Gritty may be the new nickname we need to give this FC Dallas squad. And no, I’m not talking about some orange mascot from Philadelphia. Sure, manager Eric Quill likes talking about the dogs (or dawgs if you prefer that spelling). But this team continues to prove that they’re going to grind out games here in the final couple of months in this season.
FC Dallas now has 18 points on the season coming from losing positions after giving up a stellar free kick goal to Heung Min Son and LAFC early in the match.
Let’s dive into Saturday’s result with a look at some items we learned from the draw.
Let’s call it eight in the back
The lineup card from the club called it a 4-3-3. The league’s lineup sheet in the press box called it a 4-2-3-1. But, there is really no way it was fully either one of those on Saturday night for Eric Quill’s club. It was a 5-3-2 at best, with sometimes the three in the midfield sitting deep enough to give it the impression that there were eight defenders out there.
Quill continues to toss Bernard Kamungo out at left wing back, while Ramiro shifted over into a right wing back when it was announced that Osaze Urhoghide wasn’t going to be able to go on Saturday night. That meant Shaq Moore shifted inside into the three-man center back trio with Sebastien Ibeagha and Lalas Abubakar.
It was make-shift at best for Quill, but overall, it worked. Abubakar was basically a shadow on Son. Moore and Ibeagha traded moments shadowing Denis Bouanga, and the result was another gritty performance from the defense.
