Paxton Pomykal discusses his form since return from injury
By Chris Smith
FC Dallas midfielder Paxton Pomykal believes he is finally rediscovering his best form following a number of injury disruptions.
Hailed as a future USMNT starter just a couple of seasons ago, Pomykal has missed 35 games over the past four years due to various groin, muscle, knee and ankle problems.
Such setbacks have limited the 21-year-old to just one senior international cap, while at club level he's never managed more than 27 appearances in a single season. Meanwhile, Pomykal has watched on as the likes of Bryan Reynolds, Reggie Cannon and Tanner Tessmann have sealed moves from FC Dallas to Europe.
But Pomykal has featured in all 16 of Dallas' games in 2021 and most recently found the net in style to put his side ahead just three minutes into their 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City at the weekend.
After the match, Pomykal told reporters he feels like he's getting back on track and that his goal and wider impressive performances are the result of the hard work put in by himself and the FC Dallas medical staff.
“First off, I’m feeling good," said Pomykal (via club's official website). "That’s four straight starts for me in two weeks so that’s a testament to all the work I’ve put in to get back healthy. And to the medical staff and doctors as well who helped me get back to where I was before.
"It’s been a long road but I’m finally feeling back to myself and making an impact in games, first and foremost. Whether that’s scoring goals and making assists or just doing my part for the team to help us win, I feel like in the past month or so we’ve played a lot better soccer than at the beginning of the season and the results are starting to come.”
After a difficult start to the season, Dallas have finally started to string some results together, beating the Western Conference's second and third-placed teams, SKC and LA Galaxy, in their last two games - results that leave them just four points below the play-off line.
Dallas forward and fellow USMNT prospect Jesus Ferreira, who scored an equally impressive goal at the weekend, believes his side are building momentum and finally showing the rest of MLS what they're really capable of.
“Obviously it’s been a rough start of the season. We all know that, and we all know we need to do better," said the 20-year-old. "Last week was an amazing win, but it was going to count as nothing if we didn’t continue that. I think last week was a good step in the right direction of where we want to go and the type of game we want to play.
"Today we showed that we're keeping the momentum. This is a good start of where we want to go, so it’s up and three points at a time. We’re kind of showing the game we want to play. There are times where the timing is off. But we are working on it and make it better until we perfect it.”