FRISCO, Texas – For the first time since Blas Perez arrived in MLS in January 2012, it looks like FC Dallas will finish a season with a new leading goalscorer.
Perez led Dallas in scoring in 2012, 2013 and 2014, totaling 31 goals and 13 assists in his first three seasons with the club. While he’s currently tied for second with five other players on FCD with five goals, it’s been a bit of a different story for Perez this season. The animated Panamanian seems to be yielding his featured role in the Dallas attack to a slew of younger players, becoming more of a complementary player for Oscar Pareja’s side.
The 34-year-old has only started 14 games this year, and would need to be in the first XI for five of Dallas’ last six matches to avoid setting a MLS career low in starts. He’s only started twice since June 19, in large part due to spending part of the summer with the Panamanian national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
“He understands where he is,” said FCD technical director Fernando Clavijo. “I don’t believe he likes it. Nobody likes to be on the bench. But like I said before, the leadership tools he has, he’s using right now to motivate everybody else. We know we can always come to him. We know we can always put him in.”
Clavijo could be accurate on all fronts. Perez declined to talk to the media this week, instead shaking his head and saying “Si no juego…” (“If I don’t play…”) as he walked off the FC Dallas practice field. His frustrations appeared to be present during a recent training session as well, as he ran with a group of second-team players and punted a ball to another field during a team drill.
Then again, Perez is no stranger scoring from the bench, finding the back of the net twice and adding an assist in 14 career sub appearances for Dallas. Regardless of the role, Pareja is not concerned about the paradigm shift for someone who was once the face of the franchise.
“We have from Blas the max coming from the bench. We have his max as a starter,” Pareja said. “That’s what he’s made for, to play the game and help. At this point, we have the luxury sometimes to bring [David] Texeira or any others, Fabian [Castillo], Michael [Barrios], Tesho [Akindele] into that position and give some rest to others. With Blas, there’s no problem.”
Pareja and Clavijo both cited Perez’s hectic summer schedule as a reason for him not seeing the field as much, with Clavijo indicating the veteran may have tired legs considering Panama’s deep run at the Gold Cup.
But even considering the layoff and his subsequent lack of time after returning to Dallas, club brass doesn’t believe Perez’s status on the team has drastically changed.
“I don’t see any different role, but maybe a broader role for him with leadership when he’s not on the field,” Clavijo said. “Sometimes before, he was playing and worrying about himself. Now he’s getting back into the lineup, but at the same time managing some of the younger players. I think it’s helping him.”
The younger players have lauded Perez’s leadership throughout the season, especially the young forwards Akindele and Texeira. And while they and other young players have seen a steady increase in playing time in Perez’s absence, the club is not ready to count out the wily vet just yet.
“I would not be here if I did not have a gut feeling that sooner or later, Oscar is going to go back to him,” Clavijo said. “I do believe that he’s a quality individual, quality player, and it’s a matter of time before you see him back.”
