America's Football 10.08.07: Dallas Falls and Rises, DC Cannot Continue in the Copa, and More
Posted by Sean Garmer on 10.08.2007
FC Dallas loses in the Open Cup, but is able to clinch a playoff spot. LA gets the surprising victory, and someone gets suspended. All inside.
Hello everyone, heading into the last part of the season, things are starting to clear up for the playoffs at least on the Eastern side. Sorry for not having a column the last three weeks, I had a test to study for and some personal issues I had to attend to, now that I'm focused on starting to do this column earlier in the week, I shouldn't have that problem anymore. Getting back to the matter at hand, the MLS, and how it's growing. Case in point, DC United vs. Chivas in the Copa Nissan Sudamericana (North and South American version of the UEFA Cup) and FC Dallas vs. New England Revolution in the Lamar Hunt U.S.Open Cup, lead the MLS into how they can achieve something bigger. As well as, Dallas vs. Columbus that happened on FSC on Saturday, I'll have a regular MLS wrap-up for you as well as some international topics of interest. So I think all that's left is to get to some very important…
FC Dallas Finally Clinch A Spot
Dallas playing away at Columbus provided a spark for them. The first half though, went the way of Columbus. Playing without their big star in Guillermo Baros Schelloto, Robbie Rogers stepped up delivering some nice crosses, including the one from the right that led to Eddie Gaven's great strike from just outside the box. Alejandro Moreno kept the Dallas defense busy up front as well, with some dangerous shots, including one that looked like it was about to cross the line after hitting the post. However, the young Keeper Ray Burse Jr. somehow with a dive kept it out. Ray Burse single-handedly kept Dallas from conceding possibly three in the first half. As the defense was shaky yet again, especially because Adrian Serioux was put into a holding midfield spot due to Pablo Ricchetti being out, also Carlos Ruiz is serving his one match ban for this one. Not much happened for Dallas in the chance department, but at least Denilson had a rather good half. He began connecting passes with Toja and Alvarez, something he hasn't been doing. Let's see how the 2nd half shapes up.
Bad news for Dallas early on as their premier defender Clarence Goodson strained his right hamstring. Bobby Rhine came in for him, but if Goodson is out for an extended period, this leaves them very scarce in the back. Columbus came out firing, Robbie Rogers pace allowed him to get free on the wings to continue making his crosses. He had a ball right in front of goal, but Rhine is there to block it. Duncan Oughton was another that was active in the midfield, with some shots from long distance that troubled Ray Burse. They also did a great job on keeping Denilson from getting touches in the 2nd half, (even though, Denilson did have a few key defensive stops.) However, Arturo Alvarez and Abe Thompson picked it up for Dallas. Alvarez is dangerous anywhere near the box, and early in the 2nd half he proved just that. Very similar to his goal in the Open Cup earlier this week, running horizontally near the penalty arc, he lets one fly and it nabs the left corner of the goal. It was heartbreaking for Columbus, as they tried so hard to get the go ahead goal but Ray Burse denied them every time. They even added Jacob Thomas and Guillermo Baros in the last ten minutes, and Dallas, who only needed a point to clinch a playoff spot, took some opportunities. Off a counter, Arturo Alvarez took a shot into the box, it was stopped by the Columbus Keeper, but Abe Thompson shows up to push it in the goal. He would add another one in garbage time to put the game away, but the important thing is that Dallas finally showed some gumption. They come out in the 2nd half, with some Goalkeeping from Ray Burse kept them in it, and then the scorers responded. Now, Steve Morrow can relax some, possibly rest players after next week. Columbus's playoff hopes look rather dim, and now, are just going to play out the rest of their games. At least Columbus, Clark Hunt and others can look forward to their new deal with the Glidden paint company. Starting next season, Glidden will sponsor their shirts, of course giving the squad more money. So from the financial side things look to be going well, but the team needs help, as they now have given up a lead in nine games. Something that cannot be done if you are even dreaming of getting in the playoffs.
