FC Dallas’ attack may look a little different in 2016 with the departure of Blas Perez, but the club made some decisions on Thursday that will see its defense remain mostly intact.
The Texas club decided to pick up the options on Matt Hedges, Je-Vaughn Watson, Ryan Hollingshead, Zach Loyd, Rolando Escobar, Atiba Harris and Victor Ulloa. FC Dallas also announced that it had re-signed Homegrown defensive midfielder Kellyn Acosta, who enjoyed a breakthrough year scoring three times and providing two assists in 21 appearances (19 starts).
“The better you play, the more success [there is], it is more difficult to keep that team together,” Fernando Clavijo, technical director of FC Dallas said of the changes. “As a matter of fact it’s very hard because the salaries go up, by some percentage, and it’s not just the salary [that is the issue], it’s the salary cap. We needed to look for different ways to have a competitive team.”
Meanwhile, the club declined the options for Walker Zimmerman, Michel, David Texeira, Otis Earle and Danny Garcia.
Here are some more news and notes from MLS:
KRISZTIAN NEMETH WINS GOAL OF THE YEAR
With an amazing solo run to beat the Portland Timbers on the road in the waning moments of Oct. 3’s game, Kristian Nemeth was awarded MLS Goal of the Year honors on Thursday.
Fans voted for Nemeth’s incredible run and game-winning goal against the Timbers at Providence Park as the best during the regular season. The goal beat out MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco’s own solo run and goal for Toronto FC.
Nemeth did not start in the October contest, coming off of the bench in the 73rd minute. He is the first Sporting KC player to win the Goal of the Year award.
Here is Nemeth’s game-winning goal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liHmz9wUv7U
ADAM KWARASEY SAVE VOTED BEST OF THE YEAR IN MLS
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey will take the field on Sunday hoping claim a team award in the MLS Cup, but on Thursday, he was honored for an individual effort.
Kwarasey’s diving stop on Luke Mulholland against Real Salt Lake on Aug. 15 was voted MLS Save of the Year on Thursday, beating out Vancouver Whitecaps netminder David Ousted for the award.
It is the first time a Timbers player has won the Save of the Year honors.
Here is Kwarasey’s save:
LUIS SILVA SET TO LEAVE RSL FOR TIGRES UANL
If reports are to be believed, Real Salt Lake is set to see one of its players head to Tigres UANL months before competing against the Liga MX side in CONCACAF Champions League play.
Luis Silva is reported to be heading to Tigres as he is currently out of contract with the MLS side. Alvaro Saborio was traded to D.C. United mid-season in exchange for Silva, but it appears as though his stay will be a short one.
The 27-year-old attacker appeared 10 times for RSL in 2015, but failed to register a goal or an assist.
RSL travels to Estadio Universitario to play Tigres in the CCL quarterfinals first leg on Feb. 24 before playing the second leg at home on March 2.
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What do you think of FC Dallas’ roster decisions? Think Nemeth’s goal was the best in MLS? Was Kwarasey’s save the best? Think Silva will do well with Tigres should he go?
Share your thoughts below.
FCD needs to go out and hire a true DP level forward. The team lacked a clinical finisher in the end. Resigning Acosta was a good move because if he has a decent Olympics (assuming they qualify) he could probably fetch a very nice price from Europe.
Rolando Escobar was shyte for FCD this year and I didn’t see enough out of him at any point during the season to suggest he was worth hanging on to…
To my knowledge, GA contracts don’t count against the cap…so if Zimm truly graduated from that and Dallas was no longer eligible for the discount, what was the option that was declined?
I didn’t bother to look at the goal of the year candidates. My question is, was Juan
Aguedelo’s playoff goal against DC United not included because it came late in the season? That was as good a bicycle kick as you will ever see and was, IMO, better than Nemeth’s and if it was in the running, it should have won.
Seems misleading on Walker Zimmerman:
“Defender Walker Zimmerman has graduated from his Generation adidas contact, which he was under since being selected by FC Dallas seventh overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft. He was extended a bona fide offer by FC Dallas, which allows the club to retain the right of first refusal.”
Thanks for the additional info. I remember how it wasn’t that long ago that SBI was touting Zimmerman as one of the best young defenders in MLS, so the report above seemed a shocker.
odd that the same GK is in both. Can’t believe that was save of the year. Feels like there were a lot of better options. This one is a nice diving stop but he had a good view, so not that out of the ordinary.