Last Saturday at Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas scored their first goal in nearly three games when Kenny Cooper connected in a disappointing 2-1 loss at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Returning to Pizza Hut Park and with the Los Angeles Galaxy coming to town Sunday, the Hoops are looking for an offensive outburst.
"They've conceded some goals," said FCD head coach Steve Morrow. "They're pretty young in the back and it's a different look to the team this year, one that's still coming together defensively. We need to make sure we take advantage of that."
However, as unsteady as the Galaxy have been in the back, they are equally dangerous up front. Landon Donovan leads the league with eight goals and also has three assists. David Beckham also has three tallies and three assists, along with Alan Gordon. But that's where the L.A. offense stops as those are their only goal scorers after seven games, and only Chris Klein has multiple assists in 2008.
"We all know about (David) Beckham," Morrow said. "He's a guy that if you give him some time and space to make deliveries and passes, he'll pick them out and (Landon) Donovan will feed off that as well. Those are two guys that we have to watch. (Alan) Gordon is in reasonable form too. He's a dangerous player, especially in the air off crossed balls. We'll make sure that we take care of those things but the most important thing is what we do on the day."
While it's a given that Beckham and Donovan command considerable attention throughout the game, FCD defenders Drew Moor and Adrian Serioux feel that Gordon also warrants keeping a close eye on come Sunday.
"You've always got to be aware of where he is, especially when guys like Beckham and Donovan are on the ball," Moor said. "Gordon is a big target and those three are guys we need to keep an eye on. We want to put the pressure on them and keep them on their heels by creating some chances going forward. We also want to be strong and solid defensively."
Added Serioux: "The three of them (Beckham, Donovan and Gordon) are doing a great job right now but he (Gordon) is one that is underrated," he said. "He's kind of a creeper who likes to sneak around and you can kind of lose track of him. We're going to make sure that none of them have anything going their way that day. If we can limit their connections and the way they move, we should be OK."
Not counting their 6-5 win against FCD in last summer's SuperLiga, L.A. has dropped six consecutive league matches to the Hoops in Dallas. They are 0-4-0 in MLS action at Pizza Hut Park and have been outscored 10-3 in those four matches. L.A. hasn't faced FCD in league play in Frisco since last June 9, when the Hoops won 3-1, a win that was costly as Cooper was lost for most of the season after suffering a broken leg in a hard tackle late in the game.
For Moor and his teammates, Sunday's match represents a great time for the Hoops to notch their first win of May. They are 0-1-1 with just one point out of a possible six after losing at RSL last week and playing San Jose to a 0-0 draw the week before.
"Those are games that we know we should have come home with six points from," Moor said. "At the end of the day, we only got one point. We didn't play as well as we wanted to. We feel like we could have performed much better than we did. It's nice to come home after a tough road trip like that. We'll put those aside to focus on L.A."
One player who likely will not see the field for the visitors is forward Carlos Ruiz, whom FCD traded to L.A. in the offseason. "El Pescadito" is sidelined after having knee surgery earlier in the season.
"He's recovering from his knee surgery and I don't think he's played in any games yet," Morrow said. "He didn't play earlier in the week (at Vancouver). I hope he does because it would be great to see him play here."
Morrow thinks his squad has responded well in practice this week.
"The focus this week has been on having good intensity in training," he said. "We have challenged everybody to play to their potential, which we don't feel that we've done in the last few games. We know we can play better than what we've shown and have challenged the guys to do that. That's why we have mixed things up this week a little bit. I think everybody on the team should feel like they're fighting for spots when things aren't going so well."
The FCD coach knows that one key to success on Sunday is to limit the Galaxy's number of set pieces in their end of the park.
"Not giving up any around the box would be a good start," Morrow said. "Everybody knows that he's good on set plays around the box. We need to get a big wall in there. That might help a little bit. If we don't give any up, then that will help too."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
