Where Are We?

This is the first week of preseason camp! Dynamo players have arrived to Houston Sports Park to get their training on. Due to work requirements, I am not able to attend any of the open practices to actually get a first hand view of the almost complete roster.

At this point, the Dynamo roster is at 27 of the 28 slots available. This comes after the two most recent (pending) signings of David Rocha and Agustin "Agus" Iniguez, coming on January 21st. Based on the available youtube highlights of the players, it looks like these will be two moves intended to bolster the roster depth instead of make significant changes to the starting lineups.

Rocha seems to be a defensive midfielder and probably going to provide support (or "competition" as they like to call it) to Ricardo Clark. Agus's left-back history probably slots him into a backup to DeMarcus Beasley with the occasional centerback appearance.

Unfortunately, both players come in on the wrong side of 30, meaning they are not much younger than the players they look to be backing up. Thankfully, for the new additions, the old age of all the players probably means a little bit of rotation throughout the season. Unless these players are late bloomers, I don't see them surpassing the incumbents on the depth chart as both Rico and Run DMB are both play like World Cup veterans when not injured.

So, with that, I figured this would be a good time to go over the roster to this point.

Formation
After only one full season, I'm not sure where I stand with Owen Coyle. I'm sure he'll choose his lineups and formations from game to game based on the opponent, but I have a feeling that we'll be lined up in a 4-4-2 (or 4-3-1-2) for most of the season. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 4-3-3 every now and then based on the opponent.

Lineup
Right off the bat, here is my prediction for opening day lineup and formation:

In case you can't see the picture: 

Goal Keeper: Deric

Defense: Beasley, Horst, Raul, Anibaba

Midfield: Miranda, Maidana, Clark, Garcia

Forwards: Barnes, Bruin

Probably not much of a stretch. Same starting forwards as last year since I have no confidence in Cubo doing anything of value. We replace Davis with Miranda, who I thought had a good year while Brad was gone in 2015. Maidana comes in to be the attacking-mid. He won't play any defense and will likely be the start of many counter attacks against the Dynamo. Anibaba is a toss-up at right back. Seeing how Owen really liked Williams last year, I could probably see either player start here. And of course, Tyler Deric will be minding the net. With another year like 2015, I could see him getting a January 2017 call-up to the USMNT. But that story will come at another date.

Notable Subs:

Keeper: Willis will be another Open Cup starter. Won't see him during regular season unless Deric is injured or suspended

Defense: As mentioned above, I believe the Anibaba/Williams will slot in whenever the match-up favors one or the other or if the other is struggling. Expect Anibaba to slide into a central defender role, or perhaps Agus, when Horst or Raul are out. Agus will also fill in for Beasley when injured.

Midfield: Alex and Rocha will be the prominent subs in the midfield as I think Alex can play any position with fiery intensity, and Rocha will be needed to back up Clark's aging legs. 

Forward: Cubo and Wenger will probably be the most used Forward subs. However, I was really impressed with Manotas, and I would like to see him get some more chances. He'll probably end up being an Open Cup starter, a spot he earned with his Open Cup performance last year.

What do you think? Am I totally off? Think someone has or will impress more than I think, or do I value some players more than you think I should? Leave me a comment!

Welcome!

Let me begin by welcoming you to what I hope is a weekly or monthly word-vomit session on my thoughts relating to the Houston Dynamo.

I am in no way employed by or associated with the Houston Dynamo or any affiliates including, but not limited to, BBVA Compass (or the stadium) or MLS.

Now on to business!

First, this blog is named after a complete disregard for the proper way to pronounce "Dale Dynamo," a common chant heard among fans at BBVA Compass Stadium. It has become sort of an inside joke between my friends and I residing in section 236. We've even selected our mascot for such a saying:

Secondly, I don't think of myself as any sort of professional. Whether that is a blogger, analyst or commentator. I am just a fan of the Houston Dynamo, and I'm looking for an outlet for logging my thoughts about the team over time. 

I've been a fan since the team moved to Houston and a season ticket holder (albeit, not directly) since 2008. I still remember the days of Robertson Stadium in the summer, sucking down Black Iguana margarita pouches to "hydrate" myself through the games, wearing the remaining lanyards like badges of honor! Since those days, I've grown a family and happily raised two new Dynamo fans. 

Finally, as I write this, we are sitting in the middle of the off-season with the MLS Superdraft about to be completed. I sit here reading about all of the wheelings and dealings of MLS teams. Each team hoping to check off all the right boxes to get them to the playoffs and a league championship. 

This is where my thoughts begin! 

New Ownership: I'm SUPER excited about the prospect of new Houston Dynamo ownership! For years I've wondered how anyone expected to be competitive in this town with AEG at the helm of two MLS teams, one of those being the high spending LA Galaxy! It was always my thought that AEG would spend on that, more high-profile, team and leave us to grind it out in this "small market." Now, with Gabriel Brener and Co. at the helm, I won't feel like there is a conflict of interest. Hopefully, we can spend money wisely and put a decent team on the field.

Brad Davis: Wow! I can honestly say I didn't see this coming. Perhaps I didn't keep in touch with Brad's personal feelings as much as I thought. I'm glad that Brad is moving on to be closer to home/family. I can 100% get on board with that sentiment. Fortunately for me, this move comes at a time when I thought that Brad was getting older, slower, and more injured. His famous left foot, that seemingly got him on the USMNT for the 2014 World Cup, had stopped performing at the elite level. I saw Brad get beat too many times down the left side by a speedier/younger kid. Too many times did I see him miss-kick a ball off a free-kick. I'm sad to see him go, but at the same time, I'm ready to see if Miranda can come in and build on the bits of creativity that we saw during the 2015 season. 

Signings: Maidana, Wenger, and Anibaba were the big name signings this off season. I think Anibaba is a solid pickup that should be able to help out a weak back line. While not a GREAT player, I still think it's better than what we have. Wenger is a questionable pickup. What is he supposed to do in an already deep corps of attackers? He'll probably end up being a 10-15 minute player when we're all fed up watching Bruin ruin chance after chance. Good luck! Maidana is another questionable pickup. Yes, he brings creativity and attacking that were lacking in 2015 once Giles withered away after the Gold Cup. Unfortunately, he brings no defense with him, and we've all heard the age-old saying that defense starts with the forwards. I expect to see Maidana half-assing it back down the field after giving up the ball quite a bit this season. 

That's it for today! I'll come back later this week or next with my thoughts on our draft picks. Two picks in 4 rounds when Philly and Chicago each had 3 picks in the first round??? Sigh...

I welcome questions, comments and feedback! As I don't expect to get too many hits, I'm sure you'll get a reply.