Breaking Down the 2021 FC Dallas Depth Chart – Part III: The Forwards
As the 2021 MLS season draws near, FC Dallas will begin their preseason preparations.
Part of the preseason is determining who the regular game day starters and who will be left on the bench.
This series will go position by position on the pitch and analyze the depth chart at each spot.
For our final entry this week, we will look at the attack.
This week’s column will look at the three most commonly used forward positions under Luchi Gonzalez: left-wing, right-wing, and striker/center forward.
Left-Wing
1) Freddy Vargas
2) Kalil ElMedkhar
Both left and right wings will have a completely different look from the past few seasons for FC Dallas, with Michael Barrios, Fafa Picault, and Santiago Mosquera all leaving the club in the offseason. To be clear on the wingers, most of the players listed as either left or right wings are capable of playing on either side of the formation and will, if history is any indication, switch sides even within games. I’ve tried to place the players here in what seems to be their “primary” wing position. On the left-wing, that means two new faces in Venezuelan Freddy Vargas, on loan for Deportivo Lara in his home country, and Kalil ElMedkhar signed from the University of Kentucky on a homegrown contract (ElMedkhar was part of the Philadelphia Union academy).
Both players are basically total unknowns at this level. Vargas is a tricky and flashy winger who helped Deportivo Lara achieve a Copa Libertadores qualification spot in 2020. But MLS is a significant step up from the Venezuelan league and it may take some time for Vargas to find his fight in a new country and new league. ElMedkhar was a stand-out in the Philadelphia Union Academy and in college soccer, but he has no experience at the professional level and seems likely to start the season playing with North Texas SC in USL League One.
With the inexperience of the left-wingers in mind, don’t be shocked to see a player like Paxton Pomykal or Jesus Ferreira deputized at left-wing early in the season. With a crowded midfield and strike force, Luchi Gonzalez will be desperate to see both players get minutes and, as of now, left-wing is probably the most uncertain position on the field. Alternatively, Luchi may try playing a formation like the 3-5-2, which does not feature normal attacking wingers. Regardless, there is a ton of uncertainty around this position, though, if you’ve been following FCD in recent years, you’ll know that is nothing new!
Right Wing
1) Jader Obrian
2) Dante Sealy
The right-wing is also an uncertain position but not to the same extent as the left-wing spot. Long-time occupant Michael Barrios departed the club over the winter, being traded to the Colorado Rapids in a disappointing end (for now?) to his time with FC Dallas. Young homegrown Dante Sealy returns and will look to earn more game time and build upon his limited appearances in 2020. The new man in the mix is Colombian Jader Obrian, who comes over from Aguilas Doradas in his native country, where he scored 24 goals in 61 appearances in 2019 and 2020.
Photo: Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports
At 25 years old, Obrian is a bit of a late bloomer, having done virtually nothing in his first few professional seasons before exploding onto the scene in 2019. It is clear the club hopes to replicate the success they had with Michael Barrios, who also was a bit of a late bloomer in Colombia, and put up impressive goal figures before moving to the United States.
But as with the aforementioned Vargas and ElMedkhar, this is a step up for Obrian, though the Colombian league is certainly closer to MLS quality than the Venezuelan league or college soccer. Obrian is blessed with a lot of pace and has a clear knack for goal, something that FCD has desperately been missing from their wingers. Barrios was great at getting into good positions and putting balls into the box, but his finishing was typically lacking. The club will hope Obrian can bring in some of the goal-scoring ability that he showed off in Colombia to boost the FCD attack.
Striker
1) Franco Jara
2) Jesus Ferreira
3) Ricardo Pepi
Much like last week’s discussion of who should start at the 8, this ranking is less my personal opinion and more of a prediction based on what the FCD staff will do. Like it or not, Franco Jara is the highest-paid player on the team and unless he is injured or in absolutely rotten form, he is going to start more often than not. For so much hype after his signing, Jara’s performances in 2020 were underwhelming. He looked very slow and although he clearly has a high level of skill on the ball and a great deal of creativity on the ball, he was rarely doing the things that most fans would like to see a center forward do for the team.
Jara often dropped way deep to pick up the ball and, although he connected well with teammates, was rarely in good positions when crosses came into the box. He did score some nice poachers goals but also missed his fair share of chances and didn’t convert chances nearly as well as many expected. That being said, 2020 was hardly an ideal year or season to join a new league and MLS is a historically tough league for newcomers in their first few months. Fans and staff alike at FCD will hope Jara can show more in 2021.
Behind Jara are two young homegrowns in Jesus Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi. Based on the second half of 2019 and 2020, Ferreira is probably miscast here as a striker, as he has often played more as a midfielder or even a winger. That being said, Ferreira was just confirmed for the U-23 national team for Olympic qualifying following that training camp (Ricardo Pepi was there too and was not on the final roster) and performed very well as a false 9 for the senior team in the January friendly against Trinidad & Tobago. U-23 head coach Jason Kreis has talked up Jesus to the point where it seems clear that he is the nominal starter for the team going into Olympic qualifying. On the club side, it is more of an unknown
Due to Olympic qualifying, Jesus is going to miss the bulk of the team’s preseason, likely not returning until roughly two weeks before the opening game on April 17th. Luchi Gonzalez clearly trusts Jesus, so that should not have a major impact on his playing time, but it may see him cast in a role closer to what he has played with the US rather than what FCD fans have seen of him in the last year and a half. The final piece of evidence here is that the club has given Ferreira the #9 jersey, typically reserved for a center forward. Numbers are just numbers, Fafa Picault wore #9 last season playing as a winger, but do not be shocked to see Jesus play a more forward role in 2021, potentially even pairing with Jara in a 3-5-2 at times.
Ricardo Pepi
Finally, we come to Ricardo Pepi, a name that any FC Dallas fan is accustomed to hearing by this point. Pepi’s career seemed to be a slow build until he scored the game-winner in the playoffs against Portland last season, which saw him burst onto the national scene and rocketed expectations for him. Pepi saw a steady increase in minutes from 2019 into 2020 and the 18-year-old will look to continue that trajectory in 2021. He will likely rejoin FC Dallas’ preseason in the coming days after not making the final roster for Olympic qualifying and with Ferreira’s absence from preseason, will see a lot of reps and get plenty of opportunities to cement himself even deeper with the team.
Pepi seems poised to make a lot of substitute appearances in 2021, mixed in with a handful of starts when Jara needs a rest. And with the attention, he is getting from overseas (he was one of the six players who trained with Bayern Munich over the winter), it may not be much longer than Pepi is even with the club. Enjoy him while it lasts.
Who do you see starting in the forward line going into 2021?
Do you feel that Luchi Gonzalez will deploy a 3-5-2 or another 2 striker formation or will he stick with his usual 4-3-3?
Featured Image: Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports
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