Our 2024 FC Dallas player recaps continue with defender Ema Twumasi.

Outside of Jesus Ferreira, Jimmy Maurer and Paxton Pomykal, Twumasi is one of the longest-standing members of the FC Dallas roster. He was drafted back in 2018 and rode a Generation adidas contract for many years before finally earning a senior roster spot under former manager Nico Estevez.

Stat breakdown

This season, Twumasi appeared in 19 games, starting 13 of them. His minutes decreased from 2023 by about 400 minutes*. In the final ten games of the regular season, Twumasi only earned 71 minutes.

How did that decreased time on the field impact things? Let's compare this year with last year's to see:

Twumasi’s stats really didn’t change from year to year. I know he is primarily a defender, but I did go back on his shooting totals from previous seasons to see if the three shots this season were a low mark, and it actually wasn’t his worst season in that area. That nod goes to the Covid-shortened season of 2020 with zero. If you stack it up to a full season, his three attempts were the lowest since…well, 2023, when he had one shot.

Basically, I feel like the guy’s attacking abilities have all but been coached out of him. He came to the team as a winger and settled in as a fullback. Which is natural for some college players to do these days in MLS.

I bring this up because the team made a big switch to a formation that should have helped revive his attacking abilities this season. Instead, I think it made them worse. Twumasi’s passing numbers decreased as he looked more timid in the build-up play. As you’ll see in the graphics above, his take-on numbers and progressive carries were cut in half or more from 2023 to 2024.

Highlight

With zero goals and one assist this season, the highlight reel was pretty lacking for Twumasi this year.

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Should we expect him back in 2025?

I think Twumasi has been a good player to have these last few years, especially those years where his salary numbers didn’t count against the cap. He doesn’t earn a high salary ($370,000.00 base in 2024) for a full back but seeing that he’s been regressing and missing a lot of games to injury, I think it is a good time to say thanks and move on.

Final thoughts

Given the rebuild the defense motto for this winter, I think no matter who the new manager is, Twumasi’s time is coming to an end here in Dallas. He’s been in MLS long enough that someone could still take a flyer on him either through free agency.

Again, I think he’s a likable player and one that could still do well in MLS. A lot of it comes down to him being in the right system and being healthy for long periods of time.

* I originally thought it was injuries that kept him off the field, but the club only tallied one official game for Twumasi missed due to injuries.