The Breakdown – FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake, Sept 2024

Going to Salt Lake was always going to be tough, the Royals are an outstanding team this year even if they have had a stumble or two of late.

On a macro level, FC Dallas played fairly well in this game, except for two things: stopping goals and scoring goals. Unfortunately at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

“I believe that there wasn’t a moment when we didn’t control the game.”

Interim Coach Peter Luccin

Let’s break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

Interim Coach Peter Luccin mostly stuck with the 3-4-3, as we’ve determined is his dominant choice since the break, but did change in the 2nd half as you will see. Show Cafumana was back in midfield, shifting Sebastian Lletget back up higher (maybe) and Tsiki Ntsabeleng to the bench. Paul Arriola stayed at right wingback (sort of) with Ruan on the bench due to his injury recovery.

This lineup card from FCD is sort of correct except for Jesus Ferreira being on the left for the bulk of the first half. This game features a boatload of Arriola flex, which I wrote about here. We’ll talk about that later. Cause it was some kind of wacky and it was hard to say what he and Lletget were doing positionally.

FC Dallas XI at Real Salt Lake, Sept 18, 2024. (Courtesy FC Dallas)
FC Dallas XI at Real Salt Lake, Sept 18, 2024. (Courtesy FC Dallas)

Crazily (since maybe they were playing different positions?) around the 33rd-minute mark, Arriola and Ferreira swapped sides with Arriola covering up Sam Junqua morphing the team into what looked like a 4-1-4-1 till halftime. I do wonder if this tactic was to help Show get to halftime, who really couldn’t run at that point, and get Alan Velasco warmed up.

FCD late 1st half shape at RSL, Sept 18, 2024.

A mere moment before halftime, Velasco replaced Show due to the injury and then at the half, Ruan came on for Junqua moving Arriola to left wingback. The shape was much more stable 3-4-3 after that.

71st minute, Logan Farrington came on for Nkosi Tafari… um.. ok. The back 5 (3, sir!) became a back 4 with Farrington going up high in a 4-3-3.

81st minute, Benard Kamungo came on for Ferreira. Velasco dropped into the MF.

RSL played a much more stable 4-2-3-1. With Chicho Arango they used Anderson Julio as a 9.

RSL’s XI vs FC Dallas, Sept 18, 2024. (Courtesy RSL)

Diego Luna came on for Lachlan Brook in the 57th minute.

A double sub in the 77th with Diogo Goncalves and Bode Hidalgo replacing Anderson Julio (who was on a brace) and Dominik Marczuk.

Goals

0-1 Real Salt Lake goal, 11th minute. Sebastien Ibegha gives up a PK. Brayan Vera converts it.

0-2 Real Salt Lake goal, 24th minute. Anderson Julio turns a ball from his keeper and huts a 50-yard rope over Maarten Peas. Stunner of a goal and the rare keeper assist.

1-2 FC Dallas goal, 45th+1 minute. Jesus Ferreira takes a super savvy, quick free kick for a steal of a goal. The broadcast even missed it live.

1-3 Real Salt Lake goal, 62nd minute. Marco Farfan overreaches, gets turned and burned by Dominik Marczuk (making his first career MLS start). Marczuk plays a ball through the box and Anderson Julio bursts away from Nkosi Tafari for the goal.

2-3 FC Dallas goal, 88th minute. A handball on a corner gets FCD a PK. Alan Velasco converts it.

Lo Bueno

It is perhaps a bit of a cheat, but Alan Velasco is my Man of the Match mostly because he was the one player whose performance got me excited and made me sit up. The strides he’s making are amazing, even since the Vancouver game a week and a half ago it’s notably better. Fitter, sharper, quicker. The Burst is returning. He’s more courageous. He got wiped out and got up without issue. Can’t wait for what’s next from him.

“I am happy to have scored again, but I wish that the goal had helped with the result. We were aiming for three points but we were hoping to at least get the draw. I am pleased to have scored but it would’ve felt better to come away with a better result. I hope to keep catching my old scoring form so that I can contribute to the team’s final push towards playoffs.”

Alan Velasco

Sebastian Lletget (my 2nd choice) and Paul Arriola both had good games. Arriola 6 shot-creating actions and 2 goal-creating actions with 6 progressive passes and 3 progressive carries. Much more on him later. Lletget with 4 shot-creating actions and 7 progressive passes plus 3/3 on tackles, 3/4 on challenges, and 9 recoveries. Given the comments below in the middle, this is worth remembering.

51% possession on the road, 16 shots created, 82% passing, 13 crosses, Holding the home team to just 13 shots. An xG of 2.9. By many measures, FC Dallas played pretty well. As I said to open the show, two things really hurt them.

Jesus Ferreira‘s sneak attack free kick goal was a beautiful thing.

Camino del Medio

I so badly want to make Matt Crooks a center back. That size with that ball skill and passing, plus defensive tenacity? Damn. (2/2 tackles, 1/2 challenges, 1 block, 2 intercepts)

From where I was sitting, Paul Arriola broke the FCD shape in the first half. We’ve talked about the Arriola flex, the amount of freedom Luccin is giving him. Arriola lined up at wingback to start the game but played so high that Sebastian Lletget has to spend big chunks of the game covering right wingback. So much so that multiple sites I use for stats listed him as the wingback and Arriola as the wing. Frankly, there’s nothing to say that’s wrong except the FCD 3-4-3 generally uses a narrow 10/false-wing like Ferreira, Lletget, or Velasco. It’s one thing to flex and overload. It’s another to go on a complete walkabout.

Paul Arriola and Sebastian Lletget heat maps at RSL on Sept 18, 2024. (Courtesy Whoscored.com)

But is the above bad? Honestly, that depends. Not in and of itself. If both players (and the team) are smart and understand it, then yes, it can be an effective tool to unbalance a defense. Again, your whole team has to understand it. And, again, I’m not tally sure it’s worth it and I don’t love it as a 100% go walkabout bit. Yet both players had mostly strong performances.

FC Dallas went from 3-4-3 to 4-1-4-1, back to a 3-4-3 at the half, then into a 4-3-3 in the 2nd. Again, is this a good thing? It can be. Or it can be a problem and overly confusing. If they win it’s genius, if not…

Muy Feo

For much of the game due to Arriola being high and even more so the last 10-15 of the first half – when Arriola went to left wing – and then after Ruan subbed in as he also went very high like Arriola… Dallas effectively played a back four with Sam Junqua, Marco Farfan, Sebastien Ibeagha, and Nkosi Tafari across the back. Take a look at the complete game heat map, yes, Tafari was the right back and Farfan was the CB.

Heat maps for Nkosi Tafari and Marco Farfan against RSL, Sept 18, 2024. (Courtesy Whoscored.com)

Individual mistakes, as illustrated in the goals section, really hurt FCD defensively. Anderson Julio caused the FCD defense, Sebastien Ibeagha notably, fits. Julio had 2 shots, both on target, both goals. He also drew the PK. The xG on his 1st goal was a nuts 0.01.

“I felt like the goals we conceded tonight were pretty soft.”

Petter Luccin

On the other end, their shooting efficiency once again let FCD down. Just 5 of 16 shots on target. Arriola, Ferreira, and Musa had a combined 11 shots with just 3 on target.

“We tried to level the match, but we did not take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, especially in the first half with the amount of chances we missed.”

Peter Luccin

This jacket.

FC Dallas Playoff Hunt

Point Target: ~44 pts
(probably, I’ve seen 46 projected)
Have: 34 pts
~Need: 10 more pts
Game left: 5 (3 home, 2 road)
~Wins Needed? 3.3… (maybe 4).

Instant Reaction – 3 Things

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