FRISCO, Texas – The flip from March to April hasn’t been kind to FC Dallas in recent years.
And after a blazing first month of the season, it appeared FCD hit their typical April swoon once again when they lost their first two matches of the month by a combined score of 7-1. The defense was easily the main culprit for the slump, but the attack was also a shell of its consistent self from March when they netted six goals in four matches.
But instead of a “here-we-go-again” month, FCD made it a short-lived slump with a 3-2 victory Saturday over Toronto FC.
It begs the question: what’s the biggest difference between bad FCD and good FCD?
The answer could be simple: Fabian Castillo.
During FCD’s slump, which really consists of three games dating back to a scoreless draw March 28 against the Seattle Sounders and includes a 3-1 loss to the Portland Timbers and 4-0 rout at the hands of the Colorado Rapids, Castillo recorded a mere four shots and put none of them on goal. But against Toronto alone, Castillo fired four shots, three on goal, with two of them finding the back of the net – enough to earn him MLS Player of the Week honors.
“As much as he’s a key, I think the team is what makes it happen,” FCD head coach Oscar Pareja said of the young Colombian’s burst of production. “At the same time, I say that defensively, this was one of the games where he worked the most, and that’s the key for us.”
In Castillo’s first three games of the season, all Dallas wins, he fired off a combined 10 shots and recorded a goal and assist. And while FCD’s engine seems to hum at its best with Castillo pressing the attack, Pareja insists that the overall effort is ultimately what leads to the speedy winger’s success.
But Pareja also acknowledged that his team got away from what made the Dallas attack so dangerous early in the season.
“It’s been discussed as a team to get back to our basics and recover one of the things that we’re good at, and that’s giving us width,” Pareja said.
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When Castillo is threatening opponents’ backlines down the wing, Dallas consistently finds opportunities to score. And while Castillo created those opportunities on a regular basis early on, he did struggle finishing his advances.
But with his offensive explosion against Toronto, particularly his second goal where he precisely bent the ball past the Toronto backline, Castillo has shown that his finishing ability is improving.
Improvements on the finishing side of things, coupled with a revived mentality to get forward, has Dallas hoping they’ve solved the problem of their April woes for good.
“We have been spending a lot of time on finishing, just keeping more hours of training in front of the goal,” Pareja said. “I thought last year Fabian scoring 10 goals, and this year just getting the production early, just shows that the work is worth it.”
