Sunday, July 27, 2014

Dallas at Vancouver - random notes

The cliche is about a glass and whether it is half full or half empty. Well, as everyone knows, the answer is both - it is just from a certain point of view.

Dallas tied Vancouver today, 2-2. Let's touch on a few points, shall we?

Half full

Vancouver didn't gain ground on Dallas
Dallas came back from being down 1-0 to be up, 2-1
Dallas got a road point
Dallas did so without JeVaughn Watson, Fabian Castillo and Andres Escobar
Blas Perez showed some real veteran savvy with his goal (if he keeps it - there was some thought that Loyd might have scored originally, but that doesn't change his cool control and placement)
The lead-in to that goal was quality all around - from Hernandez to Michel to Loyd to Perez
Michel to take penalties has to build confidence
Raul Fernandez made some massive saves
No card issues

Half empty

Hedges' status?
Escobar's status?
Dallas gave up a lead
Dallas was not really able to hold the ball much, especially in the second half
There were long stretches where the team looked vulnerable in the middle of the field

Overall

Not ideal because they had the lead at half, but both penalties were more mistakes by the defense rather than pressure from the attack, so in a way, fair is fair?

This team is so beat up, injury wise, that any injury is a concern until proven otherwise, and for a player like Hedges, that is scary. On the other hand, this team has gone a number of games now without a red card, and frustrating as it might be to have to mention that as a positive, it is in fact a clear positive.

At the end of the day, in this stretch of games, if FC Dallas wins at home most of the time and doesn't lose to the teams it is fighting with for playoff positioning (Vancouver, Colorado, Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles), then it has to be considered progress. So today is progress.

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