FC Dallas had no time to relish the best regular season in club history and a lengthy playoff run that saw them fall just short of an MLS Cup Final appearance – decisions are already having to be made for next year.
On Thursday, the team announced a host of roster moves including exercising 2016 contract options on seven players including 2015 MLS Best XI defender Matt Hedges and basically the entire FCD starting back line while declining the contract options on four players – Otis Earle, Danny Garcia, David Texeira and Michel – while Stephen Keel and Blas Perez are out of contract for 2016. Additionally, Homegrown midfielder Kellyn Acosta has signed a new contract with the club.
“The better you play, the more success [there is], it is more difficult to keep that team together,” Technical Director Fernando Clavijo said of the moves. “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.”
Thursday’s decisions are made even tougher with the rules outlined in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and a shortened offseason after a deep playoff run.
Clavijo also stressed the importance of depth in 2016 with three different competitions on the books – MLS regular season, CONCACAF Champions League and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play. Everyone on the roster next season will be looked upon to play meaningful minutes throughout the year.
“It’s not something that we started thinking about the last couple weeks,” Clavijo said of shaping 2016’s roster. “I think we have worked throughout the year to evaluate, to know exactly where we are heading into 2016. I think the future is bright and hopefully we can bring players that make us all proud and help us win championships.”
“We need to be honest and fair with the players [on] the reasons why and how we need to address those problems. It’s very difficult [with the time constraints],” Clavijo said. “Whoever plays in the final, right now between the Crew and Portland, they have one day [after the game] to sit in the same chairs that we are right now and make decisions and say ‘You just won a championship, but you will not play here anymore.’”
Preparations for FC Dallas’ 2016 season will continue quickly over the coming weeks with Free Agency and the Re-Entry Draft beginning next week. The 2016 adidas MLS Player Combine begins on Jan. 7 with the 2016 SuperDraft on Jan. 14 and MLS preseason set to begin on Jan. 22.