Houston Dynamo: Michael Nelson pushing for starting spot

As Houston Dynamo returns to individual training at the team’s facilities this week, in his third season at the club, goalkeeper Michael Nelson will push for a starting spot.

Michael Nelson was the Houston Dynamo’s third-string goalkeeper when MLS suspended play in mid-March. However, as players return to individual training and plans are tentatively made for a June resumption, Nelson hopes to challenge for the starting role.

With Marko Maric in goal, Houston entered the break with just one point. That leaves them ahead of only expansion team Nashville SC in MLS Western Conference. In those two games, Maric earned five saves and is credited with one clearance.

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Two games don’t represent a clear statistical sampling, but during those two games, he exhibited a risky playing style. He frequently raced out of his defensive area. Goalkeepers should stay in concert with their defensive players. Instilling confidence and calmness in the entire unit is the most important aspect of a goalkeeper’s role. Racing out of goal is not the most calming action.

Should a goalkeeper take responsibility for defensive play seven or more yards toward midfield, but lose concentration, he leaves a rich area for opponents and a mostly empty net. This type of lost concentration by Maric left opportunities for opponents that resulted in no wins in the first two Dynamo games.

Nelson will return to individual training at the Houston Dynamo training facilities this week. He spoke about the work that the Houston coaches have put in during these difficult periods and how he is trying to stay fit.

“I think [the coaches] have done a tremendous job given how unprecedented this situation is and how difficult it is to find a solution to it,” Nelson told the official club website. “I think they have stayed on it and stayed in regular communication with us about the things that we need to be doing, and they have expressed to us many times that their main concern is staying fit and staying on top of injury prevention things so that when we get back we can hit the ground running.”

Nelson’s only start for the Dynamo was in their June 18, 2019, U.S. Open Cup 3-2 loss to Minnesota United. Supporters still talked positively and incessantly about the six saves that he made. One diving punch-save made number two on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays the next day.

Standing up to a berserk second-half barrage from through a folding Dynamo defense, Nelson showed great concentration, athleticism, and shot-stopping skill, repelling the Minnesota attack one goalmouth scramble after another.

The head coach Wilmer Cabrera heralded Nelson’s performance, stating that he has a future at the club. “Michael Nelson this is his second season,” Cabrera told The Bayoucitian. “This is the first opportunity we have the chance to play him and he was doing good so far, he saved us by three to four times, so we have a future there.”

Nelson is now in his third season with the Houston Dynamo and is still awaiting a role in the starting line-up. But now under new head coach Tab Ramos, Nelson is ready to play. If Maric’s performances fall off any more, he will push for that starting spot.