2025 FC Dallas Preview: Welcome to the Dog Era

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At the end of the 2022 season, MLS announced the Apple TV deal which brought to an end local televisions broadcasts. That announcement brought to an end the magnificent reign of Mark Followill and Steve Davis calling games on TXA 21 for Toros supporters.

Those two and myself were present at one of 2022’s final training sessions, preparing for the postseason. After Nico Estévez broke the team down post training, they unexpectedly made their way over to us. One by one, they came by with kind words for Mark and Steve. An unexpected soccer receiving line of kindness and gratitude, something you don’t see in any level of sports often. It solidifed what I knew: this was the nicest group of athletes I personally had ever covered in my young career.

That squad would go on to lose in Austin in the conference semifinals and have yet to reach those heights again.

With 2025’s campaign about to begin with a rivalry match, the roster looks quite different from 2022’s end. Only three players from the starting eleven that night at Q2 Stadium remain: Maarten Paes, Marco Farfan, Sebastian Lletget. Expanding that out to the 20, that numbers grows to five adding in Paxton Pomykal and Tsiki Ntsabeleng. The other 75% of players have in some way departed the club.

The biggest departure from that era team to now isn’t the player turnover. It’s not the coaching changes or even the departure from conservative spending to twice breaking the transfer record. It’s about the mentality.

We’re in the Dog Era of FC Dallas, and we’re better off for it.

I tell the story above to illustrate that while that 2022 “New Era” squad was successful, they also weren’t the most aggressive squad. There was a certain level of comfort among the team that feels easier to see in hindsight. The lineup was predictable, training wasn’t always high intensity which at times spilled over onto the matchday pitch. Nor did their style, focused around possession and passing, lend itself to aggression.

This doesn’t mean they didn’t want to win, or couldn’t win. It just means the way they had one particular strategy on doing so, and the results bore out. It didn’t work out, and as a result change was needed.

That change arrived first when Eric Qull was named manager. Gone are the days of feckless backwards passing, of long sequences designed to lull the opposition (and sometimes fans) to sleep. His directive is clear: fast, vertical, aggressive play on the pitch and a relentless spirit in the mind of his players. Quill wants players ready to fight for every millimeter of the crest, who earn their place in the lineup each match, and accept nothing less than complete dedication.

Quill’s two pillars upon which FC Dallas is built are well suited for his new mantra. Petar Musa is as passionate as he is talented. He scored 16 goals last season but wanted more. So much so he let his frustration boil over against San Jose in a game that essentially knocked Dallas out of 2024 playoff contention. Storming off after being substituted late in the second half was not a good look and resulted in a pseudo suspension against Portland, but it told a story all itself.

He’s got that dog in him.

His new strike mate Lucho Acosta, the magician of the midfield, is cut from the same cloth. In addition to great talent Acosta brings a winning mindset. One of the big deciding factors in Acosta picking Dallas was their commitment to a winning culture and desire to win titles. More than anything Acosta wants success on the pitch, and will do what it takes to achieve it. Even the burned bridges in two other cities didn’t bother Chief Soccer Officer Andre Zanotta, who said Acosta’s passion and mentality were attributes.

He too has that dog in him.

Logan Farrington wants to play as much as possible saying on a recent FC Dallas Agenda episode:

“If it’s a winger, I’ll play winger and I’ll enjoy it. If it’s a ten, I’ll play ten and I’ll enjoy it. If I play nine, I’ll score goals and I’ll enjoy it.”

Nolan Norris after the North Texas SC title win:

“I run around, I make tackles, I pass the ball, I help my team win.”

Ramiro arrvies from Brazil as a free agent, a fire plug of a midfielder who is undersized but over flowing with commitment. Leo Chu and Anderson Julio are here, the former needing a fresh start the latter a chance to prove his full time worth. Bernard Kamungo needs to cast off the shadow of a terrible 2024. Paxton Pomykal looks to make up for evergrowing lost time, while Marco Farfan reclaims his position after a 2024 adrift in defensive ambiguity. Maarten Paes wants more, now that he’s got not just a city but a whole nation at his back.

This squad is different than it’s been in recent years. It’s a hungry one, it’s one that is done playing the nice guy instead wanting to be winners above all else. There are no moral victories, no “Well we played well but lost.” The Dog Era means going out and getting yours, whatever it takes. Toyota Stadium is now the Dog House, where you either eat or get eaten.

The club knows it, just look at the video they released Monday as matchday one approached:

It’s time to drop the leash and let these hounds run. What will come of it is to be determined over 34 plus matches and eight plus months. Sweat will be spilled, goals will be scored, and effort will be expended. All in service of the one thing every player and club wants but only few will achieve in any given season:

A trophy.

To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Anthony in “Julius Ceasar”:

And Quill’s spirit, ranging for success,

With Musa and Acosta by his side come hot from hell,

Shall in these Frisco confines with a monarch’s voice

Cry “Havoc"!” and let slip the dogs of war

On Saturday they are released.

Let them run, let them hunt, and let them win.

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