ESPN

On Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, FC Dallas gets their first look at the reigning MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy this season to finish up a stretch of three games in a week’s time. Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman was asked for his thoughts on the Galaxy and here’s what he had to say.

General thoughts on L.A.

Hyndman: They’re a team that just kind of progresses each week. I think Bruce [Arena] recognizes it’s more of a marathon season. You’ve just got to get better and better.

His take on facing a team with so many attacking options

Hyndman: Everybody’s looking for forwards and all of a sudden, they get Edson Buddle back. Are you joking? So you’ve got [Robbie] Keane, Buddle, you’ve got [David] Beckham, you’ve got [Landon] Donovan and now [Chad] Barrett’s getting on the field. They’ve got a very good, hard-working strike force and of course it’s going to cause some problems for us but at least our defense is prepared.

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman is never one to mince words. So while one part of his club might not be firing on all cylinders, he is never reticent to speak about it in brutally honest fashion. However, that loquaciousness on the part of the Dallas gaffer also works the other way. When something is going well, he never hesitates to heap praise where it needs to be heaped, something he did on his back line on Thursday before FCD left for Los Angeles.

“I think the defense has really been our strength this year and it should be because we’ve really invested into a lot of quality players to be there. For example, look what you saw yesterday [Wednesday] from George John, this has been his best since he’s been back and it’s going to continue to grow,” Hyndman said.

While Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake carried a big downer with it as versatile Panamanian Carlos Rodriguez suffered a brutal dislocated left elbow and will now be out for the next two to four weeks, that tie also carried with it several positives. For one, Jackson made his 2012 debut for FCD the same day that he returned from his native Brazil, coming on as an injury replacement for Rodriguez.

But another great story out of that deadlock was the MLS debut of FCD homegrown forward Jonathan Top, who also came on in the 68^th minute for Scott Sealy, who made his first start for Dallas up top in the wake of Basl Perez’s one-game suspension.

Top didn’t log a shot in his first 22 minutes with the first team, but those numbers can be deceiving according to FCD gaffer Schellas Hyndman. “I thought he did great. I thought he did really, really well. When I looked at the video and when I looked at the match analysis on Tango, his stats don’t look real good,” he said. “He gave a lot of balls away and that’s not an abnormal thing for forwards.”

Hyndman added: “It’s hard for them to keep the possession. They’re under a lot more pressure, a lot more time restraint and usually very limited space when you’re getting close to the opponent’s end. So it’s not unusual for them to be turning balls over but I really thought that he tried to do the right things. He was very active on both sides of the ball. He was making runs, getting open and then I thought he was the first man on defense. So I thought he did very well for his first time out.”

It’s probably a case of merely stating the obvious to say the scheduling gods haven’t been kind to FC Dallas so far this season.

In fact, FCD is one of just two teams in the Western Conference -- Real Salt Lake is the other -- that has played at least eight games. RSL leads the league with nine games played while Dallas is tied with three teams in the Eastern Conference (D.C. United, Montreal and Sporting Kansas City) for second-most games played with eight.

And maybe this discussion is especially relevant right now as FCD concludes a stretch in which it plays three times over the course of a week with Saturday’s visit to the Home Depot Center to face reigning MLS Cup champion Los Angeles.

However, Dallas has another stretch looming almost right after this one concludes. With next Sunday’s home match with Colorado, FCD will play three times over a six-day span, so it’s not surprising to hear Dallas gaffer Schellas Hyndman lament the schedule that’s been presented to his club thus far.

“The scheduling, gee, it’s been rough and it’s not going to get any easier. We’ve got another stretch of three games in seven days coming up. So when you do have that type of demand on the players, and the travel and the injuries, you’re just trying to band aid things you haven’t been able to put together,” Hyndman said. “You look at Chicago, they just played their fourth or fifth game while we’re at our ninth. I think we’ve got to look at that closer.”

The last thing FC Dallas needed in Wednesday’s game with Real Salt Lake was to add another name to its injury report. But when flank midfielder/sometimes defender Carlos Rodriguez went down with a dislocated left elbow in the second half, he joined the ranks of FCD’s walking wounded.

According to Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman, the versatile Panamanian is expected to miss between two and four weeks, a situation he elaborated on before the club departed for Los Angeles on Thursday morning.

