Team
This week we got a bonus double dose chatting with Dan Hunt on Facebook as well as an impromptu Twitter discussion looking at a number of topics including some nuggets about a possible future USL team, a marquee upcoming friendly and much more!
Click here to read the full Facebook recap.
Click here to head over to Dan's Twitter page and be sure to follow him if you don't already!
It truly is a full team effort for FC Dallas right now in their six-game unbeaten streak and two players have been named to MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Week. With a three-game home defensive scoreless streak going, George John earned a nod to the TOTW while team captain David Ferreira also earned TOTW honors. In addition, Schellas Hyndman, who set a franchise record on Saturday, found himself as coach of the week. Read below to see Nicholas Rosano's comments on each of the three honorees.
DF: George John (FC Dallas) – While Dallas dominated the Whitecaps in their 2-0 home winover the weekend, they still needed that bit of defensive stability to keep things tight on their own end, and John did just that while even helping to set up Dallas' opener.
MF: David Ferreira (FC Dallas) – At his irrepressible best in Dallas' win over Vancouver. You won't see his name on the scoresheet, but Ferreira pulled all the strings in midfield, made a number of key passes and was effective in his passing in Vancouver's half of the field.
Coach: Schellas Hyndman (FC Dallas) – The transition to 4-2-3-1 has well and truly worked for Hyndman's team, and the weekend's 2-0 win over Vancouver was perhaps its best iteration so far. FCD nearly ran Vancouver off the field, and Hyndman deserves a good deal of credit for getting his team humming.
On Thursday, Dan Hunt sat down for his weekly Facebook chat discussing a number of topics in the FC Dallas world including EPL on NBC, the upcoming summer transfer window and FCD license plates.
Click here to read the full chat transcript.
We're looking forward to another exciting match on Saturday against Vancouver Whitecaps FC and it's going to be a special evening as we promote the FC Dallas Foundation’s Gear Up collection night presented by Albertsons Market.
Prior to entering the stadium, there will be large donation boxes at each gate where fans can drop off new or used soccer balls, shin guards, and cleats. These items are distributed to children locally and all over the world, so they can have the equipment to play the game!
Everyone that donates will received a 10% off coupon to the FC Dallas Team Store, so remember to Gear Up this weekend before the game!
George John and Raul Fernandez have earned another accolade for their solid performances on Saturday night against the Galaxy, being named to the top 20 of the Castrol Index for week seven. With his big PK save, Fernandez comes in at second in the league while a game-winning goal and overall solid defensive play has George John in at 10th.
Congrats to both! To view the full Castrol Index, click here.
Castrol Index Week 7 Top 20 Performers
| Rank | Player | Position | Team | Minutes | Opponent | Points |
| 1 | Bobby Shuttleworth | Goalkeeper | New England Revolution | 90 | Seattle Sounders FC | 1,544 |
| 2 | Raúl Fernández | Goalkeeper | FC Dallas | 90 | LA Galaxy | 1,522 |
| 3 | Donovan Ricketts | Goalkeeper | Portland Timbers | 90 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1,448 |
| 4 | Jack McInerney | Forward | Philadelphia Union | 90 | Toronto FC | 1,342 |
| 5 | Luis Robles | Goalkeeper | New York Red Bulls | 90 | D.C. United | 1,285 |
| 6 | Nick Rimando | Goalkeeper | Real Salt Lake | 90 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1,197 |
| 7 | Conor Casey | Forward | Philadelphia Union | 90 | Toronto FC | 1,165 |
| 8 | Carlo Cudicini | Goalkeeper | LA Galaxy | 90 | FC Dallas | 1,153 |
| 9 | Dan Kennedy | Goalkeeper | Chivas USA | 90 | Colorado Rapids | 1,142 |
| 10 | George John | Defender | FC Dallas | 90 | LA Galaxy | 1,082 |
| 11 | Camilo Sanvezzo | Forward | Vancouver Whitecaps | 88 | Real Salt Lake | 1,082 |
| 12 | Jámison Olave | Defender | New York Red Bulls | 90 | D.C. United | 1,074 |
| 13 | Joe Bendik | Goalkeeper | Toronto FC | 90 | Philadelphia Union | 1,041 |
| 14 | Brad Davis | Midfielder | Houston Dynamo | 90 | Chicago Fire | 1,022 |
| 15 | Djimi Traoré | Defender | Seattle Sounders FC | 90 | New England Revolution | 921 |
| 16 | Clint Irwin | Goalkeeper | Colorado Rapids | 90 | Chivas USA | 916 |
| 17 | Will Bruin | Forward | Houston Dynamo | 75 | Chicago Fire | 895 |
| 18 | Lamar Neagle | Midfielder | Seattle Sounders FC | 90 | New England Revolution | 890 |
| 19 | Víctor Bernárdez | Defender | San Jose Earthquakes | 90 | Portland Timbers | 856 |
| 20 | Federico Higuaín | Forward | Columbus Crew | 90 | Montreal Impact | 851 |
Sitting on top of MLS by three points after Saturday's big win over the two-time defending champion LA Galaxy, the weekly MLS Power Rankings make for some nice reading no matter which site you check out. In pretty much all the power rankings out there, FC Dallas is in either first or second place and we've rounded them up to get a good look at what people around the league think of first-place FCD.
