FC Dallas made their first road trip of the season on Saturday, traveling to Columbus to take on the Crew. While the 1-0 loss wasn't the result anyone with FCD would want - and there are some negatives to talk about - overall the performance wasn't bad and there are plenty of positives.

Let's Break it Down.

Lineups and Tactics

FC Dallas was, of course, in the 4-3-3. We've yet to see the team under Coach Luchi Gonzalez work in any other formation. With Reggie Cannon being held out, Ryan Hollingshead shifted to right back and Marquinhos Pedroso at left back made his first start since his return from core muscle surgery.

The FC Dallas starting XI at Columbus Crew. (3-16-19) (FC Dallas)

Jesus Ferreira subbed on for Santiago Mosquera in the 70th minute. There was some talk at the time that FCD was shifting to two strikers, but from my seat on my sofa, it looked like the same shape to me with Michael Barrios shifting to the high-9 position. I think perhaps the idea was for either Ferreira on the right wing or Dom Badji on the left wing to take turns getting forward up next to Barrios and thus getting two strikers forward at a time without breaking the 4-3-3 - or perhaps more important the shape if they needed to compress defensively into a 4-5-1.

John Nelson made his MLS debut coming on for Pedroso in the 74th minute. Pedroso in his first start of the season was probably struggling to go 90. Then in the late on, Pablo Aranguiz came on for Bryan Acosta in an aggressive offensive move - turning one of the 8s into a 10 type - that really put the Crew on their heels the last 10 minutes.

Columbus in the 4-2-3-1 they have mostly been running this season.

The Columbus Crew starting XI vs FC Dallas. (3-16-19) (Columbus Crew)

All three of the Crew subs seemed to be of the protect-the-lead type and not radical shifts in tactics. Justin Meram for Robinho in the 74th minute, Ricardo Clark for Artur in the 87th minute, and Hector Jimenez for Pedro Santos in the 94th minute.

Goals

1-0 Columbus Crew Goal. 10th minute. This was a simple corner and basic one v one marking. Reto Ziegler got beaten by Gaston Sauro, plain and simple. There's not a whole lot to dissect here.

It was disappointing. We gave up an early goal, and we've been training hard to neutralize that. We knew they were going to attack certain areas and we have to look at that. It shook us a little bit, and we were a little impatient with the ball. - Luchi Gonzalez

El Bueno

Matt Hedges was my FC Dallas' Man of the Match. I thought he was FCD's best player on the day. Stalwart in defense with 2 tackles, 5 aerials won, 3 clearances, and 1 block. On top of that I would really like to compliment Hedges on how improved his touch, his foot skills, and, most importantly, his passing is. 91 touches, 90% passing on 83 passes.

Let's all take a minute to appreciate his longevity and service to the club as he passes the much-loved Bobby Rhine into second all-time on the franchise appearances list with 213. Jason Kreis is the record holder at 247 who Hedges could conceivably pass in early 2020. This quote by Hedges from FCDallas.com also says a lot about the man's character.

It's a cool milestone but, you know, I'm just disappointed we didn't get any points here on the road. It's nice to pass Bobby Rhine, I mean he was a great player, you know a legend in the club, but I was just worried about the result today. I just want to go out and win and play and do what I love to do, but you know it's a cool thing to have your name up there in the top of the ranks for the club. - Matt Hedges

Paxton Pomykal was again terrific. I talk a lot about what separates good teams from great bring difference makers, players that can elevate above the game they are in and make something happen. FCD has lacked guys like that in recent years but it looks like Pomykal could be one going forward. He's the only player in the front 5 who is making things happen. He's creating chaos, pulling apart the defense, and creating chances, including the one great scoring chance FCD had. A classic two-way player: 93% passing, 2 key passes, 5 tackles, 7 recoveries. Pretty good day.

