One of FC Dallas’ most indispensable men could return tonight against Seattle
Who is this figure of critical importance? Let’s talk about that
The boss at Sounder at Heart, a longstanding Seattle Sounders blog, asked me to write a few words about FC Dallas ahead of the teams’ Toyota Stadium clash. He’s a colleague from way back, and I’m always willing to help with these things, so I was happy to oblige.
One of his questions (you can read the entire thing here) was about which injured starter FC Dallas misses most? As the club is in Year 2 of Injury Hell, there are several to choose from. So I had to think on this one a bit.
But not for long. The answer is absolutely Asier Illarramendi.
Reflexively, some may have gone with Jesus Ferreira. Or perhaps even Alan Velasco.
And for sure, we could toss the topic back and forth across the table. But for me, it’s the veteran Spanish midfielder, who needed about 3 minutes late last summer to show us his passing quality and high level positional play.
Why it’s not Jesus Ferreira
Jesus Ferreira will chew up more of this conversation when he gets back to being the guy who scored 30 goals over two seasons. The truth is, we haven’t seen that guy since before he left for U.S. national team duty at last summer’s Gold Cup. He has eight goals in 23 matches across all competitions since then (including one deflected free kick and one from the penalty spot). That dip in production isn’t Franco Jara-esque. But neither is it what anyone expects from the club’s first homegrown designated player.
Besides, the team has a goal scorer now – we think. Petar Musa has shown he has the feet, the brain and physicality to be an effective striker. Yes, it would help if he’d knock a couple more in, but beyond the one match where he took eight shots, the service into its Croatian No. 9 has generally been “meh.” At best.
Beyond that, Dante Sealy has the team’s only game-winning goal. Paul Arriola will surely find his shooting shoes at some point. Sebastian Lletget is the one player in the field who is playing consistently well, and he has the team’s most recent home goal. Even rookie Logan Farrington seems good for a few goal contributions (goal or assist, that is) off the bench this year. So Ferriera getting healthy and rounding into form would undoubtedly help – but the team’s ability to score goals isn’t overly dependent on it.
What Illarra provides is harder to duplicate
Illarra’s toolbelt is loaded, and he simply gives the team what nobody else on the roster can in this way. Yes, some players can duplicate “some” element of the Spanish midfielder’s game, but not multiple elements.
For instance, no FCD man is as savvy about sniffing out danger out of possession. That was among the first of the impressive things I noticed last year, his uncanny ability to pop up repeatedly where and when the opposition pass was arriving. It’s like he sees the pass before the person passing sees the pass.
He wins his share of tackles, too. Not because he’s some ferocious ball-recovery wolverine, but rather because the former Real Madrid man is so technically adept in the slide tackle. Dude will go to ground on you.
With the ball, he’s always willing to be an option when playing out of the back, even in heavy traffic, something any team needs in efforts to be press resistant.
From there, his ability to break lines and generally progress possession through midfield is simply a different level. Of course, every Dallas midfielder can find a lane and hit a telling pass; it’s just that Illarra does it better, more often and with more consistently.
Right now, wingbacks Arriola and (especially) Sealy are struggling to ask enough questions of opposition defenses. Having someone like Illarra to set tempo, to read the game, to play those guys in better positions earlier would mean the world to FCD.
All of that, plus the amount of territory Illarra covers. No, he’s not as fast as, say, Paxton Pomykal in the way the FCD homegrown motors around the park, but Illarra is always moving, always looking for the better place to be. That’s why he covered more ground than any FCD player in the only game where played more than a half this year.
Might FCD fans see him tonight?
Here’s the really good news for FCD: I think we’ll see Illarra tonight for the first time since leaving at halftime in Matchday 2, the March 2 loss to Montreal.
It might not be in the starting lineup; manager Nico Estévez is consistently conservative with players returning from injury. But Illarra practiced all week, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get significant minutes off the bench. I wouldn’t even be shocked to see him start.
For a team that’s lost two at home already this year and a team that is 1-2-5 (win-loss-draw) over its last 8 regular season matches at home, it might be worth a stretch.