ESPN

If FC Dallas loses on Saturday night at Real Salt Lake, this year’s club will accomplish a feat that has only happened twice previous in franchise history, FCD will finish the month of May winless. In both 2000 and 2004, Dallas went 0-4-1 in May but while the ’00 team did make the playoffs with a final regular-season mark of 14-14-4 and 46 points, the 2004 squad did not, ending up 10-14-6 with 36 points. Here’s a breakdown:

2000
May Record: 0-4-1
Record at End of May: 4-7-1, 13 points
Record Rest of Season: 10-7-3, 33 points
Final Record: 14-14-4, 46 points
Playoffs: Eliminated in opening round

2004
May Record: 0-4-1
Record at End of May: 2-4-2, eight points
Record Rest of Season: 8-10-4, 28 points
Final Record: 10-14-6, 36 points
Playoffs: Did not qualify

Analysis

So, as you can see, the 2000 team still managed to make the playoffs despite a winless May, but they were well over .500 the rest of the season. However, the 2004 club didn’t fare so well the balance of the campaign. So, is the 2012 team more like the 2000 team or the 2004 one that didn’t make the playoffs? That’s tough to say, but if FCD can get the likes of David Ferreira, Ricardo Villar and others back from the injured list, then they could make a run the rest of the way. But the burning question is have they already dug too deep of a hole to get out of?

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman was asked about what is always a point of contention in Frisco these days, his injury situation. Here are some updates:

Captain Ugo Ihemelu (concussion symptoms)

Hyndman: He’s going through the protocols. We’ll get the final evaluation tomorrow. But I think it’s 50-50 right now [for Saturday].

Midfielder Carlos Rodriguez (dislocated left elbow)

Hyndman: Yeah, he really is (getting close). It’s again one of those goofy injuries, but he’s had a great attitude. Thank goodness it didn’t need surgery. It was just put back in place. I would hope next week when we start training. We’re going to take Monday off, we hope to start training on Tuesday and we hope that he will be able to now come into our training.

Midfielder Ricardo Villar (right foot strain)

“Well, we’ll wait and see. I haven’t got those type of reports yet, but I know Ricardo;’s wanting to get on the field. What’s funny with Ricardo is he’s such a positive team player, he thought he’d be back in a week. I told him it’d probably be closer to four to six weeks and it seems to be.”

Fredy Montero scored twice in a 3-minute span to lead the Seattle Sounders to their fifth consecutive victory, 2-0 over FC Dallas on Wednesday night.

Seattle improved to 6-1-1. Dallas is 0-3-2 in its last five games and 3-5-3 overall.

After Dallas controlled the ball for most of the first 68 minutes, Seattle's Cordell Cato won a battle in the home team's end and sent the ball toward the right corner of the goal.

Montero maneuvered around defenders Matt Hedges and Hernan Pertuz and shot just inside the right post to beat goalkeeper Kevin Hartman on his short side from 15 yards out.

Montero's second goal came in the 71st minute on a short right-footed shot from in front of the net.

Montero, the Sounders' career leader with 37 MLS goals, entered the game with one goal and one assist in eight games this season. The team has scored only 13 goals this season, but has allowed a league-low three.

Seattle goalkeeper Bryan Meredith recorded his second shutout in his second start this season.

Despite missing injured starters Carlos Rodriguez and Ricardo Villar -- along with Daniel Hernandez, out after receiving a red card Sunday -- Dallas outplayed the Sounders in the first half.

FC Dallas' first-half advantage in shots was just 6-5, but the home team put four shots on goal to only one by Seattle. Dallas also had two corner kicks to one for the Sounders.

That one Seattle shot on goal was a good scoring chance. Hartman allowed a rebound with the net open, but the subsequent shot hit the post and the Sounders kicked the ball over the goal.

Meredith thwarted Dallas' best first-half chance by punching a header into the crossbar, then covering up the loose ball in front.

Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them. - Obi-Wan Kenobi

It's been a while since I've done a practice observations, life can sometimes get in the way. But I was in town so I stopped by Frisco for Friday's session.

- Based on what I saw today I wouldn't think Brek Shea would play this weekend. FCD has shut him down as a precaution, today he just did some light jogging and walking. Shea has a turf tow injury he picked up in Vancouver. He did play on it in LA and technically he's a game time decision. Coach Schellas Hyndman seems to think Shea can go, but with three games in seven days they may not risk him for this one.

- If Shea is out Scott Sealy seems the most probably to start in his place with Jackson just back and Adnrew Wiedeman & Carlos Rodriguez both injured.

