FC Dallas hopes to break the cycle of draws against San Jose on Saturday
The two clubs have traded a lot of draws in recent years.
For the last few seasons, FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes have played to 11 draws in 13 matches. The last team to win a game in the regular season series was FC Dallas in August of 2022 when they downed the Quakes 4-1 at Toyota Stadium.
The two sides will square off in the 2024 season opener on Saturday night in Frisco. FC Dallas has a solid record in season openers at home, going 9-2-7 at Toyota Stadium. Last season saw a 13-game unbeaten run in season openers snapped by Minnesota United.
FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez told the media on Thursday he hopes to begin a new streak with a win over the Quakes.
“It's always difficult,” Estevez explained. “The first game is tricky. And it's a lot of anxiety for both sides. And I hope we can control that and have a good game.”
Estevez’s side saw a lot of success in preseason with wins over a couple of MLS clubs, including Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. But extending that success into the regular season is something Estevez wants to see out of his players, including some young guys like Dante Sealy and Herbert Endeley, who are getting more playing time in the club’s new formation.
“I feel good about it; at the end of the day, what gives you confidence is consistency,” said Estevez. “And throughout the whole preseason, they have been consistent on the roles and the responsibilities and how they have handled the stress and the pressure of playing all those games. But official games are a little bit different. And you can feel a little bit more nervy but what has to give you confidence is what you've done and how you have prepared yourself for what is coming. And I think they have done a really good job preparing for what is coming for this weekend.”
San Jose has had a bit of a rocky offseason. They saw the likes of Cade Cowell get transferred to Chivas, losing out on defenders Nathan and Jonathan Mensh in free agency, seeing former Designated Player Jamiro Monterio depart and veteran left back Miguel Trauco. Despite all of those chances, Estevez still believes the Quakes are a challenging team for the opening weekend of play.
“I think continuity is important. I think they had a good season last year,” said Estevez. “They were a very, very compact team. And for a lot of moments at the end of the season, they did find it very low and it was very difficult, difficult to score goals on them.”
Other items we learned from Nico today
Yeah, there was quite a bit in this one. Not enough to do full posts on each item, but enough to mention here.
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