FC Dallas

Total 90 is back after a lengthy absence! The column had been relegated to the sidelines for many months due to poor form—wait, I'm confusing myself with DaMarcus Beasley again. No, it was a combination of laziness and the desire to work on other projects that led to the long layoff, but with the recent crop of juicy transfer news, a return was in order.

First, we travel to Spain...or is it Greece? Or England? Young American striker Jozy Altidore was rumored to be heading to Greek club Olympiakos on another loan away from Villarreal, but missed that left turn in Albuquerque and ended up at Hull City instead. His agent is in England right now wrapping up the deal, and Altidore is expected to join his new club sometime this week.

A loan away from Villarreal is all well and good, as long as Jozy finds some playing time. He spent the second half of last season on loan with Xerez, where he made a grand total of zero appearances. US fans will be hoping that his performances at the Confederations Cup translate to some appearances in the EPL with a club that really struggled to score goals last season.

Kenny Cooper is finally on his way out of MLS and the depressingly awful situation that has been the current FC Dallas season. Cooper was snapped up by TSV 1860 Munich, in the 2. Bundesliga. While it's a far cry from Manchester United—whose reserves Cooper trained with as a youngster—it's still a move out of the US, which was long overdue for the 24-year-old.

FC Dallas has been struggling mightily this season, and Cooper had experienced a dip in form thanks to the fact that he has less than a handful of quality teammates around him. This loss of form had pretty much extinguished any big transfer rumors, which in the winter had Cooper moving to any number of bigger clubs in top leagues for more money.

Still, the move to Munich will give Cooper the chance to test himself against some pretty physical top-flight German clubs in the Deutscher Pokal. It will also make it easier for him to attract interest from a bigger club.

Kudos to Cooper for finally landing a move to Europe. His large frame and considerable strength should serve him well overseas.

Another US striker may be on the move to Europe, but he definitely lacks the name recognition of Altidore or Cooper. Cody Arnoux, a 21 year-old striker from the Carolina Dynamo of the Premier Development League—that's the fourth tier of US football—has been offered a one-year contract by Everton. If he accepts, he'll play with their reserves.

Not only would that be the biggest leap in quality in the history of football, a year with the reserves vastly outweighs a year in the PDL. Believe me, I used to go to PDL matches every week.

This is somewhat old news, but Charlie Davies moved this summer from Hammarby IF of the Swedish Allsvenskan to Sochaux of the French Ligue 1. Sochaux were no doubt impressed by Davies' performances in the Confederations Cup and snapped up the speedy American striker.

Now if only he can learn to pass to the open man on a breakaway instead of trying to take on multiple defenders by himself...

In a bit of tragic news for New York Red Bulls fans, Juan Carlos Osorio is still in charge. Not only that, but New York brass has said that he'll stay there until the end of the season. 2-15-4 and counting! Oh yeah, New York blew it in the CONCACAF Champions League as well despite being up 3-2 on aggregate with two away goals early in the second leg.

These little town blues, are melting away. I'll make a brand new start of it—in Old New York.

Man, Old Blue Eyes was way off.

In even sadder news, American fans won't be able to watch the upcoming deathmat...World Cup Qualifier between the US and Mexico in English because ESPN hasn't got the broadcasting rights.

Now, ESPN normally does a great job of broadcasting football, so it's a real surprise to see that they've gone to pieces on this one*.

*Note: That was dripping with sarcasm. It doesn't translate too well to the printed word.

So, if you want to watch this match, you'll have to tune into Telemundo or try and find a stream online. ESPN missed out on some huge ratings with this one. Maybe they're counting on the next US-El Salvador match to draw loads of viewers?

Keep your eyes peeled for a Creature vs. Creature on US/Mexico very early next week. It'll be myself against Eric Gomez.

Sources: ESPNsoccernet, Yanks Abroad, MLSNet

Toronto FC dropped two precious points yesterday as they failed to capitalise on several opportunities to add to a Dwayne De Rosario header in the 17th minute. A win would have taken the Reds to within a point of the top of the Eastern Standings.

Looking to bounce back from last week's demoralising loss to Seattle, the team gave the home fans something to cheer about early on.