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final: New England Gets its First Trophy
History in the US Open Cup
New England has never won anything in MLS, but have made it to the finals five consecutive times. FC Dallas is not too far off though. Dallas's only trophy came when they won the Open Cup in 1997 (the 2nd year of MLS's existence). FC Dallas defeated DC United by penalties that year to win the oldest sports competition in US history. In fact, since the MLS came into being in 1996, there's only been one year that it has not been two MLS teams in the final. In 1999, the Rochester Rhinos (from the USL First Division) defeated the Colorado Rapids to win the Cup. So, now that the history has been laid out, only thing left is the game itself.
Line-Ups
New England Revolution
(3-5-2)
GK: Matt Reis
RB: Jay Heaps
CB: Michael Parkhurst
LB: James Riley
MF: Jeff Larentowicz
MF: Andy Dorman
MF: Kano Smith
MF: Steve Ralston
MF: Wells Thompson
ST: Pat Noonan
ST: Taylor Twellman
FC Dallas
(4-3-3)
GK: Dario Sala
RB: Drew Moor
CB: Clarence Goodson
CB: Adrian Serioux
LB: David Wagenfuhr
MF: Dax McCarty
MF: Pablo Ricchetti
MF: Juan Toja
ST: Arturo Alvarez
ST: Carlos Ruiz
ST: Dominic Oduro
First Half Highlights
20th minute, Pat Noonan scores off a defensive error by Wagenfhur not getting back far enough. Then a nice cross into the box, Taylor Twellman taps the ball past Serioux and it skips in the air to Noonan, as he puts into the net past a defeated Sala.
30th minute, Arturo Alvarez runs the ball by himself on the left from the left byline all the way to the edge of the box on the left corner side, and he takes a shot that clangs off the right post and into the goal to tie the game up at 1-1.
41st minute, off a corner into the box, Andy Dorman beats Carlos Ruiz to a header and then Adrian Serioux allows Taylor Twellman to wiz by him to tap the ball into the goal.
First Half Comments: This game has shown two things, that just like in any other sport, defense wins championships. Dallas allowed two goals through defensive errors, and they don't have much of an excuse as for the most part, at least three of the defenders have been together at certain points of the season. Arturo Alvarez again proves he, and Juan Toja are the heartbeat of this team. These two seem to be able to know when they are needed, and step up. Dax McCarty is slowly turning into a nice player in the midfield, he also comes back to play defense which is something you can always use. The crosses haven't connected well with Ruiz, but at least, he seems on his game. The fact is, the team seems a lot more fluid offensively without Denilson. I think if the Brazilian doesn't perform well in these last games of the regular season, he won't be back in MLS next season. New England who are without Shalrie Joseph who received a red card in the semi-finals, has been terrific defensively Michael Parkhurst has kept a clasp on Ruiz. Wells Thompson is surprisingly playing well and getting balls to Twellman and Noonan. However, they aren't scoring goals that you would call elegant. So, it looks like the shootout is on at Pizza Hut Park.
Second Half Highlights
57th minute, New England does it again, off another defensive error. A pass goes a little long for Taylor Twellman. He goes to left side to chase it down and then sends a pass into the box. Pat Noonan with a heel flick to put the ball into the six, Serioux is there, but again, he gets beat to the ball, Wells Thompson shows up and in the net, it goes.
64th minute, Dallas makes the game a little tighter. Adrian Serioux redeems himself, by stealing the ball on the right side near the corner, he moves up and sends a cross in, it's headed into the box, falls down and the new substitute, Abe Thompson (who entered like about a minute before) strikes it through everyone and into the goal.
76th minute, Kenny Cooper makes his return to Dallas after a long absence from his broken leg. He replaces David Wagenfuhr.
