[retired_mallory08]

Dallas starts season with new exciting attacking style...

Dallas kicked off the 2005 season with two home games versus Eastern opponents DC United and Columbus. In acknowlegment of the exciting young players now at his disposal, manager Stu unveiled a new fluid attacking tactic on the MLS. A tactic that would be sure to show off his side's attacking flair...

(1)The DC debacle

Dallas kicked off the season amongst much pomp and ceremony at the Cotton Bowl playing host to Omer's United. Several new players made their debuts for the home side including new keeper Zack Thornton, DC Craig Waibel (filling in for the injured Jolley), attacking midfielder Felix Brillant, (occupying the leftside channel), and Taylor Twellman, (partnering the precocious EJ upfront).

Dallas seemed to have the upper hand in the beginning stages of the game, until it all fell apart...Craig Waibel was having a bit of a 'mare, being asked to shadow a far more fleeter of foot attacker than he could possibly handle. Wrongfooted, he hopelessly flailed at the maurading United player in the box, rewarding the visitors with an unearned penalty. The penalty was duly dispatched by Dinjar and the visitors found themselves up 1-0 at the twenty five minute mark.

Unpreturbed, Stu kept steady with his exciting new tactics, knowing it was only a matter of time until his tactical masterstrokes reaped their rewards. But, by the half it was clear youngster Stone was having trouble coming to grips with his on-field role and so the Kiwi Oughton was brought on to make his Dallas debut.

The game dragged on, with Dallas making little headway braeaking down the United defence and DC having the (slight) upperhand in chances. At the 64 minute mark Stu rang the changes, handing Eddie Gaven his Dallas debut, (for Pareja), and Corey Ashe made his first appearance in front of the home crowd, (for the tired OBrein). Surely the young guns could conjure something up...

The young guns surely could as DC United youngster White broke the offside trap at the 89 minute mark to run half the pitch unmolested before slotting the ball past the despairing Thornton. 2-0 final, DC.

The torment was not over for Dallas, as after the game Stu was informed that EJ would miss the next two weeks with a groin strain...


The Columbus Goalfest

Next up for Dallas was the stout defending Columbus side. Luckily, (for Dallas), the Columbus manager was absent from the match, seeking treatment for his Easter chocolate addictions...

In reward for his fine performance as a substitute against DC, Oughton found himself starting in Stone's place. Recent callback Brad Davis made his first start, (for Brillant), Mike Magee was handed his debut, (slotting in for Pareja), and Joe Max Moore got his first action for Dallas, covering for the injured EJ.

The first half droned by quickly, with only an injury to a Columbus player breaking the tedium. At the half OBrein was taken off due to picking up a knock; allowing Gaven to make his 2nd substitute appearance. At the 55 min mark Magee ended his dour debut, coming off injured. On came Pareja, and the beginning of the Dallas onslaught.

Shots rained down on MOM Busch, but the Columbus keeper kept them all out, even the astute subbing of Ashe in for JM Moore (79 min), had no effect on the keeper. Gaven was turned away twice on the line with Busch beaten in the last 5 minutes, but Dallas ended the game as they had begun, 0-0.

After two home games Dallas find themselves with no goals and no wins. A sorry start to the season indeed. The only redeeming factors have been back to back strong performances from AllStars Robinson and Thornton.

Stu defended his tactical nous...

"The goals will come, the goals will come, the goals will come,"

Stu repeated over and over, eventually ending with the screaming query,

"EJ! Why have you forsaken me?"

Stu then collapsed into the fetal position, shaking uncontrollably, on the press conference floor...

[retired_mallory08]

One Dimentional

In Zack Kingsley 25 FRC
Julian Edgar Chacon DMLRC 22 Guatemalan International (not a Ti since he has an American passport :wink: )
Michael Mack SC, our first pick in the draft looks like a useful target man
Chris Hall Gk, picked to add depth since we lost Pickens to the Metro's

North American Champions Cup

Fire 1-0 W. Connection
Guevara was the differnce as he scored a belter of a freekick after 21 minutes.

W. Connection 0-1 Fire
Guevara, again, scored following in a rebound from an Ante Razov blast that the keeper spilled.

The next round has us drawn against Pumas the perrienial tournament Champions.