“The doctor was able to put the elbow back in place on the field and we took him to the hospital and we kept him in there overnight,” Hyndman said. “It was more of a precautionary situation because he’s an international. He lives by himself. English is not his first language. What we didn’t want him to do was have issues later in the evening and have nobody around, so we did the safe thing and kept him in there."

"Prognosis? It could be two to four weeks.”

Jackson made his 2012 debut, coming on for Rodriguez in the second half of the RSL game and it looks like the versatile Brazilian figures to start as a flank midfielder at least until he returns possibly by the end of May.

If there is one thing that has so far defined FC Dallas through eight games, it has been injuries.

Fernando Clavijo was brought on as FCD’s new technical director not all that long ago, but the former MLS head coach can definitely sympathize with Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman as far as how many injuries FCD has had to deal with so far on the young season.

Clavijo even admitted that in all his years of being involved with the beautiful game, he can’t remember a team being so beset with so many injuries this early in the season.

“No, I haven’t and I feel for Coach Schellas. I think the league really has to and I know they’re doing it, to crack down on things like that but every game we’re losing a player. I’m going back to the Shalrie Joseph situation when he hit a player and gets suspended. In the end, the league did well but the penalty doesn’t match the games that player is missing. I think we need to do something,” Clavijo said.

“It’s very clear that if I want to take someone from the other team who’s going to change the game, I can do that and the maximum might be one or two-game suspension. I think that definitely is not enough and if we want a clear and clean game, we need to do better.”

Hyndman hopes FCD is getting all of their injuries out of the way earlier in the season and that has a full complement of players to choose from later in the year.

“We talk about injuries and things even out throughout the season. The way that things are going, we should have no injuries after the month of July. We’ve had them all prior but it’s frustrating for the players and it’s frustrating from the coach’s point of view because you’re trying to get into some type of consistency in our lineup and we’ve not been able to do any of that,” he said.

Back to Clavijo, he admits he’s pretty happy with the current roster he sees, but like every TD in the league, coach or even former coach, he’s always looking for ways to make FCD an even better club.

“Restrictions are very hard in the league but right now, I’m always asking the coach what we need to work on. Now I’m learning about our roster,” Clavijo said. “As a former coach, I’m always wondering in the back of my head what else can we do to make this team better?”

FC Dallas is hosting a Party at the Pubs at Trinity Hall Saturday, April 28, involving a pre-game Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament... I have to admit that's not smoething I've heard of in MLS before. Here's the FCD release on it.

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FC Dallas hosts Party at the Pubs at Trinity Hall Saturday, April 28 Pre-game Rock, Paper Scissors Tournament offers chance at great prizes

Think your Rock, Paper, Scissors skills are sick? Bring your A game to Trinity Hall Pub, 5321 East Mockingbird Lane, this Saturday, April 28 at 8 p.m. for the FC Dallas Party at the Pubs.

The tournament’s first place winner will earn a suite deck for up to 20 people for an upcoming FC Dallas home game, while second place receives 10 club seats and third prize offers a field table for four. Contestants can register online at fcdallas.com/pubs with a $5 donation to the FC Dallas Foundation serving as the tournament entry fee.

FC Dallas midfielders Andrew Wiedeman and Ricardo Villar, FC Dallas Promo Girls and Tex Hooper will join the crowd to watch FC Dallas take on the L.A. Galaxy at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The game kicks off at 9:30 p.m. CT.

If a Rock crushes your Scissors, no worries: there will be door prizes at halftime, including autographed, framed FC Dallas posters, a Lamar Hunt jumbo scarf autographed by former U.S. National Team defender Brian Dunseth and tickets to the May 6 match versus the Colorado Rapids.

Trinity Hall Pub will offer a special $8 watch party menu.

Photos from the game between Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas.

Here's a direct link to the photos is you'er having trouble seeing them here.

Scoring Summary:

DAL – Brek Shea (PK) 45
RSL – Emiliano Bonfigli (Will Johnson) 72

FC Dallas – Chris Seitz, Zach Loyd, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Jair Benitez, Bobby Warshaw (Hernan Pertuz 80), Brek Shea, Daniel Hernandez, Carlos Rodriguez (Jackson 56), Fabian Castillo, Scott Sealy (Jonathan Top 68).

Substitutes Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Victor Ulloa, Bruno Guarda, Matt Hedges.

