FRISCO, Texas – In a perfect world, the signing of Michael Barrios will create a lethal, Colombian one-two punch on the wings for FC Dallas.
However, as both established FCD star Fabian Castillo and head coach Oscar Pareja know, transitioning from Colombia to the MLS game can be unpredictable and challenging.
“It took me two to three months myself to adapt to the league,” said Pareja, himself an arrival to MLS from Colombia in 1998, after Friday's preseason win over D.C. United. “I have seen players that have taken six months, and I have seen players that come right away, they came down, came off the plane, and played amazingly.”
In Castillo’s case, it took the club’s leading scorer in 2014 four seasons of MLS play to finally break out and be a consistent offensive force.
But the skillset Barrios brings to the club does fill a huge void. After losing forward Andres Escobar following the team's decision to decline his purchase option after a one-year loan, Dallas needed a speedy striker that can create scoring opportunities in transition and play both wing positions – a technique Pareja likes in his attackers.
FC Dallas got exactly that in Barrios.
“When we lost Andres, then we started reacting to bring in somebody at that position with those characteristics. And Michael embraced some of those things,” Pareja said. “As I said, he’s quick, he likes that type of transition game, [and] he likes to take people on.”
Even though he is a natural right winger, Barrios does not necessarily have a starting spot waiting for him when he begins training with the team on Saturday. He will be competing for the spot at the position with 2014 Rookie of the Year Tesho Akindele and Ryan Hollingshead, who leads the club in goals this preseason with three after adding another to his tally against D.C. United on Friday night.
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Hollingshead’s strong preseason could make it tough for Barrios to make an immediate impact early in games.
“Ryan, like anyone on the team knows, that I don’t hesitate to play anyone who deserves it. And he’s scoring,” Pareja said.
Expectations should be tempered, but the offensive prowess that Barrios brings to the club will be a valuable addition nonetheless.
“He’s still very young,” Pareja said. “When he adapts to the rhythm of the game and the demand of the league, he can give us a big hand here.”
