April is going to be a month that gives us a little more insight on how good this team could actually be.
We’ve hit a new month on our calendar today. April is here, which means springtime weather (which we know in Texas means we’ll get about a week of actually decent weather before early summer hits). FC Dallas has five games ahead on the schedule, beginning with tomorrow’s trip to the Windy City.
Here is a brief look at how things could play out this month and where the points can come from for Nico Estevez’s team.
Chicago Fire – away – April 2
The Fire are off to a solid start to the season under new manager Ezra Hendrickson. Their defense has given up just a single goal to this point and is looking like a completely different team than the one that has failed to reach the playoffs for the better part of the last decade. They have a number of guys returning from international duty too. Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Boris Sekulić (Slovakia), Miguel Navarro (Venezuela), and Chris Brady and Brian Gutierrez (US U-20s) all were out the last week or so, which could make lineup selections more intriguing.
Colorado Rapids – home – April 9
Next week we will see FC Dallas return home to battle their old rivals from Colorado. The Rapids have had a pretty similar start to the season that FC Dallas has had too with their two wins to this point coming at home and their lone loss away from home. I would expect Robin Fraser’s team to continue to play games pretty tight on the road as they did in 2021 when they were the top team in the Western Conference.
New York Red Bulls – away – April 16
If you looked at the first seven games of the 2022 season, you’d think FC Dallas was an Eastern Conference team. This time we see the club head to New York to battle the Red Bulls, who may be one of the more surprising teams going right now. Weirdly, their two wins so far this season have come away from home, which could make this one an intriguing spot for FC Dallas to potentially pick up some points if that trend continues.
Houston Dynamo – home – April 23
The big rivalry game of the month is back at home against the Orange. So far the Dynamo have struggled to really get going under new manager Pablo Nagamura. They’ve made some big changes to the roster but their biggest change in Mexican national teamer Hector Herrera won’t join until later this summer. But no matter who is there, this has to be a game that FC Dallas picks up three points in.
Sporting Kansas City – away – April 30
The last game of the month sees FC Dallas back on the road, this time in Kansas City. FC Dallas has had some recent success in KC and Sporting has had a bit of a rocky start to their season, picking up three losses in their first five games due in part to their list of injuries that they’re currently dealing with.
Outlook
April is an intriguing month, to say the least. We need to see FC Dallas pick up results away from home to feel better about where they’re going this season. All three road games do feel winnable right now, at least on paper. Both home games also feel like they are games that they can get at least four points from, if not all six.
I think a fair assessment of possible points this point is eight or nine. That means picking up at least two wins and some draws, or even three wins. As much as I would like to project that FC Dallas can get 10 or 12 points or even all 15 points, I just don’t know if they’re there yet with how they approach road games.
How do you all feel about this month ahead? Do you think they can get more than 10 points? Or is eight or nine about right for now? Let us know what you think below.