Who could be more important than Juan Toja?

By: Robert | July 18th, 2007

I’ve already gone on record saying that the MLS MVP at this point is FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja, in fact in my opinion to this point he has also been MLS’ MOP (Most Outstanding Player, there’s a difference between the two but I don’t want to get into it.) Call me a ‘homer’ if you want (I’m sure there are other candidates on other teams,) but you’d be hard pressed to author an opinion against FC Dallas employee number eight. In his first MLS season Juan Toja has become the Hoops physical and emotional leader and he deserves all the praise he has been receiving. But there is another FC Dallas player who has been just as important to the team in a different fashion and he deserves some recognition of his own, defensive midfielder Pablo Ricchetti.

Pablo doesn’t score goals (zero this season,) and he rarely creates them for others (three assists this year) but his insertion into the starting XI (that’s eleven for those of you who can’t read Roman) has helped fortify the Hoops defense and transformed FC Dallas from a squad with a solid attacking unit into a real contender for the MLS Cup, US Open Cup and SuperLiga title.

In games without Pablo Ricchetti (he signed with the team right before the season began, April 5th, and didn’t join the starting XI until May 12th) the Hoops defense has been soccer’s version of a sieve, allowing a staggering two goals a game, while the team as a whole accumulated a less than average record of 2–4–2. But since Ricchetti has made it to the field opponent’s offensive forays through the middle have been broken up so well that the two central defenders behind him have been able to help out wide and not worry about the ground they just vacated. But the proof of his importance is in the numbers, with Pablo on the field the defense stiffens up to allow less than a goal per game (0.8), high-lighted by three straight clean sheets from June 23rd to July 4th. The overall team play also improves with Ricchetti on the pitch as the Hoops pick up a championship quality 2.2 points-per-game (7-2-1 record) compared to the meager one point per contest when he is absent.

However its been his absences that have created a slight cause for concern, second on he team in yellow cards (6, Carlos Ruiz has 7); Ricchetti has already been suspended once this season for card accumulation and is two cards away from another call from the MLS front office (more on this team-wide phenomenon coming later.) As the second half of the season begins hopefully Pablo Ricchetti will clean up his act, without having it affect his game; because we need him in Dallas where with him on the pitch the FC stands for “finding confidence.”

HOOPS PRIDE!

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