West notes: Success for rebuilding clubs

Dallas progresses into offensive force; Quakes show signs of life

That said, FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman looks to finally be getting the desired pieces in place. FCD's attack has been laying waste to teams for months, with forward Jeff Cunningham at risk of bursting into flames. No reason to tweak what is striking considerable fear into opponents.

As for Dallas' defense, that has long lagged the attack in terms of effectiveness, but even that looks to be catching up now. Jair Benitez and Heath Pearce appear to be providing the kind of two-way threats that Hyndman prizes in his outside backs, even with Pearce playing on the right side, which minimizes the impact of his preferred left foot. The arrival of Ugo Ihemelu has added more athleticism to the backline.

"I think now we have the strength, the athletic ability, and the soccer playing ability to match up with any attacking team," said Hyndman.

But the acquisition of holding midfielder Daniel Hernandez could be what does the most to solidify Dallas' turnaround. While players such as Dax McCarty and Pablo Ricchetti are adept at linking defense to attack, neither imposed the kind of physical presence that had opponents looking over their shoulders.

Those days have now passed. The sight of Hernandez sending a message foul to Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman in the first minute of Saturday's 3-0 win served notice that the once sieve-like FCD midfield has a bit more steel these days.

"He brings something to the team that I thought we were missing," said Hyndman of Hernandez. "Stuff like that [foul], you can sense a presence, and it becomes a little bit contagious. It's a little bit of a warrior mentality."

So is Hernandez the last piece of the puzzle? While Hyndman likes the potential of central defenders George John and Kyle Davies, he admitted that finding a high-profile center back is probably tops on his offseason shopping list, especially if Ricchetti's wish to leave Dallas is granted after the season ends. That would allow Ihemelu to return to right back and Pearce to move further up field.

Of course, with his side mathematically still alive, Hyndman isn't giving up on the current campaign. But even if FCD fall short -- they could be eliminated as soon as this weekend -- the Dallas manager is pleased to see the progress his team has made.

"I'm enjoying where we are today, I'm enjoying the training sessions, I'm enjoying the team's focus," said Hyndman. "If it doesn't work for this year, I'm definitely looking forward to next year."

Quakes shakeup pays dividends: Further west, another rebuilding project also appears to be bearing fruit, with San Jose's 2-1 win over D.C. United last Sunday giving them not only their first road win in 20 games, but a record of 3-2-2 in their last seven matches. While that's not quite the stuff of Supporters' Shield winners, it marks a considerable improvement over the first half of the season, when points of any kinds were scarce.

Even more impressive is that progress has been achieved with the likes of Darren Huckerby, Cornell Glen and Arturo Alvarez missing considerable chunks of time due to injury.

"We're way more organized as a group, and I think the guys are buying into things," said San Jose manager Frank Yallop.

But as with Dallas, the addition of a new holding midfielder, in this case Ramon Sanchez, has considerably boosted San Jose's fortunes. The captain of El Salvador's national team not only ignited the Quakes comeback on Sunday with a superbly taken free kick, but he did plenty of little things that added up, especially in terms of filling defensive gaps and distributing the ball.

"[Sanchez] does the things that are sort of 'un-coachable'," said Yallop. "He reads the game well. He's not the greatest of athletes. We all know that, and I think he knows that too, but what he tries to do is he's always in a good spot, always around the ball. ... And he plays each game like it really matters, he never takes games off. He's fit in well."

The addition of Andre Luiz alongside Sanchez, along with Brandon McDonald's emergence as a quality center back has Yallop feeling secure enough in his team's defense that he can now focus on the team's attack, with a striker tops on his wish list.

"We've got some good players, so we're not that far off," said Yallop. "We just need to be a bit more dynamic around the goal, and really punish teams when we have them on the ropes. That's missing a little bit."

Crunch time in Salt Lake: For much of this season, Real Salt Lake has found themselves in the netherworld of doing just well enough to think significant changes weren't necessary. But with RSL lying three points out of the playoff places, and with just three league games left on their league schedule, their chances of making the postseason for the second year running are in peril. Real essentially have to run the table during the rest of the campaign, while hoping the other contenders take enough points off one another to have a shot.

"We control our own destiny," insisted RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey. "It's all there for us."

With two home games against New York and Colorado sandwiched around a road date at Toronto, RSL will need to resolve their split personality between home and road performances in order to reach the postseason. At Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL sport a goal difference of plus-18 as opposed to a mark of minus-14 on the road. No other team in MLS is even close to those marks, with Colorado's goal difference of plus-15 at home and minus-7 on the road making for the next biggest discrepancy.

"I am steadfast in my belief that the stuff on the road is mental," said Lagerwey. "When you see a disparity that large, there is no other explanation in my opinion."

So is it an issue of on-field leadership, or is it up to each individual to step up? Lagerwey indicated it's a little of both.

"It's up to the veterans to lead and step forward and take collective responsibility," he said. "But at the same time, you've got to win your individual battles. That's how we've conceded goals early the last two games; we've lost individual battles. And no one has led to the point where they can cover for those errors."

The team doesn't take the field again until an Oct. 14 date against New York, making for a 17-day break that Lagerwey insists "comes at a great time." Head coach Jason Kreis will be instituting a mini-training camp over that time, with one of the goals being to repair the team's fragile psyche. Another will be to get ailing midfielder Javier Morales back on track. The Argentinean's productivity has dropped from six goals and 15 assists in 2008 to one goal and four assists in 2009.

"[Morales'] ankle is bugging him, he's not 100 percent," said Lagerwey. "But when you're in that role, you need to perform no matter what. Ultimately for us to be successful, we need a productive Javier Morales. If in the last three games he can get it done that will be a big difference for us."

Jeff Carlisle is a regular contributor to ESPN Soccernet, and covers the San Jose Earthquakes for Center Line Soccer and MLSnet.com. Jeff can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.

• Facebook
• Supporter Comments
• Email
• Print

MLSnet.com Comments

• 

  Number of Originals dwindles to one

• 

  Davis: Kreis still has answers for RSL

• 

  Olsen adjusts to 'a whole new animal'

• 

  MLS supports UNICEF's efforts in Haiti