CHICAGO - Greetings from the Windy City, where it’s not so windy to kick off MLS All-Star week. We’ve got a lot of great stuff planned for the next few days right here on FCDallas.com and on all FCD’s social channels, but first let’s dive into the Mailbag:
“How much does the weather affect games? For instance, was Dallas not ready to play with the heat that was there on Saturday?” - Steven
The weather plays a huge factor, especially in the summer in Texas. It’s this exact reason why FCD trains around 7 every night during the summer months to prepare and get as accustomed as possible. It’s an advantage that they try to take over their opponents, but I think the heat definitely affected both sides on Saturday. You could tell from the very start.
“Seems we were over confident in this match. We had several returning from international duty, changes in formation, and what appeared like a communication breakdown. Will we go back to playing our game? We have the depth so I do not believe that will hurt us too much. We have time to prepare.” - Garth Adams
I don’t know about over confident, but definitely having so many players in and out of the lineup I think has caught up to the team. It’s impossible to build substantial chemistry and rhythm when you’re using a different XI every single week. And not having three players that played key roles until Thursday or Friday doesn’t help. Let’s not discount the well-executed tactical game Vancouver played however.
“Petke and Pareja's reaction to questionable calls were very different. Do you feel one handled the situation better than the other?” - FCD Fangirl
I think, first off, the two have very different personalities. Petke is very upfront with who he is as you saw last week. Pareja, on the other hand, is very vocal in the room, but keeps everything close to his chest in the media and in public. From a pure entertainment standpoint, Petke’s response was great and opened up very real concerns. But Pareja’s handling of it shows exactly who he is, someone who looks inward first rather than find excuses. Also, I think by the end of the game, so much else had happened (i.e. goals), that it’s hard to point to that one specific moment as a make-or-break moment.
