FC Dallas came into the game against Real Salt Lake unbeaten in their past nine games. RSL were looking to extend their three game win-streak to four against the team from Frisco, and coming into the match it seemed very possible. Except that this is MLS soccer we are talking about and in MLS everything is possible. FC Dallas ended RSL three game winning streak and are now undefeated in their previous 10 matches. Impressive. So what lessons did we learn from the Big D in this epic matchup in from the Western Conference?
Lessons Learned from FC Dallas Big Win vs Real Salt Lake
Fabian Castillo is a man on fire
Castillo is currently on a record breaking season. He has now scored nine goals this season and has now gone 11 games straight with at least a goal or an assist. His partnership with Tesho Akindele is clicking and even without Blas Perez and Mauro Diaz they are scoring. Michel and Akindele both got assists tonight, but Castillo did not really need an assist for his goal given it was a solo run into the box where he scored from an acute angle past Nat Borchers and Nick Rimando. After the game FCD coach Oscar Pareja stated that “He(Castillo) continues to show progress” and that “he is committed, he understands what it takes to take his game to the next level. Now he is in a place where he has not been before, and he is experiencing things that he has not before. Now he is feeling it and he is understanding that he will be the one to raise his own bar and keep going up. He’s young, we forget that he’s young, he’s just 22. But Fabian(Castillo) has embraced this program, this project, and that’s great. I’m happy for him”.
Pareja knows that Castillo, although he is young, has what it takes to take his team to the next level and that it now up to Castillo to push himself further. Hopefully Castillo continues on this amazing run of form vs Chicago at Toyota Park next game.
The referee was harsh but his call was justified.
Nearing the end of the first half Perez got sent off with a second yellow card after Chris Schuler pushed him down. The first yellow was for unsporting behavior, the second was for embellishing the foul committed by Schuler. Both cards could have been avoided. Many people thought that the call was harsh and unjustified, but it was more than justified. Perez has a reputation for diving and simulation. When he got pushed he jumped about four feet in the air, unnecessary. What happened was already after the foul had been called so there would have been a free kick for Dallas no matter what. At the end of the match Pareja was asked: “what did you think of the call at the end of the first half?” his response was inaudible. He chuckled and sighed and then said “everybody saw it, it was televised”.
Now this is where Pareja is wrong. Yes the call was harsh but if this was two random teams and player did that(flop) would it not make you mad? Would you not think that it deserves a yellow for simulation? The referee handbook explicitly states that simulation is a straight yellow card, no questions asked. Ismail Elfath, the referee, simply followed the laws of the game and he is getting abuse from fans for this? More referees need to follow in Elfath’s path and card simulation when it is as obvious as it was with Perez vs RSL. Unjust at the moment but correctly called in hindsight.
FC Dallas are strong, not only offensively but defensively as well
FC Dallas is becoming a strong team with Pareja at the helm. Pareja has made the Frisco team the highest scoring team at the moment in MLS with 45 goals to their name and recently they have started conceding less. In their last 5 MLS games they have conceded 4 goals and scored 13. Zach Loyd is a big contributor to the amount of goals conceded recently. After the game vs RSL I talked to him and asked him what has contributed his form recently, his answer: “The guys around me, I think that the team has been playing really well. When the team plays well everyone seems to be showing well.”
I also asked him if he preferred having Michel beside him or in front of him. His answer? “I like having him sit in front of me because I know I can get it, I can ping it to his feet and I know he is going to be calm and distribute the ball well.”
Loyd could not be more correct, Michel has been one of the men responsible for his teams recent success. He plays good defense and distributes well. He has gotten 4 assists this season and has helped with getting the ball to the right places at the right time.
If everybody in the FCD organization can keep up their good run of form at the moment, they might make it further than expected this season.
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