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Carlos Rodriguez, Jair Benitez, Fabian Castillo 2);
SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (four players with one);
FOULS: 13 (Zach Loyd 3);
OFFSIDES: 2 (Fabian Castillo, Scott Sealy 1);
CORNER KICKS: 3 (Daniel Hernandez 3);
SAVES: 4 (Chris Seitz 4).

Real Salt Lake – Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Javier Morales, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Ned Grabavoy 55), Will Johnson (Jonny Steele 83), Paulo Junior (Emiliano Bonfigli 69), Alvaro Saborio.

Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Reynish, Yordany Alvarez, Terakazu Tanaka, Sebastian Velasquez.

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Paulo Junior 3);
SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Alvaro Saborio 2);
FOULS: 19 (Paulo Junior, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales 3);
OFFSIDES: 1 (Alvaro Saborio 1);
CORNER KICKS: 3 (Javier Morales 3);
SAVES: 3 (Nick Rimando 3).

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Will Johnson (caution; reckless challenge) 27

Referee: Geoff Gamble
Referee’s Assistants: Joe Fletcher, Phillippe Briere
4th Official: Drew Fisher
Attendance: 10,069
Time of Game: 2:00

Weather: Clear, 88 degrees

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman

General thoughts on the match…

I thought we really came out very slow. I thought that first 10, maybe 15 minutes, they had numerous opportunities in our attacking third to create shots and put the ball in the back of the net and we were able to survive. I thought after that we started picking it up, putting a lot of pressure on them, probably the latter 20 minutes of the first half, a lot of crosses, which is something we were talking about. We felt like with (Jamison) Olave out they would have a little trouble adjusting and we came close, but weren’t able to get the goal. We got a PK called. I didn’t see it, but the way the ball went off, I thought there might have been a hand ball.

The foul count was 12 to 5 in the first half and that was a real concern. It was very disruptive and a real concern. I think when Carlos (Rodriguez) went down with a dislocation of the elbow, it must have taken a lot out of the players. You don’t know what that does when a teammate is injured and everybody is looking at it, so I don’t think we had a very good second half, but we had an effort.

On the performance of Chris Seitz…

Chris is a solid keeper. As you know, a couple of years ago, he started for Philadelphia and I think it might have been the wrong place for him, an expansion team, giving up a lot of goals. I think, mentally, he was shot. We were able to pick him up and I think he finally has confidence. Last week when he went in, he wasn’t prepared. Kevin got hurt in the warm-ups, so (Seitz) really wasn’t nervous or scared, he just went in. So I was very interested to see how he would respond in this game, being able to sleep on it and prepare himself mentally and I think that he had a good game.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz

General thoughts on the match…

I think we came out with really good intensity. Towards the end of the first half we were really putting them under pressure. We created a lot of good chances. Defensively, we did well. We limited their chances and they’re a good team. They have been really successful on the road. The draw is a little disappointing for us, but as they say, on to the next one.

Did the early save you were forced to make give you confidence?

Yeah, anytime you get to touch the ball early in a game, you feel more comfortable. All ‘keepers want to get a feel for the ball early. Defensively, we held them to a decent amount of shots. We did pretty well.

Talk about your save on Saborio in the second half.
It was one of those where, you kind of hope he takes a big touch, but he didn’t take one big enough that I could come out and make a play. Brek made one heck of a run back to make his next move predictable for me and that gave me time to come out and close him down. But honestly it all started with Brek making that trek back following a free kick deep in our attacking third of the field.

FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea

You were attacking for a lot of the first half, what were you able to take advantage of in RSL’s defense?

They crowd the middle so much and play so much in the center that we were able to take advantage out on the flanks and get some good centering passes and crosses off.

Talk about your penalty kick goal

It’s good to get a goal. Doesn’t matter how you get it. I am glad that I was able to covert it and help the team.

Were you glad to get a point out of this match considering all the injuries?

We have some new players, injuries, suspensions… It was good to get a point. I thought we should have won, but it’s good to at least get a point.

FC Dallas forward Jonathan Top

How did it feel to make your debut?

It felt good to get those first minutes in against Salt Lake. We weren’t able to get the win, but everyone worked hard and now we have to focus on our match Saturday against L.A.

What does it mean to you to get playing time?

It means a lot. It means a lot for any of the younger guys to get playing time. Whenever one of us gets time, we are all happy for one another. We’ve worked hard for it and we are always pushing each other. We just need to be ready whenever that time comes.

