Until the 9th minute Thursday night most FC Dallas fans would’ve pinned Fabian Castillo to be the highlight of the match. Castillo ruptured a few Revolution ACL’s and MCL’s in the process, taking multiple cutting runs and knee bending turns through the New England defense. Most would agree the match was a fairly dull affair until the last fifteen to twenty minutes, when both teams decided they would try to win.
Ugo Ihemelu’s towering header above the New England defense resolved many inner debates about Thursday night’s game and more importantly, has set the tone for the next month for FC Dallas. Look how March started: with a solid win against New York. Given the team’s recent difficulties and mile-wide gaps in the back Ugo’s header gives FCD new life. The team heads into a stretch that features the Impact at home, Vancouver away, RSL at home, and the Galaxy away, the last two being the most difficult of the four. No doubt this is already on the minds of Hyndman and the rest of the squad, but at least they’ve started April a high, just as they did the beginning of the year. We have a shutout, though. We have a shutout.
If you’re interested you can hear my voice (it’s a shade of Morgan Freeman, but mostly Gilbert Gottfried) and the voices of Josh and Renny at the Rebel Alliance Podcast’s preview and review of New England versus Dallas.
Anyhow, some thoughts about the match against the Revolution:
We can do the 4-4-2.
Fabian Castillo, with more accurate services and equally more accurate finishes from the likes of Blas Perez and Ricardo Villar, could have ended up with two assists and a goal against the Revs. He and Blas Perez didn’t combine often, but Blas did make himself available in and around the 18 yard box after Castillo had penetrated far enough to the byline to put in a cross. This relationship will be tantalizing against Montreal.
The best defense is a good offense.
The increased offensive production and pressure brought by the likes of Shea and Castillo changed the circumstances of the game for FCD. Shea’s speed puts defenders on their back foot. Castillo’s pace and agility do the same. It opens up a new dimension for Dallas with those two in the match. This may be personal preference, but I’d put Castillo up top on the opposite side of Shea, so as to spread out the speed and pace a bit more for Dallas. Also: put Castillo on the same side as Loyd if he is played out wide in the 4-1-4-1. The two combined often and with efficiency throughout the preseason, the best display of it being against BK Hacken in Florida. Still, it was great to see some persistent attacks built up against a Revs side who were certainly confident coming into the match.
Brek will benefit from some time off.
The game versus the impact comes a full nine days after this match. He hasn’t had much rest. If we’ve learned from history at all, Brek’s best soccer, like most players, comes when they are most rested and least weary (see: USMNT, FCD, and CCL duties August through October 2011).
Ricardo Villar’s health.
Ricardo’s taken some hits: a body check by Chance Myers and now a stiff tackle from the Revs threaten his eligibility and health for Saturday’s game against the Impact. He is a good distributor. He doesn’t give the ball up often (we’re looking at you, Andrew Jacobson). Yet, if he is hurt it could severely damage FCD’s ability to possess and move the ball through the center of the pitch. Jacobson turns the ball over far too often. Hernandez isn’t too offensive minded. Villar is the perfect complement to those two, or one of them if we’re in a 4-4-2. So, his health is a necessity. Apparently we may see a reappearance of Jackson in Dallas – I assume this has a direct correlation.
Again, winning the second half is a necessity.
Despite decent pressure and tons of possession going in New England’s way, FCD staved off several decent chances by the Revs in the second half. This was in spite of a lack of offensive production from Dallas. The Revs did pour more numbers forward, allowing their outside backs to push higher. Still, Ugo and the backline remained unmoved and organized throughout. Even Pertuz found moments to step up into attack (certainly not as much as Benitez). Still, he and the backline performed well. There were no moments of madness. There were no mental errors. We now have a shutout.
Magic moments like a late, stoppage-time goal certainly don’t hurt, either. Let’s hope it pulls some more fans back to FC Stadium come Saturday.
(image courtesy of fcdallas.com)
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