Adrian Serioux, playing against his former team, sent one of his heat-seeking missile throw-ins directly into the penalty area. De Rosario towered above the Dallas defence to score his first goal for the Reds, heading home past goalkeeper Ray Burse.

Toronto’s goal was just reward for having a more confident attacking approach to the game, in sharp contrast to the home opener against the Sounders. As early as the first minute, Fuad Ibrahim, a surprise selection on the left wing, sent in a promising right footed cross from the edge of the penalty area.

De Rosario made contact with the ball, but it was bundled off the line by Dallas defender George John just as Chad Barrett swooped in for the kill.

John Carver had decided before the game to keep Barrett in the starting lineup, and the striker had a chance to repay his coaches' faith in the seventh minute.  However, after an Amado Guevara free kick had fallen to him, the American could only hit a rather tame shot straight at Burse.

Toronto continued to attack in numbers and broke forward in the 21st minute after Dallas had given the ball away. Guevara connected with his central midfield partner Carl Robinson, who in turn set Ibrahim through on goal.

With a chance to score a dream goal against his former team, the 17-year-old shot wide of the left post.

Barrett had an excellent chance to add to Toronto’s lead 10 minutes before the break.  Guevara hit a powerful shot from 25 yards out, which thundered onto the upright. The ball bounced back out to Barrett, but with only the Dallas goalkeeper to beat, he headed the ball over the crossbar.

Despite FC Dallas dominating the shot count, Toronto did a good job of limiting them to long-range efforts in the first half. Stefan Frei, playing in his home debut at BMO Field, looked comfortable in goal, dealing with everything that came his way. 

However, just before halftime, the team from Texas gave a warning of what was to transpire in the second half.

Dave van den Bergh made a run down the left wing and crossed the ball into the Toronto penalty area. Dax McCarty was on hand to head the ball onto the underside of the crossbar with Frei beaten. 

The ball bounced down and there were calls for a goal, but the linesman waved the appeals off. Replays proved that the header had never actually crossed the goal line.

As the second half started, De Rosario, playing just behind the front man, continued to exert his influence on the game. In the 57th minute, he played an unbelievable pass from inside his own half, beating the Dallas offside trap.

Sam Cronin latched onto the ball with an open sight on goal. Unfortunately, his initial touch let him down and Burse got to the ball first.

Dallas was starting to sense that they could get something from the game, and Van Den Bergh had a chance in the 67th minute.  However, the Dutchman’s firm shot was hit straight at Frei, who held onto the ball.

As the game entered the final 15 minutes, Toronto could sense the finishing line was in sight, but anxiety was beginning to creep in as they backed off and started to play less aggressively.

Finally, FC Dallas took advantage of this as they made a breakthrough seven minutes from the full-time whistle.

A McCarty corner was sent in from the left, but missed everyone as it went across the face of the goal. Unfortunately for Toronto, the ball fell to substitute Eric Avila, who crossed in for Pablo Ricchetti to flick a back heel past Frei leaving the score tied at 1-1.

The late goal was a dagger in the heart for Toronto, and they couldn’t pick themselves up to push forward for a late winner.  Toronto FC had lost the chance to win, and they knew it.

On the positive side, the performance was a big improvement from the previous weekend.  It will be up to Carver to use this as a rallying point as Toronto heads down to Dallas for the rematch at Pizza Hut Park.

The Recent Results

Dallas was an enigma last year. They finished fifth in the West and missed the playoffs, yet they scored the third most goals in the league and ended the season in seventh in goals against. Basically, when they won, they kicked ass, but when they lost, they got beat by a single goal. They will need more tenacity in 2009.

The Man in Charge

I have a bone to pick here, and it has nothing to do with Schellas Hyndman. Well it does, sort of. His bio on the FC Dallas site still has no information. It’s not his fault, I know, but the organization needs to get it’s crap together. Hyndman needs to get his squad’s crap together too so they can finally compete for a MLS Cup.

On the Offensive

Kenny Cooper is “the Man” for the Hoops and he will continue to be unless he is dealt away. If that happens, Hyndman’s job will go from hard to impossible and they should just leave his bio unfinished because he will be gone soon. Yes, they also have Cunningham, McCarty and Ricchetti, but I don’t think they will be enough. 

