Top Five Pre-Season Roster Battles: #4 Ricardo Villar vs Daniel Cruz
by Daniel Robertson on Jan 27, 2012 8:30 AM CST
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Currently, FC Dallas sits with all eight international spots filled with the additions of Blas Perez, Hernan Pertuz and Carlos Rodriguez. With those three as well as roster stalwarts Fabian Castillo, David Ferreira and Jair Benitez taking up the other three spots that leaves Villar and Cruz as the guys on the chopping block should another international be signed.
Ricardo Villar was thrust into the spotlight last season when David Ferreira's injury happened, starting 14 of the last 16 games including the playoff loss to New York. His time last year was up and down, though, in my opinion, Villar struggled to catch up to the speed of MLS. I, as much as anyone, respect the need to give a player time to adjust to a new league, David Ferreira being the prime example, however Villar's play did not seem to get better as the season went on.
The bottom line is the attacking midfield position needs to have production and 0 goals/2 assists isn't getting the job done, especially given Villar's inexplicably high contract, tied for 5th highest on the squad. On the bright side, the Brazilian did bring a level of professionalism and technical ability to the position. He scored a very nice free kick in Open Cup play and was shifted around positions a bit.
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Daniel Cruz was brought in without a whole lot of fanfare in the middle of the 2011 season with a nice pedigree as the #10 and talisman of Belgian first division side Germinal Beerschot for nearly a decade. Cruz came in and showed flashes of talent, scoring a very nice goal in Chicago, but also struggled to really make an impact. On a significantly smaller contract closer to $100k and two years younger than Villar, Cruz seemed to have the inside leg on making the squad coming into 2012, but he has been sidelined with an injury that could keep him out for the majority of the pre-season.
I can't see how FC Dallas keeps both guys on the roster, but you've got to think at least one will stick around for the time being as Dallas sits without a suitable replacement for David Ferreira should the unthinkable happen again. Realistically, I think Dallas could do well finding a better option than either of these guys to backup Ferreira, but as it stands, Villar and Cruz are likely going head to head for a 2012 roster spot. What are your thoughts on these two players?
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Drop them both
Work in Bruno and Leyva. Use the international spots and money to bring in the rest of team Panama, Columbians/Brazilians are sooo 2010/2011
by Timothy Winning Voyles on Jan 27, 2012 8:57 AM CST reply actions
hahaahaaa
colombia/brasil = disco, panama = techno?
DallasTilIDie
MAJ, USA
stuck in Afghanistan, a long long way from the stadium formerly known as Pizza Hut Park
by DallasTilIDie on Jan 27, 2012 10:40 AM CST up reply actions
I'm not sure
Bruno is really a good fit for the attacking midfield position. Leyva, while I think he would do fine coming in on the wing as a sub if the team needs a goal, is not even close to ready.
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by Daniel Robertson on Jan 27, 2012 2:13 PM CST up reply actions
I still had hopes for Cruz, but....
Based on salary and lack of time to adjust last year, I was hopeful that Cruz could stick around and make the adjustment to MLS. With this injury, unfortunately I don’t think we’ll find out.
Villar would have to blow people away in preseason to earn a roster spot at that salary, I’d think.
Is this really just a competition between only the two of them? Isn’t Scott Seally in this conversation?
Scott Sealy a long shot
I suppose the logic here, is that either Villar or Cruz will definitely be on the team. But Scott Sealy? Maybe, but he is in a different category altogether. SJ did not renew with him (for a reason), then no one opted to take him in the re-entry draft (again, for a reason), so it isn’t clear at all what the expectation is for him to seriously make the cut, other than he’d better score a heck of a lot of goals during preseason, and I am sure he is quite cognizant of this.
generally I agree
If Villar’s too expensive, Cruz too hurt, and FCD needing more forward depth, Sealy could be this year’s version of Galindo (but hopefully with a better result). He had some good years in KC, and it’s possible SH could like what he sees and take a flyer on the guy if the other internationals eliminate themselves.
Here’s Hyndman’s thoughts on his from a Todd Date article on 3rd degree
bq. “I think he’s a solid striker. He’s probably a mixture of Santos and Cunningham type of player. He can hold the ball up like Santos could and then I think he’s got explosive speed like Jeff did. The thing is every day we watch him, there’s things we like and some areas that we want to continue to look at because if Scott continues to go the way he’s been going and when we get our first team back, he’s going against some of our starters, then we’ll have a much better view and getting him in games and seeing what he does. We’re looking at Scott to add some strength in the attack, some speed in the attack. He’s been unlucky because he’s had sports hernia, quadriceps, hamstring, so last year was really a bad year for him with all the injuries. But we’re not sure if he’s a No. 2 striker or a No. 1 striker. So we’ve got to keep looking at him.”
The thing to remember about Sealy
is he’s also an international and really he’s auditioning for a forward spot rather than attacking midfield. It’s certainly within the realm that both villar and Cruz are cut if Sealy is signed but I don’t see them competing with him.
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by Daniel Robertson on Jan 27, 2012 2:17 PM CST up reply actions
I think we should keep Cruz, seeing as we just signed him last season.
But Villar’s overpaid, non producing @$$ needs to go.
by MrTommyJackson on Jan 27, 2012 10:37 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
Pretty equal imo
I think it should come down to financials and roster needs because I can’t really distinguish between their on-field contributions. Both looked good at times last year, and both looked lost or were ineffective at times.
Cruz
is 2 years younger and on nearly half the contract but Villar is the one that’s healthy right now.
Hence the roster battle post :)
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by Daniel Robertson on Jan 27, 2012 2:19 PM CST up reply actions
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