Just over 600 days ago San Diego Football Club (SDFC) was announced as the 30th team in Major League Soccer (MLS), and much has been abuzz about it in America’s Finest City as they move swiftly to establish themselves in both the league and the community.
Recently, SDFC wrapped up their preseason after three matches against other MLS teams in the Coachella Valley Invitational. Now, they gear up for their first-ever regular season match this Sunday against the defending MLS Cup champions, and in-state rival, Los Angeles Galaxy. From analyzing their three matches down in the desert, we get three key takeaways going into Sunday.
Rough start to a strong finish
The preseason opened up with a match against New York City Football Club (NYCFC) where things quickly slipped out of hand for SDFC after they scored first early in the first half. The squad struggled to maintain a cohesive defensive line and proper communication, ultimately falling to NYCFC 3 – 1. The next game against the Portland Timbers didn’t fare much better, where they lost 3 – 0 with miscommunication and missed opportunities aplenty. The third time was the charm though in their final match against MLS cup runner-up Red Bull New York. The team put up a clinic with five different players scoring in a 0 – 6 blowout win, showing everyone exactly what the team could look like when firing on all cylinders and potentially providing a boost in confidence for the team heading into Sunday.
Pressing and aggressive offense
While the final game of the Coachella Valley Invitational certainly demonstrated the real potency this offense could have, it was not the only sign. Just 18 minutes into SDFC’s first preseason match against NYCFC, star forward Hirving “Chucky” Lozano struck a perfect forward cross that fell right in line for defender Paddy McNair to lay a clean header on the ball to score before things started to swing New York’s way. Even in both losses, the team was aggressive and pressed down the wings showing flashes of what head coach Mikey Varas wants to see against Los Angeles.
“Baseline success is we go there and we show that we are ready to play away from home. We show that we can play our football, that we’re relentless to press, we show that we have the capacity to make the game difficult for MLS cup champions,” Varas said at a team press availability after Friday morning training.
Quickly-developing chemistry
That brings us to the last takeaway from preseason, the team chemistry. Despite being together for less than two months of training, this squad is already demonstrating an impressive ability to swiftly learn both the system they play in, and each other, all while adopting an attitude keen on resiliency.
This was something team captain and veteran midfielder Jeppe Tverskov explained at Friday’s media availability, “We see almost day by day the jumps the people do because it’s so technical and demanding, so from day-to-day you turn up a little bit and you turn down a little bit and at the end of the week you see more and more.”
When asked what stood out to him most about the team over the short preseason together Coach Varas also referred to this evolution, “How quickly we’ve developed an identity and a positive team culture, how much they care about each other, how well they’ve gotten to know each other on and off the field and the fact after such a short time when you watch San Diego FC play you see something clear.”
In fairness, three matches hardly make an ample sample size for how the regular season will transpire, nonetheless, the team is determined to start strong and make their mark throughout the inaugural season. Starting goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos was adamant about this when asked if he thought their first match against the defending champions offered a chance to set a tone early on.
“Of course, but like I’ve said no matter what team we go against, no matter what part of the season [or] the circumstances whatever that may be, we’re going to go in 150% every single game. We’re gonna put the right foot forward and treat every game like it’s a championship game,” Santos said Friday morning.
SDFC plays LA Galaxy in its first regular season match at Dignity Health Sports Park this Sunday, February 23 at 4:00 p.m. For those interested in tuning into the game, it will be viewable on stream through Apple TV MLS Pass and listened to on iHeartMedia’s San Diego Sports 760 AM (KGB-AM).