For the Defense

Drew Moor is one guy I really like on this team, and he has some other able defenders to help him on the backline, including Wagner and Serioux. One player I have never really trusted though is goalie Dario Sala, and not just because he also studied law in Argentina for a little while. I just think he makes too many mental mistakes.

Movie They Resemble

This was a tough one, as I wanted to work their former nickname “The Burn” into it somehow, but eventually decided against it. So, I am going to say they are like Steel Magnolias.

They are an ensemble cast who are misplaced in the South and they never really gel together. Plus, in the end, everyone will end up either dead, miserable, or Olympia Dukakis.

I wish them the best in 2009, but I think FC Dallas will continue to wilt away.

El mediocampista colombiano David Ferreira fue anunciado hace unos instantes como el nuevo refuerzo del FC Dallas de la Major League Soccer.

Ferreira -de 29 años- actualmente se encontraba defendiendo los colores el Atlético Paraenense de Brasil, club en el que en los últimos 3 años jugó 175 partidos y anotó 34 goles.

David Ferreira fue campeón con selección Colombia en la Copa América 2001 y además fue parte del equipo en las versiones 2004 y 2007 de dicho torneo. Su última participación con el combinado cafetero fue en la partido eliminatorio para el Mundial Sudáfrica 2010 ante Paraguay en Octubre del año pasado.

Revisa un video con fotos y goles de David Ferreira:

El diario argentino La Voz de Córdoba entrevistó hace algunos días a Darío Sala, arquero del FC Dallas de la Major League Soccer. El trasandino -ex Belgrano, River, Independiente, Deportivo Cali, Newell’s y Arsenal- se tomó el tiempo de contar su experiencia en el futbol estadounidense, de sus proyectos y su trabajo como "empresario" (haz click aquí para leer la entrevista completa).

Sin embargo, lo que mas me llamó la atención fue su respuesta ante la pregunta: "-¿Qué nivel tiene la MLS?". El argentino, por supuesto, defendió el nivel de la liga pero también dejó dando vueltas la posibilidad que los equipos de la MLS próximamente puedan de jugar la Copa Libertadores de América...

Ayer publicamos la noticia que el FC Dallas era la primera opción del delantero mexicano Jared Borgetti en la Major League Soccer, de cara al 2009.

Nos equivocamos.

Resulta que ahora las Chivas USA de la MLS han levantado la mano para tratar de hacerse con los servicios de Jared Borgetti—quien aseguran distintos medios mexicanos—definitivamente jugará en Estados Unidos el próximo año.

Esto.com reporta hoy que Borgetti es uno de los principales jugadores mexicanos por los que la Major League Soccer apostaría para la temporada 2009...

La MLS está en busca de más jugadores mexicanos que hagan crecer al mercado y a la liga de ese país y tiene en la mira al veterano delantero.

El sitio además agrega que es en Enero cuando se decidirá la situación de Borgetti...

A principios del próximo año se decidirá exactamente en qué equipo de la MLS militará el ex jugador del Monterrey.

Q: Borgetti debería ir al FC Dallas, Chivas USA, o quedarse en la casa? Qué crees?

Greetings and welcome to another exciting edition of Total 90, still the finest (and only) American football newsletter on Bleacher Report. We'd like to wish all of our readers a safe and happy holiday weekend. Remember, it's the one weekend of the year where obscene gluttony is not only accepted, but encouraged!

First, I'd like to start on a personal note. The NCAA football tournament began this past week, with my beloved Michigan State University snagging a first round bye thanks to their Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. They faced the University of Illinois-Chicago in a second-round game and unfortunately lost on penalty kicks after a scoreless game.

Still, sending head coach Joe Baum into retirement with two pieces of silverware in his last season is something to be proud of.

The Columbus Crew are MLS champions! They dispatched Red Bull New York last Sunday by a score of 3-1 to take their first every MLS Cup. Columbus had the best record in the regular season and backed it up in the playoffs with some very impressive results.

In the final, league MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto came up huge, assisting on all three goals. His third assist, to US International Frankie Hejduk was a thing of beauty. Schelotto chipped over the New York back line right to Hejduk's feet as he completed a run into the box. From there it was easy for Hejduk to beat NY keeper Danny Cepero and lock up the title for Columbus.

