October Outlook: FC Dallas' final playoff push begins
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October Outlook: FC Dallas' final playoff push begins
Two massive home games followed by a Decision Day later this month in LA.
It comes down to this for FC Dallas. One final month of the regular season to determine whether or not they see a postseason or an early offseason.
Standing in the way are three more games, two of which are this week at home. Let’s dive into these three games and then discuss what the most likely outcome should be for this team.
Colorado Rapids - home - October 4
The Rapids are the only Western Conference team that has been eliminated from playoff contention, so they will likely relish playing the role of the spoiler here. This past weekend, they did just that with Austin FC, as they downed them 1-0. We’ve talked a decent amount this season about must-win home games, and this is exactly that. A game that FC Dallas absolutely has to walk away with three points.
San Jose Earthquakes - home - October 7
Just like in the last two weeks, FC Dallas will finish up a Wednesday-Saturday set with the last home game of the regular season. It will be a bit of an emotional one for some players, with former head coach Luchi Gonzalez returning to Frisco for the first time as manager of the Quakes.
Like FC Dallas, San Jose is very much in the thick of things in the Western Conference playoff race, with just one point separating these two sides as of this writing. The Quakes have one win in their last eight games and have just two wins away from home all season long.
LA Galaxy - away - October 21
Decision Day comes following a FIFA break next week, which is as awkward as it gets for MLS. Nothing like killing any momentum that is earned this week going into the season finale.
We’ve talked a lot about the games-in-hand that FC Dallas has one team around them in the standings, but the Galaxy are actually the only team that has games-in-hand on FC Dallas at the moment. As of this writing, they’re six points back from a playoff spot. So we could either be facing a team that is clinging on to the hope of making the playoffs in a couple of weeks or one that is eliminated from contention (they do have a tough schedule with back-to-back road games this week in Seattle and Minnesota before returning home to host RSL and us).
Outlook
It is wild to think that FC Dallas is still in this spot after dealing with poor form and a long, very long list of injuries earlier this year that could have derailed this season in a heartbeat.
But three games that are absolutely vital for reaching the playoffs this year. I don’t think we could stress enough how important this week will be with the two home games. Those are the definition of must-win. Jumping six points up in the standings could make a huge difference since they’re only five points back of second place. Yeah, just five. How nuts is that?
Both Colorado and LA are weird teams right now, in my book. Both could be spoilers for FC Dallas. San Jose should be better than they are but have hit a rough patch of so-so form in recent weeks.
I think all nine points are certainly doable after seeing FC Dallas go unbeaten in September. If they can get three wins and go on a bit of a run here, the playoffs could end up being a lot of fun. But if they crash out this week with more draws, I think it could be safe to say the playoffs will be a quick one-and-done type situation.
What do you think? Let’s discuss it below.
October Outlook: FC Dallas' final playoff push begins
Three very winnable games imo. The SJ is wildly important, head to head and with a game in hand.
We have seen FC Dallas playing equal to the standard presented by other teams, over and over again this season. How else can you explain playing against some of the best teams in the League, and instead of being beaten, FC Dallas came out with draws? Several of them could have been wins. The biggest problem has been converting those goals. I'm convinced the pressure of the last three games will produce.