FC Dallas wrapped up the first portion of their 2024 preseason camp with an emphatic 4-1 win over USL Championship side New Mexico United on Saturday afternoon.
While this was a closed door friendly, the media, including myself were able to be on hand for this early look at the club as they build toward the new season starting in a month against San Jose.
Here are some items I took away from my first in-person1 look at the team in 2024.
A new formation is a work in progress
The 3-4-3 or 5-2-2-1 is definitely a work in process for head coach Nico Estévez. But I think for now this is where he is heading with this team in 2024. He mentioned after the game that he wants to see more players in the attack this year and this new formation allows him to achieve that.
As the team heads to Spain this week for more friendlies, it will get worked on more. The key will be getting the right guys to play in those wing positions as well as the center back pairings. Which is why FC Dallas is rumored to be looking at more center backs at the moment. You need the right mix of athletic and skilled center backs to not give up too much space. Or give up the ball in their own defensive end (that is something that led to the lone New Mexico goal).
At time though, this new look worked well. It created more space for FC Dallas along the wings and with the right pairings up top, it created a lot of chances. Eugene Ansah had a goal and two assists within a five minute span. Yes, that is what you want to see but I would not get worked up over it. New Mexico looked really gassed by the 70th minute and when they brought in former FCD keeper Jesse Gonzalez for the second half, that is wildly when all the goals came pouring in.
The surprise for me was seeing Bernard Kamungo lineup along the wings in that 5-man back line. Is Kamungo a future wingback? No. I think Saturday was an experiment for that out of Estevez.
Some young players shined
Being a preseason game, there was a lot of rotation. Both teams were cycling in full lineup changes at a time. New Mexico for one thing swapped lineups three times I believe. They’re only a couple of days into their preseason camp and toward the end of the second half, they even had a few North Texas SC players suiting up for them.
On the FC Dallas side of things, there were several young players that caught my eye. I’m taking this with a grain of salt considering that this is preseason and they were playing a team that struggled in the second half.
- Nolan Norris - Estevez appears to like him a lot in the #6 role. Saturday’s game proved that to me as well. Sure the competition was probably a bit below him but he looked very comfortable in the midfield, especially next to Asier Illarramendi. They both bossed the midfield in Norris’ 30 minute session.
- Diego García - He looked excellent against Miami and in the second half against New Mexico, he shined as well. I am trying really hard not to get worked up about him but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him as the next guy signed out of NTSC.
- Logan Farrington - His hold up play in the attack is going to keep him out on the field more often than it won’t in 2024. He does an excellent job of finding those pockets around the penalty area and then springing a teammate into the box with a chance at goal.
- Enes Sali - This was our first look at the U-22 Canadian/Romanian. I’ll say this, the kid has some skill and energy about him. Some of that energy looked like nervous energy for a 17-year old playing his first minutes with his new team. But the other side of it was good. Estevez was also pleased with his performance in the first half as well.
- Herbert Endeley - In this new formation, Endeley is showing why the club opted to keep him over Colin Smith. He thrives in that position along the wings. We knew he had good pace and speed but I think we forgot his ability to shoot the ball too. That first half goal was really nice.
Other notes
Following the game, Estevez offered up a couple of other random nuggets worth sharing:
- Maarten Paes - He missed Saturday’s friendly to be in Holland where he was finalizing his green card. That will be a massive help for the club as the transfer window opens up next week. At a minimum they won’t have to figure out where newcomer Patrickson Delgado fits in the roster build.
- Jesus Ferreira - He will miss the team’s trip to Spain due to what Estevez called a grade two tear in his groin. The club wants him to rehab in town while the team is away. There was also no mention of the potential transfer to Russia either.
- Paxton Pomykal - The same thing with him, he will miss the team’s trip to Spain as he continues to rehab his knee. For those who haven’t seen/heard, he had some cleanup work done on his knee in the offseason. Nothing major, Estevez still believes he will be available come time for the regular season.
- Ema Twumasi - He missed the first two preseason games with an injury but Estevez didn’t say he will miss the trip to Spain, which tells me he’s almost ready.
While the team is in Spain, they should have four friendlies. One club will be Malmo FF again. FC Dallas faced that Swedish team last preseason in Spain. The full schedule should come out this week and there could possibly be some online streams to watch them.
Yep, I did not go to the Miami game in person at the Cotton Bowl. A 5pm game on a Monday would have done me no favors in getting there on time. ↩
