It’s time to set the table for the 2025 season with our usual look into the factors that will most directly impact the success and failure of the year for FC Dallas.
Let’s dig right in.
Defensive Cohesion
There are two new pieces in the likely starting back four – Osaze Urhoghide and Shaq Moore – and possibly a new holding mid (more on that later).
On top of that, Coach Eric Quill has vowed to play a risk-taking (and exciting!) attacking offensive style. Therefore the defense will be exposed. It will be left on an island to fend for itself.
That’s not the mention the shortage in depth with a missing starting-capable center back and a backup left back.
So will the defense hold up? Can FCD keep it tight in the back? Will the rotations and coverages be there? What happens when the first injury comes?
Expectations are FCD will score a boatload of goals so they won’t need a water-tight D every game. So it’s quite simple (and cliche), they have to stop more goals than the score. The verdict is still out on their capability to do that.
Wing Play
FC Dallas turned over three of the four top wings on the roster, with only Bernard Kamungo sticking around. The guy I thought would be the right wing, Logan Farrington, is still playing as the backup 9.
Petar Musa can’t do it alone, FCD will need goals and assists from their wings. That puts a lot of weight for success on Anderson Julio, Kamungo, Leo Chu, Herbert Endeley, and Anthony Ramirez, with a splash of Pedrinho thrown in. That’s a lot of unproven names.
Who will rise to the occasion? Or is Farrington going to do all the heavy lifting off the bench again?
Double pivot
Based on spring camp there are only a few healthy bodies for the double pivot in the FCD 4-2-3-1: Sebastian Lletget, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, and Nolan Norris. You could argue two of the three should be playing higher up the field.
Ramiro is just back from injury and might be ready to start. Show Cafumana, who we expected to be important, has been ill and has yet to return to team training. Paxton Pomykal we all can’t wait to see midseason. The 18-year-old Diego Garcia has an exciting future but that isn’t now (or is it!!!). Patrickson Delgardo could be forced into the shape but he too is a 10 more than a deep 8.
None of those names are dead solid lock starters and game-dominating forces. It’s going to have to be a combo effort or even a committee.
The point being, that’s a lot of question marks for two key positions. When will they get healthy, who will become the dominant pair? Is there a real 6 beyond the freshly 20-year-old Norris?
In the part of the shape that is the foundation for the tactics – the pivot – you would like to see a more defined and definitive set of answers. How those answers come will detwrmine much.
Further Additions
Andre Zanotta and Dan Hunt have both indicated the club isn’t done with addition. FCD has the capability to add two players to the roster and could bring in more if they move out pieces.
The club also has an open DPs spot (if they want) or multiple U22 spots if they go with that roster model. Plus one open international spot.
Los Toros can do some things and the primary window doesn’t close till April. Then there’s a summer window to come too.
So will FCD bring in strong pieces to push this club up the standings? Or will it be depth pieces, projects, and retreads like most of their moves?
Stay Tuned.
Injuries
The 2023 and 2024 seasons were both harmed by the large quantity and severity of injuries to FC Dallas’ players. The last healthy’ish season was 2022 when the Burn finished 3rd in the West.
Dallas has made some changes to training staff, strength and conditioning staff, and their medical support program. The latter with the help of UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Health Andrews Institute.
Not being in the medical field I don’t know how to evaluate these changes. I do have a great deal of respect for the new medical partners’ reputations. So I’m optimistic.
Look, injuries are going to happen.
But FCD has got to find a way to stay healthier than they have the last two seasons when they were devestated by them. Or it will be a repat of a long difficult season full of losses.
Conclusion
Just like the last few seasons, there are a lot of questions, ifs, and buts. It’s been a long time, probably since the Oscar Pareja era, when the team was locked in with only a few areas up for concern.
Hopefully, more of the breaks happen in FCD’s favor and not against them so fans get a positive season experience in 2025. It’s been a while (2022) since FCD made a serious showing in the Western Conference.
Even though we didn’t significantly improve our talent on the defensive side of the field we will still improve our GD by 10 this season because of the formation change. I think the 5-2-2-1 made our players look worse than they were. Constantly trying to build out from the back lead to bad giveaways in our own half which constantly put us under pressure. The injuries didn’t help either so the formation change and getting some sort of continuity in the midfield will help the club drastically this season.
Agree on the tactics last year and the injuries.