What did Schellas say to you before you went in?

He said just to play with confidence and work hard – make it difficult for them to play out of the back. That’s what I tried to do.

Was the speed of the game faster than what you were used to?

It was a little faster, but we see that in training every day. I did need to adapt quickly to it but overall I felt fine out there.

Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis

Does having not won in Dallas get into guys’ heads?

I don’t know. That’s a better question for the players. I’m pleased with a point, but I wanted all three. That’s kind of where I am at. We’re pleased with a result. We’re pleased we didn’t lose our third game in a row. With a little bit more and a little bit better, we come out of here with all three.

On the penalty kick call…

I am again disappointed in another referee’s decision. I have not watched the replay yet. For me, there is just no way that can be called a penalty kick. Whether it hits the player’s arm or not, it just seems indifferent. The Dallas player has not even touched the ball so it’s not like they were making an attempt on our goal. Someone who reads the game or is involved with the game more, knows that is never a penalty kick.

What did you do at halftime?

Just a couple of small tactical adjustments. I asked the guys for a little bit more, for a little bit better. This is the second game in a row where we were in a tough spot. We gave up a goal right before halftime and that can be very mentally draining. We stuck together and played a much better second half. I am very pleased with both of our second half responses in our last two games so we’ll see if we can’t stretch that 45 minutes into 90.

Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran

On the penalty kick call

I’m going to have to see it again to really comment on it, but just from what I thought happened during the play, I cleared it off of somebody and it came back and barely grazed my elbow. I was pretty disappointed with the call at the time. There is really no chance for me to get out of the way of that ball. I have to check it out again and then I will be more able to comment on it.

Real Salt Lake forward Emiliano Bonfigli (through a translator)

On making a difference in the game right away…

You work hard to get as many minutes as you can and luckily today I was able to get a lot of minutes. I’m proud to be able to come in and score a goal to help the team out and get a point.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Will Johnson

On the goal by Emiliano Bonfigli…

I just turned, saw him making a run and just tried to put it in (Bonfigli’s) path. I think he did the hard part. I’m just happy that we got the goal back and we were able to get a good road point.

Everyone’s really happy for him. He’s been working really hard in training and in the reserve games. Obviously with the Espindola suspension tonight, it was probably more than likely that he was going to get an opportunity to come in. This game is all about taking your opportunity and he’s certainly done that tonight. It’s put him in a good spot for more extended playing time in the future.

On Real Salt Lake being winless in Dallas…

Every game’s different and for whatever reason we haven’t been able to get a win down here, but we’ve played well at times and we’ve had opportunities at times, but it just hasn’t quite happened for us yet. But, we’ll take a road point in Dallas any day. On the road, we just try to get to a point where we give ourselves an opportunity to win. We gave ourselves that opportunity tonight and we’re unlucky not to come out of here with the three points.

REAL SALT LAKE at FC DALLAS
FC DALLAS STADIUM, Frisco, Texas
April 25, 2012
7:30 p.m. CT (FS-SW+)

Brian Dunseth is the scarfer for Uncle Lamar.

REFEREE: Geoff Gamble
MLS Career: 10 games; FC/gm: 22.0; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 2; pens: 8
SAR (bench): Joe Fletcher;
JAR (opposite): Philippe Briere;
4th: Drew Fischer

INJURY REPORT:

FC DALLAS - OUT: MF David Ferreira (R foot surgery); MF Ricardo Villar (R foot strain); MF Andrew Wiedeman (sports hernia repair); QUESTIONABLE: MF Andrew Jacobson (R hamstring strain)

Note: Hyndman told us Hartman is out and Jair Benitez is fine.

REAL SALT LAKE - OUT: MF Nico Muniz (R knee MCL sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Cody Arnoux (L adductor strain); MF Ned Grabavoy (L rib cage dislocation); MF Javier Morales (R hamstring strain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

SUSPENDED: DAL: Blas Perez (through April 25); RSL: Fabian Espindola (through April 25); Jamison Olave (through April 25)

WARNINGS:

SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: RSL: Kyle Beckerman

SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL-TIME (20 meetings):
FC Dallas 11 wins, 30 goals ...
Real 7 wins, 26 goals ...
Ties 2

AT FC DALLAS (9 meetings):
FC Dallas 8 wins, 18 goals ...
Real 0 wins, 5 goals ...
Ties 1

RETURN MATCHES:
5/26: Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas, 7 p.m. MT;
8/18: Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas, 7 p.m. MT

LAST YEAR (MLS):

5/22: DAL 0, RSL 0
7/9: RSL 2, DAL 0 (Williams 47; Espindola 90)

- Real Salt Lake have never won in Dallas. FCD is 8-0-1 all-time in league games between the clubs, and have also won a game in the MLS Cup Playoffs (in 2010) and a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal (last year).

