Three Things We Learned From FC Dallas’ 12 Game Road Odyssey
Back in May, FC Dallas embarked on a 12-game road odyssey across MLS and Leagues Cup that took them across North America and spanned over 19,000 miles of travel.
With that road odyssey finally complete, the Burn are set to make their return to Toyota Stadium to start September.
Let’s look back at three things we learned about Eric Quill’s side since they started their travels.
1) This Team Has a Ton of Grit
We already sort of knew this from the last 12 months or so, but Dallas finished their 12 games across all competitions with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses. Truly, I’m not sure anyone could have asked for or expected much more. Since returning from the World Cup, they played two games a week almost every week, and they did so in the hottest part of the year. They spent time away from their families and loved ones, dealt with a huge amount of travel (over 19,000 miles across the entire trip), faced logistical issues like getting stuck overnight at the Vancouver airport, and still managed to come away with 21 points out of 36 available across all competitions.
They did so by playing their typical defensive style, occasionally pressing high and consistently having to defend late leads or earn results late, which left them with few real moments of relaxation in games. It only really fell apart one single time – their trip to Vancouver, where the team was heavily rotated and faced a full-strength and angry Vancouver side after dropping points, who thrashed them 5-0. Outside of that game, Dallas lost two others – a 3-1 loss in Toluca that simply saw the Mexican side outclass FCD and a narrow 1-0 loss in San Diego that was a poor Logan Farrington touch away from being another draw on the road.
Were the performances perfect? Not at all; this team still has some pretty clear issues that need to be addressed if they want to push towards the top 4, but Eric Quill has figured out how to get a lot out of the players he does have – and that goes a long way in MLS.
2) Eric Quill’s List of Trusted Players Is Not Long
With so many games and so much travel in this period, it was expected, especially during the Leagues Cup games, that Eric Quill would dip into the lesser-used members of his squad to rotate his team and get some of the more commonly used players some rest. This never really happened, though; Quill largely stuck with the same group he used all season.
It comes out to about 16 players:
- Jonathan Sirois
- Osaze Urhoghide
- Shaq Moore
- Nolan Norris
- Sebastien Ibeagha
- Bernard Kamungo
- Herman Johansson
- Kaick, Ramiro
- Christian Cappis
- Santi Moreno
- Joaquin Valiente
- Petar Musa
- Logan Farrington
- Sam Sarver
- Ran Binyamin
Up until recently, Patrickson Delgado would have been part of that equation, but he’s seemingly been moved firmly into the doghouse, not having played since a brief cameo against Queretaro in the Leagues Cup. Anderson Julio looked set to rejoin the group, but after a couple of brief substitute appearances in the first few games after the World Cup, he was injured against Queretaro and seems set to be out for some time. Following the U20 CONCACAF Championship, Josh Torquato has seemingly joined that group; he’s no longer playing with North Texas, but he played only one game. Before the season resumed, Quill also talked up Caleb Swann, but he has yet to make another appearance for the first team.
It’s clear that this relatively small group is who Quill trusts, and beyond that group, he doesn’t have much faith in the players further down the roster. Dallas has been fortunate, to this point, to avoid any significant injuries besides the aforementioned Julio and goalkeeper Daniel, and the furious pace of games will let up significantly in September, but this is something to watch as the season goes into the final third.
3) Contributions Across the Squad
Eric Quill may not have the longest list of squad members that he is willing to give significant minutes to, but he has gotten contributions from across the depth of the squad that he does use during this road stretch. Dallas had 10 different goal scorers across the 12 games (they were held scoreless in 3 games). Petar Musa, of course, carried a heavy load, with 6 goals to his name. Logan Farrington added another 3 while Patrickson Delgado, Santiago Moreno and Joaquin Valiente all notched two across all competitions. But Dallas also got a famous game-winning goal from Sam Sarver, a game-winning and first goal for the club from Ran Binyamin, and first goals of the season from Lalas Abubakar, Shaq Moore, and Sebastien Ibeagha (Valiente also scored his first goals for the club in this stretch).
Beyond the goals, the aforementioned Abubakar had a big game in a time of need in a big win in Austin, and Jonathan Sirois stepped into the starting role, initially in place of Michael Collodi and then deputizing after Daniel’s injury, and has performed at a very high level. Often in the media, FCD is reduced to Petar Musa and a bunch of spare parts, but through this difficult stretch they picked up key contributions from across the squad. That will have to continue for Dallas as they hit the home stretch and make a real push for a home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
How are you feeling after FCD’s road odyssey?
Will the Burn make a push into the top 4 in the West in the last 12 games of the season?
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