Meet the New Guys: Fafà Picault

Previous Club: FC Dallas, Major League Soccer

Acquired by: Traded $275,000 of General Allocation Money to FC Dallas

Position: Winger

It is Halloween and Dynamo are playing FC Dallas for the 4th time during the 2020 season. The Texas Derby is all even with each team winning one with one draw. The Dynamo are out of the playoffs so the only thing to play for is pride against your Texas rival. Unfortunately, the Dynamo put up an unimpressive performance and lost 3-0. However, Tab Ramos and Matt Jordan were so impressed by Fafà Picault’s two goal outing that the Dynamo had to bring him to the best city in Texas.

“Fafà is a dynamic and versatile winger who joins our club in the prime of his career,” said Dynamo FC general manager Matt Jordan. “As we entered the offseason, we wanted to focus on bringing more speed to the team, and Fafà will add this element to our roster right away.”

Fafà joined the Philadelphia Union in 2017 after playing 2 years in Bundesliga 2 with St. Pauli. During his three seasons with the Union, he scored 21 goals and added 11 assists, or averaging about a goal or an assist every other game. His one year stint with FC Dallas was not as successful, only scoring three goals with one assist.

What does he bring to the Dynamo?

Using Fbref, the below chart provides a statistical summary of Fafà’s output over the last 365 days compared to his peers at the same position.

Fafà excels at using his speed to get in behind the defensive back line, which leads to his outstanding number of touches in the opponent’s penalty area of 6.2 per 90, ranking in the 93^rd percentile. At 5 foot 8, Fafà surpassingly wins 1.76 aerial duals per game, 89^th percentile.

One area of the game that Fafà struggles at compared to other wingers is creating chances for his teammates. Fafà’s role on FC Dallas was to stretch the defense and either get in dangerous positions (penalty area) or create space for other players between the backline and the midfield line.

I don’t think Fafà will be a guaranteed starter each week but he should be able to replace the deep ball threat that the Dynamo missed last year after Elis’ departure. While Fafà has similar speed as Elis, he does not contribute to as many goals and assists as Elis consistently produced.