As an exercise in roster building back this winter, I made a list of the 30-man FC Dallas roster and what I considered to be the positional needs of a club. Then in mid-February, I made this post showing the remaining holes in the build.
Now, at the close of the secondary window and with the addition of Sebastian Lletget, I thought it worth a final look for 2022. Low and behold, the holes are almost all fixed.
Let’s revisit the list to see how Coach Nico Estevez and TD Andre Zanotta did in filling the holes. This is not a judgment of the value of these players. That will come as we move into the offseason.
Roster Building
Signing means they needed someone in that spot. Their acquisition could be via any method, not just signing like a free agent.
30 roster slots available.
| Position | Winter List | Additions |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Jesus Ferreira | |
| 9 | Franco Jara | |
| 9 | Young Player | unfilled |
| Wing | Jader Obrian | |
| Wing | Szabolcs Schön | |
| Wing | Kalil ElMedkhar | |
| Wing | Signing | Paul Arriola (trade) |
| 8 | Paxton Pomykal | |
| 8 | Brandon Servania | |
| 8 | DP Signing | Sebastian Lletget (trade) |
| 8 | Signing | Tsiki Ntsabeleng (drafted) |
| 6 | Facundo Quignón | |
| 6 | Edwin Cerrillo | |
| LB | Ryan Hollingshead | Marco Farfan (trade) |
| LB | Signing | Isiah Parker (drafted) |
| CB | Matt Hedges | |
| CB | Jose Martinez | |
| CB | Nkosi Taffari | |
| CB | Vet Signing | Joshué Quiñónez (loan) |
| CB | Young Signing | Lucas Bartlett (drafted) |
| RB | Ema Twumasi | |
| RB | Signing | Nanu (loan) |
| GK | Jimmy Maurer | |
| GK | Loan? | Maarten Peas (Loan then buy) |
| GK | Signing | Antonio Carrera (Homegrown) |
| Extra | Beni Redzic | |
| Extra | Eddie Munjoma | |
| Extra | Nicky Hernandez | loaned out |
| Extra | Another wing | Alan Velasco (buy) |
| Extra | Whatever | Thomas Roberts (recall) |
So, yeah. Almost there. Just one hole really. A young striker prospect.
The loan of Hernandez leaves an open spot but FCD likes to keep a hole to bring back loanees or make other smaller moves.
Not bad, even if it did take a while.
This is like the movie Delirious starring John Candy. Maybe you can write this team to an MLS Cup!
I do my best.
It’ll be interesting to see how the striker position shapes up here as we move into the offseason. I have to assume that Jara will be gone, and if Ferreira lights up the back half of the year (and the World Cup for that matter), he could be too hot to keep as well. That may not be how things shake out, but could provide another offseason windfall.
That’s my fear exactly…As much as I look forward to Jara departing (good guy, great mentor, just not enough bang for the buck), I fear Ferreira being the only one left and being really sought after. There’s a huge drop-off when he leaves the field and I don’t see his immediate successor on the team or at NTSC. Maybe a couple at NTSC are within a year, but it looks like a cliff to me with Ferreira. Obviously without Jara and assuming Ferreira leaves and brings in a nice fee, you have the slot and the money to get someone on the transfer market, but as Manchester United has found out, just because you have the money, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get what you want.