Houston Dynamo: 2020 Preview – Postseason return?

With less than a month to go until the start of the 2020 MLS campaign, we are taking a look at how each team has evolved since last year and their chances this term. This time, we look at the Houston Dynamo.

2019 was another poor year for the Houston Dynamo. They failed to reach the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons, their worst run in Major League Soccer history. Last year, Houston finished in 10th in the Western Conference, eight points behind their Texan rivals FC Dallas and the final postseason berth.

Meanwhile, Houston were defending the U.S. Open Cup, having won the competition in 2018, but fell at the Round of 16 as they lost out to Minnesota United, who would go on to reach the final. The Dynamo also featured in continental competition last season as they played in both the CONCACAF Champions League and the Leagues Cup but failed to get past the last eight in either.

Here is how the Houston Dynamo shape up ahead of the 2020 season.

Best Performers

Only one member of the Houston Dynamo’s best XI from last term was able to secure an average WhoScored rating of over 7/10. Honduran forward Alberth Elis ended the year with a 7.13/10 rating. He had a hand in 19 goals across the campaign.

Their top scorer in 2019 was Mauro Manotas, who achieved that honour for the third time in the last four seasons. He did not hit the heights of his 19-goal campaign from 2018 but he was the only member of the Houston squad to reach double-digit goals last season.

Memo Rodriguez, Tomas Martinez and Christian Ramirez were the other players in the squad to score at least five times, but there were some issues at the back. Only three defenders made the club’s best XI in 2019 with Adam Lundkvist’s average rating of 6.72/10 being the best of the three.