Shield.
I get the impression that Urruti is gone. Look at his comments in the Jon Arnold interview: Some of Urruti's key words - enjoy x2, father, happy, really excited, upset, family He just sounds too excited to be done with the season and with North Texas. Do you think Cermeño should transfer permanently to FCD? Atiba will probably stay, since he is still excellent in the air and shows more heart than most players. Figueroa may also be gone, although I am probably higher on him than most.
I saw some twitter rumblings about Gruezo, so I wouldn’t be surprised about him leaving along with Urruti and Acosta. Good guy Atiba will retire an FC Dallas player so he will be back next season......Or retire. I would rather keep Lamah over Tesho. Grana if he stays should be a substitute. Morales should retire before next season. Everyone else needs to compete for their spot and hopefully the younger guys will feature more next year.
all could have arguments as to why they may not be here in 2018: Urruti, Morales, Acosta, Gruezo, Grana, Figuroa, Sietz, Zimmerman, Cermano, Barrios, Diaz, Harris and Tesho. details on some of the more admittedly controversial.: Diaz: Look, I still am not convinced the shy little guy even likes it here and he's that player you have to work your entire team around, yet is fragile and misses wild chunks of the season. I know he's everyone's unicorn but after all this time I'm not sure he's worth what it takes to put up with him. Barrios: If they get a good bid, maybe. Gruezo: Word is he wants out, and has for some time. If Dallas can get a good sell on price, I bet he's out too. Acosta: Here's the interesting one just because of how it implicates the whole FCD model - Who's going to buy Kellyn this winter after his very mediocre post-Gold Cup form? If someone makes a bid it will be for less than FCD has in mind - meaning - he's likely back to a midseason sale. Which of course upsets the 2018 applecart. Vicious circle. In the end, and I'm going to say this all off season the biggest failure of 2017 is on Fernando and his horrid batting rate. There isn't a single off season signing that worked out and that was critical for replacing the departed parts from 2016. While I have some real criticisms of Oscar, if Dan Hunt wanted to prove to me he's serious about 2018, he'd hire a new TD and send Fernando on his way. Oh and Buzz posted a great recap on this season today... go read it if only for the final section that gives insight to the team's negative vibe and Walker's outstanding quote about how attendances impact the players. Man, if that doesn't slap Dan across the face...
Looking back and now knowing what the new players brought I think a big part of the problem is how they matched up with those near them. Lamah I think would be much better with a Benitez type back and maybe they thought so too but Chala was too raw. Figueroa is really a back that's best in a three back set as he doesn't attack and overlap much. On the others ide that is exactly what Grana does but his partner on that side was Barrios who is not really a two way winger and is closer to a wing forward. There was not a really soild back up at CB for a four back system so when Zimmerman got hurt and didn't recover well it caused a host of problems. Lastly we all knew or should have known that Diaz wouldn't really be himself this year. Early in the year the team played without him and did ok. Once he returned the revolving door of whether he played and whether he played well caused chaos added with the other factors. If Barrios stays you have to play Cannon behind him. If he leaves and Grana somehow keeps the right back job then a mid that can cover for his runs is needed. Chala could solve the left back problem that helps Lamah if he has improved. Diaz "should" be a lot better but I'd be working with Pomykol a lot for sveral reasons including playing the HG's. I would think that Acosta is gone and maybe Gruezo too so two of Ulloa, Cermeno and Hayes are your starters. I expect an acquisition in this spot if both move on. Agree on a big time forward acquisition especially if Urruti moves on. Yes they opened the bank last year for Colman. Now they need to open the ban for an Atlanta United type guy. I think Cannon, Pomykol, Ferreira and Reynolds all start seeing action next year. I really want to see if Dan Hunt matches his nice recent speech about doubling down on young players by starting a USL team for those very players. If he doesn't his words sort of meant nothing unless he wants to play 4-5 15-19 year olds as starters.
A great piece that everyone should read. Also motivates me further to write Dan that letter I said I would write if we crashed out early. Not that it matters at this point.