- FC Dallas have not won in Utah since 2007. Real have won the last five meetings between the teams at home, including both meetings all-time at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Coaches record:
Schellas Hyndman vs. RSL: P7 W2 L4 D1 ...
Jason Kreis vs. SJ: P11 W5 L5 D1

FC DALLAS NEWS

- FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman was forced into a change just after warmups, when first-choice goalkeeper Kevin Hartman could not start because of back spasms.

- Bruno Guarda and Bobby Warshaw also made their first starts of the season, coming into the midfield.

- For Seitz, it was just his second appearance for FC Dallas since being obtained by the club from Philadelphia before last season. Seitz made only one appearance for FCD a year ago - playing the season finale, a 4-2 loss at San Jose.

- After the loss at Vancouver, FC Dallas is 0-3-0 away from Frisco - one of just two teams still without a point on the road this year (along with Toronto FC, 0-2-0).

- On Tuesday, striker Blas Perez was handed a one-game suspension by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for "endangering the safety of an opponent" for an elbow on Vancouver's Jordan Harvey over the weekend.

REAL SALT LAKE NEWS

- Real Salt Lake saw two players sent off in the same game for the first time in club history, in 226 league games (and 276 contests in all competitions).

- Not only has RSL never won at FC Dallas, the club has never won in Texas, holding an 0-7-1 league record all-time at Houston.

- All three San Jose goals were scored on headers from crosses (one on a short corner). A year, RSL allowed just five headed goals all season - tied for fewest in MLS. They have allowed just five goals from headers in each of the last three seasons.

- Javier Morales made just his second start of the season and his first since March 31, missing the last two matches with a hamstring strain.

- Jonny Steele made his second MLS start and recorded his first assist, setting up Kyle Beckerman's equalizing goal.

- Fabian Espindola had been ever-present for RSL and leads the club with three goals, but will be suspended for Wednesday's match. Jamison Olave had played every minute of every game before he was sent off; his central defense partner, Nat Borchers, missed four of the first five games.

According to Schellas Hyndman...

Jair Benitez is fine and is available.

Hartman is technically listed as questionable on injury report but Schellas said he's unavailable. So Chris Seitz should start with Richard Sanchez as the backup.

Andrew Jacobson is questionable.

With FC Dallas forward Blas Perez out for tonight’s game with Real Salt Lake due to a one-game suspension he received for an elbow thrown in the first half of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Vancouver, the big question is who will head coach Schellas Hyndman decide to start in his place?

Here are several possibilities:

Fabian Castillo

One scenario that could play out sees Castillo moving from a flank midfield role to forward. Of course, were Hyndman to employ this scenario, it would require other moves. If Castillo were to move up, then it looks like Carlos Rodriguez could fill in at left mid. With Jair Benitez now over left knee tendonitis and available for selection, it’s likely he returns to the first 11 at left back tonight, especially since Hyndman was concerned about the lack of getting forward when he had Rodriguez and Pertuz, two guys not considered attacking players, manning the left side, meaning FCD was basically attacking from only the right and middle.

Likelihood: Very Possible

Ruben Luna

Some are clamoring to see homegrown striker Ruben Luna get a start, but it was just last week that Hyndman said he wanted to see the guy who led the Reserve League with 10 goals in 2011 deliver better results in reserve games. He has played better lately, but is it enough? Here is what the gaffer had to say about Luna last week:

“Ruben’s a player that has kind of been off and on. I think he’s a player that came in and got an injury in preseason. Because we’ve been working so hard, he’s been trying to catch up. I think for him to get on the field and be of help to us, he’s got to be a little bit more productive in reserve games. So we’ve been watching him very closely. All players, especially young players, have peaks and dips. Right now I think he’s working his way back up to develop self-confidence.”

