Our 2023 FC Dallas player recaps continue with forward Jesus Ferreira.

It seems hard to believe, but Ferreira finished up his eighth season with FC Dallas. When the Homegrown was signed back in 2016, we always wondered what we would get out of David Ferreira’s son. It turns out we got a pretty damn good one in Jesus.

Stat breakdown

I don’t know how many times we said throughout this past season that as Jesus Ferreira goes, so does FC Dallas. His 12 goals and six assists were proof of that, but seeing this kind of stat chart really solidifies it for me as well. He defends a lot better than most people give him credit for, and his passing is actually very good, too.

Ferreira raced out to ten goals in the first few months of the regular season and added another seven in the Gold Cup for the United States, but then cooled off drastically from there on.

Ferreira recorded at least 17 regular-season goal contributions in each of his last three seasons, the first FC Dallas player to do so in three straight seasons in club history.

Highlight

With 12 goals, it can be challenging to figure out which ones to highlight. I’m going with two braces he had this season, first against Vancouver in a moment that helped the club finally get over the hump against the Whitecaps.

After a dry spell, Ferreira found two more against Salt Lake. Weird to think these were his final regular season goals in 2023.

What can we expect from him in 2024?

Ideally, Ferreira gets back to scoring on the regular like we saw early on in 2023 and all of 2022 when he had 18 goals and six assists. If FC Dallas wants to improve on their 2023 and get back into the playoffs next year, Ferreira has to return to his MVP levels again. We’re talking no less than 15 goals and no less than six assists.

Photo via FC Dallas

Final thoughts

Saying all of that, a lot can change. FC Dallas will continue to get offers for Ferreira this winter and once again in the summer. At some point, either he has to double down on himself and go to Europe, or he needs to step up as a leader, put FC Dallas on his back and guide the team to new heights that we haven’t seen since his dad took the club to a MLS Cup back in 2010.

I know I have talked a lot about how Ferreira wants to leave a legacy with FC Dallas that was greater than his father’s. It is now looking like 2024 may be the defining year for him.