FRISCO - David Texeira turned a corner at the end of the 2014 season and he's hoping his first full preseason with FC Dallas translates into plenty of success in 2015.
Texeira played in 19 games, started nine and scored four goals last year and the 23-year-old Urguayan came into his own towards the end of the season. A frustrating first half of the year was put behind him as he started the last five games of the regular season and scored half of his goals on September 24 against Seattle Sounders FC while logging three goals in his last five games of the year.
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This will be Texeira’s first opportunity to play an entire season with FC Dallas, so he hopes the extra time with the team will pay off.
“Last year, I came over when they had already started the season,” Texeira said after practice on Friday. “I think it is important for a soccer player to start the new season with the same team - so I’m excited to get this year started.”
With a roster full of capable players, minutes at every position will be scarce - making every opportunity during training even more important.
“I have to concentrate and do my job during training,” Texeira said. “ Last year, looking over the mistakes that I made, I can see what I can get better at. [For me] this season is really going to be about improving on last year; training hard, giving the team 100 percent and showing that I can play at this level.”
With his play towards the end of the season in key matches, Texeira got a taste of postseason play and now he wants more.
“My personal goal is to keep playing and to keep playing a lot,” he said. “But of course the goal for the whole team is to get into playoffs. Last year, we had that disappointment when we were eliminated, but that was last season. Now we are trying to get into the playoffs and then get to the finals.”
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Even though his sights are set on postseason play, Texeira knows it is a long season and, like his coach, to only focus on the immediate task in front of him.
“I think we have to take it step by step,” he said. “When you start a competition, in the beginning it is important to gain confidence. Then you can see where you are at and what is going on with your team. It’s very important to have a good start and then after that, we will just have to see what will happen.”
