FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman conceded that the Seattle Sounders fully deserved the 4-2 win they posted on Saturday night over FCD -- "It's about right," he admitted -- and it wasn't because of the tactics or the high defensive line his back four tried to hold.
"I don't know if the tactics mattered," he said after the match. "Probably the bigger thing that mattered was that I think our guys lost their composure and emotions with what they considered some of the calls that weren't being made. And then you're just disappointed."
That disappointment eventually peaked in the wake of a call that was made in the 73rd minute, when Blas Perez was shown a red card for elbowing Leo Gonzalez and bloodying his face as the pair challenged for a high ball. The referee's decision had Hyndman urging the local press in Seattle to maintain their objectivity when assessing the call.
"The nice thing is technology today is wonderful," Hyndman said. "I would encourage each of you to take off your Sounders hat and go look at the video, and you can see that if anything, Gonzalez ran into [Perez]. I was just a little confused that the referees couldn't get it right. I think what ended up happening is, it's like a policeman shows up and a guy's got a bloody face so somebody must have hit him.
"I think I wasn't real pleased with it, but it's the way the game goes. You're counting on the right decisions being made by the linesmen and the referees and they really have the best position, so it is what it is."
But it wasn't the referees that ultimately put four goals past FCD in front of nearly 40,000 fans at CenturyLink Field.
"We had too many players that didn't have a real good game and that didn't help us," Hyndman said. "I think we let Seattle dictate the game. It was very fast-paced, and that's something we shouldn't be doing."
Hyndman singled out the play of young centerback London Woodberry, who replaced the injured George John and was victimized more than once by Seattle frontrunners Eddie Johnson and Lamar Neagle, as indicative of the entire backline.
“I think the interesting thing was that they went at London the whole game, putting players on him," Hyndman said. "I don’t know if George would have much difficulty with them. But it wasn’t just London. I don’t think our defense was exceptional, and it had to be exceptional tonight."
"This is a tough environment for anyone to come into," Hyndman added. "If it's not a game that's controlled, and there's a lot of stuff going off the ball and there's a lot of physical play, I don't know if that brings the best out of our team. I don't know that we ever got on track."