Final Comments: After New England's goal, Dallas looked determined and sent everyone on the attack, but by this point New England just held people in the back. Even though the strikers for Dallas were more active, and even Adrian Serioux was beginning to become an offensive threat, the Revolution had it locked down. Aside from Drew Moor, who held Kano Smith in check, and Adrian Serioux, the back was not fortified, Dario Sala to me, ever since that injury seems terribly slow and a shadow of his former self. I really liked what I saw from Ray Burse Jr in the SuperLiga. It's not just the defense that has been letting many of these goals in, Sala's has been an issue as well. The Revs did what they were supposed to do, came out and held at the back, they got a lucky goal that allowed them to just sit back. You have to hand it to them, they've been playing with three at the back almost the entire year, and they still manage to be tight defensively. Fact of the matter is, internal errors from Dallas, mixed with New England being extremely solid on defense (including their terrific Keeper Matt Reis) did in the overly talented Hoops. Taylor Twellman played well, and was the big factor on their last goal, and was in the perfect place for the first one. The team scraped and scratched to win, they put in their opportunities, what else is there to say? If anything, Steve Morrow can take solace in that, Dallas looked so much better without Denilson, it reminded me of Dallas earlier in the season when they made those great comebacks. You have to wonder if Steve Morrow has already made up his mind about his designated player. To be fair, a lot of pressure is being placed on Denilson due to how the other DP's have performed, but still, there's a reason he didn't do well when he had that record signing to Real Betis. The guy plays for himself, and unless everyone knows how to play with him, it will gain them nothing. Congrats to New England for winning their first MLS trophy, and look for them to go far in the MLS playoffs as well, they have a solid team all the way around.
DC Cannot Hold On
The first half was tight Chivas had some chances that they did not convert. The one very clear chance they had was in the 23rd minute, with Ramon Morales sending in a cross from the left into the box to Sergio Santana. He kicks it over the bar, with Troy Perkins beat. Other than a free kick from Christian Gomez in the 9th minute, DC United could not get forward at all. DC are playing without Marc Burch due to receiving a red card in the first contest between the two. The most important person not playing is Fred, he's their guy that gets things moving in the midfield, he gets the ball rolling to the other creators in Christian Gomez, Ben Olsen, and Jamie Moreno. Chivas's Magallon, Masa Rodriguez, and Hector Reynoso laid down the hammer on Luciano Emilio who could hardly breathe without someone around him. Not many chances, with domination by Chivas, but thanks to some internal errors from Chivas (because Chivas had some opportunities to score,) and good defending from a solid back four, DC kept the score at 0-0 for the half.
It was mainly more of the same in the 2nd half until the 63rd minute, when the most active player on the pitch, Ramon Morales puts one in the net. It came off of two defensive errors, one by Clyde Simms and the other by Ben Olsen, the ball lands just outside the box and Ramon smacks it into the high left part of the goal. DC who had been playing for the tie, suddenly now had to go on the offensive, and really it was too late. Chivas dominated the entire game, the back four and Luis Ernesto Michel were stellar, and that's what made the difference. If only DC had tried to put the game away from the beginning, instead of allowing Chivas to just keep coming in waves, maybe the result would be different. Thanks to the away goals rule, Chivas advances 1-0 (2-2 aggregate). DC put up a nice effort in the last ten minutes, but because Chivas limited them offensively, not much they could do. If its any consolation, the DC defensive unit totally blanked the two strikers Omar Bravo and Alberto Medina. So, the old adage still stands, no American club team has defeated a Mexican squad on Mexican soil, in either the Copa Sudamericana or Copa Libertadores. Chivas continue on to face Argentina's Arsenal.
MLS News
With the end of the season nearing, the talk of awards has already begun. MLS has introduced a new award for all the veterans that have flourished in MLS this year. It's called the Newcomer of the year award, and players such as Juan Pablo Angel, Juan Toja, Luciano Emilio, Cuautehmoc Blanco, and even Beckham are up for it. There's no doubt that Emilio is going to win the golden boot, but don't know if he's going to win this award. Both Emilio and Juan Pablo have been the utter meaning of consistent, not to mention, Blanco has done lots for Chicago in his short time there. So I think it's going to come down to the end of the season when the decision is made. I'm not so sure that Emilio is a deadlock to win MVP, because I'm not sold on "just because he scored the most goals he's MVP." Maybe things will clear up towards the end of the season, but don't be surprised if Luciano Emilio wins everything, but the sad thing is, he may leave MLS after the season is over though.
