FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake prepared to start anew (Mar 02, 2018)
Two teams could not have had a more opposite end to the season than FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake in 2017.
Both will be happy to wipe the slate clean and begin their respective marches back into the MLS playoffs when they open their 2018 campaigns Saturday night at Toyota Stadium in the north Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas.
FC Dallas, the Supporters' Shield winners in 2016, missed the postseason for the first time in four years under coach Oscar Pareja, a Columbian national who had shown a skilled touch with his players in his first three seasons in North Texas.
FC Dallas won only two of its final 15 matches as its two victories in that span were tied with Orlando and the LA Galaxy for the fewest by any club. Now it's up to Pareja and company to prove that the late-season swoon was an anomaly and not an outlier of future concerns.
"Whether you have success or not, every year is a new one," Pareja said. "We were at the top of the league for six or seven months and then we just didn't play to our expectations at the close of the year. We think we have that behind us now and are looking to getting back to where we belong."
The offseason didn't see a total overhaul, but FC Dallas will have plenty of new pieces as the team looks to return to once again contending for an MLS Cup that has eluded it in its 23 seasons
Midfielder Kellyn Acosta will be sidelined for up to two months for FC Dallas with a sports hernia. Replacing him with Victor Ulloa may turn out to be a productive move, and FC Dallas fans will be hoping 23-year-old newcomer Santiago Mosquera from Columbia can make a similar impact to how Acosta played last year.
Two reinforcements from Europe should slot into the starting back line with Bulgarian Anton Nedyalov and former Switzerland World Cup defender Reto Zielger shoring up the defense.
FC Dallas will also have Mauro Diaz available for a full season after missing a big chunk of last year with an injury.
Center back Walker Zimmerman was traded to LAFC, and Atiba Harris headed to Mexico to join Murcielagos.
FC Dallas has won six straight MLS openers, the longest streak in league history.
Real Salt Lake missed the postseason as well last year when it finished with one less point than Dallas but its 2017 season was almost the flipside of FCD's. After getting off to a rough start, RSL put the pieces together under first-year coach Mike Petke, emerging as one of the league's hottest teams at the end of the campaign.
Real Salt Lake won eight games from July 4 through the remainder of the 2017 season. Only Toronto (10), Vancouver (nine) and Seattle (nine) had more wins in that time. To continue its upward trajectory in 2018, Real SaltLake will rely on a mix of seasoned veterans and a true flux of young talent.
Back for another run for Real Salt Lake are venerable team favorites Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman. The squad also includes 15 players aged 24 and younger, and several of those players are expected to start on opening day. That initial lineup could include Danilo Acosta (20 years old), Justen Glad (20), Adam Henley (23), Albert Rusnak (23) and Jefferson Savarino (21).
Win or lose Saturday, don't expect Real Salt Lake to have the dismal beginning of the season it had in 2017.
"I understand that the coaches want us from Day 1 to be right at it," Rusnak said. "The trainings have been hard, we've been doing running, we've been on the fields for two, three hours a day."
FC Dallas has won six of their last nine games against Real Salt Lake, including two blowout victories last season by scores of 3-0 and 6-2. Dallas have been especially dominant vs. Real Salt Lake at home, going 13-1-2 against them.
