FRISCO, Texas – It’s still early, but Cristian Colman and Roland Lamah have underwhelmed since signing for FC Dallas this winter.
Through 22 combined regular season games, Colman, a Paraguayan striker, and Lamah, a wide midfielder from the Ivory Coast, have totaled just one goal and two assists. Colman’s one assist – he’s yet to score in MLS action – came last Thursday at Chicago, when he set Lamah up for an equalizer six minutes into a 2-1 loss at Toyota Park. Lamah’s assist came all the way back in FCD’s season-opening win at LA on Mar. 4.
So far, their production hasn’t matched the club’s relatively lofty expectations. FCD signed Colman hoping he would become their first double-digit scorer since Blas Perez had 14 goals in 2014. The team also considered Lamah a potential replacement for winger Fabian Castillo, who left for Turkey last year.
“Obviously, there is concern for coaches when you don’t see what you want,” Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja said after Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Houston. “The goal of this great game, it has to be scoring goals, but I have confidence in this group. Cristian is adapting to the league and I keep waiting for him to get those goals, same with Roland.”
The lack of output from Colman and Lamah mirrors a broader slump in FCD’s attack. The team has scored just 15 goals in 12 games this year, and have hit the back of the net only twice in their last four matches, getting shut out twice in that span.
With Dallas still owning the best points per game mark in the West, Pareja isn’t panicking, though he did acknowledge that FCD need to clean things up in front of net.
“We need to polish our finishing,” he said. “I am confident we are going to find the net again and we’ll start to get our points here at home.”
A potential cure for FCD’s current offensive doldrums could lie in the Sunday return of attacking midfielder Mauro Diaz. One of the best attacking midfielders in MLS, Diaz had five goals and 13 assists last season before going down with a torn Achilles in October.
“To come back to the field after seven months is bittersweet because we were looking for a win and we didn’t get it,” Diaz, who came on in the 81st minute against Houston, said via a translator on Saturday. “This is a happy moment for me. I’m going to continue to grow from here.”
