2015 MLS Team Preview: The Houston Dynamo
By Sean Maslin
In a league where players, coaches, and teams change by the day the Houston Dynamo have been the constant of MLS. Every year supporters could expect three things from this club: that Dominic Kinnear would be coaching them, that they would be a possession-based team, and that they would make the playoffs.
But it is a new day in Houston with the club moving to a new conference (well, actually it is an old conference) and new coach Owen Coyle. But will this lead to better results? Let’s find out!
Quick Numbers
2014 Record: 11-17-6
Conference Standing: 8th Place
League Standing: 14th Place
Finish: Did not make the Playoffs
Top Scorer: Giles Barnes (11)
Top Playmaker: Barnes and Brad Davis
Greatest Moment Last Season: A gritty 1-0 victory in October against Toronto FC to keep their playoff hopes alive. It turned out also to be Dominic Kinnear’s final win with the Dynamo.
Key Players This Season:
Brad Davis: This team still lives and dies by the play of Davis. To give you an idea how important he is to the Houston Dynamo, when Davis played for Houston the club went 10-10-5. However, when Davis was not available for a match the Dynamo had a record of 1-7-1. Given that he is 33 he will likely be called up to the US Men’s National Team again, meaning that he will not have any extended absences from the club.
Erick Torres: The big signing of the off-season for Houston, Torres will bring an immediate impact to a Dynamo squad that struggled to find goals in 2014. Houston scored just 39 goals last season which was the second-lowest among any team in MLS. Torres would often find himself marked by two-three players at a time last season while playing with Chivas USA yet he was still able to score 15 goals. Will have an immediate impact once he joins the team late spring.
Key Departures:
Dominic Kinnear- There is perhaps no player or coach more directly associated with a team than Dominic Kinnear. Kinnear’s tenure with the Houston Dynamo dates back to when the club was playing in San Jose as the Earthquakes and helped the lead the club to 4 MLS Cup appearances and 2 titles in 2006 and 2007.
Owen Coyle certainly has the pedigree to coach this club, having managed in the Premier League with Bolton and in the English League Championship with Wigan and Burnley. But the entire Houston Dynamo franchise was built around Kinnear’s philosophies as a coach. Even if Coyle believes that many of the things in place are good, he is going to want to leave his own imprint on the club. That will take time.
Tally Hall-This move is still a bit puzzling. Although Hall did have his 2014 season cut short due to injury, he was coming off of an impressive 2013 season where he had the league’s second-lowest Goals Against Average (1.21). Between 2011 and 2013 the Dynamo never allowed more than 41 goals in a season and were always at the top of the league in terms of Goals Allowed. Hall was a very big reason for this.
The club has set up a competition this spring between Homegrown Player Tyler Deric and Joe Willis, who was acquired from DC United. While Deric has the upside in terms of potential and the experience working with the Dynamo defense (he filled in for Hall last season,) Willis has a bit more overall experience in the league. Both will have big boots and gloves to fill replacing Hall.
The Big Question: How will the Houston Dynamo cope with going back to the Western Conference?
Although the Dynamo played in the Western Conference from 2006-2010, this is a very different Western Conference and this is a very different Houston Dynamo team. The Dynamo’s bread and butter has always been to control possession, force other teams to make mistakes, and then capitalize on those mistakes.
While this is a very sound footballing philosophy, it is predicated upon playing against teams that frequently make mistakes. In the Western Conference the competition is much stronger and there aren’t as many squads rebuilding. Houston has done very well moving to the Eastern Conference, posting a 36-24-31 record during that time. But their record against the West has not nearly been as strong, going 21-18-7. When you factor that 4 of those victories came against Chivas USA, a club no longer in existence, it brings up some serious questions as to how Houston will do in the transition.