Borek Dockal made his MLS debut this past Saturday for Philadelphia Union in their nil-nil draw against Columbus Crew SC. The midfielder wasn’t shy to get in on the action with his new squad, as he recorded 52 touches in the match, the most for any attacking player for the Union on Saturday.
Dockal’s passing ability was on display as well, as he distributed the ball 38 times in a 76-minute span with a passing accuracy percentage of 84.2. That percentage finished in the top five on the Union roster on Saturday.
After the match, Head Coach Jim Curtin spoke about the Czech international and what he saw from his performance particularly in the passing game.
“I think he had some good moments. You can see his quality and how comfortable he is on the ball. You can tell that he can pass. He looks forward, but it’s also been a week where he’s really trained with the group,” Curtin said. “You see a ball played behind when he’s looking to play through. It’s going to take a little bit of time. Overall happy with the amount of minutes he was able to push.
As for the midfielder and how he feels he performed in his debut, he admits that there is room to improve, but understands the club had their moments in the match that were positive.
“Our play as a team can always be better. My performance could definitely be better but you have to start somewhere. I expect much more from myself definitely and I feel as a team we can be better also,” Dockal said. “It was not a bad game, we played a good team that had good ball possessions so it was a lot of running without the ball which is always difficult.”
Luckily for Dockal, he will have more time with his teammates to train as the Union do not return to MLS regular-season action until March 31 due to the FIFA International Window.
The next opportunity for Dockal and the Union will come in the club’s first road match of 2018, when they travel to Colorado to take on the Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