- New trialist... or really a new signing. James Marcelin a Hatian holding mid recently waived by Portland Timbers (to make room for Steven Smith). Marcelin is a big kid, looks athletic and rangy in training, his touch looks good. FCD has requested to claim him off waivers after he played in the FCD Reserve game this week. There is an order to the waiver process, so once he clears to FCD he will be added to the FCD roster. That should happen today. He's a replacement for Bobby Warshaw, although even without Warshaw being on injured reserve FCD does have an open space.

- Fernando Clavijo is down in Panama scouting players. FCD may look to bring someone into the club next window. They have some room, a mid tier number perhaps. A "big" move would require FCD clearing some cap... The latter is what I expect to happen this summer.

- Bryan Leyva was missing today, he called in sick. Yes, seriously.

- Carlos Rodriguez was outside jogging for the first time since he was injured. He looks to be way off a return to me, couple weeks to my non0doctor eye. Hyndman confirmed C-Rod is not close.

- Ricardo Villar is jogging and doing some ball work. Moved better than Shea I thought. Getting close on Villar return to training.

- Kevin Hartman is back to full training and Hydnman says he had a great week. Hyndman hasn't made a cal yet as to who will start.

- FCD ran shot training sessions all this week, the hope is it will help their recover time in the short window before their next game after playing Colorado this weekend.

It’s now been almost a month since Ricardo Villar hit the pitch for FC Dallas. The Brazilian playmaker was injured in the first half of a 1-0 win over New England on April 5 and has yet to return to the field.

FCD ordered an MRI on Villar, who has been out since the Revs game with a foot sprain, earlier this week and on Thursday, Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman elaborated on the findings of that MRI.

“Yeah, we did get a result and I’m not real clear on the specifics. But it was what we had anticipated, a sprain. Villar told me it’s between two of the bones. There’s a bruise there and the thing for us is we’re looking at a total of six weeks. I don’t know, what has he been out, three? There’s always a concern about the nerve being bruised or damaged because that takes maybe a little bit longer to recover,” Hyndman said. “But from what Ricardo told me today was the last two days have been the best he’s felt, so we’re making some progress.”

Since Villar has already missed a month and the club estimated his injury would take about six weeks to recover, that would mean he should be in line to return in about two weeks or the May 19 visit from the Philadelphia Union.

FC Dallas continues to be rocked by a wave of injuries. However, that bleak outlook got a bit brighter on Saturday night when midfielder Andrew Jacobson returned to the first 11 after missing the last few games with a hamstring injury.

“Thought he did very well, I thought he was really causing them a lot of problems as he was going in between the lines and getting touches,” FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said on Monday of Jacobson’s performance against the Galaxy. “But you could tell the latter part of the game, he was finished.”

And Dallas could be getting No. 1 goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who has now missed three straight games with back spasms, back as soon as Sunday’s visit from the Colorado Rapids.

“Yeah, we hope. We’ll have a chance to see how he progresses this week,” Hyndman said. “The nice thing is Chris [Seitz] has really played well these last two games, hasn’t he? Kevin got his chance in 2010 when Dario [Sala] made a huge mistake down in New England and he never gave that spot back. So got to be careful if you open a door too much too often, somebody might take it.”

However, it will be a bit longer before FCD supporters will see central midfielder Ricardo Villar, who has been out since the New England game with a foot injury, back on the pitch.

“No, just day-to-day, getting a lot closer,” Hyndman said.

Chris Seitz will make a third straight start between the posts for FC Dallas on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The recovery of No. 1 goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who has missed two straight games with back spasms, is progressing nicely, but FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman decided to leave him back in Frisco this weekend so he can get some additional rest.

“I think he’s probably about 80, 85 percent right now. I think he’ll probably be ready to go against Colorado,” Hyndman said of Hartman. “That will give him a little bit more rest time. He wasn’t able to open it up completely yesterday [Wednesday] in training, so because of that we’ll keep him out of this game.”

However, the outlook isn’t quite as certain with midfielder Ricardo Villar, who continues to be sidelined with a big toe issue. “Don’t know, I think the ideal situation would be Colorado but I don’t know,” said a perplexed Hyndman.

But fellow midfielder Andrew Jacobson could return to action this weekend after missing the last few games with a hamstring issue. “AJ will be making this trip and hopefully we’ll be able to get him on the field,” Hyndman said.

Andrew Jacobson didn’t travel with FC Dallas over the weekend due to a right hamstring strain, but A.J. did go through a full session on Monday and could possibly return this week, as FCD hosts Real Salt Lake on Wednesday before traveling to Los Angeles on Saturday.

