FCD finds itself in a funk at the moment. Not the type of funk gracing your ears as you drunkenly stumble around your cousin’s wedding reception (we’ve all got vices). It’s the type of mental funk that a team enters after giving up leads after 45 minutes for two consecutive games. The boys in red are in serious need of a rebound, and the match tonight versus DCU at RFK presents the chance for a GDW, in what hopes to be a VSM on NBCSN…I’m so sorry.
DC has yet to win this season. They’ve been held to one goal over three matches, claiming a draw and two losses total. They’ll at least be hungry, if nothing else. That first win of the season is critical for any team or manager, but especially to Ben Olsen in his second season as the gaffer at United. The capital side have stuttered offensively all season (this is what you get when you sign Maicon Santos), again producing only 1 goal in three games, and additionally not mustering a single shot in the first half against Vancouver last week. Needless to say they start a bit slow, but fail to really produce any offensive threat even as the game goes on. Dallas certainly can’t underestimate 2011 MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario, who has yet to register anything on the score sheet in 2012. Much of Dallas’ defensive focus will certainly be placed upon the Canadian. You might think that would free up any of DCU’s other attacking options, but I think that will be a risk Dallas is willing to take, given that those attacking options, albeit with less prestige, have faltered just the same as De Rosario this season.
Dallas enters the match off two consecutive lost leads to Portland and Sporting KC. As I’d written in the review of the KC match, getting up a goal or two isn’t a problem for Dallas: it’s keeping the lead that is the problem. Defensively speaking things should be back to normal, as Carlos Rodriguez’s return from the Panamanian U-23 team will mean that Jair Benitez can hold his natural spot at left back. Benitez’s defensive partner, Ugo Ihemelu, also needs to rebound as much as FCD does on the whole; his performance against SKC was certainly his worst of the year.
Throughout the middle expect much of the same from Dallas. Ricardo Villar nearly left the SKC match in a body bag after a flying shoulder from SKC’s midfield leveled him towards the end of the first half. He didn’t play the last 45 minutes of that match for Dallas, but according to interviews yesterday Coach Schellas Hyndman is confident Ricardo will be all in for tonight’s match. Brek Shea will be a welcome return on the left flank for FCD. Given the debacle of the US U-23 Olympic qualification effort it’ll be a positive step forward to get him on the pitch and running at defenders one on one again. Blas Perez will hopefully be amongst the goals tonight, as he failed to tally anything, and was relatively silent most of the match, against Sporting Kansas City.
Flank play will cause problems for DC United. If the chalkboards and stat sheets do mean anything the middle of the pitch will be very crowded with a narrowly-built DC midfield versus FCD’s midfield trio. Brek Shea and Rodriguez could find themselves with space to run and time on the ball if this proves to be true, and the same could be said for Zack Loyd and Jair Benitez. Flank play tends to be a strength for Dallas, so the quick switching of the ball from side to side will keep play from getting bogged down in the middle and allow Dallas’ wider options to push high against a struggling DC backline. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Dallas go for the 4-4-2 this match if Villar is out. You’d probably see George John along the back line, Pertuz pushed out on the left, and Benitez sent up to left midfield with Brek Shea taking a striking role. That’s a guess if anything, but certainly an option for FCD in order to get all of its best players on the pitch.
It’s time for Dallas to regain some much needed confidence. A 2-0 result in Dallas’ favor would be fair. Albeit netting two or more would be nice for the Hoops, it’s the shutout that would matter the most. Hyndman and company need proof that they can gain a lead, sustain it, and keep the opposition entirely at bay this time around.
(image courtesy of fcdallas.com)
