Mikey Varas lingered at the end of Thursday’s practice, talking with one of San Diego FC’s players on a distant practice field at the club’s Singing Hills headquarters. Nothing animated, no drama. Just some one-on-one time. The first major challenge of Varas’ Major League Soccer head coaching career has arrived, a job made even more complicated by SDFC’s expansion status. The 42-year-old is leaning into it, trying to push the right buttons and manage disparate personalities even as he establishes a style of play and culture to last the next decade. “All these guys are different,” Varas said. “(Some players), they hate even the thought of an arm around them. Other guys, they need that a lot more. … “You treat people fairly,” he added, “but you don’t treat them the same.” SDFC (4-4-2) has lost three matches in a row heading into Saturday night’s match against FC Dallas at Snapdragon Stadium. A .500 record might be enough to make the postseason in a league in which 18 of 30 teams advance, but it’s not where Varas wants to be following a stellar start. Making things tougher, SDFC remains at a strategic disadvantage. While most clubs have run the same attack for years, Varas is still installing his system. SDFC’s starters have played together for months, not years; the chemistry that’s so important in soccer comes and goes. “We are putting wrinkles in there, but you can’t start painting the walls of the house before you finish the foundation, you know?” Varas said Thursday. “While we’re getting ready for all that stuff, and we’re definitely putting wrinkles in, we are still 100% focusing on what is the foundation and who we are.” Said midfielder Anibal Godoy: “We have one style. We have one structure. We have to follow that structure.” SDFC can no longer sneak up on its opponents. Opposing teams have 900-plus minutes of video to study. They’re quick to jump on mistakes. Varas was particularly upset with the way his team played in the second half of last week’s 3-1 loss to Real Salt Lake at Snapdragon. Things began to go sideways in the 54th minute, when Luca Bombino was called for a penalty that led to a free-kick goal by Diego Luna and a 2-1 RSL lead. Though Varas was bothered by both the penalty — “three weeks in a row, (there were) calls in the gray that changed the game,” he said — and the goal Sam Junqua scored 12 minutes later, that wasn’t why he was angry after the game. “After the game, I was really upset because we veered away from our style of play and our identity in the second half,” he said. “That’s, for me, the most important thing.” The coach must walk a fine line. Saturday’s match is just SDFC’s 11th in a 34-game regular season. San Diego has scored 16 goals, a figure that’s tied for fourth in the 15-team Western Conference. The club has allowed nine goals in its last three matches after giving up just six in the previous seven matches combined. SDFC plays an exciting style in front of a mostly packed stadium. So while it’s important to correct sloppy play, “you need to make sure you don’t carry that like a bag of bricks all week,” Varas said. While Saturday’s match feels like a must-win, there’s still the big picture to consider. “You can be upset, you can hold each other accountable, hold myself accountable,” Varas said. “But then you’ve got to wake up the next morning, shower, and you’ve got to put your best foot forward to make it better and to get better. You have to do that when you’re winning, too.” If there’s something working in SDFC’s favor, it’s the schedule. Saturday marks the club’s second home match in as many weeks, part of a stretch in which SDFC plays six of eight at Snapdragon Stadium. SDFC’s next seven opponents are a combined 20-30-20 this season; only three — FC Dallas (4-3-3), the Colorado Rapids (4-2-4) and Austin FC (5-4-1) — have winning records. Godoy called the next five home games “crucial to us,” but offered a caveat. “We have to take these five at home,” he said. “It’s crucial for us if we want to think about making the playoffs, but we can’t lose our style.”