“He looks really quite good today [Monday],” Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said. “I had him in an exercise and he didn’t have any issues with it. It tightens up a little bit with him when he’s running longer distance, which is still a sign that it’s not 100 percent. When it doesn’t tighten up, then it’s natural. So we’ve got to reevaluate him tomorrow and see where he is. He may be a player that we won’t be able to get the full 90 out of, but can get him on the field.”

Jacobson, who led FCD in assists in 2011 with five, had started the first six games before suffering his current injury in the first half of a 2-1 win over Montreal last Saturday at FC Dallas Stadium.

Fellow midfielder Ricardo Villar continues to be out with a left foot strain and his status remains up in the air.

“Ricardo was hoping that he’d be ready to go. I don’t think he’s going to make this Real Salt Lake game but I think he’s probably again 70 percent,” Hyndman said. “I think he’s capable of playing. It all depends on our needs but we may want to be a little bit safe with the approach.”

Villar currently ranks second on the club with two goals, an impressive total considering the Brazilian playmaker has missed the last few games after suffering a foot injury in the first half of a 1-0 win over New England back on April 5.

FC DALLAS vs VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
BC PLACE, Vancouver, B.C.
April 21, 2012
9 p.m. CT (tape delay following Texas Rangers on KTXA-21)

FC Dallas' Saturday night road matchup against the Vancouver Whitecaps will kick off at 9 p.m. CT, but the match will air on tape delay due to the postponement of Friday night's Texas Rangers-Detroit Tigers baseball game. The estimated start time of the FC Dallas broadcast is 9:30 p.m. CT on TXA 21.

REFEREE: Edvin Jurisevic.
MLS Career: 41 games; FC/gm: 22.1; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 4; pens: 5
SAR (bench): Darren Clark;
JAR (opposite): Mike Rottersman;
4th: Paul Ward

INJURY REPORT:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC - OUT: FW Darren Mattocks (R shoulder burn); DF Alain Rochat (L knee sprain); GK Brian Sylvestre (R knee surgery); DOUBTFUL: FW Etienne Barbara (groin strain); MF Michael Nanchoff (L heel contusion)

FC DALLAS - OUT: MF David Ferreira (R foot surgery); MF Ricardo Villar (R foot strain); MF Andrew Wiedeman (sports hernia repair); QUESTIONABLE: MF Andrew Jacobson (R hamstring strain); DF Hernan Pertuz (R foot strain)

Jacobson and Villar did not travel, Pertuz did and should be available.

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

SUSPENDED: none

WARNINGS:

SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none

SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: VAN: Eric Hassli

HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL-TIME (2 meetings):
Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 1 goal ...
FC Dallas 2 wins, 4 goals ...
Ties 0

AT VANCOUVER (1 meeting):
Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 1 goal ...
FC Dallas 1 win, 2 goals ...
Ties 0

RETURN MATCHES:
8/15: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. FC Dallas, 7 p.m. PT;
9/15: FC Dallas vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 7:30 p.m. CT

LAST YEAR (MLS):

4/23: VAN 1, DAL 2 (Rochat 25 - John 53; Avila 83)
10/15: DAL 2, VAN 0 (Chavez 35; Shea 54)

- FC Dallas won both meetings last year in Whitecaps FC's inaugural season, including a 2-1 win April 23 at Empire Field.

Coaches record:
Martin Rennie vs. DAL: first game ...
Schellas Hyndman vs. VAN: P2 W2 L0 D0

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC NEWS

- After starting the season without allowing a goal in 426 minutes, Whitecaps FC have now conceded six goals in the last 114 minutes.

- Both of Sporting's first two goals began with set-piece opportunities. In the three goals allowed to San Jose, one came as a result of a free kick chance.

- Whitecaps FC had a season-high 19 attempts at goal and put seven of those on target, also a season-high. Coming into the match, Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen had been forced into seven saves total in six games.

- Camilo came in off the substitutes' bench for the final half-hour for his longest shift since starting the first three matches of the season as he recovers from a quadriceps injury.

- 2011 No. 1 overall pick Omar Salgado made his first appearance of the season, coming in for the final 11 minutes on the left side of midfield.

FC DALLAS NEWS

- FC Dallas have won two games in a row, both thanks to late game-winners.

- Already missing Ricardo Villar with a foot injury suffered in the New England match, Hyndman was forced into another change at halftime when Andrew Jacobson took a knock.

- That change was further complicated when Hern·n Pertuz was also unable to return after the halftime break.

