FRISCO - FC Dallas dropped their four game in the last six matches on Saturday night against Columbus, but aside the result on the scoreboard, a deeper dive into the game is more telling about FCD’s struggles of late.
Mental Lapses
The Dallas defense actually did a nice job of containing Crew SC for most of the match, only allowing four shots from the home side and largely containing the attack away from goal. If you look at the graphic below from Opta detailing Columbus’ successful passes (green arrows), almost all come from outside the 18-yard box. There’s a heavy use of newcomer Pedro Santos down the right side, but no real threats come from those.
Where Dallas conceded was in two, key moments. First, as Justin Meram (No. 9, yellow line) finds overlapping defender Hector Jimenez in the box, who sets up (No. 16, blue line) Ola Kamara on the doorstep. Second, off a set piece as Federico Higuain (No. 10, blue line) finds a diving Jonathan Mensah on the back post. Those two key moments spoil the overall strong performance from the back line.
Crossing Woes
We’ve touched on it a few times in recent weeks, but Dallas was not able to create many dangerous looks crossing from the flanks. On the left, you can see the three successful crosses (not counting corners or one from Tesho 30 yards from goal and a pass from Urruti straight into the box). On the right, you can see the far scarier picture of the failed crosses - 21 in all. The club has averaged an 18 percent crossing accuracy rate this season, but managed just 8.7 percent against the Crew. Only one other time in the last two months did they not eclipse 10 percent - the 3-1 loss in Philadelphia. The breakout offensive performance against Houston in the mid-week saw a 30.7 percent crossing accuracy.
The Road Gets Harder
Dallas heads into a difficult stretch facing New York, Atlanta and Seattle in the next three weeks. This weekend’s test against the Red Bulls grew more challenging on Sunday as five FCD players - Kellyn Acosta, Tesho Akindele, Matt Hedges, Maynor Figueroa and Carlos Gruezo - all were called in for National Team duty. All five were in Saturday’s starting lineup. Dallas will have to find a way out of their current stretch with a depth showcase this coming weekend.
