FC Dallas’ top brass – head coach Eric Quill, Chief Soccer Officer André Zanotta and President Dan Hunt – convened Thursday morning for the club’s End-of-Season press conference to discuss the previous campaign, offseason plans and the outlook for 2026.
Below are my main takeaways from what they revealed.
The Back-3 is Here to Stay (mostly)
FC Dallas’ 2025 season was a tale of two halves. Eric Quill began the year using different variations of his favored 4-3-3 formation but, once results went south, changed to the 3-5-2 to add an extra center back and extra defensive solidity. The alteration was exactly what FCD needed as the club flipped its fortunes, earning six wins and just two losses over the final 13 games – vaulting the team from 13th place to 7th and a playoff berth.
The turnaround made many ask the question: Would Quill remain with the back-3 formation for 2026 or revert back to his typical 4-3-3?
When asked, Quill confirmed that the back-3 would be FCD’s first-choice formation going forward but was quick to stress that it could take on many different variations:
“We're going to commit to what you saw at the back half of the season but there's a lot of versatility within that…We're building the roster into those variations. I don't believe in being a one-trick pony. Being able to tweak tactics is important but you have to have the pieces when you want to tweak and make it seamless. You’re going to see a lot of similar formations as our primary one next season but if the solution is to go 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, I'm not scared to make that the solution.”
Offseason Player Acquisitions
As expected for an offseason press conference, there were plenty of questions for CSO André Zanotta about the club’s roster plans, specifically incoming players.
Also as expected, Zanotta was coy about revealing specifics but did say the club was planning to bolster the midfield and frontline.
“Once we got eliminated, we focused on bringing the right players that will really make us a better team in 2026. We'll add different players in midfield and the attack. We want to give Eric (Quill) a bigger headache by giving him more options that will make him really look at the roster and say, ‘Well, I have options and any of those players that I pick will keep the level of the team at high level.’
“We have very clear in our mind what we need and the profiles and positions that we need, and we're working on that and we’re close on a couple of players that we want to sign. There are still some details to finalize, but I believe we'll get it done in the next couple of weeks.”
President Dan Hunt also chimed in on player acquisitions:
“We have great players here. Petar Musa is a great player, still young in his career, and one of our big focus this offseason will be adding players that will give our forwards more opportunities to score goals. We have plenty of goals there, and I think we've only scratched the surface.”
With both Zanotta and Hunt talking about additions to the midfield and attack, it begs the question, will the club look to strengthen the defensive side as well?
Zanotta was asked about center back reinforcements directly and he answered just as directly:
“I feel extremely confident, and I trust all of our center backs. That's one thing in last year's press conference that we mentioned we would address. So we added Osaze (Urhoghide), Álvaro, Lalas (Abubakar), and together with (Sebastien) Ibeagha, with Nolan (Norris) and now Shaq Moore, we're going to 2026 with six players that can play in that position. I feel very, very strong about the options that we have at center back and this will not be something we'll be addressing for the next season.”
Considering Dallas conceded 55 goals in 34 games (1.62 per game) in 2025, it’s fair to question this line of thinking off the bat. BUT, once Quill changed to the 3-back, FCD only allowed 16 in the final 13 games (1.23). And, since Quill revealed that the 3-back formation will be used primarily going forward, that second sample size is (hopefully) more indicative of Dallas’ defensive form next season.
The 3-back formation also allows Norris, Moore and even Geovane Jesus (who Zanotta revealed could be fit and healthy for preseason) to play as center backs. Those players wouldn't fit center backs in a 2-center back system but – as both Norris and Moore proved in short stints in 2025 – would fit nicely as such in a 3-back system. With Quill and Dallas planning to play the 3-5-2 (or variations of it), the team is already equipped at the position with any combination of Urhoghide, Norris, Moore, Ibeagha, Abubakar, Álvaro and hopefully Geovane Jesus.
