FC Dallas Blogging

FC Dallas, despite having never made it to the MLS Championship in either their current incarnation or formerly as the Dallas Burn, have usually made each season worth watching nonetheless. In most of the last 11 seasons they have normally sat at or near the top of the standings in the Western Conferance, and have only failed to qualify for the playoffs in two years (though admittedly, most teams in MLS qualify for the playoffs.) Unfortunately, FC Dallas looks to be replicating their most mediocre seasons thus far. Their loss against New England the other night leaves them in 3rd place in the West, falling behind a surging Chivas USA. The top two teams by points totals of each conferance get a spot in the playoffs, while four other teams with the next highest points totals are allocated spots as well. Dallas currently sits 5th overall in points, and barring a complete melt-down will get one of those four spots in the playoffs. That's a pretty low bar in MLS though where 8 of a total of 13 teams get in, and FC Dallas' woes are summarized pretty succinctly here:

...Dallas is as they appear. A team that can beat the lesser MLS sides, but unable to beat the teams that risen to the top at this late stage of the season. Also telling is that Dallas is the only team with a winning record and a negative goal differential. Just to compare within their own conference Chivas and Houston have +17 goal differentials.

So in case you were getting revved up for a deep run in the playoffs, you might want to wait to get out your foam number #1 finger. If the standings remain largely unchanged, Dallas is likely to play either Houston or Chivas, teams that they haven't enjoyed tremendous success against and that themselves are racking up wins at this point in the season. Dallas, with it's incompetent backline and at best uneven offensive performance, is likely to see an early exit from the playoffs barring some unexpected and semi-miraculous turnaround.