DYNAMO SET TO KICK OFF SEASON
New coach Ramos optimistic about his team’s chances as season opens
Houston fans looking to see the new-look Dynamo will have to wait beyond Saturday’s season opener against the visiting L.A. Galaxy to see the team at full strength.
But following a busy offseason, new coach Tab Ramos is confident the team will excel in an expanded MLS in the league’s 25th year.
“I feel like we’re finally getting into rhythm and feel good about this weekend,” Ramos said. “There’s no question that the players know — and the way we’ve trained — is to be a high-energy team so I think that we’ve prepared for that and I think this weekend will be a good measuring stick.”
Most notably, forwards Alberth Elis (out) and Darwin Quintero (questionable) could miss the match with right thigh injuries. Newly acquired defenders Victor Cabrera (out with a right hip injury) and Zarek Valentin (questionable because of an illness) could miss the opener too.
But much of Houston’s core returns intact.
The bellwether of Houston’s three-pronged attack, Mauro Manotas, remains.
The 2019 leading scorer will feature alongside Elis again, but the team traded away Romell Quioto, whose departure was eased by the addition of Quintero and the emergence of homegrown product Memo Rodriguez—who evolved into a scoring threat (seven league goals, five assists) in former coach Wilmer Cabrera’s final season.
Quintero could flank the forwards, although he’s likely to spend significant minutes behind them, where he slots into a midfield that showed defensive improvement after adding Matias Vera during the previous offseason.
Centerbacks Aljaz “Kiki” Struna and Maynor Figueroa anchor the backline while Adam Lundkvist should replace retired captain DaMarcus Beasley at left back. Jose Bizama, who joined the Dynamo last summer, could spend his first full season with the team as its regular right back.
And after the club parted ways
with goalkeepers Joe Willis and Tyler Deric in the offseason, its long search for a replacement ended when it signed Croatian Marko Maric last month.
“The new players have done well to work themselves into the group. I have a good relationship with Christian (Ramirez), Memo, Alberth and everyone who plays up top with me,” Manotas said. “When you add players like Darwin Quintero or young players like Marcelo (Palomino) to the group, you have so much potential and to us, we also want to find balance. That’s why you have players like Zarek and the new goalkeeper who help the team find a balance we may not have had before.”
In 2019, the Dynamo largely shook their habit of surrendering late decisive goals after it added Figueroa, Struna and Vera in the previous offseason. Cabrera also emphasized greater defensive contributions from players up top.
Initially, that led to a CONCACAF quarterfinal appearance and just one loss in Houston’s first eight league matches — the best start in club history.
But that quickly deteriorated once Houston played more road contests.
It won just two of 16 matches from June through August last summer. It dropped from the top third in the league in scoring to the bottom half, finished 10th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for a second straight year.
Before the end of the season, Cabrera was coaching the Montreal Impact and before the end of the year, Ramos, the former United States U-20 national team coach, had assumed control of the Dynamo.
“I’ve said the same thing from the beginning, we want to be a high-pressing, attacking team,” Ramos said. “Of course in the games there come times when the other team has the ball and at that point, you have to figure out how you defend and be very organized defending.”
As Elis and Quintero work through injuries and adapt to each other, the Dynamo’s offensive potential might not be immediately evident.
But its defense will be challenged early.
“L.A. has a great team,” Ramos said. “Its not just Javier Hernandez up front; it’s (Aleksandar) Katai and (Cristian) Pavon on the other side. Those three are as good as any in the league and they’re dangerous obviously.
“I think it makes it more exciting from a coaching standpoint . ... I’m glad that we’re having a big game, a strong team to start against. I think it’ll show us a little bit where we’re at at this point.”