FC Dallas' plan for coping with defensive absences didn't start on the training field this week. It didn't start before the season when the team drafted Walker Hume and converted Atiba Harris to center back. It didn't even start when Oscar Pareja arrived as head coach in 2014.
It started when Pareja was on staff, leading the club's academy and implementing a style that demands that defenders not only defend but also pass well out of the back and are comfortable playing the ball, rather than thumping it forward with every opportunity.
When FCD faces the Portland Timbers on Saturday, it'll do so without three of its four normal defensive starters.