FC Dallas v Vancouver: how FCD can win tonight
Chemistry. Crosses. Personnel changes? ... Some of the ways FCD can locate its pot of gold tonight
With 30 regular season matches to go after tonight – plus contests in two other concurrent competitions – it’s hard to call anything in March a “must-win.” Technically, only a true playoff elimination match is a “must-win.”
That said, tonight’s contest against Vancouver pushes the needle on the critical meter pretty darn high.
A three-game losing streak heading into an international break would be, erm, less than ideal. It means an extra week for players to sit around and worry about things heading the wrong way. Again, not ideal.
Vancouver has been a “tough out” lately in North Texas; the ‘Caps have taken points in five or their last six visits into Toyota Stadium.
Plus, Vancouver took all the points in its only other MLS road match of ‘24, besting Luchi Gonzalez and his San Jose Earthquakes, 2-0.
So how can FCD turn things in a better direction?
(Borrowing from and expanding on my FCD radio broadcast’s Keys to the Match, Presented by Toyota …)
MUSA-FERREIRA CHEMISTRY
The chemistry is coming between Petar Musa and Jesus Ferreira; it will certainly happen. I’d bet my personal Pot of Gold (Happy St. Paddy’s Day reference!) on that. They are both quality players. It’s going to happen.
The issue is that it hasn’t happened yet. Not a bit, far as I can see. Not that we’re at “worry about it” stage as yet. Tonight is just the third time they'll be together on the field. Musa got a late start, so he’s still adjusting to, well, everything.
Ferreria has played just 105 of 270 minutes so far, a shade less than 40 percent. As Nico Estévez told us yesterday after training, “He’s still in his preseason.”
Again, they’ll figure it out. But again … it can’t happen fast enough.
Final word about it: FCD doesn’t need to see “finished product” here. They just need to see a little more of it. For now, that might be enough.
PERSONNEL CHANGES?
Estevez isn’t always shy about making changes when things aren’t going to plan. And I’m just not sure he can keep “rolling it back” right now. So don’t be surprised to see some personnel adjustments.
One I’d personally like to see: I have absolutely loved when I’ve seen from young Ecuadorian midfielder Patrickson Delgado. Look at some of the raw numbers from less than a half hour last week as a sub last week.
It shows (some of) what I’ve seen: that he’s quick to recover lost possession, not afraid of tackling hard and then clean on the ball once he has it. His 31 passes — that’s the same number of completed passes Canadian international Liam Fraser had in 68 minutes. Stark contrast.
What I like most is that Delgado plays forward, and plays forward quickly. That puts wingers and forwards into better positions, giving defenders less time to organize themselves. And that’s important.
BETTER TRANSITION DEFENDING
As Estévez arrived into North Texas two-plus years ago, his top priority was fixing the defense. Specifically, he needed to address transition defending, which was a real problem area in Gonzalez’s last year in charge.
It was “mission accomplished” as Dallas built its identity around solid structure spacing when in possession, which put FCD in good position to delay or defend if / when possession was turned over.
But with the formation change, all this has slipped a little in 2024. FCD conceded in transition last week against the New York Red Bulls. And the week before in the home loss to Montreal. And in the home opener, a late win against San Jose.
TL / DR: they need to police up the transition defending, and right quick like.
Because Vancouver will be direct in moments; look for them to play a mid-block, then either go direct look through Brian White and Damir Kreilach or counter attack quickly through Scotsman Ryan Guald, who is very good at running the breaks.
MORE WIDTH IN ATTACK
On our radio post-game show (and during the match broadcasts, too) we've talked about how FCD needs a better supply of crosses into Musa. I mean, what good is a big Moose up front if you don’t feed the big Moose?
Well, two issues: FCD doesn’t have a tall stack of players who can consistently hit good crosses. And even if they did, Dallas isn’t consistently getting into wide areas further up the field.
So we don’t need to tap Pep Guadiola on the shoulder to ask about fixing this. It starts simply enough by getting into those crossing areas, but adding more width to the attack, further up the field.
Whether it’s the wingers, wingbacks or outside backs – heck, even if it’s Ferreira floating out into those spots – they need more crosses. Against New York last week, right-sided wingback Paul Arriola had two crosses; on the left, Dante Sealy had just one. Those are Dallas’ wide players in the 3-4-2-1.
Dallas players must have the will and the want to get into those spaces. Defenders and midfielders have to keep possession long enough to move the game further into the opposition half. Once they access these spaces, players must find the bravery to create a little space and accept the responsibility of hitting the cross.
A BREAKOUT GAME
Defensively, Maarten Paes and Nkosi Tafari have been excellent all year — as you'd expect from both. In a sense, you could say they've had their "breakout games." I'm not sure you could say that about anyone on the FCD attack.
Some of that is circumstance. As mentioned before, Musa and Ferreira have played in all the matches; Musa missed the season opener and previously injured Ferreira is finding his better form.
But they are the leaders on the attack — so it's fair to expect a little more from them than, say, Bernie Kamungo.
Either way, they could use a breakout game from, well, someone. Whether it's one of those three, or Paul Arriola or Dante Sealy.
What does a "breakout" look like? It's not necessarily a number. Rather it's a dominant performance, something that tests and rattles a defense, and something that inspires teammates and ignites even greater passion from the fans. And along the way, a multiple goal-assist night sure wouldn’t hurt.
Kickoff tonight is at 7:40 pm at Toyota Stadium; Our pre-game radio coverage begins at 7 pm on the FCD app (and on 1190 a.m. on terrestrial radio, unless college basketball gets in the way).
Spot on Steve :) Let's get' r done!