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FC Dallas earned a much-needed victory Sunday with its 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders. Here are three takeaways from the match.
1. The Curious Case of Roland Lamah
Roland Lamah has to be one of the most interesting players in the league in terms of his ability to score in flurries. If you’re not a fan of FC Dallas, a look at Roland Lamah’s stat line last year may make you wonder why he did not play more.
Eleven goals for a winger is not too bad, especially for someone who is not the main attacking option. However, a deeper dive into those 11 goals reveals a pattern; he scored nine in four matches. Those matches consisted of a struggling Real Salt Lake still trying to adapt to Mike Petke’s system and without some young players due to the U-20 World Cup; reigning MLS Cup champion Toronto FC; a poor D.C. United team that finished second to last in the league; and the last match of the season against last-place L.A. Galaxy.
Lamah is a TAM player making $773,500. That’s a pretty substantial amount for a player who is not consistent with his form. Lamah disappeared for some matches, struggling to produce and often being subbed out early. He went the full 90 minutes in only 14 percent of his starts.
When Lamah is on, though, he can produce.
It’ll be interesting to see how Óscar Pareja uses Lamah. Pareja loves to have competition on the squad and a battle between Hárold Santiago Mosquera and Lamah could be fun, especially if Lamah can produce on a weekly basis.
2. Fullbacks or wingbacks?
On Friday, I spoke to Reggie Cannon, who said Pareja describes him as an “attacking fullback.” The stats reiterate that role for Cannon and Anton Nedyalkov. The duo’s heat maps have them in the attacking third and midfield for most of the game, providing support to the wings.
You can see why FC Dallas experimented with the 3-5-2 and still may continue to use it. The system the fullbacks run almost have them acting as wingbacks.
Hedges’ heatmap reinforces that point. It’s much closer to the touchline with Cannon pushing higher up the pitch, making Hedges covering that position. With attacking fullbacks comes the threat of a counterattack, which is what happened against Real Salt Lake on its opening goal. Ziegler was supporting Figueroa and Hedges was supporting Cannon, creating a gaping hole in between them, which happens when the centerbacks spread out in order to cover for the fullbacks. RSL didn’t take advantage of that hole but they took advantage of a counterattack and scored. FC Dallas didn’t get burned during this match and it worked to the benefit of them, constantly applying pressure against 10-man Seattle.
3. It’s a Long Season
Don’t worry Seattle fans, it’s a long MLS Season. The start may not be the best for the Sounders but the circumstances are a little different than your usual struggling team. The team played in CONCACAF Champions League, played two MLS matches with more reserve-based squads, and have had some bad fortune.
If anyone knows not to get down by this poor start, it’s the Sounders. The 2017 MLS Cup winning season started in disaster. The Sounders sacked Sigi Schmid after the team sunk to the bottom of the standings with a 6-12-2 record, only for Brian Schmetzer and Nicolas Lodeiro to turn things around and push for the playoffs.
No Dempsey will be tough for Seattle as he awaits his suspension, but the way Christian Roldan and Magnus Wolff Eikrem played were positives to take away from the match. Roldan continued to distribute and play his box-to-box role in his usual way. Eikrem provided a presence up top when Dempsey was sent off. He missed a chance at goal, standing free but having his shot eventually blocked by Ziegler.
Handwalla Nwaba had a great match against Chivas in the CCL quarterfinal first leg but he struggled to make an impact. His play should be better as the games go on, especially with the circumstances of the last match. A slow start in MLS isn’t a big deal. It’s more about the finish of the season and making the playoffs.