FRISCO, Texas – The FC Dallas midfield is no stranger to dynamic South American players.
With Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz leading the pack and other contributors behind them in Michael Barrios and Michel, the club has made a habit of cherry-picking South American talent.
Technical director Fernando Clavijo, head coach Oscar Pareja and the rest of the FCD brass did it again yesterday, bringing in Argentine midfielder Ezequiel Cirigilano on loan from River Plate to bolster the back end of the midfield.
“I am very, very excited,” Clavijo told MLSSoccer.com. “Not only because we filled the position with a player that fits everything we’re trying to do, but when you look at Kellyn Acosta and Victor [Ulloa] and what they have done, they have given us the opportunity to do that and be careful in our decision making.”
Cirigliano is a central midfielder that provides Dallas with much needed depth behind their two Homegrown starters, especially considering that former starter Michel seems to have taken a backseat by only playing one minute during the club’s current four game win streak.
And although Ulloa is the team’s closest thing to an ironman and Acosta has come on nicely in his last two starts, the addition of the 23-year-old Argentine will raise the bar set by Pareja’s culture of competition even higher.
“It has been a need the whole year for depth and competition,” Pareja said of the central midfield position. “Bringing somebody that can push Victor, Kellyn and Michel can help them there. It was one of our main targets during the whole season.”
The move, however, is about more than just bolstering depth for Dallas’ stretch run.
According to Clavijo, the success that Pareja has had this season both in the standings, with FCD atop the race for the Supporters’ Shield, and in developing young talent gives the club flexibility to be thinking big picture.
At only 23-years-old, Cirigliano comes in just under the team’s average age of 24.12, which makes them the second youngest team in MLS.
“It’s the present, but it’s the future at the same time,” Clavijo said. “With what Oscar has done in winning games and putting us in the position we’re in, it has given us an opportunity to be careful with the selection of players.”
When the club signed Panamanian midfielder Rolando Escobar two months ago, the FCD brass sought a scouting report from Blas Perez, who knew Escobar well from playing with him on Panama's national team.
Pareja and company pulled the same strings with Cirigliano, this time picking the brain of Diaz, who played with his Argentine counterpart at River Plate in 2009.
“He was part of the process,” Pareja said of Diaz’s role in the recruiting process. “He knows him from early years when they played together. There is some chemistry there. So that just made us get some shortcuts.”
Diaz’s influence was prevalent on the other side of the coin.
“He told me how happy he was and how comfortable he was here in Dallas,” Cirigliano said via translator. “That definitely influenced my decision to come here.”
