WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

Not a bad 0-0 draw last night in Frisco at the Pizza Hut Park for the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas. Definitely both clubs are in preseason mode but I was able to get some things out of the match.

LA:

• I will say this, like him or hate him Landon Donovan is something else when he has the ball on his feet. He didn’t wow me much last night but the few times he touched the ball he did either put it on goal or make a pass that could have broken someone free to score. You could tell he wasn’t all into the game though as he didn’t seem to try to get the ball nearly as much as I have seen him do so before in the past. Still you are able to appreciate his skill when you do see it.
• Aside from David Beckham (who I will get to in a second), Donovan, Carlos Ruiz and then to a lesser extent Chris Klein and Abel Xavier this club has way too many unknowns or waste of space out there to really do damage in the MLS this season. Hopefully for the Galaxy someone does step up and become a diamond in the rough for them within their own club but from last night I saw no such thing.
• This club needs Carlos Ruiz to score and score badly. He didn’t play tonight and aside from the few times that Donovan put the ball on goal this club really stunk up the place in terms of shooting. Alan Gordan is not a top flight striker in this league, he had at least three chance that he could have put away but either missed kicked or over ran the ball. Point being if Ruiz and Donovan are out for any reason this club will struggle to score.
• The Galaxy defense wasn’t too terrible but they weren’t too great either. Xavier can still cover some space but some other guys (who’s names are escaping me) did show up when needed.
• Aside from Beckham, this club has no wing play in their midfield. That can’t last long in this league if you ask me. Even with the amount of possession in midfield last night it was all mostly jumbled in the middle and not on the wings.
• This team has no depth, the subs that were made last night had no impact on the game what so ever. They won’t scare anyone with what they have on their bench.
• Honestly, I have trouble seeing this club win 8 games this season. They have the star power and a lot of nothing.

David Beckham:

• The girls and kids went nuts over this guy, the average fan took just as many pictures and the actual soccer people booed this guy. In all it was entertaining to see.
• I think we saw tonight just how much Beckham didn’t play in the league last year. The refs were terrible to an extent and Beckham complained his way into a yellow card late in the game. Made for some fun drama. Best part was Dallas keeper Dario Sala telling him to ‘cool it’ after getting carded. I have a feeling he told Beckham that the refs suck in this league and he just will have to learn it.
• You can’t help up appreciate just how good this guy is on the ball though. There is a reason why they titled a movie after him. His service to other players are just so amazing to watch, hell even the Dallas defense was watching some tonight.
• Even with the yellow, he played the full 90 and was pretty much a class act in the Big D.

FC Dallas:

• I know a few players were missing or were coming back from some national team camps but this definitely was not the best 11 out there for the starters. No Toja, no Davino, no Alex Yi (just kidding) but still, it seemed at times that something was just missing. I think that was Toja.
• The new guy, Andre Rocha was…alright. I think I may have had higher expectations but at times he was a little shaky and really didn’t have much of a ‘wow factor’ that I thought he would. Plus he gave away the ball a little too much for my liking in the midfield. I think he may need a game or two to get fully used to the MLS here.
• The Dallas defense was shaky for the most part, at least early on in the game. I think there was at least six corner kicks in the first half, if not more because I lost count. But when needed they did come up huge and so did…
• …Dario Sala. The man between the pipes was definitely the player on the match in my book. No doubt about it. He made some amazing stops last night and really proved to me that he isn’t ready to give up the starting role just yet this season. Thing is though, if LA had someone who could have finished a couple of those chances last night he wouldn’t have been able to stop him. But overall there was some stops that I just didn’t think he would get.
• Richardinho is a crafty little bugger. I loved how he took on the defense and really was good about drawing fouls near the box. I think that will come in mighty handy when Dax McCarty and Arturo Alvarez (yes I know he played last night but I am proving a point here) are back full time from their Olympic duties. Still the Brazilian was quick and made some good attempts on goal.
• Speaking of Alvarez, once he came on he really showed why he belongs in the starting lineup this season. Dallas had a number of chances when he was on the pitch and really came close to pulling away with the game because of him.
• Kenny Cooper had a couple of decent chance but never made the most of them. That cannot continue for Dallas this season. As I said in the season preview for the Hoops, Cooper must score 12 to 16 for the Hoops to be a playoff team.

The Refs:

• The center ref was pretty bad. I would say terrible but I don’t know if I need to be that harsh on a preseason game. He did have some calls that were right but he let a few things get away while calling petty fouls. Also there was a certain hand ball on Beckham that he ignored that very well could have lead to the game’s only goal.
• I think at one point the center ref was looking for a PK and was thankfully (for Dallas fans at least) was bailed out by his assistant calling for offsides on a Galaxy player in the box. It was a weird play that I don’t really recall all of it but I do remember the center ref looking around like an idiot trying to figure out if he should stick with his assistant and call offsides or piss the crowd off and call a PK.
• And honestly, he should have called the PK on that play.

The crowd:

• Not bad but at least where I sat (which I normally don’t sit on that side of the stadium) people had trouble staying in their seats during the game. Lots of people moving around and walking up and down the sections like it was a social event. I must say after seeing plenty of games on the other side of the field (like section 104 and that area) that those people watch the game and the other side just seem to be there for the entire thing. Not that there is anything wrong with that but it is annoying to have to keep looking around people to see the field.
• Not a packed house but thankfully not an empty house. I wouldn’t be shocked to see them list the game as a sellout though.
• Lots of Beckham jerseys. Though I think it should be a rule that if you wear a players jersey you can’t boo him during the game unless he really pisses you off.

That was my two cents on the match. Both teams look average really right now. I would rate Dallas above the Galaxy in terms of decent looks at the net. Both teams have lots of work to do, mainly on defense but LA needs work on their scoring. I think one club is probably a playoff team and the other isn’t after last night. I will let you all guess who is and is not.

Two more weeks until the start of the season and these games counting for something.

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