FRISCO, Texas -- In the first 12 games of his MLS career, FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha had six assists. But that pace has slowed considerably as the 23-year-old Brazilian has now gone six matches without an assist. His last one came in a 1-0 win against Chicago on June 15.
In that period, the Hoops have changed coaches and have also gone from playing a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. But Rocha is quick to say that the new formation is actually to his benefit.
"I feel better in this system," Rocha said. "In the 3-5-2, my responsibility was to go forward more and then get back (on defense). I would expend more energy and couldn't get the most out of my skills. Now, Schellas (Hyndman) is asking me to go forward but to come back only to the midline because I have a guy behind me. Now I feel like I have more energy and stamina to be able to stay in the attack and stay offensive."
Rocha also feels that he benefits from having a solid defender behind him on the right flank.
"I have a player like Drew (Moor) playing behind me, a player that I have a lot of confidence in," he said. "That gives me that assurance that I can stay on that side with someone behind me defending and also that I can make those passes. The understanding and communication that we have, I feel very comfortable with because we can make overlapping runs and can cover for each other."
Rocha played 64 minutes of Sunday's 2-0 win at Toronto FC before FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman pulled him for rookie midfielder Bruno Guarda, who made his league debut.
"I think he's not having great form right now," Hyndman said of Rocha. "I'm asking him to do certain things, he's trying, but we're not getting the best out of him. We're hoping that in this next 7-8 days of training that we can help him. He is very good with the ball but not really good off the ball, so the game is a little bit faster than he wants it to be.
"He likes to come into the middle third, get touches, his crosses are not consistent and a lot of them get blocked. A lot of his shots get blocked and he takes too long on his release," Hyndman continued. "We need to make some improvements, so this week, I think we'll be able to analyze some of the things on video and maybe a light bulb will come on."
Rocha has played and started in 18 of FCD's first 19 games this season. The only match he missed was on June 1 at Colorado, suspended after being ejected from the previous match with Houston. He is somewhat at a loss when asked to explain why his assist total has been stuck on six for the last six weeks.
"The opportunities are coming but sometimes, it just goes like that," he said. "Right now, what I'm trying to do is get myself a goal in this league. I like the position that I'm in, especially the offensive part. Having that responsibility is something I feel comfortable in even though it's only been a couple of things."
Hyndman would also like to see Rocha develop more consistency on corner and free kicks.
"If you can take those corner and free kicks to his play, you have the same word, inconsistent," he said. "We need to get more out of him and I think he's capable of giving more. Right now, what we're looking for is a little more production from our flank play."
Rocha is well aware of the high expectations that Hyndman has for him.
"I think he's a very smart coach," he said. "I also think highly of him. I respect that he thinks highly of me and that's why for me, every practice and every game is to give maximum effort that I can. I have expectations of myself even higher than what Schellas has."
After training on Monday, Rocha stayed on the training field for at least 30 extra minutes alongside forward Kenny Cooper, who is tied for the league lead in goals with 13, as well as rookies Josh Lambo and Brek Shea, normally among the last to leave practice.
He called his extra time working on his finishing as something that he needs to do in order to become a better player. "Any extra work that I can put in out here or in the gym, that's what I know that I need to be doing," Rocha said.
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