Game: FC Dallas vs Houston Dynamo Date: Saturday, September 12th Time: 7:30 pm [Local] | 00:30 [Universal] Location: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas, United States of America Weather Forecast: Mostly Sunny; H 86, L 67 Competition: Major League Soccer Live TV: KTXA-21 [DFW] | KCPN-4.2 [Amarillo] | KMYL-22.2 [Lubbock] | KTPN-48 [Tyler] | KTBU-55 [Houston] | ESPN+ [USA] | DAZN [Canada] Radio: FCDallas.com/radio [English] | 1270 AM [Spanish]
Four things: 1. Andrés Ricaurte is a beast. Not just the goal, but the way that he's basically taken ownership of the central midfield after 135 minutes with the team. 2. Brian Reynolds ain't no joke. He and Mikey were bossing the right side all night and if he keeps progressing the way he has, he'll be off to Europe in his own multimillion dollar move pretty soon. 3. Speaking of Mikey, he and Thiago Santos put on a shithousery clinic in second-half stoppage time. They got killed about two minutes of stoppage time in that corner and got three Dynamo players booked. 4. Anyone who doesn't see that Franco Jara is an improvement over what FCD has been running out there at his position for the past few years is out of their minds. Not only did he get the goal, but unlike some players that FCD has had at the #9 position, he was actually around the goal when he needed to be.
I can only pray the general fanbase recognizes what specifically Ricaute is bringing to this team. yes, it is a whole bunch of what Pax should be doing, but that plus a smidge more (which is a product of him being older/more experienced). If Acosta can come into that 3rd CM spot (Tessman was ok) and do what he was doing in spurts for the two game prior to getting hurt, this thing will look even better. that was a great performance last night and one to give people hope this isn't headed in the wrong direction. And to Dustin's point: there needs to be an acknowledgement that the Hunts went and did, in fact, get a better #9 (how good is still TBD) and jumped at improving their roster by getting a new #10 - even with the HG's backed up in that role already. That is a significant change in attitude, at least in this moment, and I like it.
That’s interesting that El Jefe and Hitman both think Jara is an upgrade at forward as I was going to ask just that with many upset the Kobra is gone and that he was done wrong by the Hunts. I have no idea if he was done wrong or if several things came together at once. I do know that I ended up liking him because if his personality, hustle and finally goals at the end of the season. But to be honest can any of us say with conviction he’d keep doing that? I think Jara May have a similar problem in both are very slow. I do think Jara May end up being better at tricks near goal. The FO has quietly upgraded the foreign contingent in a way a lot of us asked for. No HG at a spot then sign a good to great player until a HG comes along. Was upset that they signed Ricaurte as I thought he’d block Pax but they obviously knew he was hurt again so tip if the hat for bringing in an older version who Pax can learn from while healing. Jara should be the #9 we’ve wanted since Blas left (just wish he had a bit more speed) and Santos is very good as a straight no nonsense #6 that can run the midfield and teach Servania, Tessman and Cerrillo how it’s done until they’re ready. They let a Cannon move while having a HG replacement ready. Next year they will heed a CB to replace Ziegler. Only B Acosta has been a disappointment and that’s one spot kids may be ready unless he actually can step up and be better than the rest.
I agree with Pegasus for sure. The dominoes either coincidentally fell perfectly, or the FO puppet mastered this s&^t out of this thing. The timing, in an unpredictable era, is wild. Left and right wind probably need to be the next thing swirling in the crystal ball. Barrios is no spring chicken, I'll hate to see it happen, but time is going to catch him eventually. Mosqeura is not the answer and is too expensive of a can to keep kicking down the road. I've liked Pepi out there, but is he best as an outside mid or a pure striker? Time will tell I guess. Same for Sealy, who's still a stick being whittled. Maybe when Pax comes back next year we can keep Ricaurte and have Pax play like a roaming/free outside mid. Somewhat akin to Dempsey in the very early time at Fullham. Or, this just turns into the next spot we have to go hunting outside for. I think we have a good pipeline of CB talent coming through NTSC and the academy. Brec Evans seems like the next man up and appears to really have the eye of the FO and coaches (he's being loaned out for a reason, he needs to see better competition). I'm personally rooting really hard for Justin Che. My son played for his father and they are a great family. Not much to add to the game itself that hasn't been said. Ricaurte was a boss. Hedges being back really helped. Good to see Ho-head bounce back and wipe that Minn. game from his memory. Tessman/Santos looked better than Servania/Santons. (Ricaurte being with them makes it a bit of apples to oranges though) Jara is getting more and more connected. I think time is his asset, he needs to keep learning tendencies of his teammates. Reynolds put up another stellar game. Hard to think this talent was completely blocked by Reggie and Ho-head if this keeps up.
We give the FO a lot of shit but for finally finding what we've been asking for in Ricaute (and to a lesser extent [so far], Jara)...