FRISCO, Texas — In our weekly series featuring Schellas Hyndman, the FC Dallas head coach addresses 11 topics in brief, including Saturday night’s loss to the LA Galaxy, Fabián Castillo in the Under-20 World Cup and Maicon Santos’ FCD debut.
I. To lead off, FC Dallas lost their first game in nearly a month on Saturday, falling to the league-leading LA Galaxy 3-1.
“It was a game we let slip through our fingers. We scored a fantastic goal with [Marvin] Chávez and then we went away from the things that we were doing in the first half.”
II-III. After Chávez’s left-footed blast from outside the 18-yard box, the Galaxy countered with three goals off set pieces.
“Goofy first goal. Very seldom do you see Kevin make those types of mistakes. I think George [John] had the ball anyway with a header but Kevin called him off the ball and then missed the ball himself and gave them a soft goal — one that we can definitely improve on.”
HIGHLIGHTS: LA 3, DAL 1
IV-V. With the win, the Galaxy distanced themselves from FC Dallas in the Supporters' Shield race, but the visiting side did well to prevent scoring opportunities from the run of play.
“The score’s 3-1 and I think it’s a closer game than that. I really do think that … [it was] tired legs, and when you get tired, the thing that normally goes is your brain and your concentration. I think that’s where it came down to.”
VI. Missing from action was midfielder Andrew Jacobson, who continues to rehab his hamstring following an injury in July at Real Salt Lake.
“He’s doing fine. He’ll be ready to go against Philadelphia.”
VII. Another player missing from action was 19-year-old Castillo, who is still in Colombia as his U-20 side advanced to the Round of 16 by sweeping their group competition.
“We sent [FCD Reserve coach Oscar Pareja] down there to scout the Under-20s, so he was able to hook up with Fabián a couple of times and he is excited that the team is doing well.”
VIII-IX. Another forward, Maicon Santos, started in his FCD debut match against the Galaxy and played 79 minutes that included a backheel assist on Chávez’s goal.
“I thought Maicon played very well considering that he’s never trained with us. He’s only had one day of pregame training. He held the ball and he got the ball to Chávez, who scored a brilliant goal.
“He was a handful for [Gregg] Berhalter and [Omar] Gonzalez. When we were playing balls on the ground, he was very dangerous.”
X. Following the weekend game in Los Angeles, US national team call-ups Brek Shea and Zach Loyd flew separately to Philadelphia, where they will remain until FC Dallas arrive for their weekend tilt against the Union.
“There’s no need for them to come back and get on a plane and go back, so we just told them to stay there, relax, and we’ll catch up with them.”
XI. In other national team buzz, Chávez received a call from Honduras for their Wednesday fixture against Venezuela.
“He is going to play against Venezuela down in Miami in Fort Lauderdale, so he’ll be gone also and then he’ll fly up to Philadelphia.”
Robert Casner covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached on Twitter: @robertmcasner
