In just a short time, FC Dallas will be taking the pitch in front of their home crowd on opening night.
Yet even this close to the first kick of the 2015 season, an element of mystery surrounds the club when it comes to which 11 players will take the field against San Jose on Saturday (8:30 pm ET, MLS Live). The biggest question mark resides on the front line, particularly the right wing position opposite breakout star Fabian Castillo.
“Nobody is guaranteed a spot in the way we have our team set up,” second-year forward Tesho Akindele told MLSsoccer.com. “You always have to be on your toes.”
Coming off a solid preseason and a rookie season that earned him MLS Rookie of the Year honors, one would think that Akindele has a spot in the starting XI locked up.
But head coach Oscar Pareja must also factor in the strong preseason play of Akindele’s close friend Ryan Hollingshead, who has made the most of his opportunities by leading the team in goals scored this preseason with three. There's also recent acquisition Michael Barrios, whose most natural position, according to Pareja, is the right wing.
“I don’t settle on players just because of name, what happened before, or nothing,” Pareja said. “They know that it’s a competition and you have to prove every day that you deserve your spot, and I think that’s the best way to help this group, in being honest and fair.”
It’s a good problem to have, because the logjam on the front line provides Pareja a chance to implement multiple formations – a staple philosophy of his throughout his coaching career.
That’s where his players’ versatility becomes a key factor in who will log the most minutes. For Akindele, striker is his most natural position on the field, where he would potentially start alongside veteran Blas Perez in the 4-4-2. But he is also capable of playing on the wing in the event that Pareja rolls out the 4-2-3-1, knowing that Perez would get the nod up top in a single-striker look.
Versatility is key for Hollingshead as well, who has emerged from a disappointing rookie year to competing for a starting job.
“There’s multiple spots on the field I can play,” Hollingshead told MLSsoccer.com. “So while I am fighting for maybe the right mid spot, I’m also fighting for the left mid spot and an attacking spot.”
But the most intriguing quantity in this equation is the addition of Barrios.
The 23-year-old Colombian speedster has loads of talent and potential. But he has not seen any game action in a Dallas uniform due to being signed late in the preseason, with bad weather causing Pareja to use reserves in the team’s final warm-up match last weekend.
Though he's yet to play a single minute for the club, Pareja continues to praise Barrios’ fitness and seamless transition to the MLS style of play, leading many to believe that he could even start in the team’s season opener on Saturday and push Akindele and Hollingshead to the bench.
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“He played 90 [minutes] with his team in Colombia,” Pareja said of Barrios’ last start, just days before signing with FCD. “So he’s fit to use.”
Regardless of who makes the starting 11 and who comes off the pine, the club’s staple of consistency over the last three seasons believes the spirit of competition that Pareja has instilled in Dallas has been contagious.
“He’s brought that culture here, and all the players have captured that message,” Perez told MLSsoccer.com through a translator. “The team has changed to that mentality.”
And even though it could mean that a player who could start almost anywhere else in the league will come off the bench, the mystery from day to day forces players like Akindele to keep their feet on the gas.
“You can lose your spot any week,” Akindele said. “It helps us out, though, because nobody relaxes. You always have to be pushing hard to get your spot.”
