Starting Wednesday, in line with local public health and government policies, MLS clubs have the green light to start voluntary individual workouts at club facilities. It's the first time players, aside from those getting medical treatment, are allowed back since mid-March.
Some clubs are unable to start, per local guidelines. Others are able, but haven't started quite yet. FC Dallas fits into the latter category, but head coach Luchi Gonzalez expects that to change before long.
"It's not all set and done – I can't give you an exact date – but I'm hopeful we can start this next week," Gonzalez told reporters on a video conference call Wednesday. "We're taking steps in the right direction."
FCD opted to wait a few days, allowing them to finalize plans and protocols, plus learn from the clubs starting on Wednesday. Atlanta United, Orlando City SC, Inter Miami and Sporting KC are the four teams that have returned to their facilities already. The Houston Dynamo announced they will start on Thursday.
"Clubs are starting today – that was a possibility for us – but we wanted to get feedback and learn from how some experiences go this week to make the best decisions we can when it's right for us," Gonzalez said. "We're confident that the players are still being very productive even though we're not together yet. We can be patient and do it at the right time."
For now, Dallas are continuing with their at-home workout plan they've been executing for almost the last two months to keep players fit and healthy.
"Our goal is just to observe and get feedback on how the next two or three days go," Gonzalez said. "We're pretty clear on how we want to execute our plan, but we thought it was important to keep going on our current plan and not divide the week in half."
