FRISCO, Texas — Physicality. It’s a word FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman always stresses when talking about opponents that give his team the most trouble.
During Saturday’s 1-1 tie at home against the Philadelphia Union, things got a bit too testy for Hyndman’s liking, and the manager made sure to express his opinion about the officiating after the match.
“Any team you play, there is a third team, which is the officials,” Hyndman said. “It’s the only group that can control physical play, dangerous play, and if it doesn’t get that way, you will always find teams that are physical.”
Full Highlights: DAL 1, PHI 1
Hyndman was particularly upset with a no-call just before halftime, when defender Hernán Pertúz was taken down hard, causing him to be stretchered off and miss the rest of the game.
“I think it was a foot, but I wouldn’t know because there was no call made on it,” Hyndman quipped.
Blas Pérez, who has been suspended this year on two separate occasions for his own physical play, agreed with his coach.
“It wasn’t the most physical game, but we were given so many bad fouls,” Pérez said. “The referee was just letting [Philadelphia] go, and we would do something and he would give us a foul. On the foul that Hernán suffered, if it would have been us, we would have gotten a red card.”
When Pertúz came off, Hyndman was forced to use Carlos Rodríguez, who had missed the last four games with a dislocated elbow and wasn’t fully recovered. According to Hyndman, that moment changed the complexion of the game.
“It changed our defense. We weren’t as strong in the air. We weren’t as strong marking-wise,” Hyndman said. “Carlos had been out for four weeks with a dislocated elbow. This is really his first week back in training, and it showed the ginger elbow.”
FC Dallas is the most fouled teams in the league, an intriguing stat considering the rash of injuries the club has had to deal with this season.
From David Ferreira to Ricardo Villar to Ugo Ihemelu, and now Pertuz, Hyndman knows the bottom line is this team must get healthy. But that doesn't change the fact that FCD have now gone seven games without notching a victory.
Aside from their length infirmary list, FC Dallas will also likely be waving goodbye to star winger Brek Shea, who is expected to be called up for US national team duty after serving the first of a three-game suspension on Saturday night. The last thing they needed was another player to get hurt against Philadelphia.
“Unfortunately, it got more physical than it needed to be,” Hyndman said about the match vs. the Union. “I don’t think our depth is strong enough right now with the injuries to handle it.”
