FRISCO, Texas ā Zach Loyd has been a staple of the FC Dallas backline for years. He has started at least 28 games in four of the last five seasons, and has made countless clearances that have kept his team in games in 2015.
But in leg one of the Audi 2015 Western Conference Championship against the Portland Timbers, Loyd had one of his worst games of the season, playing a big part in two of the Timbersā three goals in a 3-1 loss at Providence Park.
āIndividually, disappointed,ā Loyd told MLSsoccer.com about his performance last Sunday. āEveryone knows I lost [Liam] Ridgewell on the first one. And the second goal, everything is a collective effort, but at the same time that turnover leads to [Dairon] Asprilla hitting a fantastic goal. Frustrating individually, but at the same time, I canāt dwell on it.ā
In May, Loyd became only the eighth player in franchise history to start 150 games for the club ā a sign of consistency and reliability, especially considering heās still only 28.
Itās why head coach Oscar Pareja doesnāt look at Loydās two critical mistakes last weekend and worry going into the decisive fixture coming up on Sunday (5pm ET, ESPN).
āZach is a player that I trust,ā Pareja told MLSsoccer.com. āI back him up all the time because he has backed me up also during the season. Unfortunately, all players make mistakes. But weāll sort that out, and Zach has had a tremendous season. Thatās what is important for me.ā
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Although Loydās shortcomings were easy to point out, maybe easier to notice was the teamās inability to defend corner kicks. The Timbers scored twice from the corner, one of those in stoppage time, which prompted FCD to hunker down this week and make sure set pieces donāt haunt them for a third time this postseason.
āWeāve already watched several hours on film, really trying to dial in,ā Loyd said. āWe know our guys' movements, so at the end of the day, itās just a 1-v-1 match-up. And youāve got to stick with them. In the playoffs, whenever you make a mistake, you get punished. And thatās what happened to us last game.ā
Pareja also didnāt mince words about the teamās set-piece problems, but also is trying to focus on the positives given their playoff positioning.
āItās obviously a big concern,ā Pareja said. āBut weāre in the final part of the season, and that means we have done many good things.ā
The Timbers caught the Dallas backline on its heels in leg one when they came out more aggressively than anticipated, given Diego Valeri and Rodney Wallace were both unavailable due to yellow-card accumulation.
Now with a two-goal disadvantage heading to Frisco, Dallas are on their heels again, not knowing exactly how the visitors will tactically approach the match: Defend their lead, or hunt the road goal that could put FCD behind the 8-ball?
āThey could try to box it in and keep that two-goal lead, or they could be very aggressive and try to get that one goal. So weāre not really sure what their approach is going to be,ā Loyd said. āBut we know our approach is: Weāve got to score at least two, so weāre going to be aggressive and come out with the confidence weāve had all year here at home.ā
Dallas have been a vastly different and better team at Toyota Stadium this campaign, posting a 13-2-2 record in the regular season and scoring two or more goals 14 times when adding the postseason win over Seattle. The last time they failed to score two goals at home was Aug. 15 against the LA Galaxy.
Having leg two at home, especially when considering Dallas dominated Portland at home in August 4-1, gives Loyd & Co. confidence people will forget about leg oneās defensive lapses.
āThe playoffs are a two-game series. Itās not just one game,ā Loyd said. āSo hopefully we can turn it around and get the result here Sunday and itāll be all forgotten.ā