What we learned in FC Dallas' win over San Jose
This was your standard season opener, full of jitters and nervy moments.
FC Dallas began the new season with a nice come-from-behind win over the San Jose Earthquakes. It was your typical season opener, too. There were a lot of jitters and nervy moments for the young players out there.
As the game wore on, it felt like yet another meeting between San Jose and Dallas, one that would end in another draw. That would have made 12 of the last 14 games between these two sides a draw.
But, thankfully, that wasn’t the case as Dante Sealy found a late game winner to lift FC Dallas to their first win of the new season.
Let’s break this match down from some of the good to some of the bad as we get back into the groove of discussing each match again this season.
New formation brings the attack
FC Dallas manager Nico Estevez said preseason-wise that he wanted more attackers in the mix this season. After one game, I believe he got that. Saturday saw FC Dallas shoot the ball 22 times, five more than the highest total of any game in 2023. Nine of those 22 shots were on target, too. So far, this feels a bit like quantity over quality, but when you factor in the fact that all three Designated Players were out for this one, Estevez will take what he got from his team.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Big D Soccer to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.