Ramos welcomes ‘hungry’ team
Dynamo coach Tab Ramos wouldn’t mind if the entire season started anew when MLS resumes play near Orlando this summer.
Houston stood 0-1-1 when MLS suspended its season in early March. Since then, the Dynamo have had time to recharge, reassess and recover.
While the layoff could push the postseason into 2021, the first-year coach believes his players are the hungriest they’ve been all year.
“You want the players this excited to play,” Ramos said. “When they come from preseason, they want to be back, but at the same time you’re always wishing your vacation was a little bit longer. This time I think everybody is hungry to come back and play.”
MLS lifted its league-wide training moratorium on June 4 and last week announced plans for a World Cup-style tournament to be played in Orlando starting on July 8. The move eased restrictions on where, when and how Dynamo players can practice at the team facility, and Houston returned to full team training shortly thereafter.
That change helped reintroduce competitive practices and enabled Ramos to pit players in more seven-versus-seven and 10versus-10 competitions in recent days. Those team-centric exercises also give him a tool to redevelop players’ stamina before league competition resumes.
“To be as competitive as they are and not having been able to compete for the last three
months, they were really excited to come out and give their best and win and all those things,” Ramos said.
The hiatus has provided extra recovery time for forwards Darwin Quintero and Alberth Elis, who were rebounding from thigh injuries when the season was suspended. Ramos said defender Kiki Struna (knee) is close to “100 percent,” while defender Jose Bizama
(ankle) is expected to return next month after he was initially expected to miss half the season.
The Dynamo also has added a pair of academy products in Nico Lemoine and Juan Castilla this month.
The club announced it signed Lemoine from its United Soccer League affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC last Thursday.
The winger spent part of the preseason with the Dynamo until suffering a thigh injury. In the immediate future, he provides
depth and could see the field in Orlando.
“Up front where we’re a little thin already, I wouldn’t be afraid to throw him in, because I think he can make a difference,” Ramos said. “He’s got that one-v.-one quality that most players don’t have.”
At 15, Castilla is the youngest homegrown signee in Dynamo history, but Ramos describes the midfielder as mature beyond his years. He hopes Castilla can become a first-team contributor in the next 12
to 18 months.
Even at his age, Castilla possesses a competitive edge that Ramos sees in his first-teamers. He hopes it will translate to wins when Houston officially resumes play in Orlando.
“We’ve gotten a lot out of them, so we’ve had to hold them back at times,” Ramos said of recent practices. “I would’ve picked for our team to be at this point when we came from preseason.”