- The substitutions also brought a tactical change, with Hyndman putting Blas Perez as a lone striker up top and setting out Brek Shea and Fabian Castillo to attack from wide positions.

- For Perez, his goal was his third of the season. He also now has three assists, recording an assist on the Shea's game-winner, his first since getting two in the opening game win vs. New York. "Whenever I score a goal, it benefits the team," Perez said. "I'm doing well so far, but there is still more work that we can do to understand each other better and to have better chemistry."

- On Wednesday, Hyndman confirmed Jacobson and Villar will not make the trip to Vancouver. "You may have players sometime say my leg doesn't feel 100 percent and they're looking not to play. Villar's the opposite. I'm ready to go even if he's 40 percent injured, I can help because he wants to play, because he has such a passion to play," Hyndman to ESPNDallas.com. "So I think on this one, we've got to slow it down a little bit because this could be a serious injury."

In what isn't a huge surprise, FC Dallas will be without midfielder Andrew Jacobson this weekend after he suffered a right hamstring strain in the first half of a 2-1 win over Montreal on Saturday night at FC Dallas Stadium.

Hernan Pertuz, who also was replaced at halftime due to injury, a swollen right foot, will travel to Vancouver. Here’s FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman making it official.

"AJ will not be traveling. Pertuz will be traveling and Villar not," Hyndman said.

With Jacobson unavailable, the likely pick to replace him in the first 11 is second-year player Bobby Warshaw, who really showed well for himself in the second half of the win over the expansion Impact.

As to when Ricardo Villar might be return, no one seems to know. But that didn’t stop his head coach from extolling his toughness and love of the game after training on Wednesday.

"Ricardo is such a tough player. He’s a guy that plays for the passion of the game. He doesn’t play for the money or the glory, he plays because he loves it. You may have players sometime say my leg doesn’t feel 100 percent and they’re looking not to play. Villar’s the opposite. I’m ready to go even if he’s 40 percent injured, I can help because he wants to play, because he has such a passion to play," Hyndman said. "So I think on this one, we’ve got to slow it down a little bit because this could be a serious injury."

Jacobson and Pertuz were both listed as questionable on the MLS injury report published on Tuesday while Villar continues to be listed as out.

Schellas Hyndman has never made any affronts about his strong affinity for the 4-4-2 formation, specifically such a look with a diamond midfield. Of course, with FC Dallas currently lacking in the depth department that just isn’t possible. But when asked for his thoughts on the performance of ex-captain Daniel Hernandez so far this season after a Monday morning recovery session in Frisco, he might have offered a glimpse into his crystal ball.

“When you go with two central midfielders, your hope is that you have one that’s very attacking and one that is very defending. With A.J. and Daniel, they’re basically the same. They’re both holding midfielders, so you need that second striker there that can almost drop back to be of a 4-5-1 formation and we didn’t have that. Blas [Perez] wasn’t that guy and Fabian [Castillo] wasn’t that guy, so A.J. and Daniel had to do a lot of work, a lot of work,” Hyndman said.

He added: “I think players like Daniel play better when you’ve got three central midfielders. Now you can always go in a 4-4-2 with a small diamond, much like what Real Salt Lake does, and we may eventually go in there once David [Ferreira] comes back, Villar’s back and we get all these quality players on our field, Jackson and now you say we can go into a small diamond because we have quality players that are going to keep the ball more.”

Midfielders David Ferreira and Andrew Wiedeman, who had surgery to repair a sports hernia last week, remain on the shelf for at least the next six to seven weeks, but FC Dallas also had several other players pick up injuries last week, so here’s an update from FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman.

M ANDREW JACOBSON (hamstring injury in first half of Saturday’s win over Montreal)

Hyndman: It [his condition] is a big improvement from yesterday but there’s still a little bit of swelling in the back of the leg and we’re going to be very cautious this week and see if we can get him back for this game.

M BRYAN LEYVA (ankle sprain picked up in training last week)

Hyndman: No it wasn’t [in last week’s reserve game that he picked up that injury]. It was out here in training and it was just a couple days ago. He’ll be going for the reserve game today [Monday].

D HERNAN PERTUZ (leg injury in first half of Montreal game)

Hyndman: Much better as well, it happened about the last 10 minutes of the half. He just took a pretty hard hit to the middle of the foot. He’s getting treatment. Today was a recovery day, so neither player was really asked to do anything but I think he’ll be a player that we’ll just continue to watch as well.

M RICARDO VILLAR (foot injury in first half of 1-0 win over New England on April 5

Hyndman: Very good improvement, his toe is probably the area that’s got the greatest concern. The reason for that is it’s an area where you really explode from, that part of your foot. Right now we’re just grading it.

