RECAP: Strong in Defeat—Three Lessons From FC Dallas’ 1-0 Loss to LAFC
The Burn dropped a close one at BMO Stadium to LAFC, but probably had their best ever performance in the black-and-gold’s stadium.
Let’s look at a few lessons learned from Dallas’ tough loss.
1) Inverted Wingbacks?
When the lineup for the team was released on Saturday evening, there were no surprises on the backline; it was the same group that had started the first two games of the season. Fan and pundit concerns about Bernie Kamungo did not carry over to the staff, who handed him his third straight start at left wing back.
Or did they? Once we were actually tuned in to the game, it was immediately obvious that what was drawn on the lineup sheet wasn’t exactly right. The personnel, of course, were flipped, with Herman Johansson on the left and Kamungo on the right, placing each on their “weaker” side.
This concept is not new to the team; they experimented with it extensively during preseason, and both players spent time as inverted wingbacks at various points, but it hadn’t been seen in the regular season outside of a substitute context in game 1, with Deedson replacing Johansson. So to say it was a surprise to see that wrinkle throw out in FCD’s first away game against a team of LAFC’s quality was a real surprise.
What was maybe more surprising was that it largely worked out.
The idea seemed largely to be about getting Kamungo matched up with Denis Bouanga. Not exactly a defensive matchup you’d imagine FCD would really want, but Bernie held his own (sometimes pace just matters more than most anything else) and had Shaq Moore behind him to help out as needed. It actually worked so well that Bouanga swapped sides in the second half to get away from Bernie (he didn’t have much more luck against Johansson).
That said, it wasn’t a total success, and I don’t think it will be a long-term solution. Johansson struggled to really get involved going forward until the final 10 minutes, when he was switched back to the right and put in a number of tremendous crosses, one of which almost led to a late equalizer for Petar Musa. Generally speaking, Johansson really needs to be on the right, but it was good to see this wrinkle work effectively and will be a useful tool in Eric Quill’s belt moving forward.
2) Valiente’s Strong First Start
The only surprise on the team sheet was Joaquin Valiente getting his first start for the club. Valiente becoming a starter was always going to be on the cards sooner rather than later, but most likely did not expect that, after just about 30 minutes at home against Nashville, that he would be in line for a start against LAFC. Most, myself included, likely expected a return to the Ramiro/Kaick/Cappis trio in midfield to focus on the defensive side of the game.
But instead, Quill opted to give the Uruguayan his first start with Cappis and Ramiro behind him in more of a double pivot (Cappis was, of course, getting forward a lot more than Ramiro). It wasn’t a perfect first start or anything like that, but Valiente definitely brought another element that had been missing from the FCD midfield to this point in the season. Per FotMob, he created 1 chance, had 4 touches in the LAFC box, 2 passes into the final third, and won 60% of his duels in his 73 minutes. None of this is earth-shattering, but it was a positive first real integration into the team. There were moments when things almost came off for him and his teammates, and those will get better as they get more comfortable with each other.
It was an incredibly tough environment for Valiente’s first start, but he did enough to show that he deserves the spot moving forward and that fans should be excited about what’s to come from him.
3) Very Resilient Defensively
The national pundits in their recaps of the game have mostly mentioned Dallas playing defensively, with some noting that they “bunkered”. Without question, Dallas was set up in a defensive posture and played out of a low block (they ended the game at 39% possession), but I don’t feel that “bunkering” really illustrates how the game played out.
Going back through the away trips to LAFC since FotMob started tracking xG in MLS, LAFC had never had less than 1 xG in a matchup, often pushing towards 2 or more. On Saturday night, Dallas held LAFC and all their superstars to just 0.93 xG. LAFC’s only goal came from a probable goal of the week contender from David Martinez in a moment where Dallas’ defensive resilience slid just a bit.
But Dallas was really excellent defensively. Son Heung-min was held almost completely in check, and Denis Bouanga did have a big chance, but Michael Collodi was absolutely tremendous in the Dallas goal and came up big. But largely, LAFC just failed to generate much of note; they had only 8 shots in the game and 5 on target.
As a collective group, the backline has been a point of concern among the FCD fanbase, but aside from some mistakes in game 1, they’ve been an excellent unit through three games into the season. If they can keep this up, Dallas will be “in” every game they play in 2026.
What are your thoughts on Dallas’ loss in LAFC?
Did they deserve to take something from their trip to BMO Stadium?
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