When FC Dallas chose not to renew the contract of central midfielder Simo Valakari in the offseason, not only did the Hoops lose one of their elder statesmen, but they also lost their team captain since 2005.
Besides determining which players to put where, the other big decision facing new FCD head coach Steve Morrow this preseason is who exactly will replace the feisty Finn and wear the captain's armband. With the start of the 2007 regular season some three weeks away, the FCD boss is nearly ready to answer that question.
"We've had four different captains so far in the (preseason) games," Morrow said. "We gave it to Richard (Mulrooney) in one, Drew (Moor) in another. Carlos (Ruiz) has also done one and I think Chris Gbandi played in one also. There are four or five guys that I'm looking at. I told them that I want to make a decision sooner rather than later. I want to get a captain in place so we can move through the rest of preseason and have someone in place and ready. I'm pretty close to doing that. Hopefully, within the next week, we will have an announcement."
This season marks Mulrooney's ninth as a professional. The Memphis native played on two MLS Cup championship teams while with San Jose from 1999-2004 and is a three-time MLS All-Star. He bounced back nicely last season after missing nearly a year because of a torn right ACL. After returning to the field on May 10, 2006, he had nine assists, second most on the team. He is considered one of the Hoops' veteran leaders, both on the field and in the locker room.
Moor is in his third season after being selected sixth overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft following a stellar career at Indiana. The Dallas native came into his own last season, coming into the starting 11 in the fourth week of the season and starting 20 consecutive matches before having to sit for yellow card accumulation in early September. A vocal leader in the back, the only clear knock against him is a lack of experience.
Ruiz is in his sixth MLS season and third with FCD. This year has been his first full preseason with the Hoops and he has impressed everyone, especially Morrow, with his focus and work ethic. The Guatemalan international was the Hoops' leading scorer last year with 13 goals and is being looked to by Morrow to take on a larger leadership role in 2007. In 2002, Ruiz scored 24 goals for the Los Angeles Galaxy and was a big reason for their run to the MLS Cup title.
Two other options will miss significant portions of the early part of the season, possibly putting them out of contention. Gbandi, a fifth-year player who was touted as the first-choice left back, recently suffered a severe ankle sprain and will miss between four and six weeks.
In addition, Dario Sala is a possibility. The starting goalkeeper for much of last season, the Argentina native also brings fire and tenacity to the defensive end. However, he will miss the first six regular season games after his involvement in an altercation following FCD's penalty-kick loss to Colorado in the Western Conference Semifinals.
No matter whom he chooses, Morrow looks for a distinct set of qualities in his new captain.
"I want leadership," he said. "I want someone that the rest of the players will look up to and respect. I want someone that will lead them off the field as well. That leadership comes from me first and foremost. I want that person who is going to follow that leadership from me and pass it on to the rest of the team. It's important that he's vocal as well but it is more important that it's someone that everybody respects and follows. I want someone they will listen to when he tells them things, someone who's had experience, been around and has won things."
One of the problems for FCD last year was a lack of leadership in the locker room, but Morrow looks to change that this year.
"I think that's possibly a fair comment (about last year)," Morrow said. "This is a new situation and I think leadership has to come from the head coach. The head coach has to set those standards and get the rest of the players to understand that. If there's no leadership in the locker room, that ultimately falls on me.
"I don't think it's fair to blame players for a lack of leadership. We have a lot of senior guys here who are capable of leading this team. As long as they understand what I expect from them in terms of leadership, I know they can do that. We have plenty of leaders in the locker room."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
