Nico Estevez stresses need for patience on recently injured players returning

While guys like Paul Arriola and Paxton Pomykal are off the injury report, they still aren't fully fit.

© Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

After all the dust settled on the first night of the Leagues Cup for FC Dallas, the one area that some fans quickly saw was how head coach Nico Estevez opted not to bring in some key players off his bench in the draw with Charlotte FC.

For weeks, FC Dallas has been wrecked with injuries that have caused Estevez to go deeper into his reserves than he probably would have ever imagined at the start of this season. Regular starters like Jose Martinez, Geovane Jesus, Alan Velasco, Paul Arriola, Sebastian Lletget, Paxton Pomykal and Ema Twumasi have all been on the injury report at one time or another this season. In the case of guys like Arriola, Pomykal and Twumasi, they’ve been out for several weeks until now.

Friday night, all of the players mentioned above were eligible to play in the match against Charlotte FC, but Arriola, Pomykal and Twumasi remained on the bench as Estevez opted to use different subs on the night.

“I think it is important that we address the minutes of some of these players,” explained Estevez to the media following Friday’s game. “The expectation from everyone and some fans also. Paul (Arriola) and Jose (Martinez) came to Seattle and didn’t play, Paul didn’t play tonight.

“The reason is, the last time Paxton (Pomykal) rejoined the team from injury got hurt right away. The last thing that we want to do right now is to put these players in a position to get injured again.”

Pomykal wasn’t the only player to return from injury, only to go back on the injury list. Arriola was out for a couple of weeks in early April before rejoining the team in Austin for their 1-0 win over their in-state rivals. Late in the match, Arriola went for a run on goal and came up injured again, which kept him out of action until recently.

“They’re doing much better in training,” said Estevez. “But we don’t see them at 100% to compete in this kind of environment.”

Estevez explained that the tempo of the match with Charlotte was very high and that had his club found a way to finish some of the chances that they were getting on the night, it would have been more likely to see some of these players earn those minutes.

“If it was 3-1 or 4-1, we could have used them,” said Estevez. “You know, it is a good moment to use them and get ten to 15 minutes that they can get used to, but they don’t have to expose themselves to the max.”

Estevez will have to deal with a tight turnaround for Tuesday’s match with Liga MX side Necaxa. It is possible one or two of them could see some minutes in that game, but Estevez stressed the patience that folks need with these guys right now.

“We’re happy they’re back. The level of training, the intensity and quality is much better,” said Estevez. “You could see today in the game that we play. Hopefully, against Necaxa, they will have their first minutes, and they can continue to grow in their fitness, their recovery, and get the confidence that we need.”