FC Dallas is heading back into MLS play this weekend as they travel south down I-35 to play their Copa Tejas rivals Austin FC.
Just as we’ve done in previous years before a game with Austin FC, we welcome Phil West of Verde All Day to help give you all a quick preview of this in-state battle.
Let’s dive in:
BDS: Austin managed to advance to the Knockout Round in the Leagues Cup, has that tournament sparked life back into this team? Or are you still concerned that you’ll get more of what you have seen from the team in league play (one win in the last six)?
VAD: After being very pessimistic less than two weeks ago (right after the Aug. 1 loss to Colorado), I’m going to be optimistic again. Some of this has to do with what interim head coach Davy Arnuad has implemented — which I'll get to in the next answer – but some of it just has to do with certain players showing out as a result of what's been put into place over the midseason break. Myrto Uzuni has four goals in the last two matches, and those four goals were from a physics-defying free kick that bent around a wall, a perfectly timed run getting onto the end of a Christian Ramírez backheel pass, an empathic volley from the far reaches of the penalty box left alone on a corner kick, and an emphatic top-bins shot from the far reaches of the penalty box for a much-needed equalizer against Club América. (I'll just say it: I'm very excited with this version of Myrto Uzuni.) Ervin Torres has been Verde's best midfielder during Leagues Cup. Joseph Rosales pops up all over the field with the ball no matter whether he's deployed on the left or the right. Brad Stuver continues to do Brad Stuver things. Even Besard Šabović, who was one of Verde's worst players in the first half of the season, looks solid. Perhaps they revert to what they did recently against the Dynamo and Rapids, but, again, optimism.
(Confidential to FC Dallas coaches: It is TOTALLY FINE to leave Uzuni unguarded 15 to 20 yards from goal. That's absolutely the way you should play him.)
Drew Epperley
BDS: With Davy Arnaud in the interim role right now, what has he been able to do that is working that wasn’t there under Nico Estevez?
VAD: So, during the midseason break, Arnaud implemented a new style of play that at first seemed completely at odds with the team's strengths: Three center backs and inverted wingbacks, with a two-man midfield trying to connect to the DP front three of Uzuni, Brandon Vázquez, and Facundo Torres. They managed a win against Seattle at home using the surface of the sun as a 12th man, got cooked by the Dynamo letting in three goals in the first 34 minutes, and then looked sluggish in what could have been a scoreless draw against the Rapids but ended up being a disappointing 1-0 loss. Going into Leagues Cup, the players looked disconnected and like they were straight up not having a good time. But something's changed in these few weeks, and Arnaud hasn't been as rigid with the formation or the inversion. Principles that head-coach-in-waiting Jim Curtin talked about at his opening press conference somehow seem to be working themselves into the style of play that Verde's growing into. FCD's going to present a big test, though — it's a good opponent that knows this team and knows these players, though maybe not like this. (Plus, Austin FC will be wearing their new purple third kits for this one, so it's going to look a bit different for that reason alone.
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BDS: Like Dallas, Austin had three Leagues Cup games and will have three games in MLS play this week. How do you think the depth will hold up for Austin during this stretch of the season?
VAD: Verde only have two days' rest to FCD's three, and the Leagues Cup knockout rounds might test that further. (A lot of us are now hoping that Leagues Cup tests us further, if you know what I mean.) Some players haven't been utilized during Leagues Cup – Jayden Nelson, for instance, who hasn't been Arnaud's favorite player, and Przemysław Płacheta, a new winger from Oxford United who now-former sporting director Rodolfo Borrell arranged to bring here before he was fired along with head coach Nico Estévez, but arrived after. This new system requires wide players to be wingers on offense and wingbacks on defense, and I don't know how much room there is for those two, but they're available if needed. I do worry a little bit about depth just because certain players still don't look right coming off injuries (Vázquez, mainly, but also Owen Wolff), but personally, I'm more concerned with seeing the players develop and better master the new system than push to get into the playoffs. (But now, I also care so much more about Leagues Cup than I did two weeks ago.)
