Preseason Day 10: Wednesday, Jan. 25
With the heavy rain continuing throughout the night and into the morning, FC Dallas visited nearby Fieldhouse USA for an early morning session of small-sided games. The orange team was victorious after racking up a record of 2-1-1 against their opponents. Ruben Luna and Scott Sealy had two goals apiece while Fabian Castillo added one of his own.
Preseason Day 9: Tuesday, Jan. 24
Returning from off-season meniscus surgery, Daniel Hernandez made his first appearance in a training session on Tuesday, prompting Hyndman to joke with his captain.
“Daniel, what are you doing out here?,” said Hyndman. “We’d better get a picture of this.”
The team worked on a crossing and finishing drill while Michael Johnson Performance's Sports Specialist, Daniel Torres, gauged the teams quickness in a speed and agility test dubbed Arrowhead Agility. The team spent the afternoon working on fitness training at Michael Johnson Performance Center due to heavy rain.
Preseason Day 8: Monday, Jan. 23
Major League Soccer’s 2010 MVP David Ferreira and Andrew Jacobson returned to the pitch to begin FC Dallas’ second week of training. The duo played a neutral role in the center midfield during a game of nine-on-nine in a 50-yard area. Jacobson played three or four perfect crosses to offensive-minded left back Moises Hernandez, who picked up as many goals in the drill as a result. Throughout the drill, FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman worked with Homegrown forward Ruben Luna on getting open up top and providing a constant outlet pass for defenders.
The session finished with yet another arduous fitness drill.
Dallas’ afternoon session also revolved around getting the ball to a target forward. In a game of 10-on-10, teams worked to find an 11th player patrolling the end line. Once either team found the target player with a breakout pass, teammates needed to work off of that target forward, collect a return pass and dribble over the end line in order to score a point.
Highlights
Once Hyndman introduced goals to the drill, midfielder Mark Barone came open on the left flank and fired a shot that caught a piece of defender Christian Ibeagha. The deflection caused the ball to dip hard to the far post, but goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made his best stop of the preseason thus far, getting back to tip the shot over the crossbar.
Fabian Castillo got by a defender with a clever inside-out move before getting the ball out wide. The return pass found Castillo in the center of the six-yard box with a defender and a goalkeeper in close proximity, but the crafty forward redirected the ball into the back of the net with the instep of his trailing foot. The goal was reminiscent of FC Dallas’ first goal of the 2011 season, when Milton Rodriguez put away a feed from Zach Loyd in the 18th minute of a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire on March 19.
Another Homegrown player, Moises Hernandez also looked strong in the second week of preseason. The 19-year-old defender gained possession in his defensive third of the field, dribbled towards midfield and crushed a dipping shot low to the far post. The shot caught the inside of the post before redirecting into the back of the net. Moments later, Hernandez broke to his own goal line to make a sliding stop on a shot that had beat his team’s goalkeeper.
Veteran defender Jair Benitez closed the session with a long run through midfield in which he side-stepped several defenders before chipping a shot over a sliding goalkeeper.