Have FC Dallas Found Redemption at Just the Right Time?

Sometimes life imitates art, which is why, as I reflect on the second half of FC Dallas’ season, I cannot help but think of the great Harry Dunne from Dumb and Dumber, who once said, “You know, Lloyd, just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!” 

Recall the topsy-turvy first half, when FC Dallas hung with and beat some of the league’s top teams (St. Louis and LAFC) while dropping points to some of the worst (Portland and Austin FC). It was maddening, but while fans were begging for consistency, they got it in the dullest way imaginable. For most of the last two months of the season, the team struggled to score goals and to beat teams they were superior to. From July 4 through October 14, the team won two, lost three, and tied a whopping eight matches between July 4 and the end of the season. Seven of the ties were either 1-1 or 0-0, and FC Dallas scored three goals just twice in the regular season after March 4.

So, much like Lloyd and Harry’s trip out west to return the briefcase to the beautiful Mary Swanson (or was it Samsonite?) things were not going well. And just like the appearance of  moped gave Lloyd and Harry hope they would make it, FC Dallas’ last regular season game, a dominant 4-1 win against the lowly LA Galaxy, might be what the team needs to build momentum on their own expedition west against the Seattle Sounders in the first round of the MLS playoffs.

First, though, how did things get so bad—and so bland? Start with the weather. FC Dallas have a history of sliding into below-average soccer after strong starts in the scorching North Texas summers. They’re 13-15-17 in the last three seasons between July and September, all of which came after relatively strong starts. The hottest part of this season, when 8 p.m. game times were often closer to 100 degrees than 80, took its toll once again. It’s difficult to score goals when you’re exhausted, and too often, Dallas looked it. 

It’s never a good sign when the team’s second-leading scorer, the exciting (and remarkable) Bernard Kamungo, has started just six games and played only 495 minutes. Or that another of the team’s top five leaders in both goals and assists is a center back, Nkosi Tafari (who, it should be said, has had a great season—more on that in a minute). Franchise player Jesus Ferreira began the year among the league leaders in goals and assists but missed all of July and August with an injury and has scored just twice in MLS since June 7. 

It was all so mediocre, which is not what Ferreira or high-profile acquisitions like Paul Arriola, Sebastian Lletget, and club record signing Alan Velasco were brought in to provide. The Galaxy beatdown was enough to carry FC Dallas to seventh of 14th in the Western Conference, but they recorded a plus-four goal differential on the season and won just one more game than they lost. Only two teams scored fewer goals in the Western Conference.

Believe it or not, though, there are plenty of reasons for hope in the best-of-three series against the Sounders, who are among the league’s most consistent contenders. Dallas has the second-stoutest defense in the West, as goalkeeper Martin Paes continues to keep the team in games with his league-high save percentage and third-best goals against average for keepers with more than 15 starts. He’s helped by a back line led by Tafari, who solidified his starting position after Matt Hedges left for Toronto FC, has brought composure, attacking prowess (his three goals and four assists are the most goal contributions among MLS center backs), and an impressive sense of style (check his pregame fits on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/nkositafari/?hl=en) to the center of defense.

Youth is also on FC Dallas’ side, as it has been for the last several years. For the third consecutive season, FC Dallas has the best player under the age of 22 in the league, as Velasco was named the top performer in MLS’ 22 Under 22 after Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi won the award the previous two seasons. (Kamungo was named No. 19 on the list). 

Dallas will see a team that was more or less a better version of itself in this best-of-three series. Remember how only one team in the West finished with a better defense? That team is Seattle, which is how the Sounders finished second in the conference despite scoring the underwhelming number of goals as Dallas (31). In net, 37-year-old Stefan Frei has been on par with Paes, leading the league in clean sheets and setting the Seattle record for most shutouts in a season.

The Sounders’ plus-nine goal differential is nothing to write home about, and they were also bitten by the draw bug, so there’s plenty of reason to expect a close, low-scoring series. But Seattle has more experience in the regular season and past playoffs, where it knows how to gut out wins and make deep postseason runs, having captured a pair of MLS Cups in the past seven years. They’ll be favorites for a reason.

But one needs only to watch the Texas Rangers to see how playoff success can sometimes boil down to getting hot at the right time. That may be especially true in a very mediocre Western Conference, where even top teams like Seattle (goalscoring) and St. Louis (experience) have their warts. FC Dallas have the backline, a keeper playing the best soccer in his life and, for all their underachievement, plenty of attacking talent. Now they’re fresh off a statement win at the best possible time, too, and so it’s hard not to wonder if this bunch really is capable of a deep run despite all that second-half mediocrity. 

Maybe this team has redeemed itself.