The Bundesliga seem to be very interested in American footballers of late. No, this isn't another tidbit on the Landon Donovan loan saga. FC Dallas' leading scorer Kenny Cooper is rumored to be a target of Eintracht Frankfurt. Early projections say that Frankfurt would cost MLS up to four-million for his services, and he would also be able to make significantly more money than the $325,000 that FC Dallas recently offered.

This is a move that makes a whole lot of sense. Cooper is a big, physical forward who is not afraid to pull the trigger. He's begun to make a name for himself on the international stage with Bob Bradley more willing to select him lately. He also wouldn't deal with the same problems that Donovan did during his early stint in the Bundesliga, namely being undersized and lacking in confidence.

Should Cooper make the move to Frankfurt, he would immediately start getting consideration for a spot on their first team.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber delivered his annual state of the league address and hinted at some big changes for the near future. First and most importantly, Garber has said that the league would start making schedule adjustments during international dates. The league won't be able to shut down completely on every international date, but teams will have a choice between shutting down on two international dates, or playing a reduced schedule during four international dates.

Garber also announced some important changes to the league schedule. With Seattle Sounders FC joining the league next season, there will be 15 clubs in MLS. Each team will play each other twice, with two more intraconference "rivalry games" to keep the schedule at the current slate of thirty games. LA and Chivas will still face each other three times per year. It's good to see that the league is recognizing how great these rivalries are for its health.

Also, the clubs that compete in the CONCACAF Champions League will no longer be asked to compete in SuperLiga. Last season, it stretched many clubs *cough* DC United *cough* to the breaking point. Instead, the top four teams that don't make the Champions League will compete in SuperLiga, similar to how European clubs directly qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Speaking of the Champions League, Houston Dynamo advanced to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over CD Luis Angel Firpo of El Salvador. Houston will open quarterfinal play in late February, but will not find out their opponent until the draw is made on December 10th.

Another person with a strong American connection has gained a prominent place in the ranks of Arsenal. First, it was Colorado's Stan Kroenke. Now, MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis has been named CEO of the club. He takes over the post that David Dein had vacated in early 2007.

In expansion news, Montreal has dropped out of the race because the required $40 million fee would have been tough to come up with given the current economic struggles plaguing the world. Ottawa and Vancouver are still in the running to bring a second MLS club to Canada.

Seattle began adding to their roster that already includes Kasey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg. In Wednesday's expansion draft, they took ten players, including MLS veterans Nate Jaqua, Peter Vagenas and Khano Smith. Seattle will almost assuredly struggle as every MLS expansion team has in their first season, but Ljungberg and Keller should be enough to attract fans in the Pacific northwest, a region with a rich football history.

Last on the news slate for the holiday weekend is Chelsea's new partnership with a football academy in Los Angeles. The London club has entered into an agreement with the Los Angeles Futbol Club (LAFC). Under the agreement, LAFC will host Chelsea tournaments, training sessions and a player and coach exchange program.

Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon said, "Providing elite training for young talent is critical to the long-term development of the sport in America."

This seems to be yet another promising move towards a bigger and better fan and player base for football in America. By providing quality training to players at a young age they are more likely to stay attached to the game later.

It was a good night for U.S. soccer Wednesday as the U.S. kids beat Guatemala 2-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

Already assured of qualifying for the next rounf of World Cup qualifying matches, U.S. coach Bob Bradley took this opportunity to play what essentially was his second string team. And he must have been pleased with the results.

The American team dominated possession of the ball throughout the game using short crisp passes. This was a skillful and dominating display from the U.S. albeit against a weak opponent, but skillful and dominating nonetheless. Perhaps the only negative: the quality of finishing did not match the quality of the passing.

Stars for the U.S. included Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore and Kenny Cooper. Adu scored his first goal for the senior national team with an incredible second half free kick. Going overseas has really helped Adu and it looks like he is finally beginning to live up to the hype.

Another player that is benefiting from playing overseas is Jozy Altidore. There is a noticeable improvement in this game since his move to Villarreal in Spain. Altidore formed an impressive partnership with FC Dallas’s Kenny Cooper who scored the first goal for the U.S.

Based on this performance it will be difficult for Bradley to both Altidore and Adu out of the team when world cup qualfying begins for real next year. I would also like to see more or the Altidore and Cooper partnership which could give the U.S. the physical presence that they have been missing since Brian McBride retired from International football.