FCD plans few offseason moves
Coach Hyndman believes pieces are in place to make playoff run next year
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A year ago, it was apparent Hyndman's club had various needs to address in the offseason. However, that is clearly not the case heading into the 2010 campaign.
"At this time last year, I had greater motives to change things," Hyndman said. "This year, thank goodness there aren't that many changes."
FCD appears to be set in the back. Starting goalkeeper Dario Sala got a multiple-year extension after last season and was solid after returning from injury in early August, earning team defender of the year honors. Backup Ray Burse was solid in Sala's absence and could get some interest in the Expansion Draft while young Josh Lambo likely needs more seasoning before he can become the backup.
"The injury took much time (to heal), especially when the team needed me. I came back and finished really well," Sala said. "We had a late run at the end of the season and I feel that I was part of that. I got Defender of the Year and it was good because people really appreciated my job in the back. I also have the captain's armband, which I had never had in four years (here) and this year, it happened."
The defensive grouping of Heath Pearce on the right, George John and Ugo Ihemelu in the middle and Jair Benitez on the left worked well late in the year. But in the off-season, Hyndman might opt to find a true right back, which would mean Pearce moves into the midfield. A promising rookie season for John was derailed by a litany of injuries but fellow newcomer Kyle Davies can also step in.
As he showed since being acquired from Colorado in late August, Ihemelu can either play on the right or in the middle. Benitez is on loan, so securing him for another season looks to be on Hyndman's to-do list for this offseason.
In the midfield, Dave van den Bergh was solid on both the right and left flanks, finishing second in MLS with 11 assists. In the middle, David Ferreira was a revelation at the No. 10 spot and also played as a withdrawn forward. He is a contender for league newcomer of the year. Like fellow Colombian Benitez, he is also on loan, another arrangement Hyndman would like to see continue into the future.
Daniel Hernandez joined the team late and contributed nicely in a defensive midfield role, providing FCD with some much-needed bite in the middle of the pitch. Dax McCarty turned in a performance all year worthy of earning team MVP honors and starred as a linking midfielder, a position that utilizes his considerable skill set.
Up top, Jeff Cunningham won the Golden Boot with 17 goals and overcame a subpar first part of the year to finish the year on fire. Upstart Brek Shea also contributed up top with four assists despite coming off the bench for most of the year.
Cunningham takes pride in winning the Golden Boot but admits attaining some level of playoff success is what continues to drive him.
"It's the only thing that's left to define me," he said. "People are always going to have something to say but until you win that award (MLS Cup), they're never going to define you as a champion. For me, I just want to get that opportunity and everything else, I can look back and say, job well done. I've made the most out of what opportunities I've been given. That would define me as a winner. I know I'm a winner but until it happens, that would still be the goal. I'll keep fighting. That's what I am. I'm from an island of warriors (Jamaica). Hopefully I will stay injury free and continue to fight to that goal."
One thing the FCD coach won't hesitate to do is move any players out who aren't buying into what he is preaching. "Right or wrong, if players don't want to be here, then we've got to open the door and get them out," Hyndman said. "It's not just opening the door, maybe we've got to put a foot in their butt and push them out because all they're doing is holding us back."
And there are still areas of the roster he wants to upgrade.
"There is work to be done. There is still some shuffling (that we have to do)," the FCD coach said. "What would have happened this year if Jeff Cunningham pulls a hamstring? We'd all be looking around for the next striker. Now Peri (Marosevic) is in Egypt and what I am I going to do? Is it Atiba (Harris that we move up)? We planned on things but we didn't have the answers. Maybe it's (Marvin) Chavez because he's more of an attacking type of player. So I think we have to do a little shuffling. I really like our defense. It's going to be hard for people to beat this defense as long as we keep our structure in the midfield and keep pressure on the ball."
Hyndman will also explore adding a new central defensive midfielder.
"I don't know what that No. 1 priority is," he said. "I think Daniel Hernandez is doing a really good job (at holding midfield) but at the same time, we need to make sure that we don't put all the pressure on him to go the whole season in that role. So I think we need a pretty good holding midfielder. I think we need another good center back so that we potentially could put Ugo (Ihemelu) back on the right and maybe Heath (Pearce) is going to left midfield to put a little bit of pressure on (Dave) van den bergh because as these guys are getting in their years, I expect things to happen."
Hernandez could very well return to FCD next year but has expressed his wishes to return to Mexico, where he played for the last few seasons before returning to MLS this summer. Former FCD captain Pablo Ricchetti is no longer an option in the position after stating in September he no longer wished to play in Frisco.
Second-year player Bruno Guarda, who starred for Hyndman at SMU, didn't play much in 2009 and appears a less viable option while should he recover from a season-ending knee injury, Anthony Wallace could also get a look there.
One of Hyndman's sticking points since he was hired last June was that FCD lacked a culture of winning. However, that trend has begun to change recently.
"We started to develop a culture of winning. There is a much greater attitude in practice," he said. "Here is a team that went for an hour, 45 minutes of practice and has nothing (to practice for). New York is done and they're not practicing. There's no reason for them to practice. They're not in the playoffs. We come out here and are very encouraged. You can see the guys are still here (long after training was over). So I think the downside of course is not getting to the playoffs because that was everybody's ambition. The upside is man, we made one hell of a gallant effort trying to get there and we've got so much to build off of."
Two other sticking points for Hyndman this season were injuries and questionable calls.
"There were a tremendous number of injuries. Injuries are injuries but our injuries were chronic," he said. "They just wouldn't go away. So the injuries were there. I think there were some huge calls that went against us at the wrong time. An example was the game here with D.C. (in September), the PK that was called when he (Santino Quaranta) wasn't touched. Then you had the game at Colorado (in July) when Mehdi (Ballouchy) put the ball between (Drew) Moor's legs and (Kosuke) Kimura scores a goal offside. There were some huge calls that cost us and I think we gave some games away in that span of 12 (down the stretch)."
However, one huge positive was the drastic turnaround from Cunningham, who came on strong in the second half to win the second Budweiser Golden Boot of his career. Cunningham's coached singled him out as one player who improved the most throughout the year.
"He had a good preseason and like many players, they have their moments, moods or their frustrations and he didn't do much at the beginning. After the first couple of games missing opportunities, we took him out," Hyndman said. "Imaging if he had been just semi-active or semi-productive and how many goals he would have had this year. He could have taken those 17 goals to 20. So I would say he's been the most productive on the team."
Hyndman also wanted to laud the efforts of McCarty in 2009. When the year began, there was considerable doubt about whether McCarty would return to FCD due to personal issues between him and his coach. To both of their credit, Hyndman and McCarty buried the hatchet and the fourth-year player responded.
"I think you also have to look at Dax McCarty, a player that was on the outs last year," Hyndman said. "He wanted out of here. I wanted him out of here. God wanted him out of here. Everybody wanted him out of here. It didn't work out for him. There wasn't anybody who was really interested and an offer never came for him. He came back, grew up and had a very good year. I think he made very good strides."
McCarty's performance has made getting him a new contract a top priority for Hyndman in the early stages of the offseason.
"I think it's really important. We have put a lot of effort into re-signing him, probably not as much effort was we put into Kenny Cooper because there were so many opportunities for Kenny and we were trying to do it. I think he (Cooper) was headstrong and wanted to move to Europe," Hyndman said.
"I think with Dax, we've put a lot of effort into it. I think with the collective bargaining coming through, he's probably waiting to see what develops out of that before he makes (a decision). I've had conversations with him. He wants to be here but he also doesn't want to shut down his options. So I think it's very important that we sign him."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com
