PREVIEW – PLAYOFFS: Three Areas of Focus for FC Dallas Against Vancouver
After a dramatic Decision Day in Vancouver, Dallas has set itself up with a first-round rematch against the Whitecaps.
Ahead of game 1, let’s look at three things the Burn need to focus on to give themselves a chance against Vancouver.
1) Unleash Musa
Plenty has already been rightly discussed about how much Vancouver controlled the game with 10 players for the majority of the match and what that means for when the teams match back up in an 11v11 contest. But not much has been mentioned about the return of Dallas’ three suspended players: Ramiro, Logan Farrington, and, in particular, Petar Musa.
Remember that for game 1, Whitecaps centerback Matias Laborda will be suspended due to his red card. With Vancouver’s injury situation at centerback, this means their starting centerback pair will be Halbouni, who looked a bit shaky at times on Saturday, and defensive midfielder Ralph Priso. Priso has done an admirable job down the stretch deputizing at centerback, but Musa will be a very different kind of challenge for him, and Dallas should very much look to play through Musa as much as possible, even more than they already do.
The fact that Dallas even got to where they are without their only designated player is already remarkable, but if they want to have any chance of shocking the MLS world and going even further, Musa is going to have to play a massive role.
2) The Dark Arts
To be clear, I’m not endorsing any sort of egregious diving or excessive time wasting, but as of late, Dallas has become quite adept at some of the “dark arts” of the sport that get under the opponent’s (and especially the fans’) skin. Leaning into these kinds can help level the playing field. Let’s be honest, Vancouver is a tremendous team; they’ve shown that all year across many competitions, and Dallas will need to push every button and pull every lever available to them to have any real shot at getting past the Whitecaps. Go down a little easy on contact, leave a little extra in a couple challenges (without going too far!), do a little bit of chirping, whatever needs to happen to get a quality side like the ‘Caps off their game and off balance so you can strike some body blows and maybe even knock them down.
3) Impact Subs
Remarkably, Dallas goes into the playoffs with almost a full clean bill of health (pending news on Patrickson Delgado, who went down worryingly in the first half). As important as the starting group and the likes of Musa, Farrington, and Kamungo will be for Dallas, almost as important will be the players coming off the bench, potentially Anderson, Julio, Sam Sarver, Pedrinho, and, yes, Paxton Pomykal.
It was a joy to see a bunch of young homegrowns enter the field on Decision Day to close out the game, but it wasn’t just sentimental. Josh Torquato, Nolan Norris, and Diego Garcia all played their part to see out the result and push Dallas into the playoffs and out of the play-in game, and they may all end up having a role to play as the playoffs start for real. Every member of the team has to be ready for their moment, especially on the attacking side, and it isn’t hard to imagine a scenario where Dallas is chasing a goal late in the game. Someone has a chance to step into these games and make a remarkable impact.
How do you think things will shape up for FCD against Vancouver in the playoffs?
Do the Burn have a real chance at a round 1 victory?
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