Notes and takeaways from Saturday's FC Dallas friendly vs. New Mexico United

Thoughts on new signee Enes Sali, Bernie Kamungo, Nolan Norris, Nkosi Tafari, the new tactical setup and more

The best thing to remember when it comes to preseason friendlies with absolutely zilch on the line: Nothing that happens out there means everything; but everything means a little something.

With that in mind, here are some notes and takeaways from Saturday’s friendly at Toyota Stadium against USL Championship side New Mexico United and manager Eric Quill.

• FCD wins easily, 4-1. But before anyone starts plotting out routes for championship parades, consider that Quill’s team rotated three groups through the proceedings (including some borrowed players from FC Dallas.) And they’ve had even fewer training days so far than FCD. Just sayin’.

• Below is the way FCD set up; completely different groups for 45 minutes each. And before you read too much into who made up the first and second groups, it looks to me like manager Nico Estévez wanted to mix front line starters into each bunch. (And if you make fun of my fancy graphics, we’re gonna have a problem!)

  

• The setup, just like Monday at the Cotton Bowl, was a 3-4-2-1. Looks like that’s the way Estévez wants to play this year. I’ll have more on this later, but it’s a big movement away from the manager’s preferred 4-3-3 in his first two years in charge.

• First look at new signing Enes Sali. And you know what? Not bad! He moves like an experienced pro. He’s active and confident in his dynamic movement and positioning when his team is in possession. In other words, he’s not looking to receive the ball ONLY in comfortable spots (Which can be the case with some young players.) He’s active in the press, too. Not saying they’ll get a ton of bottom line production from him this year (goals and assists, that is), but the first look says “there’s something there.”

• Sali makes quick, decisive decisions with the ball. Alan Velasco, by comparison, may have more raw ability, but his tendency to stand on the ball and maybe take a quick look can sometimes drain momentum needlessly from an attack with “go forward!” written all over it.

• Sali isn’t as small as I was led to believe. He’s more “Arriola” than “Omar Gonzalez” for sure, but he’s not tiny.

• Striker Logan Farrington (wrote about him here already) wasn’t as noticeable as in Monday’s win over Miami. Then again, this wasn’t the place where you’d expect him to stand out. Against Miami’s higher press, they needed exactly what he could offer: a target outlet to go fight for balls and hold up possession. Against a team sitting back (like New Mexico on Saturday) FCD might need something more creative, more false-9-ey. (Yes, like Jesus Ferreira.) But Farrington was still active Saturday, still occupying center backs, staying high to create space underneath and still pressing and being a bother.

• Even with Sunday’s exciting announcement of Petar Musa’s potential arrival, I’ve seen enough to say I’d be perfectly fine with Farrington getting 8-10 starts (across all comps) this year, with a bunch of appearances off the bench.

  

  • Bernie Kamungo played as a right-sided wingback in the second group. But it really looked more like a 3-2-5 than a 3-4-3. And that was intentional. That’s what Estévez may want in matches against teams that sit back in some ultra defensive posture. Or maybe when his team is behind.

  • Kamungo continues to look great out in space. If he can keep adding little bits of sophistication to his game – for instance, just marginally improving his angles with his body shape and his first touch in tight spaces, the better to combine with dangerous immediacy – he’ll be even more of a problem for defenders.

  • Second year winger Herbert Endeley had a moment he really needed: a well-taken first half goal to open the scoring. Beyond the very early MLS draft selections, picks like Endeley (No. 24 overall last year) don’t always get a ton of chances to make impressions. So far Endeley has been solid enough when put on the field, but sooner or later you have to stand out a little. You have to give coaches a reason to keep running you out there. A nice goal Saturday sure will help.

  

  Nice moment for Endeley. (PHOTO CREDIT: FC DALLAS)

• Saturday’s other FCD goals: Tsiki Ntsabeleng found a good lane into Eugene Ansah for a 71st minute put-away, Liam Fraser timed a late run well and punctuated it with a tidy finish and Paul Arriola finished an Ansah cross for the last goal.

• Nolan Norris looked good as a “double 6” alongside Asier Illarramendi. I asked  Estévez after the game about that position for Norris. The manager said they’ve pretty much settled on him being a holding midfielder after waffling a bit on his best positional pathway last year.

• Norris did do a boo-boo; his first half giveaway in a bad spot turned into New Mexico’s only goal, as Jimmy Maurer couldn’t scramble back into position quickly enough. 

• Diego Garcia wasn’t as active or tenacious as Monday against Miami. No worries; the kid is 17! He’ll dip in and out in performance. And receiving the ball a little higher up the field (as opposed to Monday) will always be tougher, with less space.

• Veterans like Illarramendi, Nkosi Tafari and Omar Gonzalez stand out in matches like this. And they should. With all their experience, they look like they are moving at about 75 percent speed and yet still staying ahead of everyone else. It looks easy for them. They all seem to be in good places heading into 2024.

• Absences: Paxton Pomykal continues to rehab and won’t be on the plane Sunday bound for training in Spain. Nor will Jesus Ferreira, who will work in North Texas to heal the injury picked up Monday. Ema Twumasi is far enough along that he’ll go to Spain. Maarten Paes will meet the team there; he’s in the Netherlands getting his green card. Dante Sealy wasn’t around Saturday, but I forgot to ask about him. My bad. We’re all in preseason form.