Game: FC Dallas vs Minnesota United FC Date: Saturday, April 8th Time: 7:00 PM [CST] Location: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas, United States of America Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy; H 82, L 61 Competition: Major League Soccer Last 5 for Opponent: W-L-D-L-L Record & Standing of Opponent: 1-3-1 | 4 pts | 9th in the West (18th overall) Live TV: TXA-21 [DFW]; FCDallas.com [DFW]; Direct Kick [Out of Market]; MLSLive [Out of Market] Radio: KWRD 100.7 FM [English]; KFLC 1270 AM La Voz del Pueblo [Spanish] Let's move on.
I might consider giving Jessie a run. Not as a punishment to Seitz (although that last goal against Pachuca was a nightmare decision), but more to keep the position competition going and keep him sharp. Minnesota does appear to have potent attack, but their defense has so many holes I would expect we could battle back from a mistake or two in the back.
Hopefully our acquisition of Cronin and Burch will plug a few of those holes for us, but I think you guys win pretty comfortably. 4-2. EDIT: How will the weather be? We don't do torrential downpours, sleet, or blizzards very well.
I would say that, given the type of player Sam Cronin is, that a good strategy would be to have Maxi, Kellyn, and Carlos pressure him into errors in the midfield. We have to exploit the lack of chemistry with his new team and give him a nightmare debut. Burch will be solid, and likely to clear the ball if under pressure, so we have to be ready to jump on the second balls. I'm looking forward to seeing Coleman give him problems. The Loons attack is potent, and poised for another good performance, so it will be a good test for our defensive game.
Surprised on the blizzards part. I think every team should take advantage of any "home field weather/altitude" they can. I was so frustrated (until Pareja got here) that we could never take advantage of the heat. Now we run our enemies into the ground in 100 degree weather. Love it. To answer your question...
Is it possible the sell out is a result of giving away a shit ton of tickets to Dallas cup... because there are huge areas of open seats on the east side.
Several smart moves by Pareja in this one. 1) Starting Javi Javi is an excellent leader. He became the metronome of the team in the opposing half. Hed come over, get the ball from swashbucklers, and make the simple play. That's exactly the kind of thing you need in a game like this after a letdown. By starting Javi, Pareja reestablished identity...a winning, authoritative identity. 2) Salting away the game with ball control rather than hit and hope. FCD is never good at defend-hit-hope football. 3) Starting Jesse Seitz had a bad game at Pachuca. Nothing bad can come from reminding them both that there is competition. 4) Cermeño and Ulloa These guys need minutes and will both play a role this year.
I'm not saying that the team was expecting the ref to blow the final whistle after the second goal, but they were acting as if the game was over and there was a definite drop in urgency after the goal. Tesho's being offside on his goal was ridiculous. Fortunately, Jesse kept the clean sheet and it goes down in the books as a nice neat 2-0 win.
Frankly, I'd be in favor of handing the reigns of the goalkeeping spot to Jesse. Oscar wanted the experience of Seitz for the CCL run, but we can now go with the "high upside" Gonzalez the rest of the way. The club was confident enough in Jesse to leave Seitz unprotected in the last expansion draft, so........................ As far as JaviMo goes, we all thought he was a perfect short-term fill-in for Mauro Diaz. He's turning out to be exactly that.
Agreed on Jesse over Seitz. Even putting aside discussions of upside, I think in most of the ways that matter Jesse's better now.
I disagree. I think that Seitz has a leadership personality and commands the respect of his defensive players. Jesse does not have that. He is not assertive yet, but he needs to be. His focus needs to be on that field with those guys as a unit. The difference between Jesses youth/upside vs. Seitzs experience/leadership may not be enough to justify the change. Maybe this is the time, maybe its not...but i do think that one week of comparison is too short a window to make that change permanent. It is, however, enough to warrant entertaining the idea over a longer trial period.
This is my thinking as well. I think that Seitz does a better job reading the game and leading and organizing the defensive unit in front of him, while Jesse is a better shotstopper. In other words, I wonder how many of those great saves that Jesse made last night would've turned out to be a little less dramatic with Seitz back there. To be honest, neither keeper is dramatically better than the other and neither should feel entitled to the position.
It's strange to feel so unsatisfied after a shutout win. Agree with previous statements on our GK situation - ride the hot hands until they cool off. For the moment, I think that's Jesse. Interesting stat I saw on the TV broadcast the day after I went to the game: FCD has given up 2 goals in MLS this year, both on PKs. Tesho, WTF on that non-goal? He was offside from just about the time the ball crossed the midfield line. He looked so surprised when they called him offside. That's a good way to stay out of the starting lineup.
The team in general had the blah's. This kind of showing last season netted the team some ridiculous losses. Gonzales, Gruezo, Zimmerman, and Hedges all had good games and Minnesota couldnt help but allow us clear chances after Javi's goal.
Missed the game but I like the result. Also, I just realized I hit my big soccer 10yr Anniversary in January.
my only comment: we're now holding a string of breakaways and counters across multiple games where the team, individually or collectively, bungles. This is a nitpick considering the larger results, but I do worry this will come back to bite as without Diaz this is not a "creative" attacking side. So, the rate at which they're consistently failing at their most opportune moments is one area I'd watch.
Seitz has never been the highlight-reel guy. His forte is organizing the defense, positioning himself, and not having to make saves at all. There are very few heart-attack moments with Seitz patrolling the six. Gonzalez is more athletic, but he doesn't do as good a job running overwatch for the defenders. If he can learn that aspect, he's got a higher upside than Seitz. Playing behind Hedges and Zimmerman might actually be hindering Gonzalez's growth as a 'keeper. They're so good at organizing the defense that he doesn't have to do a whole lot back there but stop shots. If I needed to pick a goalkeeper to win right now, it's Seitz. If I'm planning for the future, I'm starting Gonzalez and whispering in his ear that Seitz is better than him. Seitz is 30, which isn't terribly old for a goalkeeper, but it's unlikely that he'll get way better than he is right now. Gonzalez is 21, just a baby by goalkeeping standards. Let's give him plenty of water and light and see how he grows. And also maybe some steak; he's 6'4" and only 185 according to the stat sheet.