Are we seeing what FC Dallas could have been in 2012?
Dallas of last year looks a lot like Colorado of this year – too many of the important pieces are on the injury shelf to make any real assessments of what the talent the coaching could do under better circumstances.
This is more or less the same team; manager Schellas Hyndman and the organization’s somewhat curious “competition committee” didn’t overhaul last year’s group despite a failure to make the playoffs. (That remains something still statistically harder to do than not to do; that is, 10 of 19 teams qualify for the post-season.)
Dallas’ lastest win, 2-0 at home Saturday over Vancouver, has Dallas running away with the Western Conference leadership. It’s a long season, clearly, but the eight-point margin after just eight weeks is impressive. (The MLS standings are here.)
So did Hyndman and his crew from North Texas nail the formula this year? The team is wearing its new 4-2-3-1 so well, with plenty of cover behind creator David Ferreira.
Or did they have it right a year ago, only to get undone by a litany of injuries to its most important parts. The struggles with health and fitness stripped playmakers Ferreira and Ricardo Villar, striker Blas Perez, winger Brek Shea and center backs George John and Ugo Ihemelu. That set of six important men combined to miss an average of 18 starts.
John says the chemistry is better in 2013, and others around the FCD locker room have agreed. (By the way, the team still has room to grow; communication with goalkeeper Raul Fernandez still needs to improve as he learns more English and defenders work to gain a better hold on Spanish.)
Whatever the reason for big stuff in 2013, Hyndman just passed an important milepost.
Hyndman, closing in on his fifth anniversary in charge around FC Dallas Stadium, has accumulated 219 points was head coach. The weekend win over Vancouver pushed Hyndman past Dave Dir, the club’s original coach, in terms of points earned.