Fire announce a trade:

To Dallas Zack Thornton
To the Fire Jeff Cassar and thier 1st round pick in the MLS Superdraft.

This trade was dictated by money, we weren't going to able to keep Big Zack next season since his contract is coming to an end and we are too close to the salary cap to offer him the money he deserves. DJ will be the number 1 for the approaching season.

Pumas 5-1 Fire
This was a case of being played off the park by a superior team, Hugo Sanchez Jr. looks the business.

Fire 1-0 Pumas
We crash out of the tournament, as expected. 2-5 on aggregate.

The season started with us visiting Los Angeles in a repeat of last season's title game. Cobi Jones scored after 32 minutes, he headed home after we failed to properly clear a corner the forthcoming cross found his head at the far post. The points looked like they were going to the home side, as we were unable to take any of our chances. However, in the 90th mintue Ralph was played in by the much maligned Gakhokidze and he slotted it into the far post. 1-1 a fair result.

We welcomed Al Clark's SJ squad for the home opener. This really was a dreadful game neither side was able to string any quality passing movements together. SJ's opportunities came from free kicks both well off target, but Perez was lucky to stay on the pitch after he was the last man on the second occasion escaping with a yellow card. Our best chance belonged to Justin Mapp he stepped up, ahead of Guevara and Razov, to take the pk just after halftime; he missed. The match ended goalless.

San Jose did injure Norweigan International Brede Paulsen Hangeland for 2 weeks as he picked up a calf strain.

"I'm not pleased by this at all, next time they better watch young Adu carefully because he'll be lucky to end up with a broken jaw!!! And if the boys feeling like giving any other SJ player a bit of kickin' that's fine in all."

[retired_mallory08]

A season of the unknown

After last seasons disappointment of missing the playoffs Kansas Citys offseason hope was to look more towards the future with the departures of Diego Walsh, Igor Simutenkov and the retirement of Pretki a sign of the future was needed.

In retaliation to that I traded away to get Thiago Martians and Brandon Prideaux.

The draft the first round we needed a keeper and with the second pick in the draft we chose Alex Gray. A promising Goal keeper with a good work rate. The second pick we got Mike Burke a promising defender with 2 under 21 caps. We went Defense again with our next pick and picked David Edwards. I picked Chris Longnecker (just for the name really) and a determined player named Kevin Crawford for my last one.

Our Biggest and only free market signing was South African Manqoba Ngwenya. Who instantly becomes our highest valued player at 1.85 million?

Our first game was a disappointing affair as we faced the metrostars and were defeated by 2 goals it included a red card given to Tony Meola. We than faced off against New England in our second game to my surprise we came out early and got a goal thanks to Josh Wolff. We would finish things off with a goal from none other than our last round draft pick Kevin Crawford. In his first game Alex Gray go a clean slate.

Next up was a home game against FC Dallas we came out early and we came out strong with Giovanni Savarese and Josh Wolff getting early goals then Manqoba was able to light it up and get his first ever as a Wizard. Alex Gray would let in his first ever goal.

Colorado was a boring 0-0 draw Alex gets his second clean slate in 3 starts. We lost 1-3 to DC united showing the lack of pure talent on the team. We had another draw with L.A. Right now I am tied for the lead in the West I believe that shows the weakness. Right now I think the best thing about our team has been the emergency of a steady goal keeper but if I can’t find good talent to help the attack I cannot see this team doing to much. I only have confidence in one or two players on the team.

[retired_mallory08]

GETTING ALONG

After winning the first 2 games of the season. The Metros slow down a bit, they lost 5-0 to DC at home with a wrong player wearing the captain badge in the second half.

They then won NE with a socre of 2-0, Peguero and Glen scored for the Metros.

They then went all the way to the west coast for a game against SJ, they tied at the half, SJ got on top at the 63-minute mark, Peguero tied the game at the dying seconds with a stunning long range shot.

They hosted Chicago for the final game of the session. Henry Ring did a very poor job during the first half, he conceded 3 goals on 4 shot on target. He then came back with a strong second half, but the Metros lost 3-0.

