Michael Barrios bidding to become MLS's little master at FC Dallas

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/06/michael-barrios-bidding-to-become-mlss-little-master-at-fc-dallas

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There was something of a watershed moment in MLS at the end of August, that precise time when it was confirmed this version of the league, 3.0, had marked perhaps its most meaningful landmark. Toronto FC’s sublimely talented Sebastian Giovinco had been called up for the Italian national team. It was the fulfillment of a well-hewn mantra. MLS had captured a coveted seal of approval. Yet Giovinco’s inclusion never seemed much in doubt, giving the eventuality the slightest air of anti-climax – a feeling perhaps boosted when he was subsequently forced to pull out through injury.

A greater share of that watershed moment might have rested elsewhere. A little more under the radar - and somewhat out of left field by comparison - FC Dallas winger Fabian Castillo received his first call-up for Colombia. Less glamorous, yes. But here marks a significant landmark in the career of a player who arrived in MLS as a raw 18-year-old. Who at one point looked as though his talents might go unfulfilled. Now 23, he has broken into a national team with an abundance of riches. A team that was one of the most enthralling stories of last year’s World Cup in Brazil, and which may harbor Colombia’s most talented group of players in two decades.

Which raises the specter of another young Colombian creeping up behind Castillo at FC Dallas, a player hoping to tread the same arduous path taken by him to their country’s national squad: Michael Barrios. A year older, but four inches smaller at 5ft 4in, on his best days the right-sided midfielder is every bit the menace on the right that Castillo has been on the left. Barrios’s play – pacy, tricky and predatory – attracts obvious comparisons to Castillo outside of their shared nationality. Alongside Giovinco, he is probably the smallest player in the league. Together with Castillo, he forms one of the wings either side of Mauro Diaz that has evolved in recent months to be the most potent midfield three in head coach Oscar Pareja’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. But Barrios arrived in MLS at a far more advanced age than did Castillo. Which asks the question of whether he can make the jump over what would almost certainly be a shorter timespan given the swell of talent in the Colombian squad, particularly in the front third of the field.

Like Castillo, for Barrios the biggest adaptation from the Colombian game to MLS was the league’s more industrial nature. “I think I have adapted little by little,” Barrios tells the Guardian. “Obviously Colombian football is different. MLS is more physical. With the training day to day, I think the staff is aware of the differences and working with me on being a little more physical.” To that end, he has found Sporting Kansas City his toughest opponents so far due to what he views as the strength on both an attacking and defensive level. League-wide, he sees growing strength with the brisk pick-up of top talent, the physicality rising in tandem.

There is evidence his acclimation has come quickly in recent months after a slow start. The statistics he generated at Colombian first division side Uniautonoma might have borne some clue of what was to come afterward. In 136 appearances since 2011 until his arrival in Dallas in February, Barrios notched an impressive 35 goals. They were enough to have FC Dallas officials excited by the prospect of his imminent arrival.. In Dallas, he took a little time to settle. In the early part of the season, he was used mostly from the bench, playing a cameo role that showed glimpses of how deadly he could become. Since hitting the goal trail with a double in a US Open Cup match against USL outfit Oklahoma City Energy in mid-June, he has scarcely looked back. He has since nailed down a starting role in Pareja’s first 11, over the summer months becoming Dallas most productive attacking source. In a total of 177 appearances so far - 10 of them starts - Barrios has chipped in with four MLS goals, adding one more in another cup game against Sporting Kansas City. “That game in the Open Cup helped my confidence and I’ve built up from there, trying to score as many goals as I can,” reflects Barrios.

With Castillo’s stock rising, it seems a strong possibility he will move on in the not too distant future to a larger platform, perhaps in Europe. That seems to shore up the position Barrios occupies as the pretender to Castillo’s throne. In that scenario, such a mantle would come with an extra burden, the team minus one strand of attacking intent. Head coach Pareja acknowledges their similarities and believes Barrios can reach the levels achieved by Castillo the more he adapts to the idiosyncrasies of MLS, US culture and the English language.

“Michael has the tools, he has the capacity, he has the talent to do it,” he says. “The adaptation for him took a little while. Not because of him but because there are so many other factors that sometimes are heavy. He’s very young but Michael really has extreme talent. I know he will succeed in the league. I think right now he is showing everyone what he can do. In some ways [he’s like Fabian]. He’s quick, he’s fast, he likes to take people on, he’s strong in spite of his size.”

Barrios knows breaking into the Colombian national team set-up himself will be a challenge. Castillo will have a degree of familiarity with his surroundings when he links up with teammates likes James Rodriguez having played alongside them at U-20 level. Not so for Barrios. But he’s part of that generation of gifted players, a swell of Colombian talent he puts down to an improved academy structure that raised the bar in terms of technical ability. “I think that coming out of Colombia was a really good choice because it puts me outside of Colombian soccer and puts me in the loop.”