It is time for another FC Dallas player recap from the 2025 season, with a look at goalkeeper Maarten Paes.
Stat breakdown
We knew going into the 2025 season that we’d lose Paes for a couple of the FIFA windows while he was off with Indonesia during their World Cup qualifying. It turns out, FCD lost him for those windows and a few games due to injury late in the year.
| Name | Games Played | Games Started | Minutes | Goals Against | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maarten Paes | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 43 | 3 |
Let’s dive into some fancy graphs and charts on Paes’ season.
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Highlight
I won’t lie here, finding video highlights of a keeper in MLS is a tad tougher these days. And since Paes didn’t have an All-Star season in 2025, there weren’t as many big games as we had in 2024 for him. But, there was one from early in the season that I found:
What to expect in 2026?
There is no beating around the bush from me, I kind of don’t expect Paes to be a big contributor in 2026 for FC Dallas. I firmly believe, like many of you, the club should go ahead and move on to Michael Collodi as their next goal keeper.
But, let’s say for a minute he is here for the final year of his contract (there are option years after this year, but stay with me). The club will likely still use him and we could easily see a big keeper battle with him and Collodi again in 2026. Sometimes, that is good. And sometimes, that isn’t ideal.
Final thoughts
In all seriousness, as I mentioned recently, I think the club needs to look hard for a deal for Paes. Had Indonesia made the World Cup, I would have thought differently. You could have rode him for the 2026 season, let him make his World Cup debut, and then sell him in the summer transfer window.
But without Indonesia in the World Cup, I think the window to sell him or trade him is this winter window coming up. There are a couple of clubs around the league that could make FC Dallas a nice offer for him since he carries a green card. Or, you help him get back to Europe, which I wouldn’t be surprised if he is ready to do at this point.
At the end of the day, Paes has been excellent since joining FC Dallas. The club got an All-Star keeper and someone they could easily market. He appeared to love his time in Dallas, but the time feels right for both sides to move on from one another.
And, hey, I could be way wrong here in this line of thinking. FC Dallas could keep him and he could play more in line with his 2023 and 2024 form. Which wouldn’t be the worst thing either.