Houston Dynamo's Ricardo Clark has been suspended; for the rest of the season (nine games,) including the playoffs. For a vicious kick to the shoulder of a prone Carlos Ruiz in last Sunday's game against Dallas. Ruiz was down on the ground, and Clark just kicks him full force, just nearly missing his head. He's also been fined 10,000 dollars. Clark also cannot play in any exhibition games with the club, but can play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, if Houston were to win the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup again.
Play this video to see the kick that occurs after a corner, in which Carlos Ruiz does nothing to Clark. If anything it could have been Clarence Goodson that pushed Clark. At any rate, that is inexcusable, totally unnecessary, and Clark deserves what he's getting. In any other leagues he could have been suspended for a year, for something like that. It probably has to do with Clark not having any other misconduct to his credit. The thing that I don't understand, is why is Ruiz ejected from the game? He didn't do anything! I have a feeling it might have been to keep Ruiz from retaliating, due to his bad temper, and reputation. I just hope MLS lifts the red card suspension off of Ruiz, because he's already serving a one match ban for yellow card accumulation. So, in essence, if the red card was for something Ruiz did, it's kinda silly to make him serve a two match ban. In any case, it's sad that this happened, Clark was properly punished, and good on Don Garber for not pulling any punches. The beautiful game should be celebrated for play on the field, not violent actions by players. Let's move on to, more important matters.
MLS Standings Through Week 27
Western Conference
Houston Dynamo- 48 points
Chivas USA- 51 points
FC Dallas-43 points
Colorado Rapids-32 points
Los Angeles Galaxy- 30 points
Real Salt Lake- 24 points
Houston won for the first time in Frisco against their Texas rivals last Sunday, and went three out of four for the season against them with that 3-0 victory. The issue that happened between Ricardo Clark and Carlos Ruiz occurred towards the end of the game, so it wasn't going to change the result. They had a tough contest this week against the Galaxy. Even though the MLS Champs were at home, LA still has faint playoff hopes and happened to pull the upset.
Chivas is the other team that has clinched a playoff spot from the Western side. They played a rough one, against playoff aspiring Chicago last week, and thanks to a penno by Claudio Suarez, they were able to scrape a point from that one. Chivas looked to inch closer to fighting for the Supporter's Shield (the title for having the most points). Against a now eliminated Real Salt Lake. They did just that, winning in a tight one. Galindo and Razov were rested but they really didn't miss a beat without them. Their replacement John Cunliffe bagged two goals in this one. Salt Lake did well with goals from Chris Brown and Robbie Findley. Jason Kreis has this team playing great late in the season, probably has to do with having no pressure. However, some credit has to be given to adding the three Argentineans to the side. Too bad they came in a little late.
After the horrible loss to Houston and the heartbreaker in the US Open Cup, Dallas needed to get something going, to give them confidence going into the playoffs. They've had a horrible month, the team looks awkward at the back, and Denilson seems to be causing more problems than helping. Sure, he's a gamebreaker, with great individual talent, but the time it is going to take him to mesh with the players around him, is longer than Dallas has to be ready for the playoffs. Columbus had to win if they didn't want to be worrying about what Chicago does. Since Chicago won, and Dallas had that convincing win, Columbus are almost done. The sad thing is, Lamar Hunt's family has to be hurting, seeing one of their clubs possibly eliminate the other from playoff contention.
Colorado still have a slim chance to be playoff bound, playing the also eliminated Toronto allowed them to get some confidence back. Thing is, Toronto defeated NY earlier in the week, and wanted to keep up the good play for those fans that continually sell out BMO field. At least this got them out of their losing funk, because it seemed as if, Colorado were going to be done before they even got a chance to be in the race for the eighth spot.
