The first FC Dallas training session of 2019 kicked off at 4 pm today. It actually got going right about on time too, that's something I'll have to adjust for if it continues under new head coach Luchi Gonzalez.

It's a bit cold out but a warm jacket, gloves, and a knit cap helped out. It was getting toward 60 in the afternoon but as the sun went down, the wind picked up and the temps were dropping. I was glad for the gear when it was getting chilly.

Not a ton to be viewed as this first session was lots of jogging, getting some light ball work, getting the rust off the legs and lungs, and getting the body moving. The sessions will pick up more ball work over time with some two a days this week (but not every day).

News and Notes

Contract players...

- New signings Bryan Acosta and Bressan have not arrived yet. Neither have Francis Atuahene and Ema Twumasi. Not too big a deal in all four cases.

- Cristian Colman is obviously still out injured and will probably remain so for some time.

- Reggie Cannon is in US Camp.

- So players under contract and here training: Pablo Aranguiz, Dom Badji, Michael Barrios, Jesus Ferreira, Jesse Gonzalez, Carlos Gruezo, Jacori Hayes, Matt Hedges, Moises Hernandez, Ryan Hollingshead, Jimmy Maurer, Santiago Mosquera, John Nelson, Zdenek Ondrasek, Marcos Pedroso, Paxton Pomykal, Bryan Reynolds, Thomas Roberts, Brandon Servania, Reto Ziegler, and Kyle Zobeck.

New FC Dallas striker Zdenek Ondrasek (in the black neck scarf) waits a turn behind Kyle Zobeck. (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

Also in camp, mentioned on the preseason roster, but not under a MLS contract...

- Carlos Avilez. The under USL contract keeper. I think he's going to compete with Zobeck for that 3rd MLS roster spot. MLS or USL, either way, Avilez should start most of the games for North Texas SC this year.

- Edwin Cerrillo. As I tweeted, his presence is once again evidence he's about to be the next FC Dallas Homegrown player. In fact, I'm hearing through the grapevine the deal is all but done and should be announced soon.

- Callum Montgomery, Eduvie Kioba, and Sam Ebstein. FCD's 1st, 3rd, and 4th round SuperDraft picks, respectively, who aren't signed to contracts yet. John Nelson, who I mentioned in the signed section above, as a Generation Adidas player is under contract and was before he was drafted.

In camp, not on the roster, and not under contract...

- Brecc Evans, who signed with North Texas SC out of Cal Poly.

- Mohamed Essay. Essay is a prospect the club is looking at for North Texas SC out of Richland College. He scored two goals in their National Championship back in November and was named tournament MVP with 5 goals and 1 assist in 3 games. He got invited today to come make up the numbers.

FC Dallas training left to right: Mohamed Essay, Thomas Roberts, Peter Luccin (ast coach), Eduvie Ikoba, and Pablo Aranguiz. (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

- Kris Reaves. Last year's Homegrown whose contract was not picked up but was invited back and is battling for a roster spot with FC Dallas.

- No sign of any other NTXSC players: Ricardo Pepi, Ronaldo Damus, or Alfusainey Jatta.

- One player I expected to see and did not is Mauro Cichero. He's not here yet but don't worry, he will be. He's been cleared to resume training coming off the ACL recovery. A year ago he was graded as MLS talent level, now he's a player in need of rebuilding. FCD plans/hopes for him to be in the mix and involved this year. I think this spring, for him, will be about finding the fit that helps him rebuild the most: FC Dallas or North Texas.

First day of FC Dallas training 2019. (1-21-19) (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

Thought and Observations

Going forward, how I structure practice reports this year is a bit up in the air. With a new coach and some new media rules, it's a work in progress.

I'm leaning toward giving some thoughts, general observations, opinions, and impressions from training and perhaps giving you fewer descriptions of drills and player combos. The club doesn't love the literal descriptions of drills and combos.

But with thoughts and opinions... well, those could be wrong... or they can be...

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All right, so as I mentioned, today was a bit on the boring side in terms of drills but I did try and focus on some of the new guys. To be fair, I don't have much to say about most of them yet as they didn't do a lot that wasn't fitness.

- John Nelson jumped out at me though. He moved really well. Looked bright and positive, not nervous. I can see just from watching some simple drills why people might like him. Quick, good touch, the head is up, moves sharp... He's fairly short though, for what little that matters outside of set pieces.

Front row, left to right: John Nelson, Paxton Pomykal, and Santiago Mosquera. Back row, left to right: Marcos Pedroso, Eduvie Ikoda, Moises Hernandez, Sam Ebstein, and Dom Badji. (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

- Bryan Reynolds seems to be going with a short braids (or dreads?) kind of look. If you interested in that kind of info.

- All the younger players looked good, energetic, happy, recharged. Obviously, they are all excited about the future I think.

- Very few players had visible numbers on their kit, but from the roster given out no one has changed numbers. Numbers aren't final until the season starts anyway, so buy a numbered kit at your own peril.

Here are few new guys' numbers (from the FCD spring roster).

- Bressan

- Bryan Acosta

- Zdenek Ondrasek (aka Cobra) His preferred number apparently.

- Callum Montgomery

- John Nelson

- Eduvie Ikoba

- Sam Ebstein

- Edwin Cerrillo

- Carlos Avilez

- I got a few chuckles hearing the strength and conditioning coaches trying to get everyone to go slow and take it easy. Everyone is charged up and ready to go but in the cold, you have to take it slow, it's just day 1.

- Somewhat interestingly the keepers drilled with everyone else. Running, ball drills, everything. Even with their keeper gloves on. They did no separate drills at any point.

- Coach Gonzalez seems to be emphasizing decision making already. Soccer IQ. Reading the game in front of you. I like it.

Catching up with Luchi Gonzalez

Luchi Gonzalez. (1-21-19) (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

In the past, this organization has signed Homegrowns, not just from the Academy, but also from college. Both seniors and underclassmen, prior to the draft were in effect cherry picked out of the draft pool. You guys didn't do that this year, is that a change in philosophy under your management or was there just not anyone you wanted to target?

No, it comes down to circumstances. If you look at the pool of players, graduating seniors from our Academy... some years there's several that we feel can come in and impact the group and compete; and others potentially, maybe, not so much.

There are some upperclassmen that will be joining in moments of the season in training and competing, whether second team or first team... but it's cyclical.

Of course, ideally we would love every year the graduating class in college be players we look at from the Academy, but the circumstances don't always set that up. And there are some very good players from outside our Academy program, from college, that we have the fortune to have in this program and compete for the roster as well.

Is your roster complete then, pending guys coming into town of course, or do you think there might be other roster moves ahead?

We have a very complete base. I would say, 'never say never.' In professional football, you always have to be open. You have to anticipate. There are things that can happen in a week, or a month, that we didn't expect, yesterday or today... So we'll always be ready to anticipate further moves of our players, but for now, our focus is on the players that are here and the ones that we know are going to be here soon.

So do you think you have all the pieces you need for this season in place?

Yes Sir.

Opening day 2019. (1-21-19) (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)