FRISCO, Texas – A lot can change in just a month’s time.
Since FC Dallas turned on the afterburners in a 4-1 win over the Houston Dynamo on May 1, the once high-powered club has only scored three goals over a five-game stretch. And in their last four matches, they’ve only found the back of the net once – a cleanup tally from defender Matt Hedges after an initially failed corner kick.
In fact, the last goal from a forward or midfielder was on May 9 – the game-winner from Tesho Akindele in a comeback win against the LA Galaxy.
So what accounts for the struggles? Lineup adjustments have played a role.
During the offensive drought over the last five games, Dallas have not started the same combination of midfielders and forwards. Many factors have played into the inconsistency, including a slew of international call-ups, injuries and the fact that head coach Oscar Pareja preaches daily competition and likes to tinker with the starting XI on a weekly basis.
“[The drought] hasn’t been good,” midfielder Ryan Hollingshead told MLSsoccer.com. “A lot of it has just been the changes going on – Blas [Perez] stepping out for the Gold Cup, Fabian [Castillo] hurting his hamstring a little bit. Anytime you’re switching up the front four, you lose some of that connection.”
According to Hollingshead, the level of inconsistency stems deeper than just individual changes to the starting XI. He mentioned that some of the most critical communication on the pitch comes between particular pairings on the field, including between his own position at outside midfielder and the outside backs – two positions that have been a revolving door all season for Dallas.
“Everybody has their own style of play, so it’s different,” Hollingshead said. “Those are the biggest connections on the field, and you’ll see in most of our games, the last four or five games, all of those little pairings have been switched up, changed up, or mixed. Those things are huge.”
But even though the club is hitting a proverbial wall that appears to be a perennial summer trend in Dallas, the head coach is not batting an eye at the team’s struggles.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Pareja told MLSsoccer.com. “Obviously it’s my job to be concerned, but I believe in this group of players. We’ve been called one of the best attacking-minded teams, and I don’t think that’s been earned for free. We’re good at attacking.
“It’s just now, we’re not being fine in front of the goal.”
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The lack of offense, in addition to some defensive lapses of late, have put Dallas in a tie for third worst in the Western Conference in goal difference at -1. When the club was flirting with the best record in MLS earlier this season, they were near the top of the league.
Now that FCD have seemingly cleaned up the defensive problems after recording a clean sheet against San Jose over the weekend, the focus has shifted to re-igniting what carried this team early in the season.
“Up until these last few games, scoring hasn’t been the problem,” Hollingshead said. “It’s been trying to create a clean sheet and letting no goals in. I think that’s going to change this week.”
