HOUSTON – At 29 years old, new Houston Dynamo FC winger Fafa Picault is in the prime of his career, and the Haitian-American is thrilled to be in Houston.
“I’m extremely excited to move on to the next journey in the next chapter of my football in MLS, and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else but Houston, so I’m very excited and couldn’t be more ready to work,” Picault told The Bayoucitian.
The Dynamo acquired Picault from FC Dallas in exchange for $200,000 in 2021 General Allocation Money, $75,000 in 2022 General Allocation Money, and future performance-based considerations.
Picault spent one season with FC Dallas, and three with the Philadelphia Union. In those seasons, Picault showcased one skill — speed — the Dynamo have lacked since it sold Alberth Elis in September to Portuguese side Boavista F.C.
“Fafa is a dynamic and versatile winger who joins our club in the prime of his career,” Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan said. “As we entered the offseason, we wanted to focus on bringing more speed to the team, and Fafa will add this element to our roster right away.
Speed kills on the pitch, and the Orange know that very well. After it sold Elis, the club finished the season 1-5-5 with a -12 goal differential.
Adding speed to the club’s attack was one of the main offseason goals for La Naranja.
“Fafa’s quality and speed will help us create immediate dangerous opportunities at home or on the road,” Dynamo Head Coach Tab Ramos said. “Additionally, his professionalism off the field is another building block in continuing to establish a winning culture.”
The professionalism that Ramo speaks of started at a young age for Picault.
Becoming a professional footballer
The Dynamo are Picault’s seventh team in a career that started with Italian club Cagliari’s youth team. The experience of moving to a new country at such a young age shaped Picault as a man and professional.
“Back then, only maybe one or two of the youth [team] were getting to be around the first team, and it was an honor to have to fight for everything that you’re going to get,” Picault said.
“It was definitely a big part of my career moving over there for some years and I definitely take the positives from that.”
Picault left the Italian club and made his name in the NASL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Fort Lauderdale Strikers, had a brief spell with Czech team Sparta Prague, and Germany’s FC St. Pauli, before signing with the Philadelphia Union in 2017.
In three years with the Union, Picault scored 21 goals to go along with 12 assists and became one of MLS’s best pressing wingers in the process.
Versatility on the pitch
On the pitch, Picault can play on either wing and even play striker if called upon but rest assured his preferred spot is on the left-wing. Plus, he loves talking trash to the league’s right-backs.
“I love the left side. Its become like my home. I know every right back in this league. I know the left-backs too, but I talk a lot of crap to the right-backs. They all know me, [and] I know all of them. It’s always fun for me,” Picault said.
“It’s just a certain way, you know, I have the cut in that I can shoot. And if they give me the outside and they want to block the cut-in, as long as I have a striker or somebody else in a box, two guys in the box, I can take it out, I have a good left with the cross. It’s become very strongly a part of me, so I love the left side.”
Picault said his skills on the pitch will fit seamlessly with how Ramos wants the Houston Dynamo to play. Adding that he can play a high-line trap, and help the team keep possession in the final third.
Now donning Orange, Picault said he’s ready to give everything for the jersey and help the club return to the playoffs. Picault knows that one or two offseason acquisitions can sometimes change a club’s upcoming season and he hopes that’s the case with his arrival.
“I’m just ready to do everything with this jersey,” Picault said. “Whenever I put that on, I’m ready to bleed and sweat for it and also for my teammates and for the club and my staff.”
Jesus Acevedo Jr. is the Editor-in-Chief of The Bayoucitian. He’s an award-winning bilingual journalist from Houston, TX. A graduate of the University of Houston, he has written for the Houston Chronicle, La Voz de Houston, MLSsoccer.com, and ProSoccerUSA.
Before becoming a journalist, Jesus spent his early 20s drumming his way across Houston with two bands — Shortcomings and InsertNameHere. The memories that Jesus made as a musician were the seeds that started the idea for the comedy, Houmans: The Series.