Afterburn Soccer Show

Our Monday night live show went up against the Dallas Mavericks in their eventual loss to the Boston Celtics, so we had a few less listeners as before. And we had a whole bunch of audio and video issues.

Here’s the good news - we were able to edit the audio file for a streamlined show.

You can listen here as we look at FC Dallas’ win over St Louis, their upcoming match against Minnesota, how Luccin tweaked things, and a splash of North Texas SC content.

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We apologize for the lateness of this, but man, there were some glitches in the audio that needed to be smoothed out.

Obviously, this show was all over the place as we tried to make sense of the news that Nico Estevez was out as FC Dallas head coach with Peter Luccin in. Changes to North Texas as well. What does it mean? Was it too soon? Too late?

A messy one but a good one.

Isaiah Parker, starting regularly as a left wingback for North Texas Soccer Club, has been in excellent form as of late.

He capped off a professional and confident performance in Fullerton, CA last Sunday evening with an assist, helping his team to a dominant victory over the second place team in the MLS Next Pro Western Conference.

Of course, all has not been going swimmingly for Isaiah, who came to the FC Dallas system as more of an attacker and began a switch as a left back. That progress resulted in him going on a season-long loan to San Antonio last year, where he unfortunately didn’t get as many minutes or make the impact he wanted. The good news for him is that FC Dallas wasn’t finished with him, welcoming him back in the preseason for another opportunity with North Texas.

He is apparently taking that opportunity by the horns.

I was able to ask him after the match how he has been adjusting and taking advantage of these minutes and this role with North Texas.

Thanks for listening in.

A few notes from the show:

* Were there enough positives from FC Dallas’ loss against the Galaxy and LAFC to give us any hope?

* Is it too little, too late?

* Will the trip to Minnesota be a chance to steal some points?

We do continue to point out that North Texas is playing beautiful soccer with a dominant away win at LAFC2, the no. 2 team in the West. The class difference was apparent.

Some good questions and comments from listeners!

Jose and Nathan hit the show in this order:

* We started with the Open Cup victory, acknowledging that as long as FC Dallas keeps advancing, it doesn’t matter how pretty the soccer is. Logan Farrington deserves some love for stepping up.

* Then we dwelled for a long time on how to process the 3-3 home draw against Real Salt Lake. Yes, RSL is hot. Yes, FC Dallas was leading 3-0. Yes, the expected goals were somewhat even. Is it a fair result? A solid result? Or what?

* North Texas won its second straight against the Real Monarchs. This team is good. Good enough to compete for hardware? Survey says yes.

* Brutal road week ahead. Can FC Dallas get some points in LA? More coverage of those games coming soon.

We got this one uploaded late.

It’s been a weird week.

But we can celebrate that FC Dallas found a way to win in the Open Cup even as a huge match with RSL looms.

Thanks for listening!

Just a quick video note on this busy Thursday.

Do the stars align for a big result for FC Dallas?

Houston played midweek - will they have tired legs or be angry for the loss?

Dallas isn’t healthy yet. Who will step up?

Thoughts?

Welcome to another episode of Afterburn Soccer Show.

Jose is back with us this week, as we look at the gritty Open Cup win that builds confidence for the team. We also dive into the rivalry win over Austin FC. Was it pretty? Did it show areas of improvement for FC Dallas? Nico Estevez agrees.

We hear from Jesus Ferreira, Nico Estevez, and John Gall in this episode.

Plus, we look ahead just a bit as Dallas prepares to visit Houston.

Thanks for listening!

I love asking FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez about tactical questions.

Some coaches aren’t interested in getting into the weeds around tactical decisions, but others, including Nico, don’t mind chatting about the technicalities.

Including what role he wants his midfielders to fill on the pitch - when to press, what kind of shape, what areas of the pitch. Sometimes, it is little things that need to be improved for a team to unlock their next gear. We may not see it from the stands or the live feed, but one positioning mistake, one miscommunication can be unforgiving in this league.

The midfield is being asked to do a lot in FCD’s tactical setup, both shielding the backline defensively, snuffing out counter-attacks, and knowing when to get forward. While Illarramendi and Fraser appeared to be the preferred starting duo, injuries have limited their ability to build chemistry. Maybe that will begin to change.

As Dallas welcomes Austin to their own house in a crucial match, my gut is to watch the midfield’s performance to see if they can clean up mistakes, trigger more dangerous attacks in key areas, and generally shore up a defense that has been too leaky this year.

Jose was pulled away due to a family event, so Nathan had to fly solo on this one.

But we get into Nico’s reactions after the loss to Toronto.

We also get into how much fun North Texas has been playing.