Small margins will define the remainder of FC Dallas’ season
Scratch that - make it “tiny” margins
Two things are true about FC Dallas since Peter Luccin took charge:
FCD is a better team, stacking the points and the goals at double the previous rate.
It may not matter in the playoff chase; FCD’s poor start, plus last week’s loss, has reduced the margin of error to something like “razor thin.”
FCD boxed itself in a corner with the weekend’s setback at home to Colorado, a devastating blow to the team’s playoff ambition. The pathway into the post-season now looks perilously narrow.
It’s not just that the schedule is so tough, starting with this week’s match at Vancouver, a team coming off a nice road win last weekend in Austin.
And it’s not just that Luccin will be without one of his best players, goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who is on international duty with Indonesia.
And it’s not just that four of the clubs remaining seven games are on the road, where FCD has been … erm … we’ll go with “highly suboptimal” this year.
It’s all that – but it’s more the cumulative outcome of all that and more. It’s this:
There is no margin for error. They’ll have to nail the effort on every one of their remaining matches. Luccin will need to absolutely nail the tactics in each and every remaining match. And the players will need to nail the details, pretty much all of them, in every remaining match.
Which is a problem. Nailing the details, that is. Especially after last week’s 3-2 loss to Chris Armas’ Rapids. It’s a problem because, based on that performance, the men of FCD require a lot of “dialing in” on the details.
The missed details
It’s not that FCD played poorly – although Paes had the very rare bad match, and that Rapids’ stoppage time, game-winning goal was pretty much a complete disaster, one where four players probably could have done better.
The Rapids are a good side this year, well organized in the press and hard working all over the field. And when you come up against a quality opponent — Colorado just finished 3rd of 47 clubs in Leagues Cup — you had better get the details right.
Not all of them necessarily; no team is perfect, of course. But you can’t miss on as many details as FCD did on Saturday.
Balls played to the wrong foot. Balls passed accurately but with the wrong weight. Angles not created correctly, or created but not quickly enough.
A forward makes the wrong run. A ball from the wings gets played too early – or perhaps you could say the central run near goal started just a whisker too late. A silly yellow card gets taken. A well-placed pass over the top is chased down, but then fumbled carelessly and harmless out of bounds. (That happened twice on sweet balls clipped in from Asier Illarramendi.)
Players don’t communicate effectively on a rudimentary action. Again, it’s not that FCD was awful, they just weren’t razor sharp on too many of the little details. And a team still getting some of its best players back to their best selves can’t miss on details.
It didn’t help that Paes had a bad match; he quickly acknowledged needing to be better on Colorado’s second and third goals. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt, and will surely return to his All-Star form.
Nor did it help that Sebastian Lletget missed from point blank range, as he did on Ruan’s cross in the 42nd minute. These things happen.
It’s more about Alan Velasco or Logan Farrington dribbling into traffic to force a shot that was way too predictable, and therefore easily blocked. It’s Nkosi Tafari leaving his feet inside the 18 and almost getting the tackle perfect – but just almost. It’s Jesus Ferreira putting another free kick directly into the wall.
Those are just a few examples. Again, none of these are “felony” offenses, so to speak. They are mostly misdemeanors. But a team that didn’t get a few roster choices right has a small margin for error to begin with. Then injuries take too many key men off the field – this one started with all three Designated Players on the bench, although all three did get on the field for the first time this year – and the loss of game-changing talent reduces the margin for error that much more.
It all creates a circumstance where a team like FCD has to get most of the details right. It’s a lot to ask, of course – but that’s the deal. That’s the situation the club is in.
Some things ARE going right
Getting Ferreira, Velasco and Petar Musa on the field together must be a huge morale boost, not to mention a talent upgrade. And that second goal (Musa from Sam Junqua in the 66th minute) was … *chef’s finger kiss*
Truly, from Musa’s hold-up play to Ferreira’s pinpoint entry ball to Junqua’s pinpoint cross to Musa’s perfectly placed, powerful headed finish, that one simply sparkled.
Click. Watch. Enjoy.
The team is getting something from its two summer additions. Ruan is proving to be the asset everyone suspected he could be, providing a steady threat from the right wing with his speed, crossing and willingness to put in the work.
Show Cafumana’s has demonstrated in his small sample (two games) that he’s tactically sound and ball secure. He may not have match-changing ability, but he doesn’t need to. He’s got Illarramendi next to him, so he just needs to reliably cover ground and help connect the pieces, which he’s doing.
Yes, there are things going right. It’s just down to nailing a few more of those details. Even Luccin will need to tighten it up, perhaps asking himself again if Tafari as a right back while Marco Farfan lines up as a center back is the best way to go?
Down to the season’s final quarter
FCD is down to the final quarter of the season. (Actually it’s closer to 20 percent.)
Those three remaining home matches, against LAFC (ooof!), Orlando and Sporting Kansas City are absolute “cannot lose” matches if not absolute “must wins.” If FCD can’t get 7 out of 9 points at the very minimum, the pathway to a post-season place becomes ridiculously narrow.
Make no mistake, FCD doesn’t look like an MLS Cup contender at this point. But the lowest bar for a successful MLS season starts at playoff qualification, and then we go from there. If you don’t make the playoffs in a league that still makes it pretty easy to do so, you’re pretty close to a “back to the drawing board” project. So it’s a worthy goal for the club, one worth chasing.
The little details will matter. A lot. Getting everything right is non-negotiable now. It’s a lot to ask, of course – but that’s the deal.