Likelihood: Remote

Scott Sealy

Besides the Castillo scenario, seeing Scott Sealy make his first start for FCD appears to be the most likely of choices for Hyndman. The Dallas gaffer loves the experience and savvy that the striker from Trinidad and Tobago brings up top and now that Sealy is healthy, how better to get an accurate read of how he can contribute to this thing than in a game where Perez is unavailable?

Hyndman had the following to say about Sealy, who made his FCD debut as a second-half sub against Vancouver, earlier in the week:

“It’s good to see him there. He brings a lot of experience in the league and he’s awfully fit. He works extremely hard. He’s a player that can deal with the physical play from the league and I thought he did fine.”

Likelihood: Very Possible

Brek Shea

Others think one possibility is moving Brek Shea from his customary flank midfielder role to forward. But anyone who knows Hyndman at all and how he thinks realizes this scenario might result in too many moving parts when it comes to making out the first 11, something the FCD gaffer isn’t a big fan of. Had Jackson already arrived in Frisco and were the versatile Brazilian available for tonight’s game, then this could be more of a realistic possibility. But were Shea to move up, Hyndman could very well go with Rodriguez and Castillo as his flank midfielders, but think the gaffer’s pretty happy with where he’s had Shea for the last few seasons and it’s unlikely he’d move him even if it were for one game.

Likelihood: Remote

Jonathan Top

If there is a wildcard in all this talk about who will fill in for Super Raton, it could be Jonathan Top. He has been tearing it up in the reserve league so far this year and was on Hyndman’s 18-man gameday roster for the Vancouver game, but is he ready to start with the first team? Some might be quick to say that the Dallas gaffer has never been one to throw young players in there to see what they had, but that argument is quickly diffused when mentioning the time Bryan Leyva saw with the first team earlier this season. Top would be an intriguing possibility and while it wouldn’t be a shock to see Hyndman start him, the more likely scenario sees him on the bench for the Salt Lake game, possibly as Hyndman’s primary option should he need to see something different up top in the second half.

Likelihood: Moderate yet Intriguing

FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman was asked after training on Monday if he sees much similarity between Andrew Jacobson and Bobby Warshaw and here’s what he had to say.

“I think they both have the similarity of a college player, a defender, a holding midfielder, technical, courageous, good distribution with the passes, good work ethic, fight for every ball, I think they’re similar. I think the difference is A.J.’s just a little bit more experienced. A.J. has a little bit greater range. He can get from point a to point b a little bit quicker and can even get further up the field or be aggressive going forward and A.J.’s a little bit stronger in the air,” Hyndman said. “But Bobby’s done fine for us in the role we’re asking him to play."

Where exactly would FC Dallas be right now without Blas Perez? That’s a scenario FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman and his entire roster would rather not envision. That’s because not only has the veteran forward known as “Super Raton” been every bit as good as advertised, if not even better, as he current leads Dallas with three goals and three assists, but his impact in the locker room has been equally huge.

One player in particular he has had a huge impact on is 19-year-old Colombian forward/midfielder Fabian Castillo. “He’s a really smart player that makes a difference in everything he does. He moves differently. I haven’t scored a goal but I’m learning the different moves he makes on the field,” Castillo said. “So I’m just going to keep learning his moves and it’s going to benefit me in the future.”

Fellow striker Scott Sealy has plenty of MLS experience and has played alongside his fair share of quality forwards, but even he admits there is one thing in particular about Perez that has especially impressed him during their short time as teammates with FCD.

“I think for me the most impressive thing is his work rate. He works very hard when he doesn’t have the ball and it’s infectious. Other guys see it and they feed off of it. It’s something that lifts the team. The game against Montreal where he was able to score that goal, that was really the point that the game turned and the energy started to flow. His work rate for me is the biggest thing. Everyone can see his qualities as a striker in terms of the finishing and stuff like that but it’s the stuff that people don’t expect a striker to do, those are the things that he does pretty well and I think it’s helped the team a lot,” Sealy said.

And while it might sound cliché, the veteran forward from Trinidad and Tobago has no doubt that the Panamanian-born forward is one of those rare players who possesses that unique ability to make every player around him even better.

“I think on a team where your forward is one of your hardest-working guys, it makes everyone else try to give that extra effort,” Sealy said. “I think the games we’ve won and done very well in are the ones he’s kind of led from the front and everyone else followed.”