13 July 2007

Match Briefing For 12.15: FC Dallas

Match #: 12.15

Opponent:
FC Dallas
29 pts, 21GF, 21GA, +/- 0 GD
2nd place Western Conference, 2nd place MLS

Six Word Novel Preview: Distributed attack - Nine players with goals.

TV: Comcast Sports Net (7:30PM), MLSLive.TV

Radio: WMET 1160AM

Previous Meeting: First meeting this season.

The Stakes: United has three consecutive performances on the road that were not dominating by any stretch of the imagination. Dallas, with 17 games played, is suddenly in a situation where a team has caught them, creating a realistic view of the Western Conference race for the first time all year. This game is all about staying in the horse race for both teams.

Previews from the DCUniverse: QuarterVolley, The Edgell Supporters
Previews from FC Dallastan: Pending

Expectations: With Ruiz struggling, Cooper out, and the league starting to figure out Toja, Odura will have to shoulder much of the load for Dallas, and while I have respect for his ability, I'm not sure there's enough fire power to race with United. Which means that they'll be trying to keep the game as close as possible. If United can break through or score early on a set play, they should earn the win.

What to look for?
  • The return of Jamie Moreno will be tested. He should play in this match, but we may also see some clue if Soehn is planning on running him out as the everyday starter, or if Addlery or Kpene have done enough to make Soehn comfortable with a rotation.
  • Midfield Substitutions. I believe Goff reported the idea that Olsen may move back to center midfield, and Gros would move to left wing. Of course, that plan may be delayed with the stories that Namoff is not matchfit yet. I think Moose as an option for later in the game has to be considered, but I think Dyanchenko may not offer much for spelling Christian Gomez.
  • The Vanney/Boswell experiment has now had a bit of time to congeal: This will be the start of the games where they're expected to be playing at full speed and in sympatico. If the center of the defense can hold, how good are McTavish and Gros (and perhaps Mediate) in getting outside and shutting down flank attacks, forcing poor crosses?

Labels: , ,

posted by D @ 4:30 PM

2 Comments:

At 13 July, 2007 16:51, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The main issue with Oduro, however, is his speed. This year, our defense has shown an inability to deal with speed regardless of overall quality (Johnson, Galindo, Findlay). Granted, all those games were in the Erpen Era, but I don't know how much Vanney improves that weakness.

 
At 13 July, 2007 16:55, Blogger D said...

Well, we faced Johnson with the 3 man backline in the rain and had troubles with our footing. Galindo was coming in from the flank a lot in the Chivas game, not right down the middle. Findlay is a troubling parallel, but part of me has blacked out the RSL game.

 

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