Wow. Now I understand Oscar's "cycle" talk. This is the list of players who are out of contract by the end of 2017 according to Transfermarkt (some of these have to be wrong): Chris Seitz Walker Zimmerman Maynor Figueroa Ryan Hollingshead Atiba Harris Hernán Grana Reggie Cannon Carlos Gruezo Kellyn Acosta Victor Ulloa Carlos Cermeño Javier Morales Jesus Ferreira Bryan Reynolds Michael Barrios Paxton Pomykal Cristian Colmán Coy Craft 2017 Salaries:
I can assure you that the list is not accurate. Barios for example, recieved an extension to go with his recent raise. Transfermrkt normally doesn't account for those "option years" that MLS loves.
goodness, that list is utterly inaccurate. Truth is almost all of the current roster is under some sort of contract for 2018. There are a few exceptions, but even Urruti I believe is under a option that FCD can pick up.
Some clarification from our guys at bigDsoccer below. So, if FCD wants to sell a player to a foreign club (say Victor Ulloa to a LigaMX team), they would want to sell just after signing the option year, right? Otherwise a team might wait for a free transfer. One thing is for certain, this year could have much larger turnover than years past. The number of expiring contracts and players going into their option year is the largest in recent history. Expiring: Maynor Figueroa Chris Seitz Javi Morales Roland Lamah Aaron Guillen Coy Craft Hernan Grana (option to buy) Carlos Cermeño (option to buy) Option year: Walker Hume Tesho Akindele Reggie Cannon Jesus Ferreira Carlos Gruezo Jacori Hayes Ryan Hollingshead Paxton Pomykal Bryan Reynolds Victor Ulloa Walker Zimmerman Maxi Urruti? Out of this crop, I could see Lamah continue his bouncing around various leagues for similar money. I could see Maynor Figueroa returning to Honduras. Chris Seitz may sign an extension. Coy Craft is gone. Walker Zimmerman and Victor Ulloa could get sold. https://www.bigdsoccer.com/2017-season/2017/10/30/16567486/fc-dallas-roster-issues-offseason-begins
that list is not wholly accurate. If history holds, the club will release the info some time after/around Thanksgiving.
because we've been covering this team since 1997. ex: Urruti's option was picked up a long while ago and is under contract for 2018 here's the better source: https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2017/10/30/seeing-start-fc-dallas-roster-moves
It was a simple question, and that is not an answer. Anyway, some of us are wondering who exactly is out of contract or going into option. I’ve done plenty of googling at this point and know that several of the guys on the Transfermarkt site were wrong. Fine. It was an answer, though with plenty of uncertainty. BigDsoccer also wrote about it and clarified things. I don’t read DMN because of the paywall and I’m not the only one. Anyway, Carter Baum mentioned that at least 10 players won’t be returning. I don’t know. For me, that’s huge. And if everyone is under contract until 2018, it’s damned odd.
And you got a simple answer - just not one you liked. Sorry about that as I wasn't trying to be snarky but I inferred your ask of "and you know this how?" as questioning my knowledge on the subject and hence I answered as I read the question. As to how you implied the question: My previous answer provided the actual thing you need to know. FCD will let us know sometime around November. You can do all the googling you want - you won't find the info you seek because MLS teams keep this info various distances from their chest. Hunt just happen to keep it the tightest. Why, well, they're the Hunts. But back to your other comment. DMN/3rdDegree is a meter, not a paywall, and there's a fine distinction there. You receive "x" number of free stories per month before they ask you to pay. The difference are journalists who talk to the club FO, coaches and attend practices. That is how we know the information provided in the link I sent you - including the fact who was at Monday's practice gives away the status of many of those you seek. But if you choose not to click and read because you opt not to participate in a paywall/meter, that is totally understandable. 10 players changing isn't actually all that dramatic. MLS clubs have wholesale changes yearly, and as we covered back last offseason, IIRC, FCD itself just between 2016-17 swapped about 40% of its roster.
These 4 must be dropped Diaz was a gamble and it didn't work out. We need a sustainable number 10. Diaz is too injury prone Tesho Terrible Production Coleman Too much gamble. We need reliable striker Moralez time to retire.