FC Dallas head into the final full month of the season with yet another short week. On Wednesday, the Hoops travel to Colorado to face the Rapids, where they are only 5-10-4 all-time against their Western Conference foes. That game will be the last in a run of five consecutive road games that has spanned the entire month.
The carrot on the string for FCD is that on Saturday, the Hoops will have their first game at Pizza Hut Park in more than a month when they play host to Houston. Not only will that be FCD's first match on the new field that was installed in early August, but it will also give them a chance to put further distance between themselves and Dynamo, who are currently hot on their heels in the West standings, just four points out of the top spot heading into the midweek matches.
Head coach Colin Clarke is ready to have another game on their home field.
"It's a tough part of the season," he said. "Once we come off this next game on the road, we'll have another home game. There's no need to panic or worry. We're still sitting on top of our division and one of three teams that can still win the Supporters' Shield. That's a feat in itself at this point in the season."
Home will be a welcome sight, especially considering that the Hoops are currently 0-3-0 against league foes away from Frisco in August. Add in a 3-0 loss to Houston last Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup and the picture becomes even clearer. The normally-high scoring squad has also failed to score in each of those contests. On Sunday evening, the Hoops fell 1-0 at Kansas City, extending their scoreless streak to 270 minutes in league play.
While FCD has had their share of struggles on the road this season, much like most of the rest of MLS, the Hoops have been virtually unbeatable at home. Their current home mark of 9-2-1 is tops in the league.
Their only losses in Frisco were a surprising 2-1 defeat to Columbus on June 4 and a 1-0 decision to D.C. United on July 4 where FCD outplayed the East leaders but came up short in the end. The Hoops lone draw at home came in May to Houston in a game that it appeared they would win before an own goal late in the day forced them to settle for a draw.
Much like their head coach, the FCD players are also looking forward to ending their current month-long road trip.
"It seems like we've been on the road for forever," said defender Bobby Rhine. "We know that we're going to be looking forward to that home game. This is a tough stretch of the schedule for us and we knew that going in."
Fellow back Chris Gbandi concurred. "We're excited (about returning home)," he said. "We're a better home team and I think our record shows that. It's great to have an opportunity to finally play Houston at home since there's a little bit of payback there. I think it will be a good situation for us to come back. The field looks really nice and I think the fans will be excited for us to come home."
Before facing Dynamo, the Hoops have one more task at hand, traveling to Denver and getting a positive result against a Colorado Rapids side that, historically, FCD has not performed well against in the Mile High City. Last June, the Hoops beat Colorado 3-1, only the fifth time they have ever won there.
On April 15, the sides played to a 2-2 draw. The Hoops stormed to a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes but several individual mistakes led to the Rapids being able to level the game before the half. The Hoops have beaten Colorado twice this season, both times in Frisco.
If FCD is to end their current swoon and avoid having a winless August for the second consecutive season (last year's squad went 0-2-2 in August), they need to play with more discipline.
"We haven't been nearly good enough as a team," said Rhine. "We haven't scored in a few games and are very frustrated with how we've been playing. We feel like we've lost our discipline within our team shape and have paid the price for that. We know we need to get back to being a more disciplined unit out there."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
