FRISCO, Tx. — FC Dallas are off to a solid start so far in 2019, with 13 points and 4-2-1 record currently good for fifth in the West.
However, on Saturday, FC Dallas get their stiffest road test of the young season when they face reigning MLS Cup champion Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4 pm ET | ESPN, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada).
The Five Stripes have just one win and five points from their first five games, but that's just part of their story.
“It’s a good team. (Current) form or not, it’s a good team,” Dallas coach Luchi Gonzalez said after training Tuesday. “They’re the champion. Just in that statement, that’s motivation for our group. That’s really exciting and motivating for us.”
Last Saturday, FCD defeated the Portland Timbers, 2-1, on a rainy night at Toyota Stadium, continuing their four-match home unbeaten streak for 2019.
Gonzalez realizes 10 of FCD’s 13 total points have come in Frisco. And even though Dallas are 1-2-0 on the road, he’s encouraged by what he’s seen thus far.
“The mentality’s been very good on the road. We want to have a three-point mentality,” Gonzalez said. “We’re not trying to start a game saying, 'Hey, it’d be nice to get a draw.' I think you’re already on the back foot (if you do that). We want to push for three points every game. And we want to make that our tradition in the way we’re developing.”
Last season, FCD faced Atlanta once, on July 4, 2018 in Frisco. Dallas edged the eventual champs 3-2, thanks to two late goals by Tesho Akindele, now with Orlando City SC.
Dallas defender Ryan Hollingshead came off the bench in that victory. Despite Atlanta now being without key playmaker Miguel Almiron, now with Newcastle United of the English Premier League, and having a new coach, he still considers them a formidable foe.
“They’re an extremely good team. They have had a hard time figuring out who their playmaker is now with Almiron gone,” Hollingshead said. “They haven’t been able to really find their form yet. Yeah, they had a win (2-0 vs. New England last Saturday), so they’re maybe starting to find a little bit more form, but I still think we’re finding them at a good time. I think we’re confident we can go into their place and really dictate the game.”
FCD’s 12 goals have come from seven different players, while six different players have assists.
Such balanced scoring has been a blessing. But for Gonzalez, in his first season as an MLS head coach, the immediate buy-in from his players has been an equally big reason for Dallas’ early-season success.
“It’s the group. Good human beings,” Gonzalez said. “No one is perfect, but they communicate with each other. They’re engaged with each other, with the staff. There’s always an open dialog. When we have a culture of involving the players in our solutions, there’s more buy-in, there’s ownership of it and we’re more together. Whether winning or losing, we’re together in solving the next opportunity.”
And that next opportunity which Gonzalez speaks of comes Saturday against the reigning MLS titleholder, a measuring-stick game for FC Dallas in its truest form.
