Sunday’s matchup in Frisco saw two teams at opposite ends of the development spectrum. On one side, the new look Union who returned only two starters from their opening day 2015 lineup find themselves in full rebuilding mode . Dallas, on the other hand, have been built. For now and for the foreseeable future The gap between these two squads was apparent as Dallas comfortably handled Philadelphia, winning 2-0. Everything shouldn’t be doom and gloom for Jim Curtain’s side, however. The new system clearly still has some kinks to work out but the benefits of Ernie Stewart’s new system occasionally revealed themselves.
Philadelphia Union - Props to Jim Curtain’s side for attempting to stand toe-to-toe with the Supporter’s Shield favorites. The Union played a high line, pressured Dallas up the field and looked to gradually build attacks through short passing. While this is all good in theory, they also happened to get completely stomped by the buzzsaw that is FC Dallas.
Keegan Rosenberry - Welcome to MLS, Keegan. On his professional debut, the rookie fullback out of Georgetown was handed just about the toughest assignment this league has to offer. FC Dallas exploited this mismatch early and often as Castillo scored once, shot four other times in the box and set up teammates with three key passes.
In this sequence, the Union theoretically had Castillo well covered. Rosenberry was in position and had Leo Fernandes for support.
As soon Castillo takes his first step the rookie fullback is done for. The FC Dallas winger gets by him with ease and can play a pass to Urutti from a dangerous area. Rosenberry’s rough day isn’t yet indicative of much yet, though, considering Fabian Castillo regularly makes veteran fullbacks look silly.
Upside? - Bright spots for Union fans were few and far between in this match. The midfield struggled to string together passes and Dallas’s attackers consistently broke through the backline’s offside traps. There was, however, a silver lining to this one-sided affair. Inklings of the style Ernie Stewart promised to bring to Philadelphia occasionally shined through.
This build up here, for instance, shows some nice interchange between the inverted wingers, Leo Fernandes and Chris Pontius, and the no. 10 Ilsinho.
Smart movement from Ilsinho helped free up Fernandes inside who, in turn, dribbles around Carlos Gruezo and hits a through ball to Pontius, who is making a hard run into space created by CJ Sapong splitting wide right. Though Fernandes ultimately underhits the pass, the movement and understanding exhibited in this sequence gives this 2-0 drubbing some rays of hope. If the Union hope to spark their offense playing with narrow inverted wingers, they must be able to play off the no. 10, hit final balls and make strong runs to goal.
The return of Tranquillo Barnetta will certainly further strengthen these kinds of connections. I’m not sure where in the midfield Jim Curtain will slot him. Last season saw Barnetta playing on both wings and in the no. 10 spot. It will be interesting to see how Curtain shuffles all his attacking midfield/winger options throughout the season.
FC Dallas - With so many regulars returning from last season, what is there to say about this FC Dallas squad? With another year under some of the youngsters’ belts and upgrades at a couple positions, this team promises to improve on their Western Conference winning 2015. Using their same tried and true system as last year, Oscar Pereja’s side proved why they’re entering this season as Supporters’ Shield favorites.
Mauro Diaz - The Argentine playmaker made an early case on Sunday why he should considered among the few best players in the league. No one in MLS weights as a pass as well as Diaz. Few can match his dribbling. Above all, Diaz’s uncanny ability to find space between an opponent’s backline and midfield gives him all the more opportunities to exhibit his aforementioned skills. If he continues dominating games like Sunday’s match, it’ll be hard not to consider him the MVP frontrunner.
Here's a simple play from Diaz that exhibits why he's special in this league.
The majority of midfielders in MLS would play that first ball to Castillo down the line. As Castillo was realtively well covered by Rosenberry, this would have most likely yielded a low percentage cross into the box. Instead, Diaz opts to cut back inside and find Acosta surging into the box. Had Acosta successfully controlled the pass, this would have yielded a much better chance than cross from the endline. Plays like this show how smart of a playmaker Diaz is.
Carlos Gruezo - And the rich get richer. Dallas already boasted a strong central midfield pairing last season between Kellyn Acosta and Victor Ulloa but, based on an admittedly small sample size, they appear to have improved on it. A hard nosed defensive mid, Gruezo hounded the Union all night, breaking up countless attacks while initiating attacks through simple layoffs. This occurred most notably on Castillo’s opening goal.
Walker Zimmerman - Though normally an outside back, Zimmerman had an immense game at centerback. He won nearly every post-up battle with CJ Sapong, consistently bodied the Philadelphia forward off the ball and disrupted the Union’s flow. It’s unclear if Oscar Pereja sees Zimmerman as a first choice centerback over Zach Loyd or if a minor injury pushed Zimmerman into the position. Either way, Zimmerman’s strong showing Sunday proved that Dallas have the deepest and most versatile backline in the league.
Hopefully for Union fans Jim Curtain’s side will be able to build on the few bright spots in this match and address some of the weaknesses on defense. Dallas, even with Castillo sidelined for a couple weeks, easily look like the most balanced team in the league. They may have more trouble with teams that sit deeper and don’t allow their wingers 1v1 opportunities against fullbacks but
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