Carlos Gruezo was again fantastic as the "single-pivot" 6. He's playing the best soccer of his FC Dallas career. 92 touches, 87% passing on 70 attempts, 12 recoveries, and 4 tackles. He's everything you could ask for in a holding mid and it's no wonder he's back in the Ecuador side. Filling his shoes this week will be a massive endeavor for either Edwin Cerrillo or Brandon Servania.

FC Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira (27) kicks the ball over Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp (6) during the second half at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2019. Columbus won, 1-0. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/TNS) (Adam Cairns / TNS)

Jesus Ferreira's contribution was hard to quantify statistically off the bench, but it felt very positive. With his introduction, the Toros seemed to go onto the front foot. Statistically, he was 5 for 8 passing and didn't have a shot. But the team seemed more alive and more likely to score after he came on. Maybe it was just a condition of it being a late-game push? Hard to say.

Pablo Aranguiz too felt like he had a positive attacking impact. Again, like Ferreira, it was late in the game chasing the point but he was part of the end-game FCD domination in possession. Whoscored.com had him at 100% passing on 8 attempts but, unfortunately, only 1 of his 6 crosses were deemed "accurate" which underlines the problem with this young playmaker - he can hit the wonderful, creative pass or cross but they're not finding people. Was his performance good enough to get him a look as a starter? Time will tell.

I thought he came in and showed courage to create, take people on, get balls into the service, and show personality to make us be dangerous and get back into the game. It was very positive to see. - Luchi Gonzalez

Reto Ziegler, despite getting beat on the corner for the goal, otherwise had a pretty good day. He's a massive part the possession game in Luchi-Ball. His 115 touches led FCD, 87% passing on 103 attempts - that's 20 more passes than the #2 Hedges - and an astounding 10 for 14 on long balls. That's 8 more completed long balls than any other Dallas player.

John Nelson had a positive MLS debut. Only 16 minutes and it wasn't in a part of the game where he was required to play much defense... But he made some nice covering plays, I thought, and hit some quality passes (83%) - including a wonderful zipping pass to Ryan Hollingshead late. He even had a successful dribble in the opposition penalty box. I would maybe like to see one or two crosses get into the box from, him but overall a nice rookie showing. I would be completely comfortable with him starting a game if needed at either right or left back. And it might be coming sooner than you think. Would he make a rookie mistake or two? Sure, but he's got such a big future.

It's cool for him. His family was here. You could hear them in the stands. He came in and he's a good player, he's got a good left foot, he has good defensive instincts and I think he will be a guy who is in the league for a long time. - Matt Hedges

Jesse Gonzalez continues his above average, for him, passing with 80% in this one. 2 for 8 on long balls, that's clearly his weakness. And he got called up the USMNT.

El Camino del Medio

Bryan Acosta had a solid game except for two things. 1. He was deeper all day than I would have liked - check his heat map and average position below - playing almost like a second holding mid. 2. He could have been sent off three times. In the 1st half, his yellow card could easily have been red and probably should have been. Then in the 2nd half, he made another foul that should have been a second yellow and likely would have been a yellow if he wasn't already carrying one. Plus, he committed 5 fouls overall, that's way too many and could have been a second yellow for persistent infringement. Still, 90% passing on 67 attempts, 75 touches, 2 shots, 2 tackles, and 1 intercept. Hard to complain about the skill, effort, and tenacity but I would like to see some penetrating passes into the final third and maybe a few "key passes" to help create chances.

Bryan Acosta's heat map versus Columbus Crew and the FC Dallas average position. (MLS / whoscored.com)

FCD was able to play Luchi-Ball on the road with good possession - 50% at halftime and 55% by the end as they pushed for a goal - with 632 total passes. That's great, Coach Gonzalez likes possession. But, and this is a big BUT, Gonzalez likes something else even more: variety. The club needs to be able to change gears. They do from time to time need to fast break and counter. Endless possession for possession sake means nothing. Chances have to be created and FCD didn't so that in this game. 8 shots with only 2 on goal. 55% possession, 632 passes, 86% passing accuracy... and 8 shots with just 4 from open play and really only 1 good chance created by Pomykal. That's not good enough in the final third.

