FRISCO - Lots of good questions in the Mailbag this week, so let’s dive into just a few before we begin looking ahead to Colorado coming to town this weekend.
“Dallas has been outscored 7-1 in their last two games. What's the big reason behind that?” - Jose
Jose, that’s what everyone is looking to figure out this week. Looking at both matches, the team has been a little disjointed at times and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Oscar and Co. have had one training session over the last four weeks with every player available - be it from National Team call-ups, All-Star appearances or what have you. It’s impossible to build a game plan and work on chemistry at the white board in the locker room alone. The team has had their looks at goal and would’ve put up a few more if not for a career performance from John McCarthy in goal, but now it’s time to keep working and figure out how to finish those looks.
“Any thoughts to give some bench time to some star players such as Hedges, Diaz and Lamah and give chances to youngsters?” - Ardas
If we’re talking about making changes to the lineup, I think right now the only one that makes any sense is seeing what the team can do in a 4-4-2 look with Maxi Urruti and Cristian Colman up top. It’s a look that worked three weeks ago in Montreal and one that created the best chances during the second half in Philadelphia. Mauro Diaz is the core of this offense, but coming off a frustrating game last week and seeing how well the team can play with a dual-striker look, it might be time to give the Magician a game off and see what sparks can develop in the attack.
“Are we standing pat with our roster before the window closes?” - Ross
The all-important “What are we doing before the window closes” question. Dallas hasn’t faced a whole lot of this this season, but given the last two matches, it has resurfaced in recent days. I will say that Dallas is close to completing at least one move to add to this roster before the window closes this week. Deals are never done until they're done, but something is in the works as we speak. That’s as much as I’ll say, but stay tuned..