The final week or two leading up to a new regular season is always a content lovers dream. Everyone and their mother is putting out some sort of preview or prediction for the upcoming season that gets picked up by the search engine machine at Google (or Bing if you are one of those people who weirdly uses that search engine).

I mean, we’re contributing to that content mountain with our own previews of FC Dallas ahead of the start of the new season.

So far, the previews are starting to center around a pretty similar theme for FC Dallas, they're not going to be that good in 2025 under new manger Eric Quill. In some cases, we're looking at "Wooden Spoon" bad according to some folks out there.

Let's dive into these previews and discuss where some experts out there are on the right path with their thoughts and where some may be a little off with their predictions.

The Designated Players Podcast

If you don’t follow the DP Podcast, you are missing out on some solid fan content. Their FC Dallas preview goes into the new faces, new coach and more.

Give Me Sport - Western Conference Preview

Yeah, it doesn't start off great for FC Dallas. Ben Wright at Give Me Sport doesn't hold back to how he sees things for FC Dallas in 2025:

FC Dallas have essentially gutted their roster. Gone are  Jesús Ferreira ,  Paul Arriola ,  Alan Velasco and  Nkosi Tafari . They've made a few signings, but overall haven't come close to replacing the exodus of key players from last year. It looks set to be a long season in Eric Quill's first season in charge.

Predicted finish: 15th

Holding the High Line: Western Conference Preview part 1

Got better? Or got worse?: Probably worse. ⬇️
Dallas really wasn’t good in 2025; there was no ‘there’ there. I’d watch them play and move the ball around and think ‘what am I watching? What’s the plan, man?’ And I think management saw the same thing, which is why they fired head coach Nico Estevez mid-summer and rolled with an interim in Peter Luccin till October. They recently hired Eric Quill from USL’s New Mexico United, so we’ll see what kind of identity he wants to give them.
It feels like its going to be a return to roots for Dallas. Their biggest move in the offseason was to sign seven players from MLS Next Pro team North Texas to senior team contracts, including Ricardo Pepi’s little brother, Diego Pepi. It seems likely that Dallas are going all in on their youth, which was a hallmark of the team’s ethos in the good old days of Oscar Pareja, when they won trophies like Supporters Shield and Open Cup. I think Dallas will be mediocre-to-bad in 2025. But I imagine that they might be the team everybody is talking about in 2026.

To be fair, this was written well before FC Dallas added Lucho Acosta.

Bye Bye Velasco, Hello Lucho - American Soccer Analysis

Our buddy Arman Kafai dove into how he views all of the wild moves done by FC Dallas this offseason.

Quill promises a more direct style of play, and his numbers show it. Per ASA’s average vertical distance numbers, Quill’s style of play at New Mexico looks to be the most direct style of play at FC Dallas sice Oscar Pareja’s reign. Sitting in a 4-2-3-1, Quill will have the playmakers to play in transition, from Acosta, to Julio, to potential speedsters in Leo Chu or high pressing high action players in Logan Farrington. 
The questions will arise on the defensive side. Quill will need to be compact and protect his backline in terms of shape. The team allowed the sixth most npxGA in 2024 under both Estevez and Luccin and needs to get back to its strong defensive performances. However, how attacking will Quill go? His team seems geared for all gas no breaks and we’ve seen teams (cough LA Galaxy cough) be able to win trophies by struggling on defense and just being explosive on offense. 
Half the stadium will be open due to renovations but the team should be producing fireworks. The offensive talent is there and it may lead to some entertaining matches in MLS. Lucho Acosta will be motivated with a new challenge and hopefully, Quill can unlock the most out of him. 
The floor for FC Dallas has risen with the addition of Acosta. However, will they have enough as a cohesive team to return to the playoffs with a first year head coach? It will be tough but we have to applaud the effort from the team to recognize its mistakes and be able to go after improvements on the roster. It’s a two or three pieces away from a complete team and if that takes shape in the summer, watch out. 

Kafai has a lot of questions, just like we do. I still believe the defense has some work to do as well before we begin this season.

5 Storylines For FC Dallas in 2025 (Dallas Morning News)

There are plenty of storylines this season but the old media guard gives us the five biggest to dive into. I appreciate the Paxton Pomykal call out at the end of the list.

Backheeled - FC Dallas preview

The fine folks at Backheeled are sharing some similar comments that I’ve had lately, the team has a chance to be good with Acosta, but there are still holes to fill in key areas.

Though I like quite a bit of FC Dallas’ offseason business, this is still an extremely incomplete team. No MLS front office should feel good about starting a season with either Lalas Abubakar or Sebastien Ibeagha at center back, even with a couple of additions along the defensive line. Elsewhere in the defense, Shaq Moore and Marco Farfan are far closer to league-average at fullback than they are to being truly impactful pieces.

MLS Season Pass Talent Standings Predictions

Yeah…scroll all the way down to find FC Dallas at 13th. Yikes.

MLSSoccer.com’s Season Preview

The predictions on this one are a little bit better, but still a pretty broad range: