FC Dallas needs a reset, and in a bad way
There’s a “little reset” to talk about – and just maybe a BIG reset ahead
Any big thoughts of FC Dallas making some noise and turning some heads in Leagues Cup disappeared last week with an elimination that was too-quick and quite inglorious.
The U.S. Open Cup dream went “poof” a couple of weeks before that. Getting bounced prematurely in both tournaments leaves plenty of room for a collective “Well, now what … ?”
You could make a cogent argument that losing was the best thing for a team that, realistically, would have been stretched to get into League’s Cup quarterfinals at best; the team simply doesn’t have enough healthy, experienced, in-form players at present. That was painfully evident in last week’s deflating 2-0 loss to Juarez, a club from the shallower, less threatening end of the Liga MX pool.
So there’s one thing left to chase, and the cadence of matches slowing mercifully creates a window for a “reset” that this team – the players, coaches, support staff and the entire organization – need so, so badly.
If Peter Luccin’s group can’t dig in sufficiently to make a forceful playoff push – even if they can’t break the playoff tape, at the very least can they find enough inspiration to push things to Decision Day? – then the entire organization may need to take a deep breath and thoughtfully consider a serious roster makeover.
A sobering thought, for sure.
Wednesday’s loss to Juarez in a word: Yuk!
Wednesday night at Toyota Stadium went about as badly as it could have for Luccin and a core of players that he’s been squeezing and squeezing for weeks, wringing as much performance as he possibly could from a group still missing too many important pieces (mostly due to injuries).
Simply put the team looked out of gas, physically and mentally spent. Nothing worked.
Luccin’s attempt to flex the team shape depending on whether it was in possession or defending – which he’d done extensively before, to varying degrees of success – simply wilted on the vine. There were too many inexperienced pieces, probably asked to do too much thinking on the fly. Plus, Marco Farfan, Sam Junqua, Sebastian Ibeagha and Tsiki Ntsabeleng were asked to play more or less out of position. Plus-plus, the team’s 3-5-2 attacking shape, likely designed to get strikers Logan Farrington and Petar Musa into their best spots, was relatively untested, and looked it.
That’s not good for Luccin, who is still in his “audition” days, making his case to stay on past interim status.
In terms of individual player performance, any of us would be hard pressed to identify one worth remembering on FCD’s side in Wednesday’s loss. Defensive errors contributed to both goals from one of the weakest Liga MX clubs. FCD suffered long stretches of being dominated in possession, and when the home team did finally get a foothold, they struggled for effective entry passes into the attacking third.
By the 84th minute, FC Dallas had taken just six shots. (A late flurry generated a final total of 10 shots, still a paltry total for a home team).
Luccin has been refreshingly candid about team performance, and was again in a stinging post-game assessment, calling it the “worst game” since he’s been in charge.
Luccin: “We're very far from our level. There is a lack of courage, not following plans. … We didn't create enough. Defensively, it is not just about the backline, it is about all the players losing so many duels. That game tonight was about duels. If we are not winning duels, it is going to be very hard to win games.”
The much-needed rest (and reset?) ahead
Luccin gave the team three full days off. Much needed days off, it should be said. The cadence of training will mercifully abate now as well; Luccin has the group training Monday through Friday, but getting the entire weekend off. Again, they need it.
The team played 8 matches in July, which is way too many. Ibeagha, Musa, Maarten Paes, Nkosi Tafari, Marco Farfan, and Paul Arriola in particular logged way more minutes than should be expected. They’ve earned the time off.
For Luccin, too, the tempo of matches has been a big stretch. There’s been little time to work on any tactical wrinkles or to patch up holes in performance that he (and most of us) clearly see. Now, he’ll get exactly that. In fact, with about three weeks until the next match (Aug. 24 at DC United), Luccin can practically run a “preseason camp.” He sees the need.
Luccin: “All of us - staff, players, coaches, now is the time for reflection and keep working hard. Now we have only one thing in our minds and that is to try and get to the playoff.”
MLS playoffs: the only thing left
So now there will be a sprint to the MLS finish once league play resumes in about three weeks.
FCD sits 11th in a Western Conference race where 9 teams make the playoffs (or 8 make the playoffs, if you’re among the crowd that won’t count the 8-9 play-in spots as “playoff” spots.) The good news, they’re only three points out of a postseason berth, thanks largely to winning 5 of 6 at home since Luccin took charge.
The not-so-great news: 5 of 9 remaining contests in league play are on the road, where FC Dallas has yet to win this year.
But, it is what it is. FCD will either get some important players back and be closer to what we all thought FCD could be this year, or all bets are off. Asier Illarramendi and Jesus Ferreira will almost certainly be back, and that will mean a lot in midfield and in final third efficacy. There’s a good chance that Alan Velasco can get back on the field, most likely off the bench initially. We’ll see about Patrickson Delgado, although the young Ecuadorian could find minutes more difficult to come by, especially since FCD hasn’t quite decided how best to deploy him.
The team’s new signing, Manuel “Show” Cafumana will presumably arrive at some point in the interval. His potential impact is anybody’s guess.
More competition on the training ground
This is important, and Luccin has said as much: players returning to good health means competition for spots. Every manager says this, but it sometimes doesn’t work that way in actuality. Knowing Luccin just a bit, it seems like his “competition for spots” is earnest.
We’ve already seen some examples where effort or performance just hasn’t been good enough. Young attacker Tarik Scott, for instance, may have already lapped Dante Sealy and maybe Eugene Ansah, too. They’ll need to show more, or Scott will get the minutes. Tomas Pondeca has gotten some minutes, too.
Over the important training days ahead, players who aren’t bought in, or anyone who has the smell of complacency, are likely to find themselves marginalized. That means younger players and probably some veterans, too.
Luccin wants – scratch that, needs – players being a little uncomfortable.
And if FCD can’t quite make it …
This finishing sprint will tell us a lot: if the team can’t get there (MLS playoffs, that is) or make it very interesting at the least, there’s probably more than offseason “roster tweaking” ahead.
What would that look like? Nothing should be off the table. FCD has more than half its roster on options, most of those closer to the bottom of the roster. (The most important pieces generally remain under contract for 2025.)
That will provide Chief Soccer Officer Andre Zanotta and his technical staff (along with the manager, presumably, whoever that is) with lots of flexibility. Of course, there will be a progression of events here, and hopefully a harmonious one. FCD can’t get caught picking players for one system, then trying to mix-and-match those players ad hoc because the incoming manager has something else in mind. We’ve seen some of that in 2024 as Nico Estevez changed the system, but some sort of personnel disconnect prevented any of us from seeing how that 3-4-2-1 could function with a better pairing of appropriate skill sets.
The match on Aug. 24 will launch eight important weeks that will tell us a lot about where FC Dallas is going in the short- and long-term future.
It would be very interesting to see the team at full health, or even reasonable health, as the starting line-up on paper would seem to be very competitive,. I guess it's no surprise that they have such a hard time transitioning from defense to offense, give the cluster of injuries to the players who are best at making those connections