Given how the team played last week, this point on the road against the 2nd place team in the West is positive.
“Tonight felt really good, Minnesota is a tough place to play at, especially with their play style. We are really pleased with the clean sheet. This was a good point and we are still unbeaten on the road, we are happy with that.”
Captain Maarten Paes
Dallas remains unbeaten on the road (2-0-3), which is truly remarkable.
Let’s break it down.
Lineups and Tactics
The club drew the shape up on socials like the diamond-4 Coach Eric Quill has been using, but it didn’t play that way. Quill brought in Pedrinho for Lucho Acosta, and Pedrinho played it like a straight wing. Albeit a false wing and not vertical, but still a wing. That made the shape a 4-3-3.
Maybe Pedrinho was supposed to be underneath? But he sure didn’t play that way.
Logan Farrington was in for the injured Petar Musa, Show Cafumana was in for Patrickson Delgado, perhaps for quality of play, and Lalas Abubakar was in for Sebastien Ibeagha, also for rest.
Goals
None.
Lo Bueno
My FC Dallas Man of the Match was Osaze Urhoghide, who was once again a monster in defense. 86% passing, 12 clears, 1/1 tackles, 3 blocks, 1 intercept, 7/8 aerial gurls, and 7 recoveries. But beyond that, he was physical and intimidating, didn’t back down from aggressive behavior, and was a general bad-ass.
“It feels good to get another clean sheet. The team worked really hard. Some guys got an opportunity to prove themselves and help the team get a point. We have to go again but it’s another good point on the road.”
Osaze Urhoghide
I thought this was Shaq Moore‘s best game since joining FCD, particularly in the 2nd half. 67% passing isn’t wonderful, but 63 touches mean he got involved in the game. 4 progressive passes, 2 progressive carries, 1/1 on take-ons. 6 clears, 6 recoveries, and 1 block. That’s moving in the right direction.
Logan Farrington, as usual, did a lot of work trying to fill in the shoes of Petar Musa. Farrington put in a solid shift with 47 touches, 2 shot-creating actions, 4 progressive passes, 3 progressive carries, and 2/4 on take-ons. His off-ball work makes up for his occasional misplays. He does need to improve his recceptions (6 miscontrols), and I would like to see him get more touches in the final third – you can see a lot of them come right at the top of that third – but that might be as much about the team’s collective as anything.
“Logan did great. The minutes haven’t been there in abundance for him, so the quality was maybe a little lacking in some areas. But I thought his work rate was outstanding. I thought on both sides of the ball, he was super honest, and he gave us some breathing room and transition to get out on the break. He had some ‘almost plays’ that I think is due to a little bit of lack of playing time, but that’ll come.”
Coach Eric Quill
Kaick is a tackling machine, 5 for 5. He was also 4 for 6 on challenges with 1 block and 1 interception. 9 Recoveries make up for the 6 miscontrolled passes. I missed the exact moment it happened, but in the second half, it sure looked like he and Ramiro swapped, with Kaick taking up the central 6 role. I’d like to see that swap explored more going forward.
Congrats to Maarten Paes on his 100th appearance. Man, that came fast.
“I am also proud of my 100th appearance, it takes a lot of consistency and hard work to get there.”
Maarten Paes
Camino del Medio
Pedrinho was… ok. Just 1 progressive pass, 0 progressive carries, and 3/6 on take-ons. 0 shots but 2 shot-creating actions. 74% passing for an attacking player means he mostly helped with possession. With the minutes he’s getting, I’ll take that for now. But if he wants to play more, he’s going to need to do more.
With Shaq More playing well and Pedrinho just ok, FCD went 48% down the right channel in attack. That should be a surprise.
Lalas Abubakar got hurt (groin), so he played just the same 45 as Sebastien Ibeagha. Their numbers were very similar in this game, with Abubakar having 2 more blocks and Ibeagha 1 more aerial duel won. Ibeagha was cleaner in passing by a 10% margin but had 20 fewer attempts and lost the progressive pass comparison 5 to 3. Abubakar seemed to be making a real case for more PT.
Muy Feo
FC Dallas didn’t have a ton of ideas getting forward without Lucho Acosta and struggled to get Anderson Julio involved. Only 27 touches for the dangerous winger. I think that’s half of why Quill rested Acosta was to force the team to play without Acosta. The bottom line, 8 shots isn’t great, it’s going to be hard to win with that, but at least 4 of them were on target.
Nolan’s lack of pace is a concern at left back. But his passing is way better than Farfan’s. What happens when Farfan comes back, and where does Nolan play for the national team? Is his long term future at the 6, CB, or FB? This kid has to play.
That pace is Norris’ weakness, but his soccer brain so far is overcoming it. Having a guy like Oz inside for protection helps too. Norris ads more progression and passing than Farfan. That will be an interesting battle.
With Enzo Newman out, I guess Norris and Moore are the only two outside backs currently healthy, for probably a month or more. I think Ramiro has played outside back before. Maybe he can spell them when they need a rest and Kaick can be a better single pivot.