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Again, welcome back to another exciting MLS season... and the Workhorse of the Week column.
Last week, 10 fearless voters edged Mauro Diaz to his first Workhorse win for an active performance in Panama.
This past week, FC Dallas played twice, a frustrating home win with a leaky defense giving up two goals against Tauro FC, and a frustrating home draw to open the MLS season. Despite my double use of the word “frustration”, there were positives in both matches as its clear this squad is still figuring some things out. The back line is in process but has clear potential. The offense is generating chances but not putting them away.
Look for the chalkboard this week to highlight some areas of concern and opportunity for this team going forward.
My Recommendations
Jacori Hayes is legit. He was fun to watch. He balanced much better with Carlos Gruezo than Victor Ulloa did, bringing more attacking flair and some bite on the ball. He probably earned a yellow in the game, although his fouls weren’t that bad truly. He went the full 90, which was huge for him. Keep him in the starting lineup, Papi.
Rito Zielger is a great signing for this team. He is poised and better at the role that Walker Zimmerman performed. It’s clear that he and Matt Hedges are going to take time to really gel together, but that work of art is underway. I like him more and more. Good stuff.
Jimmy Maurer is a steal. He is a perfect security blanket in goal, even if we will miss Chris Seitz’s leadership from time to time. I expect Maurer to push Jesse over the course of the season though not outright win the job. I don’t think Jimmy had to do a ton on Saturday and probably should have done a little better on the one goal given up, but there were much fewer shaky moments distributing the ball out of the back.
A draw at home is not a good thing, unless you are FC Dallas coming out of a disappointing CCL result and not having figured out things yet. There were definite reasons to be both positive and gloomy ahead, so let’s see what this squad will design over the next couple of weeks.
Vote below!
Poll
Cast your vote for the Workhorse of the Week.
This poll is closed
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3%
Jimmy Maurer
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3%
Reggie Cannon
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0%
Ryan Hollingshead
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5%
Matt Hedges
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7%
Rito Ziegler
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0%
Maynor Figueroa
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1%
Carlos Gruezo
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67%
Jacori Hayes
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1%
Mauro Diaz
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0%
Roland Lamah
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0%
Santiago Mosquera
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1%
Michael Barrios
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3%
Maxi Urruti
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0%
Cristian Colman
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1%
No One