FRISCO - FC Dallas is back home and resting after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against LAFC - the first draw in the expansion club’s short history and snapping their three-game winning streak.
Before we set our eyes on the other team from LA making the trip to Toyota Stadium this weekend, let’s look at some takeaways from #LAFCvFCD.
Mosquera the Starter
In his third straight start in a third role, Santiago Mosquera has staked his claim on a starting role. Two weeks ago against Philadelphia, he was on the left wing, last week on the right and on Saturday he was a second striker. In all three, he’s caused issues to the opposing team. His speed is dangerous down the wings and his playmaking ability continues to show through.
Last week, it was Maxi Urruti doing the leg work assisting on his goal and this week Mosquera returned the favor, emerging from a sea of black jerseys on the left wing to find Urruti in the middle.
But just look at some of his moves from the first half as well.
A goal-line clearance away from his second goal of the year:
Escaping a 2v1 in the corner with ease and drawing a foul to prevent a scoring chance:
Poise off the counter and the confidence to cut all the way across the top of the 18 to find the right shot:
And making an 80 something-yard run down the wing:
Tactical Changes
After three games of a Victor Ulloa-Jacori Hayes midfield, Oscar Pareja went with a slight change bringing on Carlos Gruezo in place of Hayes. Early on, LAFC overloaded the middle and it was apparent that things weren’t clicking just right.
After the match, Pareja explained that Ulloa was dealing with some pain in his quad for most of his 44-minute appearance, meaning he wasn’t able to be as quick on the ball as the LA attack required. Hayes replaced Ulloa just before the break and Dallas was able to more effectively thwart passes in the final third from the home side.
LEFT
: LAFC successful passes 1'-44';
MIDDLE
: LAFC successful passes 44'-61';
RIGHT
: LAFC successful passes 61'-90'
In the 61st minute, just after Urruti’s equalizer, Kellyn Acosta came on for his season debut and in the 78th, Ryan Hollingshead, to further pack things in at the back in 4-3-3 and then 5-3-2 looks, respectively.
It’s not often we see four defensive midfielders see action in a game, but Dallas has an abundance of depth there to be able to do so. Now that Acosta is fully healthy and now working on getting 90-minute fit, there are four legitimate options there that have all shown success.
It’s now a battle week-in and week-out for who gets the starting nod there, much like what is taking shape further up the field..
Attacking Depth
In their last five games, Dallas has used five different attacking faces among six different starting players. We’re seeing a more consistent combination of Maxi Urruti, Cristian Colman, Mosquera, Michael Barrios and Roland Lamah up front. For the fourth straight game, Mauro Diaz was in a bench role in LA.
Take note of the fact that Tesho Akindele didn’t even make the trip to LA. Part of that is because on the road Pareja wants to have more defensive help on the bench, which he used with Hayes, Acosta and Hollingshead all coming in in defending roles. Regardless, it was the first time that Akindele was available for selection and was not a part of the 18-man roster since April 26, 2014, just over a month into his Rookie of the Year campaign. The only times he hasn’t been on the roster were because of international call-up.
No spot is guaranteed week-to-week and sometimes certain players might not fit into the game plan for a certain match. But one thing is clear: Pareja has many, many options to choose from for each game. Couple that with the fact that Paxton Pomykal is nearing full health and the competition for playing time on this team is higher and more open than it has been in quite some time.
