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February 18, 2010
FCD FLIES TO FLORIDA
For training, MLS tournament
By Phil Stephens
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Assistant coach John Ellinger, left, and FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman will be watching the team closely in training and games in Florida. FCD will face two or three MLS teams in the Sunshine State.
Photo by Michael Stephens |
Dallas isn’t heading to the Sunshine State just for warmer temperatures, though that is a nice fringe benefit. After practice, FCD headed to Orlando, part of Hyndman’s plan for his team to face tougher competition. That is not to spite SMU, which FCD beat 4-0 Tuesday morning at adidas field in Pizza Hut Park. The Mustangs have always given the Red Stripes spirited competition. But one of the changes Schellas Hyndman wanted in this year’s preseason buildup to the season was more competition against other MLS teams.
“We wanted to be able to reproduce what we were doing at the end of the year—on the field and chemistry within our team,” Hyndman said.
The Dallas mentor doesn’t think the team could start to reach that level playing against mostly college teams, but needs the kind of competition they will be facing all season. Hyndman has balanced the trimming of players with the retention of others. Early this week, the club let several trialists go, including; Brian Shriver, Yu Dubao and Ousianou Sarr. A few days earlier, defender Azziz Ansah, who was signed by FC Dallas few weeks ago, was let go, primarily because of the quality of first draft pick Zach Loyd. Loyd may be very close to MLS quality right away.
A number of other trialists and rookies remain, including several SMU alum such as Duke Hashimoto, Misho Fahim and Dane Saintus, who was drafted by Dallas. Besides Saintus, Dallas rookie draftees include Loyd (Hyndman is very high on Loyd), Eric Alexander (called a pleasant surprise by Hyndman), Jason Yeisley and Andrew Weideman (another good player, according to Hyndman).
The trialists also include a goalie out of George Mason, Sean Kelley (a player with a bright side, according to Hyndman), Eddie Edwards (Graceland) and Bryan Leyva, a Dallas academy player signed a few months ago---a central midfielder who has really impressed the coach.
“I don’t think we’ll release any more just yet,” Hyndman said. “We’ll take them all to Florida and see them play there.” The Dallas coach said the team could yet add more international players, including a striker or midfielder/defender. FCD’s defense, that came together late last season, is worth keeping intact because it worked so well the last few weeks of the season.
For starters, Dallas will play two more colleges, Central Florida on Feb. 19th and Florida International the 21st. Then the Red Stripes step up to compete in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, facing Toronto FC (Feb.25) and either the Houston Dynamo or New York Red Bulls (Feb. 27). One more MLS team, New England, might be added in Florida, though that has yet to be finalized.
There will be more pre-season games against MLS teams, including a second trip to Florida in lieu of a foreign trip to Europe or a return to Brazil as they have done for several years. On March 7, Dallas will play the Chicago Fire in Ridgemont, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. Then FCD will be heading to the Tampa area to take on the Philadelphia Union of MLS and the re-born Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL/NASL.
Several factors played into the teams’ decision not to make an international trip, as coach Hyndman related on the FCD website. The cost and the current MLS labor situations were factors in the decision.
“We had prepared an international trip but because of the CBA, not being able to get tickets and all those things, we have kind of put that on hold for next year. What we’d like to do is we’ll go back to Florida. I think it’s the 10th of March and we’ll go to Tampa and play Philadelphia. We’ll also play the Tampa Bay Rowdies. So, we’ll get a couple of games down there.”
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