Previewing Houston Dynamo vs FC Dallas with Big D Soccer

(image via FC Dallas)

The Houston Dynamo open the 2025 Major League Soccer season with a Texas Derby against FC Dallas Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium. We talked to our friend Drew Epperley from Big D Soccer to get some insight on Dallas ahead of this weekend’s match.

Bayou City Soccer (BCS): Dallas went big late in the offseason to bring in former MLS MVP Luciano Acosta. How big is this move for Dallas both on and off the field and how do you see him fitting into the side? How much pressure is there for this to click right away with Acosta?

Big D Soccer (BDS): There is a lot to really be excited about with this move, but it is also kind of an odd one at the same time. For fans, it has to be exciting to see a former MLS MVP come to your team, especially after an offseason of change with Jesus Ferreira and Paul Arriola departing to Seattle, Nkosi Tafari being traded to LAFC and Alan Velasco being sold to Boca Juniors. He’s an immediate upgrade on the field in terms of setting up chances for Petar Musa and others in the attack like Anderson Julio and Bernard Kamungo. 

For me it is weird in the sense that they are kind of back in a ‘win now mode’ instead of the build for 2026 mode that they were signaling when Velasco was still on the roster. The way they gutted this roster in December and January kind of set the tone that they weren’t expecting much out of 2025, but now with Acosta, they’re right back in a ‘we need to win now’ mode. The pressure on Acosta to do well is likely going to be high as the club has never had a player of his caliber before (that even includes Mauro Diaz and David Ferreira). 

I think time will tell if this move really paid off and it is going to take time for him to gel with his new teammates. I’m just not sold that this group is really ready to be a contender even with him leading the charge. 

BCS: Dallas is under new leadership with Eric Quill taking over as head coach. What have you seen from Quill this offseason, and from his time with New Mexico United, about how this FCD team will play under him and will it be a big change from years past? And is there any concern about his lack of experience in MLS and his success in USL translating to MLS?

BDS: The big change in having a guy like Quill take over is that we’re going to likely be more of a team that presses up the field and looks for turnovers in the attack. Quill runs a fairly typical 4-2-3-1 formation, that pushes the fullbacks (Marco Farfan and Shaq Moore) into the attack a lot on overlapping runs. They’re not going to be a team that beats you with possession, but probably more so with speed on the counter attack. 

I know there are probably fans or media pundits that have reservations about his lack of MLS experience. That is justified in my book. I guess, I am less concerned about that. A lot of that probably is because this is now the third head coach (fourth if you want to lump in Peter Luccin, the club’s interim manager for most of 2024) that comes in without a head coaching job in MLS before arriving. It says more about the Hunt’s ambition than anything else to me. 

BCS: FCD gave up 56 goals last season, even with a good goalkeeper in Maarten Paes. What has the team done to get better defensively and do you think we'll see a big improvement in that area in 2025?

BDS: The club stated that they wanted to overhaul the defensive group this winter and they did so with Moore, Lalas Abubakar, and Osaze Urhoghide coming in to the roster. On paper, it is a lot of money spent on quality players, but like everything else with this group, it is going to take a while for them to gel. The preseason showed that they’re still going to give up a lot of goals, though. 

I would have liked to have seen a defensive midfielder brought in at the TAM or even DP level to help this group out. Instead, we’re going to see guys like newcomer Ramiro Benetti or possibly even the return of Paxton Pomykal (who missed nearly all of 2024 with an injury) be the defensive force in the midfield.

I’m hopeful that once this group gets on the same collective page that they’ll be better in 2025 in terms of goals given up. Right now, I’m just skeptical that we’re going to see any drastic improvement. 

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We want to thank Drew for his time and wish our friends in Dallas the best of luck Saturday night. Be sure to check out our answers to their questions about the Dynamo at Big D Soccer.