FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas is on a two-game win streak for the first time in 2023, thanks in no small part to newcomer Geovane Jesus.
Although nominally a defender, Jesus' has largely made his mark on the attacking side of the game. His driving runs forward from right back have given FCD a new avenue for creating chances from open play. The main beneficiary from Jesus' inclusion is Jesús Ferreira, whose last two goals have come from crosses on the right flank.
Jesus has proven to be up the task so far in his three starts and stacks up well against other fullbacks in MLS. Below is a comparison of Jesus' performances vs. the average performance of MLS fullbacks this season. Notice Jesus' strong performances in crossing accuracy (33.3%), tackles (77.8%) and recoveries (3.16).
Jesus' first assist in FCD colors was actually a hockey/second assist but the whole move shows exactly why Dallas signed the 21-year-old from Cruzeiro in Brazil. He plays a one-two with Paul Arriola after collecting a long ball from Maarten Paes before impressively rounding the defender after taking another long touch behind the backline (those long touches are essentially passes to himself and are quickly becoming somewhat of a signature move). His low cross found Jesús Jiménez who's first touch fell to Ferreira to finish from close range.
The two goals and Jesus' involvement are very similar and could be a blueprint for how FCD looks to attack down the right flank going forward.
Against Real Salt Lake this past weekend, Jesus created the opening by combining neatly with Sebastian Lletget at midfield before taking a big touch to go behind the RSL backline. After out-pacing the defender, Jesus spots Ferreira's run and plays the low cross into the space for a simple tap-in goal.
And here's a graph showing Jesus' general performances compared to other MLS fullbacks. Note how his xG Chain* (4th), Recoveries (10th), Tackles (8th), Aerial Efficiency• (1st), Completed Crosses (6th) and Crossing Percentage (6th) are all in the top 10 among the 41 fullbacks measured.
*xG chain is the amount of times a player is involved in a play that leads to a shot per 90 minutes.
• Aerial efficiency is a metric that combines percentage of successful aerial duels together with the volume of aerial duels won
It's still very early in his Dallas career but Jesus looks like another excellent addition by FCD Technical Director André Zanotta. His offensive abilities are evident, it will be interesting to see how Jesus fairs when Dallas is faced with more potent attacking outfits.
