FRISCO, Texas – In the second installment of a weekly column featuring Schellas Hyndman, the FC Dallas head coach addresses 11 topics in brevity, including their recent 2-0 loss to San Jose and Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.
I. Hyndman gave credit to Chris Wondolowski for his brace Saturday night in FC Dallas’ 2-0 loss to San Jose.
"Wondolowski scored two very good goals. Both goals were a bit of a surprise – two shots in the first half for them and two goals."
II. Despite the loss, there were a few noteworthy performances.
"As far as performance-wise, Daniel Hernandez was solid. I thought David [Ferreira] had a good game, especially in the second half. Eric Avila was a spark for us coming off the bench and Jair [BenÃtez] was very active."
III. In his three years as FC Dallas head coach, Hyndman has given his flank players the freedom to switch sides.
"It’s really becoming quite a trend in the football world. They’re called wrong-footed players and they come into the field and use their strong foot, whether it's passing, dribbling or shooting – especially the shooting part."
IV. Among those types of wrong-footed players is a certain Barcelona star.
"You look at Lionel Messi, who’s always played right side midfield and he always came in and scored with his left foot, so that’s probably the thought the [flank] players are going through."
[inline_node:332273]V. New player Fabián Castillo, who came on as a left-sided flanker, had a memorable debut displaying his speed and ball control.
"We knew that [San Jose left back Ramiro] Corrales would have a bit of trouble with speed. When [Ricardo] Villar was out there, it didn’t really complement us, but then Castillo came on and it showed again that we need them to be quicker on both flanks."
VI-VII. Two weeks into the season and FC Dallas still seek their first win. Slow starts have been a characteristic of Hyndman’s team.
"I think that’s probably more of my trend as a coach, as a builder. Of course its not what we want – two home games and only one point – but I think we are a team that’s going to get better.
"You also have to look at last week: We went to Mexico for the Tigres game and then we came back for the [United States] Under-20 game, so we had no training sessions at all."
VIII. In Weeks 1 and 2, the first two substitutions have come at the left flank and center midfield position.
"You don’t replace players that are doing a great job. I think we need to get more on the left side; maybe Castillo is that answer and then I think we have three guys that can be fighting for that central midfield spot."
IX. The FC Dallas midfield can’t be spoken about without mentioning Dax McCarty.
"Last year, when Dax McCarty got hurt, we had three guys fighting for that [position] and finally somebody stepped up and said, 'Hey, I can do it and I can do it the way you want it done.'"
X. In the first half of Saturday’s game, FC Dallas did not register a shot on goal. After some halftime adjustments, the team came out attacking in the second half.
"We did a much better job when Avila came on because I thought he was a little bit quicker in midfield. If you look at the stats in the second half, you know we were getting a lot of opportunities."
XI. After a stellar strike in the season opener, forward Milton Rodriguez couldn’t find the back of the net after given several opportunities.
"If there's anybody on the team that we want in front of the net, it’s Milton. From hitting shots to hitting headers, he’s very good and you have to see him everyday in training to see how good he is. Saturday was just not his night."