FRISCO, Texas– FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez had a tough decision to make going into Sunday’s Texas Derby: start Paxton Pomykal or give the impressive 19-year-old some rest. Gonzalez elected to place Pomykal on the bench to start the match, and FC Dallas cruised to a 5-1 victory over in-state rival Houston Dynamo.
Pomykal entered in the 69th minute on the left-wing, a position he has played in the past, including at this summer’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup with the United States. Providing a spark off the bench, Pomykal played the last 21 minutes and assisted on a Jesus Ferreira goal, which was later wiped away by video review.
“I felt good, man,” Pomykal told Pro Soccer USA post-match. “No problems. Seriously, I felt great. It’s easier to go into a game when its 4-0, there’s no denying that, but at the same time, I thought I did some good things, created some chances and I was happy with the game.”
Pomykal has been dealing with fatigue from a long season that has brought a major jump in minutes and competitions. In FC Dallas’ 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on July 20, Pomykal received the night off for “load management.” The coaching staff monitors his training, making sure the dynamic midfielder is able to perform at his best, and Pomykal did not participate in practice last Monday. Gonzalez mentioned a tactical shift that allowed Pomykal to rest against the Dynamo.
“We’ve had different options in the midfield with [Bryan] Acosta single six, Paxton, Jesus, double-eight or double-10,” Gonzalez said Sunday. “We decided to go a little bit more of a clear six-eight-10 profile, so some tactical reasons. Paxton also has had some muscle fatigue in moments of the season and he felt some things earlier in the week, but he pushed through it and he was available by mid-week. He’s continuing to push himself out of his comfort zone. It kind of was an organic thing, where we felt we were going to start this way and we were very confident we were going to end a certain way with Paxton coming into the game and giving us energy.”
Ferreira stepped up in Pomykal’s absence, scoring a goal with a run from midfield and providing a spark Gonzalez wanted to see from the homegrown player. Ferreira’s move to the midfield has been an adjustment, but after his goal, the 18-year-old looked composed and poised, wanting to receive the ball deep and facilitate the offense.
“We’re happy that we put the things that coach Luchi put us to do during training and applied that to the game,” Ferreira said. “We love to score and there were a lot of people talking about our attack, how we haven’t scored many, but we’re showing them that we’re improving. I said it before we had to improve it during training and we’re doing that and showing it in the game.”
Whatever role Pomykal has, he’s willing to contribute to the team, even if it is off the bench. It’s a team-first mentality. While he’s a key contributor, Pomykal doesn’t dwell on where he starts, as long as the final result is positive.
“I’ve started a lot of games this year, but I’m up to do whatever role the coach wants me to do,” Pomykal said. “Whether that’s coming on as a sub, starting and play however long I’m on the field. That’s the attitude everyone needs to have and we have a great locker room, so I know everyone has that mentality, and you saw all three guys who came on today had the same mentality of impacting the game in a positive way.”