FC Dallas kicked off the 2019 season on Saturday afternoon in the wet and the cold against the New England Revolution. The teams fought their way to a 1-1 tie but most FCD fans are probably a little disappointed in the result.

The game also marked the debut of new FCD head coach Luchi Gonzalez. The tie gives Dallas coaches a 1-2-4 record all-time in their debuts. FC Dallas is 8-1-5 now in home openers at Toyota Stadium and 13-4-7 all-time.

Disappointing when you're up and the game ends in a tie for both the team and the staff. It was 10 minutes of casualness in the second half that punished us for that game tying goal. But If you remove those minutes, I have to be proud and happy about our progress among a lot of other things. - Coach Gonzalez

Let's break it down.

Formation and Tactics

Your home town Toros played the same formation we've seen all preseason, the 4-3-3. The last couple of seasons Coach Oscar Pareja experimented with different shapes and wanted to be able to swap between them. This year Coach Gonzalez is all in on the 4-3-3... although admittedly the players are still learning it, we may see some flexibility down the line.

As I had talked about for the week leading up to the game, Jacori Hayes beat out Paxton Pomykal for the starting spot next to Bryan Acosta. Ryan Hollingshead started ahead of the still recovering Marcus Pedroso at left back. Those were the only real talking points.

Obviously, Matt Hedges and Reto Ziegler are backward in this graphic.

The Dallas subs of Paxton Pomykal for Jacori Hayes at 73' and Jesus Ferreira for Santiago Mosquera at 82' were like for like and didn't change the shape.

The revolution played a flat 4-4-2 with new signing Carles Gil playing off-striker to Juan Agudelo's 9, not quite the pure 10 you see here.

The New England Revolution starting XI at FC Dallas. (3-2-19) (MLSSoccer.com / MLS)

Neither of the Revs changes seemed to alter the formations either. Diego Fagundez for Agudelo at 77' and Luis Caicedo for Scott Caldwell at 91'

Goals

1-0 FC Dallas goal. 13th minute. This goal is all Michael Barrios. There's an assist credited for Dom Badji, and it is a nice head on back near midfield, but Barrios carries this ball solo for 50+ yards. Classic Barrios goal.

Luchi's instilled that on us and although we want to move the ball and pass and combine passes, sometimes you have to use a player's strength. Mikey is fast and I can hold up play and flick on balls, so it was just one of those chances where we went back to doing what we naturally do and it was a great finish by Mikey. - Dom Badji

1-1 New England Goal. 57th minute. A cross from Jalil Anibaba is headed back toward the top of the box for the basically unmarked Carles Gil to fire home. Jesse Gonzalez's vision was at least partially blocked by the outrushing defenders.

This goal is a defensive meltdown by several FCD players. The home broadcast mentioned Santiago Mosquera not marking Gil tight. But we can also point to a rotational failure in the midfield. Just before the cross happens you can see both Bryan Acosta and Jacori Hayes are well over on the right side of the field. Barrios was helping defend, so only one of the 8s needed to be out there.

As the ball falls to Gil, neither Hayes (drifting at the top of the box) nor Acosta (drifting 10 yards further out) has recovered. Neither Matt Hedges nor Reto Zeigler is quite in the right spot either, Badji of all people seems to be marking Agudelo and Ryan Hollingshead gets beat to the initial header by Antonio Mlinar Delamea.

The Takeaway

Over the last couple of seasons, the Breakdowns has gotten a little long winded. I'm going to try to tighten it up some this season. So instead of the good, middle of the road, and bad I'm going to try and stick to 5 or so takeaways.

1. Style Change - This team is very different than in 2018 in terms of style of play. FCD finished with 67.6% possession against NER, that's higher than any single game last year (65.6%) and it's way above the season average of 49.6%.

2018 FCD didn't care if they had the ball, they would wait for the other team to make a mistake and then pounce on the counter.

2019 FCD does want the ball. They value it and are patient in their build-up with it. If they lose it, this FCD will high press to get it back. They were quite happy to work the ball forward deliberately looking for gaps.

Maybe too patiently and deliberately.

