Two weeks ago in a draw with Seattle Sounders FC, FC Dallas lost three starters to injury. Two of those players -- defenders George John and Steve Purdy, remain on the shelf while the third, striker Jeff Cunningham, has returned to training this week with little issue after missing last weekend's 1-1 tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
In the late stages of that game, FCD midfielder Bruno Guarda was carted off the field on a stretcher. Afterwards, Guarda was walking around without issue but he has not trained this week and is now out for this weekend's match at the Chicago Fire.
"Bruno won't be making this trip," FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "Unfortunately, the injury he received at the end of the game against LA was a little bit more painful than we thought it would. He wasn't able to even jog yesterday but maybe next week (he can return to practice)."
Without Guarda to play in the defensive midfield and Marcelo Saragosa also unavailable after being ejected last week, Hyndman has a big choice to make at that spot.
That could mean captain Pablo Ricchetti, who started last week at center back, could return to his more natural spot. If he returns to the midfield, that could mean Kyle Davies gets his first MLS start in central defense likely alongside Daniel Torres.
Another starter from last week who will be missing from the FCD first 11 is right midfielder Andre Rocha, who hasn't trained all week with an undisclosed medical issue.
"It has to do with a medical issue," Hyndman said. "It has nothing to do with coaching."
Rocha's absence leaves the FCD coach with another big decision about who will start in his place. Last week, Alvaro Sanchez played well in that role in his MLS debut and Eric Avila has also played there in the past.
Hyndman, however, is also considering another somewhat unlikely choice for that spot.
"I think we can think outside the box a little bit and maybe even put a Jeff Cunningham out there," he said. "Jeff has got tremendous speed and he likes to get forward. One of the things that we haven't been getting out of Andre is that ability to penetrate the flanks. [Avila] does that a little bit better but I think it would help our strike force a little bit if we could get services from the right side as often as we get that from the left side."
The FCD coach admits Cunningham, who has made his name in MLS as a forward, has no problem with playing there.
"The thing with Jeff is that he's a competitor," Hyndman said. "He wants to get on the field and play. If we said to him that he was defensive midfield, he'd say he could do it. I wouldn't bet on it, but his mentality is that he can do it. Again, it's us trying to go into Chicago with a little bit more strike force than we've had. We've been very pleased with our goalkeeping and defending to come away with two ties when we were down in both games."
Another spot where Hyndman has options is left back. Anthony Wallace performed well there in the second half of last weekend's tie. However, the U.S. under-20 regular missed much of the week's training because he was with the U-20s in Florida. "Wally" returned to practice on Friday but his coach realizes he will have to decide whether he is ready to start on Sunday.
"Wally really did well for us (against LA) and I think it will probably come down to the coaching staff sitting down today and trying to make a decision on whether he will start," Hyndman said. "We might go back to Blake (Wagner)."
Regardless of who Hyndman starts on the left, it looks like Drew Moor will be the right back and Torres is fairly set in the middle, especially after solid performances in FCD's last two contests.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com
