The 6th overall team and 4th in the Western Conference, FC Dallas has gone through a lot of changes in the offseason. With the departure of one of the best coaches in MLS; Oscar Pareja, Dallas roster and coaching staff were overhauled in a matter of weeks. With all the changes comes new breeze of hope and goals for the next season. With high optimism of their new head coach, Luchi Gonzalez he is only adding oil to the “fire of optimism”.
Head Coach: Luchi Gonzalez
Former American soccer player and academy director of FC Dallas from 2012 until 2018, Luchi Gonzalez has been appointed as the head coach of “new” FC Dallas. This will be the first time he will play the role of a head coach, which is an interesting move for Dallas, however, they seem to trust Luchi Gonzalez to do his job the way they want.
Transfers
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| Date | Name | Moving from | Moving to | Mode of Transfer |
| December 11, 2018 | Roland Lamah | FC Dallas | FC Cincinnati | Expansion Draft |
| December 12, 2018 | Víctor Ulloa | FC Dallas | FC Cincinnati | Trade |
| January 5, 2019 | Chris Richards | FC Dallas | Bayern Munich | Transfer |
| January 30, 2019 | Maynor Figueroa | FC Dallas | Houston Dynamo | Free |
| December 9, 2018 | Urruti | FC Dallas | Montreal Impact | Trade |
| December 9, 2018 | Tesho Akindele | FC Dallas | Orlando City | Trade |
| January 11, 2019 | John Nelson | North Carolina Tar Heels | FC Dallas | SuperDraft |
| February 14, 2019 | Edwin Cerrillo | FC Dallas Academy | FC Dallas | Homegrown player |
| January 8, 2019 | Bryan Acosta | Tenerife | FC Dallas | Transfer |
| December 18, 2018 | Zdeněk Ondrášek | Wisła Kraków | FC Dallas | Transfer |
| December 21, 2018 | Bressan | Grêmio | FC Dallas | Transfer |
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Expectations for the 2019 season
After the rebuilding which happened without any problems, Dallas are optimistic before heading into the new season. They have made the playoffs in 4 out of 5 seasons under Oscar Pareja, which set the bar for Luchi Gonzalez. This ultimately means the fans will expect Dallas to compete and at least reach the same result as in recent years, but who are we fooling here? They’ve lost their head coach and best scorers from last season. While it’s possible it will be god damn hard to repeat last season. What I see in Dallas is a team that is in a rebuilding phase, which is not all that bad. This will give an opportunity for a lot of their young players to come in and show their worth. As for how good will Dallas perform… they won’t be bad per se, but still I am split. While I still expect them to finish in the playoffs, they just might have enough quality remaining to finish higher. But I would not bet my money on that.
