REVIEW: Comments Following FC Dallas' First Preseason Game

On Wednesday night, FC Dallas had two separate scrimmages two open their 2020 preseason.

The first match was against OKC Energy at 4, and the second match was against NTX Rayados at 6pm. Only the second match was open for public viewing. The match against NTX Rayados did not include any starters, as most of them played in the earlier match or didn’t feature in either of the games.

The Match

FC Dallas Starting Eleven: Zobeck; Munjoma, Che, Ponder, Almaguer; Waldeck, Ferriol; A Rodriguez, D. Rodriguez, Engebretson; Jennings

Although this is how FC Dallas started like this, there were substitutions at the half and during the game. Tanner Tessmann, Nico Carrera, Camilo Estrada, Gibran Rayo, and other unknown players all saw time in the second half.

At the end of the first half, after a kerfuffle in the NTX Rayados 18 yard box, Jennings won the ball only to be then immediately fouled by one of the Rayados defenders. Arturo Rodriguez stepped up to take the penalty kick, and smoothly finished it on the opposite side of the goalkeeper.

In the second half, Cal Jennings was able to score two goals and was one of the few to play the entire match. His first one came off of a driven ball from the wingback, which passed both the center back and the goalie into Jennings sliding leg. His second one came in a similar fashion. Engebretson received the ball from a through pass close to goal and scooped the ball over the hopeless goalkeeper into Jennings’ head

Comments

First things first. Although NTX Rayados were a talented team with speed and strength, they were below the level of most of the players that FC Dallas fielded in that match. FC Dallas held most of the possession and held Rayados at bay for most of the match
Saying that the best player on the field was Cal Jennings. He had a hand in every goal that FC Dallas scored today (won the penalty kick, scored two goals), and could have had more if not for a couple of handballs. He was a constant threat to the defense of NTX Rayados, always making runs into the box or possess the ball with the midfielders.
Arturo Rodriguez was the most talented player on the team, his vision, and ability on the ball is what created channels for the other attacking players on the squad. FC Dallas has to try to lock him in and keep him on the roster, especially now that there are rumors surrounding his departure
When Tessmann came on, he immediately became a calming force in the defense as a defensive midfielder. His speed and athleticism enabled him to cover a lot of ground, and his passing range allowed the team to drive the ball forward.
David Rodriguez seems like a more raw version of his older brother, but a year as a probable starter for North Texas should give him the arena to grow.

Justin Che and Nico Carrera played together for a large part of the second half of the game. Both of them were very difficult to get through, but each had a different role suiting their talents. Che is a far more athletic presence, often pressing attackers on the halfway line and forcing turnovers to create counterattacks.

Carrera is mainly just a big player, whose presence caused a lot of difficulty for Mohamed Sesay, who was a trialist last year with NTSC. I look forward to seeing both of the defenders partner up with North Texas in the near future.

I didn’t see much from Ferriol and Engebretson, with the exception of Engebretson’s lovely assist mentioned earlier.

Zobeck is basically a coach on the field, which is very helpful for the young players on the squad. He always keeps them aware of the game, and his leadership aided the squad in precarious situations.