The MLSsoccer.com power rankings have FCD in second place behind Kansas City, jumping all the way up from seventh. Jeff Carlisle's ESPN Power Rankings have FC Dallas in the top spot, up from last week's second place position. Avi Creditor over at SI.com has FC Dallas in first while Soccer By Ives also has Schellas Hyndman's men in the top spot.
Rounding out our look around the power rankings world, Steve Davis of ProSoccerTalk has FC Dallas in first place and Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com has FCD in first as well.
Last Wednesday, Zach Loyd, Kenny Cooper, Blas Perez and Chris Seitz partnered with the Texas Back Institute, official spine specialist of FC Dallas, and Dr. Michael Hisey, M.D. for a photo shoot promoting an upcoming media campaign. Check out some of these behind the scenes pics!
20,465 at FC Dallas Stadium were treated to a show tonight in Frisco as we saw two PKs stopped and a late George John game-winner to push FCD farther into first place in MLS. Here are the highlights from the epic win:
MOVES: Ferreira puts Juninho on his backside.
SAVE: Magee stopped by a diving Fernandez.
OFFSIDE: Cooper scores, but the flag is up.
RED CARD: Leonardo takes down Blas Perez earning a PK and a red card.
SAVE: Cudicini stops Cooper from the penalty spot.
PENALTY: Villarreal earns PK for the Galaxy.
SAVE: Fernandez denies Donovan.
GOAL: George John wins it in the 88th minute.
Just about everything was going right for FC Dallas through the first half of Saturday's game at Toronto FC. Andrew Jacobson's 34th-minute strike put the away side in front, but a peculiar moment happened just before halftime.
A hard cross fired in by Michel met the head of George John at an awkward angle and while the big defender popped right back up, things didn't seem quite right as they walked off the field at the break. Suffering from some balance loss at halftime, Schellas Hyndman chose to not take any chances and substituted in rookie defender London Woodberry.
While there have been some thoughts that John may not be able to go this weekend against Los Angeles, Hyndman dispelled those fears after practice on Wednesday.
"He had a pretty bad headache and balance loss out in Toronto which really affected our performance, but for safety’s sake we went down the road of protecting players," Hyndman told FCDallas.com. "Yesterday, he was cleared by the doctors and just did a warmup at SMU. Today we got him involved in training, but used him as a neutral to keep him away from heading. Our thoughts are that he’ll be alright for this weekend."
Full match highlights from Saturday's 2-2 draw between FCD and Toronto FC
CROSSBAR: Andrew Jacobson pings one off the crossbar on a dipping effort from 30 yards out
GOAL: Andrew Jacobson finishes a free kick from Michel for his second goal of the season to give FCD a first-half advantage
GOAL: Blas Perez blasts home a long cross from Jackson to double Dallas' advantage in the 59th minute
GOAL: Second half substitute Justin Braun scores off a Dallas miscommunication to pull TFC within a goal
SAVE: Raul Fernandez gets a fingertip on Darren O'Dea's flick to preserve the FCD lead
WIDE: Fabian Castillo just misses restoring the two-goal Dallas advantage after a long run
GOAL: Darrel Russel hits an incredible shot in the 90th minute to steal a point for Toronto FC