I spent most of February in despair that the 3-4-3 had broken my roster build model. I was quite worried. The 3-4-3, you see, didn’t align with the positions and moves I was expecting. There were holes I was failing to resolve. It wasn’t working.
Then it hit me: the one thing.
The thing – or the man really – that fixed it all and made the 3-4-3 work with my model, repairing the cracks. The man who made it all makes sense.
That man?
Sam Junqua.
You see, Junqua is the man. And it turns out Junqua isn’t a left back, he’s a center back. We knew he was versatile and moving him to center back in my build model was the key to making it work.
Just wait, you’ll see.
Final 2024 Roster Build
So here it is, the the 4th, and final, roster build check for 2024.
Please note: this isn’t a depth chart.
By making Junqua a center back – where he plays in the 3-4-3 – I filled the hole at the 3rd center back slot that was driving me bonkers. I just didn’t understand how it wasn’t getting filled. Now with Junqua as the 3rd CB, Omar Gonzalez is the 4th and Amet Korca 5th. Confusion sorted.
After that, all it took was tweaking the position nomenclature a bit. Check it out.
Changes/signings in blue.
Role swaps in red.
The left half of the below table is where we started back in November when I was thinking 4-3-3…
the right half is where we are today in the 3-4-3.
Ta Dah!!
| Roster Count | Position 4-3-3 | End of ’23 | Position 3-4-3 | Start of ’24 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Jesus Ferreira | 9 | Eugene Ansah | Ferreira and Ansah swapped roles. |
| 2 | 9 | 9 | Petar Musa | JJ terminattion opens door for Musa. | |
| 3 | 9 | 9 | Logan Farrington | Signed pre-draft | |
| 4 | Wing | Paul Arriola | 10 | Paul Arriola | |
| 5 | Wing | Eugene Ansah | 10 | Jesus Ferreira | Ferreira and Ansah swapped roles. |
| 6 | Wing | Bernard Kamungo | 10 | Bernard Kamungo | Tested wingback. |
| 7 | Wing | Enes Sali | 10 | Enes Sali | |
| 8 | Free-8 | Sebastian Lletget | Free-8 | Sebastian Lletget | |
| 9 | Free-8 | Depth 8? | Free-8 | Tomas Pondeca | |
| 10 | Linking-8 | Paxton Pomykal | Linking-8 | Paxton Pomykal | |
| 11 | Linking-8 | Tsiki Ntsabeleng | Linking-8 | Tsiki Ntsabeleng | |
| 12 | 6 | Asier Illarramendi | 6 | Asier Illarramendi | |
| 13 | 6 | Liam Fraser | 6 | Liam Fraser | |
| 14 | LB | Marco Farfan | LWB | Marco Farfan | |
| 15 | LB | Sam Junqua | LWB | Dante Sealy | Boom! |
| 16 | CB | Nkosi Tafari | CB | Nkosi Tafari | |
| 17 | CB | TAM signing? | CB | Sam Junqua | They key! |
| 18 | CB | Sebastien Ibeagha | CB | Sebastien Ibeagha | |
| 19 | CB | Starter Light? | CB | Omar Gonzalez | |
| 20 | CB | Pick or HG? | CB | Amet Korca | Declined end of ’23. |
| 21 | RB | Ema Twumasi | RWB | Ema Twumasi | |
| 22 | RB | Herbert Endeley | RWB | Herbert Endeley | |
| 23 | GK | Maarten Paes | GK | Maarten Paes | |
| 24 | GK | Antonio Carrera | GK | Antonio Carrera | |
| 25 | GK | HG or vet? | GK | Jimmy Maurer | Declined end of ’23. |
| 26 | Misc | Nolan Norris | Misc | Nolan Norris | Extra 6, HG |
| 27 | Misc | Tarik Scott | Misc | Tarik Scott | Extra 9, HG |
| 28 | Misc | Isaiah Parker | Misc | Isaiah Parker | Extra LWB, GA |
| 29 | Misc | Used to leave open. | Misc | Ale Urzua | Extra 6/8, HG |
| 30 | Misc | Used to leave open. | Misc | Patrickson Delgado | Extra 6 |
| 31 | Injured | Geovane Jesus | Injured | Geovane Jesus | |
| 32 | Injured | Alan Velasco | Injured | Alan Velasco | |
| 33 | Over | Over | Malik-Henry Scott | With NTX, HG |
More Notes
I currently have Geovane Jesus and Alan Velasco on short-term IR. That’s important to make the numbers work. The roster is 30 “active” players.
The Jesus Ferreira and Eugene Ansah role swap isn’t significant. Both players can, and probably will, play both sports. But their “first” role has swapped.
The two spots (19, 20) the club has left open since early in the Luchi Gonzalez era have now been filled in an attempt to create better, serviceable depth for the workload.
When you get down to the Homegrowns, moving them to North Texas SC and back makes that part of the roster quite fluid.
I still believe FC Dallas to be one center back short. But it seems they will count on Norris – who is “officially a 6” now – or perhaps someone from North Texas SC, in an emergency.
Up Next?
The 3-4-3 depth chart as we see it going into the season.
Farfan could be that sixth CB more than he is a wingback but we’ll see. Could a guy like Tariq Scott provide wingback depth? I suppose Geovane Jesus slots in as a wingback, and didn’t Twumasi play wingback in his USL days?
I think getting Arriola closer to the goal may revitalize him. I know he had injuries, but he was losing foot races last year that he won the year before. Your concerns in the 3-4-3 article comment section about Bernard playing the inside forward position (wing in the above article) are well taken, but I think he’s a the kind of baller that will figure it out.
Farfan has done a bit of LCB before FCD but he’s shorter than one might like. We’ve not seen him play that spot in Dallas.
Yes, Scott or his bother could be in the chart there. So might Pondeca. But Geovane is ideal with his offensive game and Twumasi was a wing in college so both are in that spot too.
Hopefully you are right about Arriola.
Are antonio and jose mulato being loaned out
Mulatto was left go. I heard Carerra was on loan
Antonio is going to be loaned out.
No official word on how Mulato is leaving, but he was told he’s not in the plans and he’s not here.
I agree about Junqua – great insight. Do we have the legs at CM to run a 3-4-3? If the two CMs sit and hold I think it can work, but it is a back-breaking role in that formation, let alone the wings.