Big D Weekly - November 13
Big D Weekly - November 13
Hello offseason.
So here we are, in the offseason. FC Dallas saw their season end on Friday night in Seattle.
Now we head into a period of time where things will get quiet for a bit, only for rumors to pop up, roster moves to happen and weird MLS drafts to take place.
For me, personally, it has been a fun season even if the results on the field didn’t end up the way we wanted them to for FC Dallas. I spoke recently to some close friends about this venture into a subscription-based model over the previous version of Big D Soccer, and I have to say, I like this route a lot more for this site.
I have plenty of plans for this offseason. For starters, this weekly Monday newsletter is going to change a bit from being a paid subscriber-only thing to free for everyone to read1. Part of that change is I’ve been wanting to reformat this Monday newsletter a bit from how I used to do the old Big D Daily posts. I may use this space as a spot to do a little discussion each week that isn’t just FC Dallas-related but a broader look at things going on in MLS, too.
Normally, on Mondays following a weekend game, I would have a breakdown of that match, but since it was the final one of the season and a pretty rough one at that, I’ll punt on that post for today. Instead, I’ll begin to dive into some offseason ideas that I have for this space. I hope to break down each player on the FC Dallas roster a bit, some before the roster moves that will take place later this month and some following that news.
As disappointing as seeing the offseason arrive may be, I do say we welcome it.
🔥 From the blog
Other FCD-related recaps/updates from the week
Here are some other posts from the last few days that are worth a read:
Sounders advance, downing FC Dallas 1-0 (Sounder at Heart)
Sounders deny upset bid by FC Dallas (MLSSoccer.com)
Rising star Kamungo embraces journey to MLS (MLSSoccer.com)
Sounders edge FC Dallas to advance (The Athletic)
FC Dallas silenced in loss to Seattle (ESPNFC)
📋 From Around MLS
After our series with Seattle ended and most of the others wrapped up, it had to be asked, is the new format working? If anything, Round One was entertaining in some places. No one really felt like they were phoning it in like we would see in a two-legged aggregate series in years past. I have to think we’ll see it again next year, even if we don’t want to or like it.
Houston Dynamo escaped their Round One series with Real Salt Lake over the weekend. For the second game in a row, it went to penalties. They’ll now get Sporting Kansas City in the next round, which feels like a series from 10 or 12 years ago.
Out in San Diego, the new MLS side (and their horrible logo) is already building its facilities with its partnership with the Right To Dream Academy. We’ve seen a couple of FC Dallas players come from that academy, like Ema Twumasi.
Portland made it official last week when they hired former Miami boss Phil Neville to be their next head coach. It is a bold move, not one that I would call great at this time either.
This was right before Montreal fired Hernan Losada. When they hire their next manager, it will be their 10th in a decade. Or something close to that. As someone mentioned to me last week on Twitter/X, Montreal goes through coaches more than some Liga MX sides do.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Thank you all for subscribing (and if you aren’t subscribed, just hit that button below and get signed up now)!
That may change again come next season, but for now, I will open this thing up for everyone.