1Preview: A breakdown of the Dynamo roster by position and the 2014 schedule.
Dynamo in recent years.
The Dynamo were defeated in the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup finals by David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the rest of a high-powered L.A. Galaxy squad that will go down among the greatest teams in league history.
The 2013 Dynamo pulled off the biggest upset of the playoffs by eliminating French legend Thierry Henry and the top-seeded New York Red Bulls in the conference semifinals. But they couldn’t overcome Sporting K.C.
Missing Boswell
The Dynamo are expected to contend for the title again. Veteran center back Bobby Boswell, now with D.C. United, is the only starter who was not retained this winter.
The midfield returns, giving the Dynamo arguably the best left and right wing combination in MLS with All-Star Brad Davis and Honduran national team star Boniek Garcia.
There are few players in the league better than Garcia, who shone brightly while taking over the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the loaded Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.
Center midfielder Ricardo Clark, the former U.S. national teamer who played in the 2010 World Cup, proved to be indispensable.
The gritty holding mid Warren Creavalle, who is recovering from offseason surgery on both knees, is the leastheralded midfielder. Servando Carrasco, Alex Lopez, Tony Cascio and Andrew Driver give Kinnear plenty of options to replace Creavalle without suffering a decline in productivity.
One or two of those midfielders must step up when Davis and/or Garcia are called up by their respective national teams to prepare for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Strong at forward
Starting forwards Will Bruin and Giles Barnes also return. Veteran Omar Cummings, who scored the Dynamo’s two biggest goals of the 2013 playoffs after missing most of the regular season, will push to supplant Barnes in the starting lineup.
“I think it’s an enjoyable moment to be on this team,” said All-Star goalkeeper Tally Hall. “We’re young enough that as we look forward to this year, we’re better than we were last year.
“If you look across the board, guys have taken their experiences and grown as players. Probably half of the team is that way. You wouldn’t call us a young team. We have a lot of veterans, but we’re youthful enough that we’re still getting better.”
Although Toronto FC has made significant improvements, especially with the addition of U.S. national team star midfielder Michael Bradley, the Dynamo, Sporting K.C. and the Red Bulls remain the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.
The Dynamo made no major free-agent acquisitions. Kinnear altered his roster via trades and loans. Defender David Horst, who was acquired from Portland, will challenge Eric Brunner for the spot to replace Boswell.
Every other starter knows what to expect when Kinnear outlines his goals for 2014.
Great expectations
“I think it’s realistic that we should expect ourselves to be in that (MLS Cup) game and to win that game,” Hall said. “To actually make it happen is extremely difficult. There’s 19 teams this year fighting for it, but I say with the utmost confidence that we should be the team fighting for it.”