2. Not Enough Penetration - In the spring, a key factor to the offensive output was passing into the feet of Badji in the box. That didn't happen against the Revs. Badji only had one shot on goal - credit for it being on target - and it came from outside the box. Badji needs service in the box for this scheme to work.

The main culprits on the lack of penetrating passes were the collective midfield, notably the dual 8s. Carlo Gruezo, as the deep 6, you don't expect to make the penetrating pass, if he does it's a bonus. Bryan Acosta completed 2 of 5 attempted passes into the box, that's an ok but not great start. But Jacori Hayes didn't attempt a pass into the box, that's not good enough.

On the day Hayes was decent in almost all aspects, both he and Acosta had 86%'ish passing, Acosta had more touches but Hayes was subbed out. Acosta had 3 shots to Hayes' 1 but Acosta also had 2 turnovers to Hayes' 1. Hayes did have 5 tackles to Acosta's 1. Acosta completed 6 of 11 long passes, with Hayes going 1 for 1.

In the end, it seems Hayes was playing the keep it simple defensive 8 while Acosta was more the normal 8 spraying the ball around aggressively and attempting passes into the final third. We just need to see a little more balance from Hayes, more 8 less 6.

3. Pomykal the Answer - Before you get too excited and start yelling for Pomykal to start as the "free-8," let' talk about him. Yes, I too wanted him to sub in as I hoped his offensive ability could make a difference.

I would like to see Pomykal for Hayes at the 70 minute mark. Get a spark without losing the shape. — 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) March 2, 2019

Yes, Pomykal looked lively but he should look lively at the 73rd-minute mark when everyone else is tired.

And yes, Pomylak passed at a 91.7% clip... But, Pomykal didn't have a pass into the box either and only 3 of his 12 passes even went forward. He also had two turnovers in 17 minutes, both in failed dribbles... to be fair doing the thing I wanted him to do, go at people.

This team remains a work in progress - new coach, new system, and some new players - and most of that progress early is going to come in the three-man midfield. Maybe that means Hayes learning and adapting. Part of it will be Acosta getting used to the league and team. It might also mean Pomykal becoming a starter at some point.

Just don't get carried away yet from one game and Pomykal's 17 minutes. Try to remember there must be a reason Coach Gonzalez picked Hayes. If anyone knows Pomykal, it's Coach Gonzalez. Let's give it some time.

4. Need More Left - This game clearly displayed Ryan Hollingshead's defensive limits. He was at least a factor on the Revs goal and he made a poor mistake that almost gifted them another. He did have solid numbers outside of that: 2 tackles, 5 intercepts, 4 clears.

In theory that defensive deficiency should be balanced by what Hollingshead gives you going forward. There just wasn't enough of it against the Revs. He did have a nice shot on goal and 3 successful dribbles, but we need to see more from him in the final third. That's the reason he got the start and it was missing.

Let's compare his chart to Reggie Cannon. You can see a little more final-third offensive penetration from Cannon on the right. A little more box activity. FCD needs that balance from Hollingshead particularly since Mosquera on his wing is less of a get to the end guy.

5. Man of the Match - I'm ok with Michael Barrios being the official Man of the Match I suppose. He had the goal. 3 key passes, 81% accuracy that's really good for a winger. He had 4 dribbles and drew 3 fouls. I don't like the 6 giveaways or the 6 fouls committed but at least he was attacking aggressively.

I don't really have a better candidate to offer except maybe Carlos Gruezo. 92% passing on 75 attempts. 5 for 8 on long balls. Maybe that should tell us something when I mention a 6 as possible Man of the Match.

I considered Reggie Cannon till I saw he was only 3 for 7 in his tackles and all 4 misses were in the defensive third. He was outstanding except for that.

6. Jesse Gonzalez passing - I was hard on Gonzalez all last year for his poor passing, so let's give him lots of credit in this one. Granted the Revs didn't high press but rather waited to press closer to midfield, but still, Gonzalez completed 95.7 % of his passes. That's fantastic. Check out his chart. This is miles and miles better than last season.

Jesse Gonzalez passing chart vs NE Revolution. (3-2-19) (MLSSoccer.com / MLS)

Somehow I don't think this post ended up being shorter.