FC Dallas ended April and started May on a three-game losing streak.
Not just losses, but shutout losses. Losses by a combined 8-0. First, 3-0 at Sporting Kansas City. Then even more trouble in a 4-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls. That was followed by 1-0 defeat at Toronto FC.
That tough run ended Wednesday when Dallas returned home and rallied for a 2-1 win over Portland.
Mixing the good with the bad, FCD is 6-4-2 overall and second in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.
Dallas’ inconsistency becomes coach Sigi Schmid’s issue Saturday, when the Seattle Sounders face good FCD or bad FCD at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
“It’s a streaky league,” Schmid said. “… Obviously three road games was difficult for them. They shuffled their lineup a little bit. They had a period of games when (midfielder Mario) Diaz wasn’t fully available to them — just played a little off the bench — and he’s a very influential player to their game.”
The other obvious issues in Dallas’ losing streak was that it played out on the road, and ended when they returned home. For the season, Dallas is unbeaten in six home games (4-0-2), but 2-4 on the road. That clicks in ominously with the Sounders, whose .500 season comes from a 4-2 record in Seattle and 0-2-1 everywhere else.
“In the past we’ve always been a pretty good road team, and for us it’s returning to that,” Schmid said. “I think this year on the road obviously at Colorado we lost deservedly. RSL I think was harsh for us because we made that mistake at the end of the game: We should have got out of there at least with a point. … Houston we pulled off a tie at the end so we got a point out of that one. Our philosophy as a team generally is we play the same as we play at home.”
The Sounders could benefit from favors by Mother Nature and the MLS schedule-maker. The Dallas area forecast calls for a high temperature of 73 under cloudy skies Saturday and game-time temperatures in the 60s There’s a possibility of rain, but that’s a trade a soccer team from Seattle is happy to make on a mid-May visit to Texas.
Meanwhile, the Sounders have had a full week off since their 2-0 win over San Jose, while the Hoops return to action just three days after their come-from-behind win over the Timbers.
Seattle midfielder Erik Friberg downplayed any significant advantage in that.
“They play at home,” he said. “They have been struggling a little bit away. I think they’re going to be excited to play at home, two games in four days. It’s a good team. We talked a lot to keep the ball today, and especially not lose it in the defense area. They have some very good counterattack players. We need to be careful.”
Schmid said that’s the usual plan: his team concerning itself with its own play, and less about its opposition.
And in this streaky league, the Sounders have been riding a wave, following a season-opening three-game losing streak with a 4-1-1 record since then, including back-to-back wins.
All regulars are reported healthy and available. Rookie Jordan Morris has scored in four consecutive games, and sets an MLS rookie record if he gets another Saturday. Designated player Clint Dempsey picked up his second goal of the season last weekend. Stefan Frei kept his second consecutive clean sheet.
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