FRISCO, Texas – Oscar Pareja called FC Dallas’ performance Friday night in their 4-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids at Toyota Stadium “flat” and said he was obviously disappointed by the result.
“We did not have answers for Colorado who played a great game,” Pareja said in his postgame comments. “I have to congratulate the Colorado players and their organization on the win. We did not have any answers for them.”
It was the first time Pareja experienced a loss against his former team since he left the Rapids head coaching job following the 2013 season to take over at Dallas. FCD beat the Rapids in their three meetings last year.
And for a team that had sat atop the Western Conference just more than a week ago, it wasn’t exactly how he expected things to go. After their 3-1 loss in Portland last weekend, Dallas have now lost two straight, been outscored 7-1 and remain on 10 points from six games.
“The game went a way we did not expect it to go,” he said. “We could not find a spark at any point of the game, and nothing we tried worked. I have to take responsibility of the game, but I’m still proud of this team.”
Considering the nature of the meeting, with Colorado entering the game on a record pace of futility having gone 600 minutes without a goal and riding an MLS-record-tying 18-game winless streak, did Dallas overlook the Rapids?
“That is not the way we are,” Pareja said. “We have the same respect for each team, and my players did not look past this game because I don’t have those type of players here.”
It was also FCD’s third straight match without playmaker Mauro Diaz, games in which Dallas have posted a 0-2-1 record.
“This team last year without Mauro was still able to find a way to win,” Pareja said. “We found a way to convert that absences to find somebody to link in the middle. This year we have won three games, he played in all the games, but we need to find that person to step up. Mauro was not the problem tonight because there was many problems.”
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Pareja made two subs at halftime to try and find a spark as Atiba Harris came in for Moises Hernandez and Kyle Bekker came in for Michel. It led to a few scoring opportunities, but Colorado were still able to double their lead with two goals after the break.
“Colorado did a good job on our guys in the middle,” Pareja said. “We decided to try and match the game in the middle and change to a triangle in the midfield with Victor Ulloa at central defensive midfield and Bekker joining him along with bringing Ryan Hollingshead in from winger to join them.”
Despite his team coming out on the losing end, Pareja was impressed with his former squad’s offensive explosion.
“[Midfielder Dillon] Powers played really well tonight,” he said. “He was able to get into space we could not get to him. He is a very good player who could pass well and create his own chances.”
Ultimately, Pareja said his team’s current rough patch may be a wake-up call.
“Maybe we’re not as good as we thought,” he said. “I promise we’re not that bad either. I think every day about the different challenges and we have another challenge tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do, but I’m sticking with these players and coaches and I will back them up 100 percent.”
