There is a lot of speculation out there that Cuban-born striker Maykel Galindo is almost a lock to make the FC Dallas roster heading into the season. But as ESPN College Gameday commentator Lee Corso so eloquently puts it, not so fast my friend.
Sure, Galindo looks like he is back to his old self and is 100 percent healthy and completely free of the litany of ailments that eventually led to Chivas USA to basically cut him loose for nothing after the 2010 season.
But as we all saw last year, FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman is committed to going with the 4-1-4-1 formation going forward. Last year, it was Jeff Cunningham and then Milton Rodriguez who were stationed alone up top as the club’s lone striker and the results for the most part were pretty solid.
While Hyndman is a proponent of the more traditional 4-4-2 formation, the same system he has employed during his long, productive time at SMU and even earlier in his time as FCD’s gaffer, it became abundantly clear last year that he didn’t have the personnel to run the 4-4-2 to his liking, so he went with the 4-1-4-1.
And in the second preseason game against Houston Baptist, Hyndman rolled out the 4-4-2 where Galindo was paired up top with up-and-comer Ruben Luna for the second half. For the most part, the results were solid but it also brought up an interesting point. Can Galindo function as the lone striker in this offense?
The gaffer himself was asked about it after the win over HBU and his answer was an unequivocal no. Hyndman detailed how uncomfortable the veteran forward was as the lone striker and cited as an example the fact that he had always played in a 4-4-2 whether it was during his time with Chivas USA or prior to that in the USL.
So, unless Galindo can all of a sudden learn how to completely change his game and become as effective by himself up top as he is with a strike partner, then it looks like his chances of making this team aren’t good. Rodriguez has played pretty well in preseason thus far and if indeed Hyndman again fields the 4-1-4-1 in 2011 and all signs point to yes in that department, then Milton and Ruben should be the top two forwards as we head into the regular season.
Where would that leave Galindo? Likely on the bench, that’s where. Sure, some might argue that he’s better than Rodriguez and that’s a fair statement but if his comfort level in the 4-1-4-1 doesn’t improve, then the edge would have to go to the veteran Colombian because he played half of last season in such a system and is clearly pretty comfortable as this club’s lone striker.
Of course, it’s tough to figure out Hyndman’s thought process on much of anything and he could still choose to keep Galindo on the roster because his team is pretty bereft of forwards. But if he sticks with the one-striker look, logic dictates his status is uncertain at best.