SEATTLE — The team was coming off two wins, sat several places ahead of Tuesday's opponent in the table and yet, for FC Dallas manager Nico Estévez there still was something missing from his club's mentality.
Playing just three days after a Saturday victory against the LA Galaxy, Estévez made needed rotations, giving rest to regulars like forward Jesus Ferreira, winger Paul Arriola, midfielder Paxton Pomykal and center back Matt Hedges. He still hoped, however, that the younger players he inserted into the XI would get the job done on the artificial turf of Lumen Field.
He has confidence in those players. Now, the coach said, they need to have confidence in themselves.
"The most important thing about (Tuesday), what stays with me as a lesson, is we have to believe in ourselves more, that we can play our game against any opponent, on any field and win," Estévez told The Striker. "I think the group still is in that growth phase of sometimes doubting. That happened to us in the first half."
FCD withstood a shaky start but the Sounders did go into the halftime break with a lead thanks to a penalty converted by Nico Lodeiro. Goalkeeper Maarten Paes clattered into Jordan Morris, who got into a good space in the box and beat the onrushing goalkeeper to a cross, leaving him little choice but to bring down the player and prevent a certain goal.
The goal that got us the W 🤩 pic.twitter.com/o4LdwimOTF
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) August 3, 2022
Even so, center back Jose Martinez, who wore the captain's armband for the first time this season with Hedges and Ferreira resting, said no one's head dropped as FCD closed out the game on the front foot.
"We’re trying to keep that positive mentality that we can get things out of every game," he told The Striker. "The group is doing things well, people are feeling confident. It’s a luxury that you can put new faces in and keep the same level it was at the rest of the game."
While the energy was there, the finishing was not. The team's two best opportunities came via Brandon Servania's long-range effort in the 70th minute and a Jesus Ferreira header on goal in the 86th minute, as FCD outshot the hosts 9-0 in the final half-hour. Few of those shots, however, reached the target, with even fewer troubling Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
"We weren’t good in the final third. We got there well and chose poorly," Estévez summarized. "When did choose well, the cross was bad or the last pass wasn’t there or the shot wasn’t good. It’s really tough to score like that.
"We got into the final third but would shoot from distance, there were good passes we didn’t play, crosses went long or were blocked. We had a series of difficulties."
Those difficulties may be smoothed out with more time to prepare for Saturday's road test in Portland against the Timbers. It's also possible the return of Ferreira and Arriola to the starting XI will be an additional boost that leads to more effective finishing.
FCD needs to solve the issues in front of goal, though, with the pressure beginning to mount. The accelerated season, finishing before the start of the World Cup in November, means FCD has just 10 regular season matches left to clinch a playoff spot and, it hopes, play at least one postseason game in front of a home crowd.
"This game, we had two and a half day’s rest, which isn’t the most you get, but it’s the end of the season at the moment. All games are finals," Paes said. "It’s MLS. Almost everyone is a competitor for the playoffs."
FCD’s challenge now is to believe it can achieve its goals. Estevez certainly has faith his squad can.