photo by Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
The words ‘Supporters’ Shield’ might not get uttered much in FC Dallas’ camp these days, but make no mistake, the eyes are on the prize.
FC Dallas is currently one point behind the league-leading Vancouver Whitecaps, and has a game in hand as the MLS campaign enters the final stretch. There are seven games remaining in Dallas’ regular season, but it will prove quite the challenge to stay near the top of the table. Not only does the club have to play the Whitecaps in back-to-back games next month, but it also has a clash with the star-studded LA Galaxy and meeting with the resurgent San Jose Earthquakes on the docket.
Still, FC Dallas has shown throughout the season that it can defy expectations. In a tough Western Conference, in which the Galaxy and Seattle Sounders were seen as the heavy favorites, it is Dallas that has the best points-per-game average right now.
That combined with its good form has the club believing that it can finish with the best record and claim the Supporters’ Shield.
“It’s a big goal,” midfielder Kellyn Acosta told SBI. “Every game is going to be a tough game, but we’re trying to get as much points as possible. Obviously going into playoffs I think that’ll help us get a better seed, and being No. 1 is a great honor for us. We’re trying to win trophies here as well, so I think that’s a very big goal for us and we’re trying to achieve that.”
First things first. FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja is hoping to cement an early playoffs berth in the coming weeks, but that seems like a mere formality given the club’s recent run of results.
After suffering a hitch in the season by losing three straight matches in August, Dallas has responded by winning its last three by a combined score of 7-1. The defense has been impressive during this recent stretch, but Pareja believes it is the improvements in the attack that have made the difference.
During the three-game losing streak that was comprised of defeats to the Whitecaps, Galaxy, and lowly Chicago Fire, FC Dallas netted just once. The well dried up for Dallas’ attackers, but they managed to fight through it and get back on track.
“I think this team is characterized by its ability to overcome adverse moments,” Pareja told SBI. “It’s very normal and natural that during a season you have rough stretches that aren’t desired but are normal in the league. The important thing is that the club has always been able to bounce back, that it has recovered from difficult moments.
“I think the most important thing now is to become more consistent, but that sometimes takes time, especially for young teams.”
Boasting the likes of the dynamic Fabian Castillo and the reliable Matt Hedges as two of its biggest players, FC Dallas does have a fairly fresh-faced nucleus. You would be hard to guess that, however, given the way the club has played for much of the season.
The wins have piled up, and success has been achieved. Now, the focus is on trying to close the year out as strongly as possible. Maybe even with a trophy or two.
“We always want to accomplish the highest goal, but we know everything is a process and we go little by little in the league,” said Pareja. “First it’s making the playoffs, then we can fight for the Supporters’ Shield, and then hopefully we can reach the final (to play for MLS Cup).
“The group has a mindset of aiming high, and we go game-by-game with the expectation of picking up points to always stay at the top of the table.”
Diaz has been full practice this week. He should get minutes tonight. They’ve averaged 1.89 ppg in the 35 games he’s played in since the start of 2014. Spork match and the VAN matches will both be after some serious fixture congestion, so FCD is more than a dark horse.
What kind of injury does M. Diaz have and his expected time to return?
Where are Blas Perez and Dan Kennedy — are they injured? I haven’t seen them play nor be in the 18-man roster for quite some time. Like Dace says above, Texeira isn’t the answer up top and I’m still not sold on Gonzalez in the net. Man, we need Diaz back otherwise any SS talk is a pipe-dream and the playoffs will be short-lived.
I’m more in favor of letting Gonzalez keep the No. 1 for now…he’s got a lot of potential and we should utilize him now and keep him as long as we can, unlike how we handled Sanchez.
Blas has been coming on as a sub the past couple of games since the international friendlies, he should be starting tonight unless there’s an unreported minor injury, in which case you’ll see Tesho back up top. Hopefully Papi doesn’t stubbornly keep trying to fit the Texeira peg into the Blas hole…
Did that last part sound wrong somehow?
I’ll stay hopeful for the SS but I won’t hold my breath or be devastated if it doesn’t happen…We broke up our usual summer-away-from-home slump into two mini slumps on either end of the summer, so at least we’re starting to whittle away at the inconsistency aspect that Papi alluded to…
Here’s hoping we get Diaz back soon, his influence and leadership are going to be very important down this final stretch.
And just as an aside, I’m now convinced that Texeira should go…he’s an ok player and I wouldn’t mind keeping him for the right money, but at his current salary he’s a bum! He’s making twice as much as Hedges and the majority of the team and that money could be better spent. If we axe Texeira then assumed both base salaries of Will Trapp and Harry Shipp, we’d still have more than $100k in salary space left to play around with. Papi is famous for getting the most out of players, especially younger guys with lots of potential…hopefully he’s just as good at knowing when to call an experiment quits.
The Galaxy and the Back to Back Whitecap games are brutal.
The other teams will be vying for seeding so they won’t be cake walks as well.
With that said, with the exception of the Galaxy, I don’t think any of the other teams want to play FCD either.
Wow, that is a tough schedule, but same for all those playing the DFCs