FC Dallas entered Saturday’s Texas Derby as one of the youngest teams in MLS and during its 5-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo – it played like it.
"I give Houston a lot of credit for the result," said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. "Obviously I have to do that because when you lose 5-0 you can’t say otherwise. The other team beat you.
“But I also have to say that of the four first-half goals we gave up, three of them were of our own doing.”
The Dallas defense, anchored by 20-year-old keeper Jesse Gonzalez, gave up five goals (four in the first 27 minutes), including an own goal that was a result of miscommunication between Gonzalez and Dallas defender Matt Hedges.
The young Dallas keeper’s off game doesn’t change Parejas’ opinion of him.
"Jesse is a great goalkeeper," Pareja said. "I think he showed that last year throughout the whole season and I’m not going to change my opinion because of the goals he gave up.
“He made mistakes, but I still consider Jesse one of the top goalkeepers in America and Mexico. I’m not going to run just because one of my young players made mistakes in the game. That would be very unfair.”
While the Dallas defense was having trouble keeping up with the Dynamo, the offense was trying to find itself. While the game stats favor Dallas – 79-percent passing accuracy (to 74 percent for Houston), six shots on target (to five), and 54.5 percent of possession – the result wasn't there.
Pareja said the team “couldn’t find the rhythm,” or “make two passes together.” Despite the lack of offensive spark, and recurrent defensive lapses, the Dallas boss isn’t planning on making any grand changes.
“I can’t say how much the team has improved or hasn’t based on the second game,” Pareja said.
“I think it would be a mistake for me to analyze and make conclusions in the second game of the league. There’s still 32 games more to go. This is a long journey.”
