FC Dallas’ Open Cup match in two words: muy importante
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup always has a special attraction for supporter diehards – but this one has even more around Toyota Stadium
Major League Soccer teams join the U.S. Open Cup field as the Round of 32 begins tonight. Some of them, anyway.
The Open Cup has been a bit of a mess this year due to some power plays and politics and general sausage making of professional soccer in this country. Still, it’s an important happening along the U.S. pro soccer calendar – and even more important for the local team, particularly in 2024. Here’s a look at why:
Lamar Hunt’s name is on the tournament
So much of Dallas soccer history traces to late pro soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. Safe to say, Dallas soccer – all of Dallas soccer, youth through professional levels – wouldn’t look the same had the man affectionately known as Uncle Lamar not taken such a personal interest. Of course, his reach stretches across the United States; he was solely responsible for rescuing MLS at its darkest moment, back in 2001, when it came so close to joining the well stocked graveyard of attempts at American professional soccer. And since Dallas was home … well, you get it.
All of that is why this tournament is officially known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
As such, FC Dallas wants to take it seriously. Always. Which doesn’t always translate to success. Last year Dallas took a rotated lineup and experimental formation into Nashville and saw its 2023 U.S. Open Cup run end in exactly 90 forgettable minutes in Tennessee.
Things did go better a couple of times for the club. Titles in 1997 under Dave Dir and 2016 under Oscar Pareja represent shining moments, two of the club’s three major trophies over 29 years. (The 2016 Supporters Shield is the other one).
They’ll look to launch a similar run against Memphis from the USL Championship tonight.
Possibly the club’s best chance at hardware
There is no breaking news here: the team is off to a poor start.
Injuries, a roster that doesn’t provide sufficient cover and struggles to implement a new new tactical identity – with all of these things interlocking at some point, it must be said – now see FC Dallas sitting 13th of 14 teams in the MLS Western Conference.
Yes, there are 24 league matches remaining, and history has taught us that MLS teams can rally to overcome these substandard starts. But, you know … tik-tok. Time is running short to climb out of this ditch.
So Open Cup is a way to rescue some honor, even if positioning along the league standing can’t be fully recovered. And we know it can happen. If you time traveled back to 2013 you’d find a historically terrible D.C. United side. By the numbers, Ben Olsen’s team was among the worst ever in league play. And yet that team, somehow, against all odds, claimed U.S. Open Cup. Cinderella story and all that.
There’s also Leagues Cup sitting out there for FC Dallas – but every MLS club has eyes on that one, along with all Liga MX clubs. Leo Messi and Miami will be particularly interested and likely favored, so that one will be considerably more difficult.
Open Cup represents a good or at least good-ish opportunity. Because …
The messy Open Cup ‘24 construction
There’s too much to explain, so I’ll sum up:
This year’s Open Cup field is significantly watered down due to limited MLS participation; just 8 of 29 MLS clubs are joining the field. FC Dallas is one of them.
Mathematically, that is a huge boost to the eight MLS teams’ hopes. The officially sanctioned Tier 1 league has much bigger budgets for staffs and, more importantly, players, which supplies a huge built-in advantage.
That isn’t to say USL Championship clubs or other lower tier clubs can’t manufacture some upsets along the way. In fact, count on it.
Last year MLS teams were 17-5 against USL Championship sides. So, yes, MLS sides have a good record against the Tier 2 clubs (and against the lower league sides, too.) But it ain’t perfect. And it won’t be this year.
FC Dallas will deploy a strong lineup
Nothing is official, but FC Dallas manager Nico Estévez has indicated in several ways that he plans to take this competition seriously. He even said so last week. And his lineup rotation Saturday in Toronto backed up the claim.
In addition to boosting chances of a positive result, the club badly needs to establish chemistry, understanding and predictability between the main attacking principals. We speak mainly, of course, of striker Petar Musa and Jesus Ferreira, who have spent less than 30 percent of the season on the field together. If we ad the team’s top passer, Asier Illarramendi to that, and the percentage drops even further.
It’s a big reason why FC Dallas is toward the bottom of the MLS list in almost every attacking data point.
And hear this: beyond just building better connections, FC Dallas will need a strong lineup tonight.
Memphis 901 (owned in part by U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Tim Howard) has been banging in goals lately in USL Championship play.
And those upsets mentioned earlier from 2023: One of them was in the Round of 32, as a USL Championship side visited Atlanta United and left with passage into the Round of 16 at the expense of a humbled MLS side. That USL club: Memphis 901.
Value for esprit de corps
I always say this about the Open Cup opportunity: a good run contributes valuably to team accord.
It does because, generally speaking, more players get involved. MLS sides necessarily dip further into their rosters, leaning on players who might (unofficially) represent the 16th through the 24th places on a roster. And that can be important in ongoing club cultivation if the locker room as been seeded properly in the first place.
Starters get a rest – but also get a chance to root sincerely for their understudies. That can be important for all the feel-good factors. Meanwhile, those understudies get to feel like a more important part of the big picture, gaining a morale boost for their chance at a real contribution. We all need a sense of purpose; it’s human nature.
Plus, practice habits and intensity can sometimes wane when players further down the roster understand the reality of playing behind better-compensated stars, knowing opportunities in league play won’t happen on the regular. Open Cup helps gets them on the field.
Now, how many reservists we’ll see tonight for FC Dallas? Hard to say; see the reasons above. But it’s likely we’ll see some of them, at least.
FCD badly needs a win at home
Finally, there’s this – and it’s a place where Open Cup performance can connect usefully to MLS performance:
FCD needs a win at home. Badly. It doesn’t matter that it could happen in a watered down Open Cup.
So far, FCD has two wins in five home matches. One came via a late game-winner against the only team sitting lower in the standings than FC Dallas. The other came as Houston played a man down for 85 minutes.
Yes, they count, too. Credit has to be given. And yet, if we’re honest, this team could use a lot more success at home to reinforce confidence and assuage any nervy concerns about this thing going any further sideways.
Details for tonight’s match
Kickoff is 7:30 at Toyota Stadium.
The match will air on mlssoccer.com.
We’ll have our radio pre-game show beginning at 7 pm on the FCD app and on 1190 am. (Followed, of course, by the game broadcast and the post-game show.)