MLSsoccer.com continue our look back at the 2014 season that was for all 19 clubs in Major League Soccer, starting with the Montreal Impact and ending with the MLS Cup-winning LA Galaxy. We'll also take a peek at the two new clubs coming in and pour one out for departed friends Chivas USA. You can find the 2014 Year in Review HERE, and the club-by-club history of MLS HERE.
2014 record: 16-12-6 (54 points); 55 GF / 45 GA (+10 GD)
In Oscar Pareja’s first season at the helm for FC Dallas, he found out a lot about his roster.
They said it...
Head coach Oscar Pareja:
"This one will be the first time where I will not need to move many players, that I can keep the core of them. I just can go into the preseason thinking that the plan is not just working but is pretty good."
Team captain Matt Hedges:
"We knew from the beginning of the season we could be successful in the league. Every team has ups and downs. We just kept fighting through it and we got that first win. After that it was on the up all the way through the playoffs."
Defender Zach Loyd:
"When guys had injuries, the guys that haven’t been playing were given opportunities to perform well, and everyone who got that opportunity excelled. That shows the character of the guys that aren’t playing, that they are taking their job seriously in training, putting in the work because they know at any moment, they are going to get their shot."
Maybe even more than he would have preferred as injuries, suspensions and international absences took their toll, but also provided other players numerous chances to show what they could do in MLS. The result was arguably the deepest roster in the league.
At the same time, the club achieved levels of success they had not seen since 2010, the year of their lone appearance in MLS Cup. A semifinal showing in the US Open Cup was paired with their first playoff appearance since 2011 and their first playoff victory since 2010. They bowed out after a 1-1 two-leg tie to Supporters Shield winning Seattle Sounders, becoming the first team in MLS history to lose a series on the away goals rule.
In the process, they also became the only team in the league to finish the playoffs unbeaten. Cold comfort, but it all sets up for a promising 2015 for a team that's deep and versatile - and hopefully not quite as injury prone.
Best Moment of the Year
In front of a large, engaged home crowd, FC Dallas saw the future of the club score a brilliant goal as Mauro Diaz engaged three defenders at midfield, took them to the top of their penalty area and calmly feed Rookie of the Year Tesho Akindele for the opening goal en route to a 2-1 win Oct. 29 over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Knockout Round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. It was Dallas’ first playoff win since 2010 sending them into a conference semifinal matchup against the Seattle Sounders.
Worst Moment of the Year
The first seven games of the season saw so much promise for FC Dallas. Diaz won the MLS Player of the Month for March, and the club shot to the top of the Western Conference with an open, fast, possession oriented attack. But then came April 26 – a day when everything that could go wrong, went wrong, all in one game. Red cards to Zach Loyd and Michel, paired with injuries to Diaz and Blas Perez led to a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of what would prove to be one of the best teams in the league in D.C. United. Red cards would be a problem all year for FCD, as they ultimatley set a club record in that category. But it was the injury to Diaz that affected Dallas the most, keeping him out for much of the season and changing what had been a proactive, attacking team into one almost solely reliant upon the counter.
Best Goal
One of the most enjoyable goals for FC Dallas fans had to be JeVaughn Watson’s final goal against the Houston Dynamo on April 5. Already up 3-1 in Houston against their in-state rivals, Dallas’ Fabian Castillo had the ball on the left wing, engaged three defenders before cutting inside near midfield to feed Diaz, who was in a central position. Diaz then made a cutting pass through the middle of the field, right in front of an onrushing Watson, who slotted home the final dagger of the night. The goal epitomized the flair with which FC Dallas played while Diaz was at his best this season, and to do it against Houston was the cherry on top.
Team MVP
There were a few candidates for this. Matt Hedges was the anchor of the defense and team captain who kept an in-flux backline solid for much of the season. Perez led the team in goals and assists. And what a season it might have been for Dallas had Diaz been healthy for the majority of the season.
But the player who was the most dangerous for Dallas for much of 2014 was easily Fabian Castillo, the quicksilver winger who finally began to realize some of his limitless potential. The young Colombian had a breakout season, turning what had been unfulfilled promise in his first few seasons in Dallas into 10 goals, four assists and countless moments of fear from opponents. No game epitomized his value more than FC Dallas’ 5-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Aug. 16 when the winger had two goals and an assist along with eight shots.
Best Move
The best move for FC Dallas in 2014 was the hiring of Oscar Pareja, who affected the club in countless ways in just one season. The former FCD player drafted and developed Akindele into the ROY winner, managed season-ending injuries to George John and Hendry Thomas, as well as the major impact of Diaz’s injury, and meshed a team that had every reason to fall apart after a prolonged springtime funk.
But the move that Pareja pulled off that showed he could have easily been a Coach of the Year candidate had to be his development of a roster that successfully shifted from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation that centered around midfield maestro Diaz to the over-the-top 4-4-2 and occasional 5-3-2 formations that the team used to stabilize the rest of the season. It was all about Castillo's speed and Perez's ability to carve out space for both himself and others, and it wasn't often pretty. But it turned out to be damn effective.
Quotable
"When Mauro is on the field, lights are on more frequently than others." -- Pareja on the effect his playmaker has on the rest of the team
Three Offseason Needs
1.
Another No. 10:
That Pareja was able to salvage the 2014 season without Diaz for much of the year is a testament to him, but is also an indication that the team really needs someone who can step up in case the Argentine maestro picks up another injury. Under Schellas Hyndman, Ricardo Villar’s play as the understudy for David Ferreira didn’t set the world on fire, but it allowed the team to keep the same formation and function in most of the same roles when Ferreira missed games. That's the formula Pareja must recreate. Unfortunately, the effort to have Danny Garcia make that jump was not as successful as Victor Ulloa's adjustment to a deeper role, so Dallas probably have to look at a free agent signing for the solution here.
2. Castillo's Balance: Who's the right guy to play on the opposite wing from the team MVP? It was clear that with Diaz, Castillo and Perez all on the field, having danger on the other wing made Dallas very hard to defend. The team has a few options on the roster, but it is not clear whether any of them can perform at Castillo’s level. With a DP slot available as well as salary cap room thanks to the apparent departure of Andres Escobar, they may splash out on another big name to be the final piece of the attacking puzzle.
3. Backline Bump:George John is now gone to NYCFC in the Expansion Draft, but he's hardly played over the last three years, anyway. Pareja had to make due with Loyd – a natural fullback – next to Hedges in central defense for long stretches in 2014. So now, is the time right for uber-talented Walker Zimmerman to mature into an every day starter? Or will we see another foreign signing? How about a draft pick, or another Homegrown player? With the moves the team has made so far, they have a lot of room on the roster and under the salary cap to find the right person to pair with Hedges – but the sooner they answer that question, the better 2015 will look.
