Why Sebastian Jaime could start against FC Dallas with Joao Plata on international duty

Will Saturday be the day for the man we can't stop talking about, Sebastian Jaime? With Joao Plata gone on international duty (congratulations, kid), Jeff Cassar will be looking at his options closely. Jaime might just be given the start on this occasion.

Let's start things off with a simple note. I'm not Jeff Cassar. I'll never be Jeff Cassar. I have no inside track on things. But hey, on transfer deadline day in Europe taking place, and with a player that we signed on a transfer near our very own transfer deadline day, it's relevant, right?

Let's go through this rather systematically, discussing things that would make us think he's likely to start. We'll talk about some of the arguments against within.

In favor of Sebastian Jaime starting on Saturday

He provides a different dynamic than FC Dallas might expect

Maybe this is getting overly analytical, but most of our strike force options we have available would be somewhat predictable to FC Dallas. The pairing we'd expect if Jaime isn't involved would probably be Olmes Garcia and Robbie Findley, and I think we've seen that it can be a little predictable with those two. Garcia may be creative on the ball, but he'll overcomplicate some things in possession; Findley may be fast, but he's not going to be particularly creative.

Neither player offers quite enough creatively to pick up where the absence of Joao Plata leaves a hole, and we've seen this a few times.

Now, we obviously don't know too much about Sebastian Jaime and his creativity, but at the very least, he offers a different dynamic than any of the pairings we've seen so far. Perhaps this is enough to earn him a start.

Last match seemed like a scouting trip for him

The few times Sebastian Jaime was shown on the sidelines during the San Jose draw, he looked like he was examining the match, watching the system unfold. Now, obviously that's reading a whole lot into things, and maybe that's not really justified. Still, Jaime has had time in the system — it'll be about two weeks by the time the match kicks off — and that could be enough to understand some of the basics of the system.

Now, it's possible that he's just not ready, and that's something we might have to accept.

Getting him minutes now could prove beneficial this season

The longer we wait to play Sebastian Jaime, the longer it will likely take to get him fully integrated into the team. I know we've signed him with an eye toward a long-term impact, but there's no reason why we wouldn't also look to benefit from a short-term impact, too. After all — we signed him now for a reason. Even if that reason is simply that his deal with Union Espanol was running out, it's something.