Three Unsung Heroes of FC Dallas’ 8 Game Unbeaten Run
The likes of Petar Musa, Logan Farrington, Osaze Urhoghide, and Bernie Kamungo have been justifiably getting all the attention.
This week, let’s look at some of the less heralded FC Dallas players who have been vital to Dallas’ incredible run as the season winds down.
Shaq Moore
Imagine going back to the start of the season and telling people that FC Dallas’ best run of form in 2025 would involve not only playing a formation with three center backs, but that a big chunk of those games would feature Shaq Moore playing as the left-sided center back—a genuinely baffling turn of events, but one that has been remarkable to watch. Moore deserves a great deal of credit for how he has handled things over the course of the season, starting as a right back, then playing as a right wing back, and now as a left center back who regularly switches to right wing back partway through the game.
Moore’s pace on the left side has helped enable the incredible resurgence of Bernard Kamungo as a left-sided wing back, and, for his own part, Moore has been rock solid defensively. When he has been asked to go back to his more natural right wing back role, he has hardly missed a beat there and has contributed on both sides of the ball up and down. He’s second on the team in minutes and hardly looks like the long season has impacted him at all.
Sebastien Ibeagha
The only player with more minutes played than Shaq Moore in 2025 is Sebastien Ibeagha. Ibby probably catches more criticism than any other player on the FCD roster due to his age and salary, and many fans do not feel like his on-field performances match up with what he’s paid and how the club seems to value him. But Ibby is a leader on and off the field, and, since the change in formation, he has really locked down the right center back spot. That spot helps limit some of the deficiencies in his game, and having Osaze Urhoghide in the middle helps cover up some errors or slips, but Ibby has been really solid for his own part.
With Ramiro coming off the bench and Maarten Paes still not fully back from injury, Ibeagha led the team out as captain in the final regular-season home match against the Galaxy, a well-deserved honor for him. What happens with him beyond this season is anyone’s guess, as he has one final option year on his contract, but he has certainly justified his place in the team down the stretch in 2025.
Patrickson Delgado
I debated with myself a good bit on who to place in this final spot. Christian Cappis probably deserves a shout as he has been excellent and huge in reviving the midfield, but I felt he’d gotten a good bit of attention from the FCD-connected media. Kaick probably deserves some recognition for the job he’s doing in midfield at such a young age, and Ramiro has gone from being right there with Ibeagha as one of the most maligned players on the roster to a very obvious positive piece.
In truth, Patrickson might not even belong here. Eric Quill has certainly not been shy about singing his praises over the back half of the season, but his lack of goal scoring has meant he hasn’t gotten much press nationwide, and the majority of the focus on the attack has, justifiably, been given to Petar Musa and Logan Farrington.
But Patrickson has been, for the most part, really solid as well. It is so easy to forget that he’s only 21 years old himself (he turns 22 right before the end of the regular season). He has been given a major opportunity in the post-Lucho team to play in a truly free-attacking midfield role, and he has generally done a tremendous job. He isn’t a particularly creative player, certainly not a traditional number 10, but he does a good job of finding open pockets of space and moving the ball along, whether spraying it wide to the wing-backs or connecting with one of the forwards.
After a lot of knocking on the door, he finally got his deserved first goal of the season, an absolute banger to close out the first half against the Galaxy, and it ended up being the game-winning goal. A really well-deserved moment for a player who seems to really be putting things together under Eric Quill. He’s sort of a microcosm for this team as a collective in a lot of ways, and it is exciting to see how he continues to develop.
Who have been your unsung heroes during this run?
Did I leave anyone out?
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Categorized:FC Dallas