The Metros have a 1-1-2 record during the past 4 games. They are currently standing at the 3rd place in the East with 10 points.

[retired_mallory08]

Not A Happy Chappie

SJ boss Al had this to say after another frustrating session, "well, we're clearly not firing on all cyclinders. 4 goals in 6 games is unacceptable, and we have SGR's 'trick against FC Dallas to thank for 75% of those. On the plus side, the Defence has been air tight - we've conceded just three goals so far and are one of only three teams with positive GD. Still, it's not even nearly enough and if it wasn't for fan favourite Joe Cannon playing sensationally, well, then we'd be rock bottom."

The recent run of results saw another 0-0 tie with LA (under the guidance of the AssMan), a narrow 1-0 defeat to Columbus, a 3-0 win over Dallas, a 1-1 tie with the Metros (including an agonizing last minute wonder goal to deny us the win and a much needed 3pts) and a 1-0 loss to Colorado.

"Only thing I can say is we've had four of our games on the road, but, we've really not managed to get going against some of the weaker teams in the league. Heaven knows what will happen when we go to DC. If we don't pull our fingers out of our collective asses we'll be in trouble."

"Some of the new players haven't settled yet, Fabian Estoyanoff is suffering a little, confidence wise, due to being a little homesick. Pablo Mastroeni, well, he seems to have his mind elsewhere, perhaps this is a result of being placed on the list over the summer but he should realise he's back in our plans. Everyone else is playing ok. I'd like more goals from SGR, for sure, but 4 in 6 games is as good as anyone in the league....it's just down by his standards."

"On the positive side, SGR has agreed to extend his contract past this season and thus not force us to sell/trade him. He's being reasonable, and has dropped his wage demands to roughly where he is now (a very reasonable $1200/wk). I'm also considering tabling a deal for Ramon Ramirez. He's getting on a bit, but he's the reigning MVP and is still playing well for us (7.20 average). His production has dropped off a bit, but so has everyone else's and I'm not about to blame the Captain for everything."

In other news, Adu is recovering well after being injured in the early part of the session "he'll be back soon, no big deal. I hear there's bounty on his head from more than one club. To be picking on a 15 year old boy is deplorable. I hope we show the teams in question that football is just a game and that is what we will be focusing on - and getting the win against them".

The board are still happy with Clark, but if his position doesn't improve soon I'm sure that wont last. The West is looking weak, but it could be nothing more than parity - 4/5 very even teams cancelling themselves out. "DC look awesome. They've been fastest out of the blocks again this year.....but I'm not sure they can be caught this time. Still, only 6 games in and plenty of football still to be played......"

[retired_mallory08]

The East is Stronger than the Wild West

Fire 1-0 Colombus Crew

In a largely even match, the deciding goal came late in 77 minute. Ante Razov pounced upon a bizarre goalkeeping error and he punished the mistake.

DC 0-0 Fire

Chicago became the first team this season to stop the DC free-scoring attack from netting any goals. The game was far from boring, as both sides had chances to score. Dema Kovalenko picked up an ankle knock in the first half and late on, in the 89th minute, Jim Curtin saw red for his second bookable offense.

Fire 1-0 New England Revolution

This encounter was decided by Shalrie Joseph, he headed in a corner after only 8 minutes. The Revs rarely threatened our goal, and they were under the kosh for most of the match as we unveiled a 2 striker formation.

FC Dallas 1-1 Fire

EJ’s return from injury was short lived as Suarez injured him after 35 minutes. Razov picked up his second goal of the season when he finished off a move created by Guevara and Gakhokidze. In the second half the unthinkable happened, Dallas equalized. Ashe nestled the ball in the back of our goal, Magge’s shot could only be parried by Countess and Ashe was there in the midst of the mad scramble to score.

Metrostars 0-3 Fire

The Metrostars were on the backfoot early on and they were caught out by a quick counter attack. Mapp put Ralph clean in on Ring and it was there after only 6 minutes. Just before the half hour mark it was Ralph again to finish and put us 2 goals to the good, after a well built move from the back. Guevara converted a penalty and the Metrostars were in a huge 3 goal hole before halftime. The second half saw the referee hand the Metro’s a life line and a way back in the match. Kelley Gray backed in and fouled Carroll in the box, a dubious decision. When Peguero stepped up, Countess knew exactly where his former teammate was going; he saved it and it just wasn’t going to be the Metro’s day.


