FC Dallas’ Setup:
Dallas set up in a 4-5-1 with newly acquired Maicon Santos up top. Santos was up against Gonzalez most of the night and just could not get by him in 1 on 1 situations. Vilar and Guarda patrolled the middle behind Santos and in front of Hernandez, who played the holding midfield spot. Hernandez played an excellent match, showing a lot of aggression and won numerous balls for FCD. Chavez played wide left and scored a wonder goal early to give FCD their only lead. His speed was troubling to LA all evening. Shea played wide left and cut inside frequently as usual but did not see enough of the ball to be very effective. He was effective when he did get the ball however, and played in some dangerous crosses. FCD’s back four remain unchanged from their previous game.
LA’s Setup:
LA set up in a 4-4-2 but did not start Angel and instead played Mike Magee up top alongside Cristman. This shows that coach Bruce Arena is losing faith in Angel, and one wonders if LA should have worked harder to keep Eddson Buddle. Donovan played on the left, Franklin moved up a spot to right mid from his usual right back, and Beckham wandered around the pitch as usual but particularly looked to get to the right wing when LA had possession so he could swing in balls into the box. Juninho played in the hole in front of Gonzalez and Berhalter. De La Garza was moved out to right back and Dunivant played left back.
LA Dominates despite going behind early:
Chavez had a strike in the 9th minute for FCD that gave them a 1-0 lead. After the goal FCD became much too passive, and let LA dominate possession. A big part of LA’s strategy was to advance the ball up the field before letting Beckham cross balls into the box, along with letting Donovan build up a head of steam running through the midfield to try and set up his teammates. This worked throughout the game as Beckham played in an inordinate number of balls that FCD dealt with fairly well. However, it was the set pieces that LA earned that gave them the upper hand in the match. LA did a good job of drawing fouls in dangerous areas to set up these Beckham’s trademark set pieces. In fact, all three LA goals were off of Beckham set pieces, with one being a corner.
The first LA goal was due to a total miscommunication between Hartman and John that ended with the two colliding and Gonzalez heading in the loose ball to tie the game. The second came off another Beckham set piece. The ball was deflected out to the top of the box to an unmarked Juninho who one-timed one past Hartman to make the score 2-1 in favor of LA. The third and final goal came off of a Beckham corner that was headed in by Mike Magee, who broke free from his man, Vilar.
FCD started to get some offense going in the second half by getting the ball to Santos in dangerous positions but he was unable to shake Gonzalez, and often he was alone up top ahead of his teammates and had no one to play the ball back to. Vilar and Guarda did not come back deep enough for the ball which led to too many balls being blasted long by the Dallas back four that did not trouble LA at all. They were also ineffective in getting Shea the ball where he could create some offense. It was clear he got frustrated with his lack of impact on the match.
Conclusion:
FCD, in my opinion, would be better off playing Chavez at striker over Santos and moving Jackson back into the team on the right once he is eligible again. It will give them more speed and Chavez has been finishing well the past few weeks. Shea needs to find the ball more, and whether it was his teammates not looking for him enough or him just not getting himself open, he needed to create more offense than he did for FCD to win Saturday night.
LA coach Bruce Arena clearly has not been impressed with the form of Angel, and started winger Mike Magee up top in his place. As we have said before on this blog, LA will not be able to win the title until they find a consistent threat at striker.
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All in all it was a pretty physical game, which the calls favored LA. With a player like Beckham it was just poor decisions that killed FCD. You cannot allow that many free crosses from Beckham, he will eventually burn you.
ReplyDeleteGoal 1 - FCD, nice back play from Santos to get an assist on his first game with FCD. This goal has goal of the week potential.
G2 - LA, this is just stuff that happens. To me it looked like John had it but Hartman had yelled for it and was coming off his line. John hits the deck to allow KH some room. KH either misjudged the ball or was unable to make a solid clearance due to jumping over John. Mistakes happen, you have to be able to recover from them.
G3 - LA, this goal was just an amazing placement shot on a rebound. These happen all the time and are very difficult to defend against. No one marking does leave it open, but look around and you rarely see anyone from the defense waiting around up top for the scramble. Usually defenders are quick enough out the box to get a deflection or force a back pass. FCD back line has got to be worn out right now. The LA game is the 12th in a 6 week stretch.
G4 - LA, Imo this goal should never have happened. The linesman was right on top of the play and he flagged a hand ball when the FCD player was hacked down. Just a poor call that led to a brilliant cross, as usual, from David Beckham.
FCD gets the week off, finally (other than Shea and Loyd, who are on USMNT duty), and I expect them to get a solid weeks workout with their new additions. Philly is a tough place to play in, I think they have lost once at home all season. I still expect FCD to snatch all 3 points next week, with the same starting line up we saw vs. LA.
Just stumbled across this site. Looks interesting. I look forward to reading it in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt's always cool to find another tactics site, keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI did notice a couple of mistakes, however. Alexander didn't start. Hernandez did. Also, Dallas' formation seemed to me to be more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-5-1. Villar played in front of Guarda/Hernandez.