Two big thoughts on FC Dallas preseason
If we’re grading FC Dallas’ 29th preseason, we’ll probably have to go with “incomplete.”
(Quick content note: I’ll have a LOT of preview material at TexasXI this week on FCD and MLS; subscribe if you haven’t. And tell friends.)
An “Incomplete” grade on preseason may not seem ideal – but it’s not really so bad in this case.
Nico Estévez and his FCD coaching staff certainly made substantial progress on one huge January-February objective: a significant tactical shift. Unfortunately, we couldn’t really hang the “Mission Accomplished” banner on this realignment into a 3-4-2-1 because too many of the principals simply weren’t around to better acquaint themselves with it.
Nothing to panic about, though. Most of the critical pieces will soon appear or reappear. So here are a few quick words about both of these preseason talking points:
The new 3-4-2-1 formation
Later this week, I’ll show you more of why I believe Estévez wanted a new tactical look at Toyota Stadium, and what I think he wants from this particular one. Meanwhile … he says he still wants the team familiar with the former shape; FCD deployed in 4-3-3 for perhaps 85-90 percent of the manager’s first two years in charge.
So maybe we’ll see some 4-3-3 this year. But my guess is that a backslide into that former look will happen only if the new structure is an early season swing-and-miss (which I don’t expect). FCD spent the entire preseason in a 3-4-2-1. It makes a lot of sense when you look at two FC Dallas players I would label as “difference makers:” Jesus Ferreira and Asier Illarramendi.
(Maarten Paes is the other FCD difference maker. Nkosi Tafari is quite close to “DM” status. Guys like Paul Arriola, Paxton Pomykal and a maybe couple others are above average MLS starters, but not quite top level game-changers. And we’ll see about Petar Musa.)
Illarramendi’s defensive instincts are elite. He just has that Sixth Sense in screening the back line, seeming to know where the ball will go even before the person making the pass does. So he sniffs out and stuffs out a lot of opposition attacks that way. He then gets the attack going with savvy distribution. The Spanish La Liga vet is also willing to show for the ball in tough, tight places, which is critical for the way FCD still wants to play out of the back.
His downside: he’s not the fastest guy, and at 33 years old won’t get any faster. So he needs someone alongside who can cover ground, win a few tackles and do more of the blue collar work. That’s going to be Liam Fraser for now, I think, with Pomykal in the holding queue pending full health.
The point is, Illarramendi isn’t best suited by himself as a lone holding midfielder in a 4-3-3. (See “Michael Bradley in 2017,” as Bruce Arena left Bradley stranded as a lone d-mid in the pivotal World Cup qualifier in Trinidad – and we certainly know how that worked out. Ooof.) So FCD needs an alignment with two defensive midfielders.
Then we get to Ferreira, and I suspect less needs to be explained about this one. Ferreira isn’t a classic No. 9 (no breaking news there). He wants the ball further from goal. The false 9 role works for him, but it just didn’t work well enough for FC Dallas in 2023. So another function of the formation adjustment clearly is getting Ferreira into a spot better suited to his high-level skill set. As one of two “underneath” men in the front line, Ferreira can be a chance creator also capable of scoring goals. (More on this later in the week, too.)
We haven’t seen full-effect 3-4-2-1 just yet
Here’s the issue FC Dallas will face early in the season, especially this weekend as San Jose visits North Texas to open the club’s 29th MLS campaign: too many of the critical cogs just haven’t been cogged into this thing yet.
When FCD finished the preseason with a 2-0 win Saturday over DC United, here’s the list of possible / probable FCD starters who weren’t available: Ferreira, Sebastian Lletget, Marco Farfan, Musa and Pomykal. That’s nearly half of FCD’s top-choice lineup. (The list doesn’t include reserve midfielder Tsiki Ntsabeleng, who was away getting his green card, nor does it include injured Alan Velasco and Geovane Jesus.)
So it’s hard to expect FCD to look their best in any formation until they can fold a couple of these guys into the new plan, particularly Ferreira and Musa.
That’s the unfortunate part of the ‘24 preseason – although not one to worry too much about. Beyond Velasco and Geovane Jesus, we can talk about “weeks” rather than “months” before the heavy weapons are here, healthy and ready to show everyone around Toyota Stadium what they’re all about in 2024.