FRISCO - He’s largely been the super-sub for FC Dallas over the past two seasons, but Tesho Akindele is forcing his hand into a starting role early in 2017.
The 2014 MLS Rookie of the Year has come off the bench in at least half of his appearances in 2015 and 2016, consistently logging 1500 minutes and 5 or 6 goals along the way. In the last three weeks, though, he’s seen his name written with the starters - albeit in different roles.
Against both Sporting KC and Portland in late April, Akindele started as a left winger for Oscar Pareja and then over the course of the match, moved up into a dual-striker look alongside Maxi Urruti in a 4-4-2 formation. Against Real Salt Lake, he worked the opposite, starting as a forward and moving to a winger role by the end of the match.
His seamless ability to move between the roles is a big part of his recent success.
“Having a player that is versatile in the team and has flexibility, you can play him in different positions, it's a luxury for the club and for the coach,” Pareja said of his first SuperDraft pick after taking their reigns of FC Dallas in 2014. “Once I see players that are giving all what they have, and they are producing, it's obvious that they need to be in the field. For us, it's much easier when you see that effort there.”
With so many offensively talented players on the roster, forcing Pareja’s hand into the lineup isn’t easy. But Akindele says its that internal competition week after week for the next Starting XI is what keeps everyone at the highest level.
“It's a battle every week, but I think it helps everybody. If I'm starting this week, whoever wasn't starting is going to be like ‘Man, I need to do better so I can get in the lineup.’ If I'm not starting, I think 'Okay, I need to be better.' It just kind of drives everybody,” Akindele said. “At the end of the day, if I'm not starting, it's not somebody else's fault.”
“Being a starting player in FC Dallas hasn't been easy, and as you see in the stats, always Tesho is there [contributing off the bench],” Pareja said. “Now, he needs to go and get the next step [as a starter], and at this point Tesho is embracing that part. Consistency is something they earn in training and in the competition, and I think Tesho is making a strong case this year.”
That me-against-the-world mentality is something that comes from his journey to professional soccer. A four-year starter at NCAA Division II school Colorado School of Mines, Akindele earned an invite to the MLS Combine in 2014 where he instantly made a name for himself. So much so, that newly-named head man in Dallas moved back up in the draft order to take Akindele at No. 6 overall.
“If you think about that at a D-II school, maybe I was the best player on my team at the time, but my ambitions were more than that,” he said. “I was not just comparing myself to the people on my team, even here you can't compare yourself to the people on your team. You have to always compare yourself to the best you can do.”
Akindele has yet to match his career-high 18 starts from his rookie campaign, but in his fourth pro season, he says he’s feeling more confident and relaxed - and taking some tips on being a constant threat from a new teammate over the last year and a half.
“If you look at somebody like Maxi Urruti, even if he doesn't score a goal, you're gonna be like, ‘He played a pretty good game,' because he worked hard and he kind of messed them up on both sides of the ball just by his work ethic. I want to be that kind of player,” Akindele said. “I don't think you can look at many number nine's around the league who are scoring as many goals as him and still tracking back. Every time the center back controls the ball, they know he's going to be nipping at their heels trying to steal it.”
The admiration, though, is a two-way street.
“He is a partner who has made sacrifices. The truth is he is a great player,” Urruti said. “He is improving day by day, he trains 100 percent and is proving that he is a player that deserves to be with the starters.”
It remains to be seen if Akindele will get his fourth straight start this weekend against NYCFC, a streak that has happened just once over the last two years, but after two seasons largely coming off the bench for FCD, the Canadian striker will continue to be a menace to opposing defenses in whatever role he’s in.
“If I was an opposing team, I’d hate playing against Tesho,” midfielder Kellyn Acosta said. “He’s a guy that has all the tools. He has speed, he’s technical, he’s strong, he’s a good finisher, he’s got one of the hardest inside-the-foot shots I’ve seen. He’s been playing at a high level and has really picked up our team…When he’s on, he’s on and he’s pretty unstoppable.”
