J Hutcherson of US Soccer Players writes about a tactical preview of MLS Cup --
If your coaching style depends on appropriate motivation, you've got some options if you happen to be FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman. Though the underdog status is off the table, there's still the option of playing up the 'no one likes us and we don't care" angle. It sticks to the plot of being undervalued, something that Dallas has played up in interviews before and after advancing to MLS Cup.
There's also the "proving the point" line of thinking. After all, this underdog and undervalued team launched its title chances on a lengthy home and away win streak. You could argue that point was proved last week against a better opponent.
It's unlikely, highly unlikely, that what we'll see on the field in Toronto on Sunday night (8:30pm - ESPN) will come close to matching what Dallas did in Carson. Yes, Dallas played down their own result after the game. They played up how quickly LA could have turned them over if not for standout Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. They were gracious, more gracious than a 3-0 score line necessitates. In other words, once again Dallas was playing the role they've grown used too.
Sunday is different. They're the favorites, full stop. They got here by beating the teams in front of them in the Western Conference standings. Colorado's journey went through a Columbus team nobody really rated and an Earthquakes squad that - though dangerous - wasn't at the level of say Real Salt Lake or the LA Galaxy.
What's Dallas supposed to do with that? Play it down apparently. Revert to the idea that they're as up against it as Colorado without really bothering to define what 'it' really means. As motivational exercises go, they don't have much of a choice.
A team that's spent months in the mental space of unrecognized contenders can't be expected to suddenly switch that outlook to the team that's expected to win. It just doesn't work that way. Instead, they've got to find a way to reconstruct the self-interpretation they had before the start of the Western Conference final.
Fortunately for Dallas, the lack of the big market teams has become the story. Once again, the reality for Dallas is being ignored even when they're in the role of headliners. This is something they can work with.
Imagine if the opposite had happened. Dallas is inundated with media requests in the week leading up to the Cup from general outlets. Suddenly, they're news locally and nationally. And all this shortly after they sent out an open letter to local media asking them to deign to cover their soccer team. Thy move from casually disrespected to everybody's favorite and they still have to go out and play a soccer game.
Had that scenario really played out in full, we would be seeing a different Dallas on Sunday night. One having to deal with a new interpretation and new expectations that went well past whatever was said in their locker room. They would've lined up against a true underdog in Colorado, one feeling a lot like Dallas in every game except this one.
That's why Schellas Hyndman is coach of the year. From his earliest opportunity,he started linking his team's experience with Colorado's, even though they have very little in common. After all, Colorado was a Western Conference straggler that hadn't really threatened the top of the table in months. Dallas was in Supporters' Shield contention late in the season. But that's not the story Hyndman needed to tell.
Yes, Hyndman told MLSSoccer.com's Jonah Freedman that: it’s been very difficult to keep our focus." But at this point, assume everything Hyndman says is part of a bigger plan and a longer view.
Should Sunday's game end up being decided by very little, remember what Hyndman did in the run-up. He not only created, but coached a scenario that would benefit his team.
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