FRISCO, Texas — In this week’s installment featuring Schellas Hyndman, the FC Dallas head coach – as always – addresses 11 topics in brevity, including the teams first win in 2011, Marvin Chavez’s head injury, Colorado’s improvement, and their upcoming road trip to the Pacific Northwest.
I. After starting the season with a tie and two losses, FC Dallas got their first win of 2011 in a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
“What a difference a week makes. The boys played very well and you saw an FC Dallas team that was very intense, very focused to bring a high level of pressure, and I thought that caused Colorado some problems.”
II. And this was a good Colorado club that came into the match undefeated and with a +6 goal differential.
“I think they are an even better team than they were last year.”
III. Everyone must feel good after such a dominating performance against the defending champions.
“It’s a relief for all of us and I hope it’s a relief for [the fans]. A lot of people didn’t realize we had two center backs that weren’t healthy. And hey, it’s nice to have 11 players [on the field].”
IV. Even though this was a rematch of the 2010 MLS Cup that FC Dallas lost, revenge wasn’t on Hyndman’s mind.
“A lot of us felt like we needed to win. The win was more important for us than the revenge because we hadn’t won yet.”
V. Right-sided midfielder Marvin Chavez took one for the team. After heading the ball to Ugo Ihemelu for the first goal of Friday’s game, he suffered a large gash above his left eye.
“I think right now he has six stitches. They took him to the hospital to run some tests on him and they seem to be fine."
VI-VII. Staying with the FC Dallas midfield, a new game meant another player’s insertion into the linking midfield spot. Hyndman was very happy with the result.
“I thought [Andrew Jacobson] did well. … I thought he was that connector that we have been missing and that connector gives David [Ferreira] the freedom to do more things. Jacobson won a couple good tackles and was strong in the air.”
VIII. Hyndman spoke about the process of acquiring Jacobson from the Philadelphia Union.
“He wasn’t somebody on our radar early and we went into preseason and we recognized that we needed a little more strength and size. He became available and we went after him pretty hard and got him.”
IV. Versatile 23-year-old Zach Loyd received high marks from Hyndman after his outing at right back.
“We continue to ask Zach to mature quickly because of the more and more opportunities he is playing. Sometimes he just wants to win so bad that he gets himself forward a little too much, but he did a good job managing it [against Colorado].”
X-XI. Now the team’s attention turns to their road trip to the Pacific Northwest, where they will face expansion sides Portland and Vancouver.
“I think the team is really excited and the fact that we had a really good performance the other day, they are excited to get on the road and do well.
“Last year, we were one of the best teams in the league on the road, so playing at home and playing on the road was not a huge factor on last year’s team. We will see about this year’s team.”
