WHAT DOES FC DALLAS NEED TO DO TO MAKE THE MLS CUP PLAYOFFS IN 2010?
Thanks to an impressive late-season run, Schellas Hyndman’s club came within an eyelash of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2007, but a loss at Seattle in the final weekend officially eliminated them from postseason contention. Despite a somewhat disappointing end to 2009, it is clearly a team on the rise. If there was a theme for FCD in ’09, it was upheaval. Hyndman shuttled players on and off the roster throughout the year, a season that saw the departure of two of the club’s longest-tenured players in Kenny Cooper, who was transferred to Germany over the summer, and defender Drew Moor, who had been with FCD since 2005 before being traded to Colorado in late August. The first 11 that Hyndman fielded in the season-ending loss at Qwest Field included just five holdovers who also started in the season opener with Chicago back in March. If FCD is to make that leap from contender to playoff team, then Hyndman’s club simply will need to start the year off in much better f
