FC Dallas: Making Sense Of Saturday’s 3-0 Loss
By Curry Goff
Whether you’re FC Dallas or John Q Public, some things in life just don’t make sense.
Like why lines at the DMV are so long, or why Jerry Jones continues to believe that he is the best “football mind” that the Cowboys have. FC Dallas’ loss to Vancouver on Saturday night rivals both these examples as something that makes you shake your head and question everything.
FCD had gone six games unbeaten in MLS. They were flying high and riding plenty of momentum after a tough 3 game-8 day span. Not to mention, they had just beaten their nearest competitor in the “who is the best early season team in MLS” contest.
Combine FCD’s momentum with Vancouver’s scoring drought of 3 games, and you found little reason to believe the Whitecaps would put up a big fight against the West’s best. Then again, some things in life just don’t make sense.
Not only did the Canadians put up a big fight, they capitalized on FCD’s impotent finishing touch to thrash the boys from Frisco by a final score of 3-0.
Ouch.
FC Dallas is prone to this type of loss. Last year, just as we were about to crown FCD as the greatest team since sliced bread paired up with bologna, they lost to Colorado…at home…4-0. Even then, this isn’t the type of loss you ever become accustomed to.
Many things went awry in this one, and many things will haunt Oscar Pareja from a match that saw FC Dallas create the majority of the scoring chances. Despite the wealth of attacking options for FC Dallas, the one thing that seems to be holding them back is their finishing.
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You hear announcer after announcer and pundit after pundit talk about the “speed” that FC Dallas possess in their attackers. Castillo and Barrios always get those plaudits, while people like Urruti and Akindele get their accolades for their work rate or their technical abilities.
You can’t say that any attacking player for FCD is known for their finishing. That criticism was on display Saturday night.
Chance after chance went begging for a side that was asking every question in attack. Each chance was either a great save by Ousted or a narrow miss by an FCD forward. When Vancouver finally broke forward with a chance and Maynor Figueroa turned it into his own net, you just had to laugh.
Players like Urruti and Castillo couldn’t convert the clear cut chances they had, but Figueroa could manage to accidentally kick one into his own net…it was fitting.
Even more fitting was the player that helped put the nail in FCD’s coffin for Vancouver, none other than Blas Perez. Not that we really miss his on-field contributions, but it hurt seeing him flick on the pass that led to Vancouver’s third goal.
It truly was a bad day at the office for FC Dallas, but I think that’s all that is was. There weren’t glaring or egregious mistakes. We just couldn’t manage to get the ball into the back of the net.
As far as 3-0 losses go, as little sense as this one made on paper, it wasn’t terrible. A chance here and there falling in place would have completely change this one. Chalk it up to bad luck, as far as I’m concerned.