FRISCO - The 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League returns to action today with 4 MLS teams are currently competing in the quarterfinals. For coach Oscar Pareja and FC Dallas, however, the dream of participating in next year’s edition, for which they are already qualified, is fully in sight.
“We’re preparing our players for what will come after [this] summer and imagining what it will be like next year,” he said. “It is a good exercise for us, just to see how the CONCACAF competition is at this point in the year for MLS clubs, [looking at] how the challenges may affect or not the competition, see the rivals, all these things are up for analysis at this moment.”
The analysis won’t be restricted to the coaches either. ‘Papi’ wants his players to watch the games too, and start imagining what they could be playing for early next year.
“It should help them to see first the games, and analyze all those aspects, and picture themselves in that competition at this time of the year,” he said. “I think intelligent players will do that, and I’m pretty sure that we have guys that are not just intelligent but committed to the program. So, I expect them to analyze all those things. For sure the coaches will do their homework too.”
Coaches and front-office staff have been busy thinking about FC Dallas participating in two tournaments for some while now. Building a roster for MLS is one thing, but when you add the CONCACAF Champions League, depth becomes a real issue.
“Every position in the roster matters a lot.” coach Pareja said. “You have 28 players, and every piece of the puzzle is important. We have to think about development, we have to think about having a roster that is deep. But at the same time, we have to build a team with players in the roster with the capacity to compete in the highest level. This year we talked about it, and that’s one of the things that pleased me the most: to see a roster that is complete, and we’re ready to face those tournaments.”
A ‘complete’ roster will be needed for FC Dallas to have success in the international tournament. So far, the MLS has come close to winning the CONCACAF Champions League two times, with Real Salt Lake and Montreal Impact falling in the final in 2011 and 2015, respectively. But until now, an international title has been elusive to MLS squads. For coach Pareja, however, MLS needs to continue to focus on winning the title.
“Major League Soccer should think about that all the time,” he said. “The American mentality, the American culture, the quality of the players that we have in this country, and the way we work. All those things should make us very optimistic and dream to win it. Last year it was close, and at the end the competition [level] is getting higher and higher. I think the dream to win it belongs to everybody. We already proved that we can do it.”
By ‘we’ Oscar doesn’t mean just FC Dallas, but MLS as a whole. The teams Pareja is trying to beat on a weekly basis turn into friends when the match is played in an international ground.
“I do want Major League Soccer teams to win,” he said. “In an international competition, they are our family. Despite the competition that we have internally that is obvious, where every program wants to show it’s better than the other ones. In international competition that fades, because it’s MLS versus the rest of the World and we want to make this tournament the best. I will be very proud if they keep advancing and [keep] showing our soccer is good enough.”