LA has Beckham training again, the side has had a resurgence thanks to players like Kyle Martino and Chris Klein. They got a surprising win with goals from Pavon and Gavin Glinton. Houston Dynamo have already clinched, so Dominic Kinnear is probably thinking about resting some players for the playoffs. This is great for the Galaxy and MLS because the more victories that LA gets, the more it will motivate Beckham to return to the squad. Regardless, it's a great thing for MLS to see the most teams possible fighting for playoff spots.
Eastern Conference
DC United- 54 points
New England Revolution- 49 points
New York Redbulls- 39 points
Kansas City Wizards- 37 points
Chicago Fire- 36 points
Columbus Crew- 31 points
Toronto FC- 24 points
DC got out a blowout 4-1 win against Toronto last week. Then, a tie thanks to Christian Gomez, against KC this week. DC continues to roll through the league they have the best team, with the leading goal scorer, and are probably going to win the Supporter's Shield too. They are off the rest of the week, and now without the Copa Sudamericana to worry about, everyone needs to be careful of DC in the playoffs.
New England have already clinched a playoff spot and are coming off a rough game in the Open Cup. So, letting one slide against a team that is hungry to get a spot in the playoffs, you cannot fault them for that. I mean they just won their first trophy earlier in the week. I'm sure they will be on form for the next game.
The Redbulls are in real trouble at the moment, they lost to the only team left on their schedule they are "supposed to" defeat. The team is missing Jozy Altidore at the moment, but now, they have games left against KC (who's still fighting to secure a playoff spot) and depending on what happens with them, they could be facing a Galaxy squad that could still be hungry to get in the playoffs. So, it would behoove them to find a result against KC, because if not, they will be really flat come playoff time.
Chicago have looked very good as of late, and if they can keep up their hot streak, that included surprising a tired New England squad. Chris Rolfe and Chad Barrett came through in the end, thus allowing Chicago to separate themselves from Columbus in the playoff chase. They run into DC, but this win, gives them some comfort not having to be in a must win situation. Chicago will probably be the eighth team into the playoffs.
The International Realm
Manchester United finally looked like the team of last year, against Wigan on Saturday. They held most of the possession and dominated in every aspect. Gerard Pique started and had a decent game at the back. There is a pressing concern as Vidic and John O'Shea both left with injury during the game. Anderson came in and had himself a nice day with an assist on the goal by Tevez. Even Patrice Evra looked better, than he had recently. Tevez had his best game of the season bagging a goal. He was also very active winning balls and putting pressure on the Wigan defenders. He actually seemed to be comfortable up there. Rooney played behind Tevez, and did well too, the only question I had, was the yellow card Rooney was given for virtually nothing. Ronaldo, no doubt, man of the match he put in the 2nd goal that really took the wind out of the sails of Wigan. He also got another one, not too long after that, but it was play everywhere on the pitch that kept Wigan reeling. Wigan's Melchoit looked awful on the right, but the defense as a whole did a poor job protecting Kirkland. The only bright spot from Wigan was Koumas who had and Valencia (who came on as a substitute) they had the closest chances for Wigan. Ultimately, the victory is not a surprise, but it being 4-0 is probably what will alert a few.
Liverpool had a scary tie against Spurs on Sunday. It took a last minute header from Torres (with a great cross from Finnan) to get the point. Even though Liverpool could have been up by 3, before the half. Robbie Keane rescued Tottenham, but still, this doesn't save Martin Jol from anything as they are still terrible at the back, and hopefully after Steve McClaren saw Scott Carson in person, Paul Robinson won't be the automatic #1 Keeper. You have to wonder though, when exactly Rafa Benitez will come under fire for his rotation system because, Fernando Torres should never be rotated. He scores in almost every game, I mean, that should tell you something.
Well folks, that is all for this week. The playoff picture will probably look a lot clearer the next time we meet, the European people have a week off for Euro Qualifiers, but MLS continues. Until next time, it may be called Soccer here, but it will always be Football in my heart. Ciao everyone.