“Mapp and Razov picked up knocks in the second half. Justin is going to miss the next 2 weeks with a twisted knee and Ante’s sprained wrist will keep him out a week.”

“The West….hahahahahaah you’re joking right the conference is weak. The Wizards are top and they missed the playoffs last year. SJ made too many changes and they have no team chemistry and LA’s aging stars are another year older. I guess this makes for a well balanced conference. (Grom holds up his glass of water at the press conference table.)…HERE’S TO PARITY!!”

[retired_mallory08]

The Dallas onslaught continues...

Dallas continued to steamroll through the rest of the MLS, with an impressive 4 game run of one win, two losses, and a tie.

Dallas manager Stu was taking all credit for his team's continued fine run...

"Its not easy starting 21 different players over four games and still coming up with such impressive results, but somehow I've managed it."

Such a high rate of player turnover would seem to indicate a tremendously long injury list, but it's not the case in Dallas...manager whimsy seems to be the compelling reason for the frequent changes.

"I'll keep changing 'til I find the right blend,"Stu said imperiously,"And then...watch out KC!"

FC Dallas started the session with a visit to divisional rival Kansas City...

Kansas City Heartbreak

It was always destined to be a close affair when Dallas visited KC, with not much to chose between the two resurgent sides. Manager Stu took the opportunity to grant young DC Burwood his Dallas debut...

Burwood immediately made his presence felt with a hard foul on Ngweyna outside the Dallas area on the ten minute mark. The Gomez freekick drifted to Ngweyna who nodded the ball down to an unmarked Josh Wolff, who turned and fired an unstoppable bullet into the top corner. 1-0 KC.

The game was taken to Dallas from there-in as the KC side seeemed to take confidence from the stunning strike. The inevitable 2nd goal came from a well-worked play involving Klein to Gomez to a streaking Saverse on the 55th minute. The goal signalled the changing of personnel for the visitors as Eddie Gaven and Oscar Pareja came on for the tiring Moore, (already!), and the ineffectual Brillant.

The changes immediatly had effect as Ngweyna snatched KC's third as the subs were still getting their bearings. 3-0, 58 minutes gone.

Manager Stu could have been forgiven for leaving right then, as it seemed he was the only Dallas employee who had bothered to show up in KC. But, ever the consumate leader, he stayed on, weaving his tactical magic...

At the 67 min mark, it happened! Dallas first goal of the year! After only 247 minutes! But the goal was well worth the wait. A stunning strike from young Gaven off of a 45 yard defence splitting pass from wily Valakari. The amazing comeback was surely on! To aid his proteges,Stu brought on Brad Davis for Oughton in the 83rd. Dallas was spurred on to even greater initiative...

Luckily the game ended before KC was able to pile on any more goals. Recepients of a 3-1 drubbing, Dallas headed home.

Entertaining LA

FC headed home with the prospect of a mouth-watering engagement with last year's MLS champs LA. Manager Stu showed off his tactical prowess by devising yet another masterplan and granting David Wagenfuhr, young Corey Ashe, and the surging Eddie Gaven their first starts of the year.

The game started quickly with Dallas adding another tally to their impressive goals record. This time Valakri knocked in a pass from Gaven, returning the favor from the previous match, at the 14 min mark.

LA quickly spoiled the party by controling the play for much of the game, and the equalizer was not far in coming. Moreeno headed in the 18th minute cornerkick, to see the visitors to half with a well-deserved share of the goals.

LA continued to bombard the hapless Dallas D and future MOM Thornton had to be at his best to keep the score level. Stu continued to work his tactical magic, bringing in Oughton and Joe Max for the tiring kids Ashe and Gaven; and Magee for Brillant.

The winner came against the run of play as substitutes Magee and Moore teamed up to see the visitors off. Magee broke free of the defense and lashed a grasscutter that Hartman could only parry to the waiting feet of Joe Max Moore. The US legend made no mistake, 2-1 in the 87th minute, and LA had no answer. Dallas had their first win of the season.