It was a solid win by FC Dallas on Saturday night, beating the expansion Montreal Impact 2-1 at FC Dallas Stadium in a game that was eventful to say the least.

When Dallas gaffer Schellas Hyndman made two changes to start the second half, bringing on Bruno Guarda and Bobby Warshaw for Andrew Jacobson and Hernan Pertuz, respectively, few thought it was anything more than a tactical adjustment. And since those changes signaled a shift from the 4-4-2 formation that FCD had employed in the opening 45 minutes to more of a 4-1-4-1 in the final half of play, no one thought that those two substitutions could be injury-related.

However, injuries are exactly what had happened, something Hyndman discussed after the game.

It turns out Jacobson was having some issues in his back and leg after getting kicked more than a few times by the hard-fouling boys from Montreal. As for Pertuz, he had a foot swell up and was unable to answer the bell for the second half.

“Pertuz got kicked over on the sideline and just wasn’t able to go. He fought his way through the first half but we knew something was wrong,” Hyndman said. “When we brought him up here [to the locker room at halftime], the foot was swollen and he just couldn’t go. AJ took a few hits, more of the back and leg that was bothering him.”

Obviously, if these injuries keep one or both of these guys off the field for any significant period of time they are big negatives for Dallas. No matter whether it’s been at left back or at right back, where he has started each of the last two weeks in Hyndman’s 4-4-2, the Colombian defender Pertuz has been a rock-solid addition to the FCD backline.

Some might have questioned why Jair Benitez, who normally starts at left back for Dallas, wasn’t back in the first 11 for the Montreal game, but the answer is simple. If Hyndman is anything, he’s consistent, especially when it comes to winning. When a formation and a lineup works, if all of those same 11 players are available the following week, it’s a safe bet he’ll employ the same look barring something unforeseen.

That’s why Pertuz was in the starting lineup against the Impact and Benitez was on the pine. Pertuz has earned his playing time and will be until he slips up or Jair plays his way back into the first 11 through a string of strong performances in training... pending injury of course. Pertuz might be relatively new to MLS and to this club, but he’s already more than shown his value and if he’s not available for a while, it would definitely be a big loss.

Ditto for Jacobson, who after a rough start to the season, seems to have found himself and is no longer trying to do too much in the middle of the field. Some feel he might best serve this team as the holding mid with Warshaw possibly starting in the linking role but that’s a whole other discussion. The fact of the matter is that he and Daniel Hernandez form a steady if not a bit nard-nosed tandem in the middle of the yard and if A.J. is out for a while, that too would be a big loss.

Of course, the Dallas midfield is already a bit thin with David Ferreira out for about the next two months, as is Andrew Wiedeman, after both of them underwent recent surgeries. Ricardo Villar is week to week. Help is on the way as Jackson is thought to be arriving this week but it’s unknown what his current fitness level is, but if he’s ready to roll, he can definitely provide help in very short order.

We’ll find out more about the condition of Jacobson and Pertuz on Monday. Hopefully the news is good.

Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee this week suspended New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for what was deemed a reckless challenge on FC Dallas midfielder Ricardo Villar.

Joseph’s action occurred in the 62nd minute of last Thursday's match between FC Dallas and New England. He will serve his suspension Saturday when the Revolution play D.C. United at Gillette Stadium.

Fines collected will be donated to the charitable partners of MLS W.O.R.K.S. and the MLS Players Union.

Here's the foul.

By his nature, Schellas Hyndman is a glass half-full kind of guy. So even as his FC Dallas team is currently rocked by injuries to guys like 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira and Ricardo Villar, who has been filling in for Ferreira at the No. 10 spot, as well as several other, instead of lamenting his team’s current lack of depth, Hyndman looks at it a bit differently.

For example, were it not for Villar’s injury in Thursday’s 1-0 win over New England, then right back Zach Loyd likely wouldn’t have been able to step up in the 95^th minute to take the free kick that captain Ugo Ihemelu got on the end of for the game-winner. But Loyd isn’t the only FCD player to embrace such an unexpected opportunity. In fact, a majority of Dallas players have done so thus far in the season and that’s music to the ears of their head coach.

“I think what ends up happening is it’s not just [Loyd on free kicks] but having Villar out, you’ve got Fabian [Castillo] now taking corner kicks. There’s a lot of good things,” Hyndman said. “The nice thing with this team is when the opportunity comes for players to step up, majority of the time they do. That’s what’s going to make us a successful team."