Well FC Dallas returned to play – allegedly – so we finally get the chance to rank both North Texas SC and the parent club while both are active.
We’re still in the stage of players making large strides and taking big drops as the two teams nail down their starters. And as always, it’s not a comparison of who is the better player but rather a power ranking of who is being talked up by us, other media, fans, and coaches, as well as who’s playing well or struggling.
Starting XI:
| 1 (+3) | Matt Hedges High: 1 | Low: 7 | Still your best and most important player at the back. – Dan |
| 2 (+1) | Michael Barrios High: 2 | Low: 3 | He wasn’t great as an off-striker, but he will still Los Toros most dangerous attacker. – Buzz |
| 3 (-1) | Zdenek OndrasekHigh: 2 | Low:3 | Seven consecutive home games with a goal was a great streak but a sub appearance after being injured wipes that clean. Time to see where Kobra and Jara really stand. – Dan |
| 4 (-3) | Thiago Santos High: 1 | Low: 4 | Fell back to earth a bit, 10 incomplete passes, 8 of which came in his own end. – Buzz |
| 5 (-) | Paxton Pomykal High: 5 | Low: 5 | Brought the game to life when he came on but can Paxton stay fit? Buzz gave him MoM in the Breakdown – Dan |
| 6 (+1) | Reggie Cannon High: 4 | Low: 7 | Played ok, which is enough to move him up with others dropping. Bids starting to come in for him, summer move lining up. – Buzz |
| 7 (+1) | Bryan Acosta High: 7 | Low: 15 | Got the start in the midfield where we’d speculated if he had fallen back. Whose idea was it to give him the free kick at the end?! – Dan |
| 8 (+10) | Franco Jara High: 8 | Low: 18 | Made his debut with a start. Not an earth-shaking performance and still not 90 minutes fit. – Buzz |
| 9 (+1) | Jimmy Maurer High: 9 | Low: 21 | Solid game spoiled by a deflected shot. – Dan |
| 10 (-5) | Jesus Ferreira High: 10 | Low: 15 | Got the start after Pomykal injury aggravation. Might not be in the XI this weekend though as he wasn’t good in the MF. – Buzz |
| 11 (-) | Reto Ziegler High: 11 | Low: 13 | It was a little surprising to see Ziegler taken off to switch formations. Is this a sign of a reduced role going forward or are we reading too much into it? – Dan |
In The Mix:
| 12 (-6) | Ryan Hollingshead High: 6 | Low: 12 | A poor game from Hollingshead who plays outside-in when the 3-5-2 requires a line running crosser of the ball. – Buzz |
| 13 (+4) | Ricardo Pepi High: 9 | Low: 17 | Pepi subbed in and started brightly with a move from the midfield that finished with an overhit cross for him. He seemed to fade out shortly after though. – Dan |
| 14 (+2) | Tanner Tessmann High: 6 | Low: 16 | Still getting minutes as a late-game attacking threat. – Buzz |
| 15 (-3) | Callum Montgomery High: 12 | Low: 15 | Starting, and performing best, in the defense for the undefeated number one side in USL Championship. – Dan |
| 16 (-3) | Fafa Picault High: 8 | Low: 16 | Benched with the change to a 3-5-2 but looked sharp late as a sub. Will he be back this weekend in a 4-3-3? – Buzz |
| 17 (-8) | Bressan High: 9 | Low: 17 | It wasn’t a great game for Bressan. He was targeted as the weak link by Nashville. I thought he was unlucky on the goal as he took a step expecting Accam do go on the outside. – Dan |
| 18 (-4) | Brandon Servania High: 14 | Low: 18 | He’s been dealing with an adductor issue. Is he getting healthy just in time to lose minutes to the new signing? – Buzz |
| 19 (+1) | Bryan Reynolds High: 19 | Low: 20 | A false-positive COVID test kept Reynolds out of training for a few days but thankfully he’s good and healthy! – Dan |
| 20 (-) | Andres Ricaurte High: 20 | Low: 20 | A new attacking mid… or is he a linking mid… anyway, he’s a mid. He’s gotta start somewhere on our list. Hype = playing time, probably. – Buzz |
Second Team:
| 21 (-1) | Ema Twumasi High: 20 | Low: 25 | No game this week for Austin Bold – Dan |
| 22 (-1) | Johnny Nelson High: 19 | Low: 22 | With the Hollingshead poorer performance is this his chance to get a start? Probably not. – Buzz |
| 23 (-1) | Francis Atuahene High: 18 | Low: 23 | Still leading the scoring for San Diego Loyal but it seems he’s more of a bench player. – Dan |
