Previewing Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas with Big D Soccer

The Houston Dynamo are heading north on I-45 for the first Texas Derby of 2023. We talked to our friend Drew Epperley from Big D Soccer to get some insight on FC Dallas ahead of tomorrow night’s match.

With teams playing midweek matches this week, do you expect rotation or some different lineup decisions for Dallas coming off short rest?

Oh, there will be rotation. Not only is head coach Nico Estevez dealing with the schedule being packed right now, he also has several injuries to key players that are going to force him into rotating his lineup a bit more for this one. Paul Arriola is out with a quad injury that might end up keeping him out for the next few weeks. Sebastian Lletget was held out of Wednesday's game with an injury, Estevez seemed to think he'd only be questionable for Wednesday, so his status for Saturday is up in the air. Jesus Jimenez missed a pair of games with a broken hand last week but has been cleared to play even though he didn't feature in the win over Vancouver on Wednesday night. Then there is Paxton Pomykal, who was rested on Wednesday night; he'll likely be back for Saturday's game. 

Jesus Ferreira is in MVP form this season. What has he done differently this season that has helped him take his game to another level?

I think he has taken what he did last season and at the World Cup, and is trying to build on all of that into something more. Right now, we are just seeing a different drive and passion in him, even more so than what he did in 2022. He wants a legacy here in Dallas, and the only way he will continue to do that is if he breaks records with the club and gets this team back to a MLS Cup. 

Like Houston, the Dallas defense has done well this season allowing just 12 goals in 12 games. With Matt Hedges leaving, how has the FCD backline "retooled" and been so successful in 2023?

It was rocky at first. They're still giving up a goal about every game or so, but the difference is starting to be that they aren't giving up more than one goal in a game. Only LAFC and NYCFC were able to add more than one on them; both of those games came on the road too. Estevez has been rotating through his backline to this year, which probably caused the rocky start but has since been a benefit. Jose Martinez, Sebastian Ibeagha and Nksoi Tafari continue to improve together in the center of the defense, while Marco Farfan is quietly having a great season on the left wing. U-22 signing Geovane Jesus has been a big addition to the right wing, though he's questionable for Saturday's game so I'd suspect we'll get more from Ema Twumasi, who is also starting to have a solid season as well. 

I think some Dallas fans would argue that they don't miss Hedges this season. Sure, he was a legend here but given his injury history and age, it was time to move on, and Tafari has really helped a lot of us do that. 

Dallas has used just 20 players this season which is tied for the lowest in the league. Do you think the team just has a good core of players or do you feel like this may catch up eventually with players as the season progresses?

We've been talking a lot about this sort of thing as the schedule has gotten crazier. In some ways, I love what Estevez is doing with this core group. He's rotating players in positions that need rotation. He's getting a fair amount out of his bench with guys like Bernard Kamungo, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, and Jader Obrian. It has created a lot of good roster battles in training as no one feels like their position is truly safe when the next guy up is doing well. 

But on the flip side, as injuries and potential suspensions pop up (Obrian and Paxton Pomykal are a yellow card away from a suspension), having such a small roster can be tricky. Wednesday night was a nice win for the club but it required a decent amount of backups to achieve it. While I think Vancouver is a better team this season than previous ones, beating teams with backups won't work every week. Hopefully, as the summer rolls in and another transfer window opens, the club will be able to add to its roster. 

Former Dynamo Sam Junqua is now with FCD. How has he fit into the team and how has he been so far this year?

Yeah, Sam is doing well. He's come off the bench a few times and even picked up a start in Minnesota recently. I think his versatility is coming in handy, too, as he can play in the defense or on the wings in the midfield. I don't think he'll be an every-game starter for this club any time soon (unless an injury to Farfan pops up) but he's been a solid option for Estevez off the bench. 

How is the health of the roster and do you expect anyone to be unavailable tonight?

I've talked about a few injuries already, but to recap, Arriola is out, Lletget and Geo Jesus are likely questionable for this one, and we're still waiting to see how the recovery sessions went today to find out if anyone else is going to be on the injury list for Saturday too. 

Predicted lineup and prediction for the match?

I think we'll get another version of what we saw on Wednesday night against Vancouver, with a 4-3-3 type look: 

Paes; Farfan, Martinez, Ibeagha, Twumasi; Quginon, Pomykal, Ntsabeleng; Velasco, Ferreira, Obrian

This game is still very important to this group, but I see it being a battle. FCD wins 2-1.

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We want to thank Drew for his time and wish our friends in Dallas the best of luck tomorrow night. And make sure you check out our answers to their questions about the Dynamo on Big D Soccer.