Offseason Outlook: FC Dallas

/
Offseason Outlook: FC Dallas

For better and for worse, FC Dallas is in the tween years with their current squad and head coach. First year head coach Luchi Gonzalez was very adamant about his team playing a certain style and cemented an identity in the team that the players embraced. It did not matter who they were playing or where the game was being held, Dallas was going to line up the same way (hybrid 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1) and were encouraged to play out of the back.

At times they were brilliant and managed sequences of 40+ passes before the opponent could even get close to the ball, but there were also moments of awkwardness when pressed out of their comfort zone and they lacked ideas of how to get the ball out or how to move forward. Just like a prepubescent kid, they occasionally appeared uncomfortable and completely unsure of themselves.

Read More

Hiding Behind Possession: FC Dallas' Youth Experiment

/

For years, FC Dallas has been lauded for having one of -- if not the best, Academy programs in the United States. Dallas has signed the most Homegrown players in the league history (25), with no slowing down in sight. Despite having such a prolific Academy, it wasn’t until recent years that the club started taking full advantage of this system. And when former Academy Director Luchi Gonzalez took over as the head coach,  it was finally the go-time for the entire “Play Your Kids” movement. Part of that was by design; who else would know the former Academy players better than Luchi? Part of it was also timing; most of the Academy graduates had spent a significant amount of their formative soccer development years in the Dallas Academy and were ready to make the jump. With Gonzalez at the reign, it only made sense to usher in a youth movement.

Read More

FC Dallas 2019 Season Preview

/
FC Dallas 2019 Season Preview

The 2018 season for FC Dallas feels like a lifetime ago, thanks in large part to massive changes the club undergone during the offseason. The face and heartbeat of the club, Oscar Pareja, left for a new challenge and after his departure the roster and coaching staff were overhauled in a matter of weeks. With the change comes a new wind of hope and optimism, especially when you hear the way newly minted head coach and former FCD Academy Director Luchi Gonzalez speaks so eloquently about his vision for Dallas in 2019, and how the newly formed North Texas Soccer Club will help bridge more FCD players from the Academy and the first team.

Read More