| 24 (-1) | Kyle Zobeck High: 23 | Low: 27 | Steady, solid. Probably not going to get a start. – Buzz |
| 25 (-1) | Dante Sealy High: 24 | Low: 28 | One of many who could be on loan with NTX that were held back for FCD’s internal scrimmages in the build-up to the first Nashville game – Dan |
| 26 (-1) | Thomas Roberts High: 25 | Low: 29 | The only FCD player getting PT with NTX, we’d like to see him shine there more but at least he’s getting games. Time for a full-time loan, IMO. – Buzz |
| 27 (-1) | Nkosi Burgess High: 26 | Low: 33 | See Sealy – Dan |
| 28 (-) | Arturo Rodriguez High: 22 | Low: 28 | RSL Monarchs had a week off. Hopefully, he got healthy. RSLM listed him as a new face to watch in their game preview this week. – Buzz |
| 29 (-) | Santiago Mosquera High: 24 | Low: 29 | An unused sub as Fafa Picault and Paxton Pomykal both saw time on the left ahead of Mosquera. – Dan |
| 30 (+1) | Brecc Evans High: 30 | Low: 36 | Stepped right into the XI upon his recall to NTX, looked as strong as ever providing leadership and stability in the back. – Buzz |
| 31 (+6) | Edwin Cerrillo High: 31 | Low: 37 | Made the bench for FCD but he needs some kind of minutes right now. – Dan |
| 32 (-) | Ronaldo Damus High: 32 | Low: 38 | Continues to be the most dangerous attacking force for Los Toritos. – Buzz |
In Reserve:
| 33 (+1) | David Rodriguez High: 33 | Low: 39 | Looks good in flashes for NTX but needs to take that next step. – Dan |
| 34 (-7) | Lamar Batista High: 27 | Low: 47 | Lost out on the starting spot on Evans’ return in favor of the club’s continued investment in Justin Che. Came on as a sub and shored things up. – Buzz |
| 35 (+1) | Alex Bruce High: 30 | Low: 36 | Just one shot and 11 passes. Bruce was largely isolated against Chattanooga. – Dan |
| 36 (+2) | Eddie Munjoma High: 35 | Low: 38 | Where is he? Why is he not playing with North Texas? – Buzz |
| 37 (+3) | Imanol Almaguer High: 37 | Low: 44 | Healthy and starting again. – Dan |
| 38 (+3) | Carlos Avilez High: 34 | Low: 41 | Reclaimed the starting spot. Does he keep it? – Buzz |
| 39 (-4) | Luis Zamudio High: 37 | Low: 42 | First time missing out on the start, is he a bench player or in a rotation? – Dan |
| 40 (-7) | Juan Manuel Alvarez High: 26 | Low: 40 | Got a knock at the last minutes that pulled him from the NTX XI. Hasn’t lived up to the preseason expectations. – Buzz |
| 41 (-2) | Derek Waldeck High: 39 | Low: 41 | Got some time at defensive midfield and looked better. Buzz keeps calling him Ted Eck 2.0 – Dan |
| 42 (-) | Gibran Rayo High: 37 | Low: 42 | Booked two minutes after coming on and sent off within half-hour. That’s not how you force your way into the team. – Dan |
| 43 (-) | Alisson High: 40 | Low: 43 | Meh. – Buzz |
| 44 (-14) | Pablo Aranguiz High: 23 | Low: 44 | Ricaurte is yet another nail in the coffin for Aranguiz. – Dan |
| 45 (-) | Philip Ponder High: 43 | Low: 45 | Back from injury, got a late-game sub appearance. But he’s way down the pecking order at CB. – Buzz |
| 46 (-2) | Pedrinho High: 44 | Low: 46 | So far his various names number higher than his contributions. – Dan |
| 47 (-1) | Oscar Romero High: 45 | Low: 46 | Healthy finally. He’s got a lot of climbing to do. – Buzz |
Notes
Franco Jara took the biggest jump as he made his first start for FCD and rose 10 places.
We really expected Kobra to keep the start but a two week injury that we simply hadn’t heard about until the day before the game made a big difference. Unfortunately where we aren’t able to physically attend practices during the pandemic, it’s easier for the team to hide those.
Pablo Aranguiz takes a 14 place dive down the ranking. Once he was loaned out, he was never coming back. FC Dallas doesn’t use a pure 10, and he simply can/will not flex to any other role. He’s been tough to coach and really hasn’t impressed in any one game.
The only reason Aranguiz is still an FC Dallas player is that no-one in Chile can afford his fee and salary. The signing of Andres Ricaurte is just another sign that Aranguiz isn’t coming back.