Like I said, all the stops! Might be a bit late, but Daniel from Big D Soccer - our FC Dallas affiliate - and I swapped some last questions to each other before the MLS Cup. His answers to my questions are below. To see the questions that he asked me and my predictable answers, check them out at Big D Soccer later today.
1. I saw a report that Schellas Hyndman will be using the same players/formation we saw against the Galaxy, which confused me. Surely we'll be seeing Jeff Cunningham up top after the mediocre-at-best game we saw from Atiba Harris against LA, right?
Who knows man, who knows…My gut says that Atiba starts, but Schellas really could have anything up his sleeve. The Atiba Harris start was completely out of left field and no one saw it coming. Harris does a decent job at holding up the ball and getting the FCD wingers in the game which will probably see him start again, but really anything could happen.
2. Besides the obvious answer of Ferriera, is there anyone else to really watch for in the Dallas Midfield?
Right now Dax McCarty is in the form of his career. He scored the goal to put FCD through against RSL and has been fantastic throughout the last month of the season playing between Daniel Hernandez and David Ferreira. Also watch Marvin Chavez on the wing as he’s one of the fastest players in the league. Watching Chavez and Shea vs Kimura and Wallace is going to be one of the more exciting matchups.
3. Repeat of your third question to me, give us some info on Dallas' formation and how the players will work the ball in it.
Well it’s a 4-1-3-1-1 with a back four featuring outside backs in Benitez and Jackson that love to get forward and make overlapping runs. Daniel Hernandez is the defensive mid that almost never gets forward while McCarty acts as the link between defense and offense. Dallas is playing at its best when the ball is seamlessly running through Hernandez to McCarty to Ferreira right down the heart of the field or being sprayed outside on the counter attack. A huge key for Colorado fans to watch is where does Ferreira receive the ball…if his back is to goal around midfield then he won’t beat you, but if Dallas is able to get the ball to Ferreira running at goal then Colorado’s in big trouble.