On the heels of such a masterful display by his young charges, manager Stu was confident going into the next game, against Al and his hated San Jose squad.

San Jose Squeaker

It was always going to be an easy time of it for Dallas against an anemic SJ offence that had only mustered one goal in its previous four games. SJ cohesion was falling apart with unhappy players and the tyrannical Al lashing out at his players in the press. The poor player bearing the brunt of much of Al's criticism was the much maligned SGR, last years golden boot winner. San Jose was ripe for the picking...

The game started brightly enough for Dallas as former SJ player Waibel almost broke young Adu in half. It was a harbringer of things to come however as the youngster was able to hobble off under his own power.

As he had so many times before, Galvan Rey broke Dallas hearts with a stunning set of goals, earning his natural hattrick. Dallas manger Stu tried his usual array of tactical tricks and switches to turn the tide, but to no avail. Dallas were run off 3-0 and were happy it wasn't more.

The usual suspects came on as subs: Moore, Magee, and Pareja, for Oughton, Brillant and Gaven. But for once, Magee didn't have the answers.

Despite guiding his squad to a masterful win and two narrow losses, manager Stu's heart was filled with some trepidation as he prepared his side for a challenging home date versus Grom's tough defensive nut, the Chicago Fire.

Beating the hell out out of Chicago, and losing EJ...again...

The Chicago game saw the return of two key Dallas players, EJ and Steve Jolley as both were suddenly fit again after suffering injury. Joining the duo was superstar Canadian goalie Pat Onstad who was given the nod over the exhausted Zach Thornton.

Dallas started the game in their usual fashion, dropping a goal down before half. Razov was the culprit this time, as he beat the in-form Onstad with a flukey goal.

Dallas also lost the services of superstar EJ as he went down injured in the 33rd minute due to an over enthusiastic challenge from a Chicago player. Joe Max came on and proceeded to terrorize the beleagured Fire defence.

The break that was so desperatley needed, (and deserved), came on the 68th minute as subs Ashe and Magee combined for the equalizer. Magee again lined a laser at the bottom corner only to be palmed away by MOM DJ Countess...straight to the alert Ashe, who recorded his first ever MLS goal.

Despite Grom's extensive tactical tinkering, the Fire found themselves under pressure for the rest of the match. Only Countess prevented the visitors from a emphatic defeat. The Fire were ran out of town, clutching their stolen point tightly.

Perhaps Dallas' manager Stu had finally found the elusive combination of players and tactics that would lead Dallas to glory?

Only the next session held the answers...

[retired_mallory08]

Fane Rejoice in DC

A string of good results have put United fans in a good mood. More than the wins, the quality of attacking football has impressed the entire league and has left DC with 16 points after 6 games scoring 15 goals while conceding only one.

The 5-0 trashing of the Metrostars was suprising given the start that the Metrostars had this season. The match was a no contest though. Every long ball that the Metrostars defense hit forward was intercepted, directed to the forwards and ended up in the back of the net. Figueroa, Alva, Sakiev (2), and White scored at Giant stadium to give somthing to think about for the Metrostars manager.

Next match against Chicago, was a thriller with both teams missing good chances to go ahead. The scored reflected a typical United-Fire matchup but fans were certainly entertained in a match that produced many chances yet little goals.

At Columbus, United didn't skip a beat and picked up their 4th vicotry of the season. The final score of 4-0 suprised even the United manager since Columbus had perfected their defensive style in the previous season. Sakaliev picked up another two goals with Jeremiah White and Marko Dinjar finished the scoring late in the second half.

Next, United travelled to Kansas City. On fire striker Stoyko Sakaliev scored three goals in the match that saw United defensce concede their first goal, coming at the death of the first half from a corner kick.

[retired_mallory08]

GETTING THROUGH SLOWLY

"Last night session was a 'so-so' one for my Metrostars. We managed to get five games in, my team had a 2-0-3 record during the span. I am still trying to find a better defensive strategy."

