FRISCO, Texas - It’s good to have choices, and FC Dallas just added another major option in defensive midfield with Friday’s acquisition of Adam Moffat from Seattle Sounders FC.
While the Scottish midfielder spent the final six games of 2013 with the Sounders, FC Dallas fans will mostly remember him for his previous three seasons in Houston, during which Moffat made 62 regular season appearances for the Dynamo as well as 10 MLS Cup playoff games, including the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup Finals.
“A quality individual that’s not just in the statistics,” FC Dallas Technical Director Fernando Clavijo said. “Everyone we talked to from Columbus and in Houston identified him as a quality individual that brings the locker room together and that’s exactly what I thought we were missing a little bit. It’s a plus for us, he’s durable and plays a lot of games as a defensive midfielder that covers a lot of space, plays aggressively and has a great shot from distance.”
WATCH: The best of Adam Moffat in MLS.
The price wasn’t a small one for Clavijo, as FCD sends the rights to forward Kenny Cooper along with allocation money to Seattle for Moffat. However, given the fact that FCD announced earlier in the week that they were unable to come to 2014 contract terms with the big forward, a departure in the Re-entry draft for nothing would have been a very possible outcome had Dallas not agreed to a trade.
“Unfortunately, things happen like that sometimes and I wish nothing but the best to Kenny because he’s a quality professional, quality human being and it was just a situation where it didn’t work out,” said Clavijo. “From myself and the organization, we thank Kenny because he definitely is a quality individual that I like to be around.”
With the 2013 pre-season injury to Peter Luccin, FCD struggled to find a pure defensive midfielder to assist the back line throughout the season, and with the likely return of Luccin as well as today’s addition of a d-mid with two MLS Cup appearances, Clavijo hopes that won’t be a problem going forward.
“I think things are going to change a little bit about how we play and [fans] are going to like it,” said Clavijo. “We’re looking to be aggressive going forward, but to be aggressive going forward you have to be able to defend well and have the players in the midfield to ensure that.”