Marcos Pedroso I thought looked ok in his return to the lineup. In fact, I would say he looked like a player who has just gotten back to full health and is desperately lacking in match fitness. He will need some time to get back to his form of last season. He got forward well enough and had a good high average position but what he lacked was the stamina to get all the way back immediately which left FCD a little exposed at times. I'm confident that's why he was subbed for Nelson in the later stage of the game. 83% passing on 36 attempts and 51 touches; 2 tackles, 1 intercept, 2 clearances.

Muy Feo

Santiago Mosquera had little impact on the game. He's not even close to his scintillating preseason form. It's a bit of a head-scratcher. I do think he's trying to cover too much of the field, as FCD's most creative starter he's perhaps trying to make up for a lack of a 10. 1 shot, 1 key pass, 1 dribble, 3 bad pass receptions. Look at his chart, the passing at 84% is ok, but almost nothing is coming from it as the final third. There is a clear disconnect there. He needs to find his game again or risk someone like Aranguiz getting a start.

Santiago Mosquera's passing chart against Columbus Crew. (3-16-19) (MLS)

Dom Badji. What can I say, he didn't have a great game. He's completely lost his confidence it seems to me. He was dispossessed 3 times and fumbled 1 pass. I keep harping on this and I'm risking it being a dead horse topic, but he's not running a high enough line and getting into dangerous positions, see his heat map below with little activity in the penalty box and none in the goal box. He is, in my opinion, checking back way too much. (+1 for the 3 tackles though)

Dom Badji's heat map against the Columbus Crew. (3-16-19) (MLS / whoscored.com)

BUT his lack of goals isn't all on Badji as he's not a create-his-own-shot guy. He's simply not getting the ball enough and that's on his teammates. Badji had a paltry 26 touches in 90 minutes - Aranguiz had 18 in 8 minutes. Over the course of his career in MLS, Badji has needed 7 shots per goal (26 goals, 183 shots). Badji needs the ball into his feet in the box more. Way more.

Look at this video of Wayne Rooney's hat trick from yesterday (ignore the PK). The second and third goals are a trap/flick and a 1-touch, both are in the box and both are easy, simple goals for Rooney... Yes, he was in the right place BUT he was set up by teammates. Service matters.

First hat trick in MLS: ✅@WayneRooney was on another level. pic.twitter.com/7BgldTB7lM — Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 17, 2019

By the way, Rooney in MLS has needed almost 6 shots per goal. Yes, better than Badji at 7 but not massively better. Assists matter, pass Badji the damn ball.

(Man, Déjà vu. I really feel like I have written all this before.)

As pointed out by Steve Davis on the broadcast, Ryan Hollingshead really struggled with the ball at his feet in this one. Was it simply a product of playing on the right? He hasn't played right in some time. He was credited with being dispossessed twice and making 1 bad reception, but it sure seemed like it was 5 or 6 times he turned the ball over. He's also continuing to struggle passing out of the back at 77% (too aggressive perhaps?). That passing rate is 5% below the left back Pedroso and 10%-12% behind his center backs. By the way, his 80 touches only resulted in 49 pass attempts that seems... oddly low. Also, that late shot on the silky Nelson pass was... poor.

Next Game

FC Dallas is back home to face the Colorado Rapids for the "Taco Night" game. FCD will be without Bryan Acosta and Carlos Gruezo so expect a midfield consisting of Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania, and Edwin Cerrillo perhaps. Jesse Gonzalez has also been called up for the USA.

Kickoff on Saturday the 23rd is at 4:30 PM CT broadcast on UniMas.

CARSON, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 23: Kellyn Acosta #10 of the Colorado Rapids reacts after David Bingham #1 of the Los Angeles Galaxy denies his goal attempt during the first half at Dignity Health Sports Park on February 23, 2019 in Carson, California. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images) (Yong Teck Lim / Getty Images)