The first game of the session was against Stu's Dallas. It was an entertaining one. Peguero opened the score a quarter into the game. He added another one 12 minutes after the break. Just as the Metros thought they will come up with an easy one, Twellman came up with a goal for Dallas mid-way through the second half, but De Rosario made sure that the Metros got the 3 points. He scored at the 89th minute on a team attack. Behncke pulled the visitor within one again, but it was too later, Metrostars won 3-2.

The second game was up against Greg's Colorado. The forward combination of Pezzarossi and Robert was too much for the Metros' defense. They lost on a team record defeat of 6-0.

The Metros seems to tie the defense up a bit the next game when they face the Columbus, but they still same up on the lost column. Jamal Sutton scored the only goal of the game for Columbus.

After 2 games on the road, the Metros returned home to face Kansas. Gros scored from long range and that turned out to be the difference of the game. The Metros seems have the way against Et's Kansas since the beginning of last season. Half of the wins they had last year were against Kansas. This year, the trend continues, they are two for two against Kansas.

Last game of the session was against Stu's Dallas again. The Metros had a poor shooting performance in this one. They shot 17 times and only had 3 of them on target. Dallas did not do any better, they shot 8 with 3 on target, but they were able to capitalize on one of them. Eddie Johnson socred the only goal of the game. The Metros came up with a lost when they thought they have a very high chance to getting all 3 points before the game.

After 11 games, the Metros have a 5-1-5 record. They currently rank 2nd in the East with 16 points, 7 points behind the undefeat DC United. Chicago and Columbus are right behind at 3rd and 4th. But they have to find a way to stop letting people score, they are leading the league in goal against with 17 goals.

[retired_mallory08]

Dallas Success Continues....

The new session began with the mighty FC away to the surprising Metrostars. Not that manager Stu was surprised, he predicted way back when that they would be much improved this year.

Making Short work of the Metrostars...

Dallas kicked off the game resting star defender Eddie Robinson, star keeper Zack "Mr.Dallas' Thornton and striker EJ. Confidence was running high in the Dallas camp, and the feeling was the result could be had without needing the int'l stars.

Peguero duly dismissed those theories with a well-taken goal in the 15th minute. At least Dallas was consistent in continuing to go behind early.

Half-time saw the ringing of the changes as Eire int'l OBrein parted for the appearance of EJ. EJ soon put his stamp on the game as Peguero fired in his second, 11 minutes into the half.

The goal triggered more changes for the Dallas side as they brought on Gaven & Davis for underperforming Magee and Pareja. EJ finally did something as he provided the cross that Twellman headed home for his first goal as a Dallas player. 1-2, 69 minutes...

Dallas pressed on, but disaster struck as DeRosario scored on the counter with the game all but over, 1-3, 89 minutes gone.

But the plucky Dallas players followed their manager's shining example and never gave up, although Behnke's strike in the 92nd was never going to be more than a consolation. Gaven was once again the provider, showing glimpses of the superstar he is destined to become. 2-3 Metrostars and a disapointing start to the session.

Gnawing on New England's carcass...

The next match became a must win as Dallas faced eastern cellar dweller New England. Dropping points to these guys at home would be unthinkable. Manager Stu pulled out all the stops, inserting Davis into the starting 11, as well as giving Jordan Stone his first start since the first game of the year!

The dastardly Rev's showed their true colours by scything down Davis on the sixth minute mark. As Davis lay writhing in agony, Rev's Herron swooped in for an unsportsmanlike finish as the Dallas players waited for him to kick the ball into touch. 0-1 down, six minutes in.

To rectify the situation, (and to learn those New Englanders some good manners), Dallas brought on combative Ronnie OBrein. If anyone could, Ronnie would teach them respect.

New England continued their form after the break when Cancela brought down Gaven in the box. Twellman duly despatched the penalty and the sides were level.

The 62nd minute saw Stu bring on Magee and Ashe for EJ and Oughton, an inspired substitution if there ever was one. Three minutes later Rev Gbandi brought down Ashe outside the area. Stone took the kick, straight to Magee who sent the home side ahead. 2-1.

The game ended with Dallas unlucky not to score more. O'Brein was named MOM for his efforts in quelling the cheapshotting Rev's.

more to follow...