Football Season Guide

FC Dallas followed up on a historic season with a poor campaign last time around as they failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in four years by finishing seventh in the Western Conference. For much of the first half of the season Dallas looked on course of another top spot finish in the Western Conference but a slump in form coupled with injuries to key players meant that they had to settle for the seventh place with San Jose Earthquakes making it to the playoffs thanks to a superior win record. Coach Oscar Pareja has cut out the deadwood during the off-season but has concentrated on boosting his defense when it came to new acquisitions despite the fact that they had the fourth best defensive record in the Western Conference last season and it was further upfront that they struggled for consistency. Anton Nedyalkov and Reto Ziegler are both expected to start the new season as the first choice in a new look back four while the arrival of Santiago Mosquera will further boost the options on the flanks for Pareja. The rest of the offense and the midfield though remains untouched and Pareja seems to be hoping that luck will finally favor Mauro Diaz who has had issues with fitness over the last couple of seasons. With Javier Morales being released there is no direct replacement available for the midfield though Pareja will feel he has enough cover in Roland Lamah, Tesho Akindele and Michael Barrios. Dallas should once again challenge for the top spot in the Western Conference and aim for a strong run in the playoffs though Diaz's fitness and Max Urruti's consistency up front will be key to their fortunes this season.