Countdown to Kickoff 2026: Houston Dynamo FC
Sup, soccer gamers. Sorry for the delay. I’ve been hard at work on stuff for this season (check Shame Plugs below) and moving to a new place. Let’s get to it.
Welcome to my entry for this year’s Countdown to Kickoff!
This is my eleventh entry into the series. You can find all of my entries here: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
We crush your dreams and take your Hondurans Brazilians since 2005.
Shell Energy Stadium is our ground, formerly known as PNC Stadium, BBVA Stadium, and BBVA Compass Stadium.
Back-to-back MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007 and Open Cups in 2018 and 2023.
Ted Segal is our majority owner with lowkey money. Lyle Ayes, James Harden and Tim Howard are the minority owners.
Pat Onstad is our General Manager along with technical director Asher Mendelsohn.
Ben Olsen is our head coach entering his fourth year in charge.
Houston Dynamo 2 is our brother team in MLS NEXT Pro led by Marcelo Santos.
The 2025 regular season, which was supposed to celebrate the team’s 20th season in Houston, was a wet fart and an insult to fans that have religiously followed them for so long. The Dynamo suffered several setbacks going back to the prior offseason that were not rectified over the course of the year, which concluded with them trying to moneyball their way into the last play-in spots and effectively “tanking” the season towards 2026.
From the start, Houston failed to find true replacements for Hector Herrera, Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla, Micael, and adequate depth to cover for the injuries of Erik Sviatchenko, Nelson Quiñones, Lawrence Ennali, and subsequent rotations. Ben Olsen was given a task to use Pat Onstad’s box of toys to swim across the ocean with pool noodles. They were betting on the main core of players to hold the line towards results at the cost of my personal sanity.
The Dynamo not only failed to make playoffs for the first time in Ben Olsen’s tenure, but also set a new worst home record in team history (5W-11L-3D), was the fourth worst defense in team history during a 34-game season (56 goals conceded), and had the lowest accurate shooting percentage in MLS last year (30.8%). In short, they were unwatchable.
Houston lost any momentum gained after 2024 and were once again looking at another rebuild which was hinted at after signing players recovering from injuries like Duane Holmes and Diadié Samassékou during the season.
The Dynamo had a pretty strong offseason despite securing signings months after the season ended. It was made clear that they focused their efforts to strengthen their experience and add players that are familiar with Olsen’s style of possession.
Houston offloaded seventeen players (including MF Brooklyn Raines, DF Franco Escobar, and MF Amine Bassi) but signed several veterans (MF Agustín Bouzat, FW Guilherme, DF Franco Negri, and return of MF Héctor Herrera), much-needed young blood (DF Lucas Halter and FW Nick Markanich), and a third DP in MF Mateusz Bogusz.
Preseason showed a lot of favorable results, although I don’t have an opinion since most of them were played behind closed doors.
I made a full list of transfers by the Dynamo this offseason if you want more details.
⬢ Goalkeeper: Jonathan Bond, Blake Gillingham, Jimmy Maurer.
⬢ Defenders: Felipe Andrade, Antônio Carlos, Griffin Dorsey, Erik Sviatchenko.
⬢ Midfielders: Artur, Duane Holmes, Ondřej Lingr, Jack McGlynn, Diadié Samassékou.
⬢ Forwards: Lawrence Ennali, Ezequiel Ponce, Nelson Quiñónes.
It remains to be seen if the new core fits in a system that can be faulty because the head coach is stubborn with the choice of players, but it can work in the right situations. We have seen flashes from players like Lawrence Ennali, Jack McGlynn, and Felipe Andrade, and the potential is there to elevate their performances behind the new faces that can succeed under Ben Olsen.
We are looking at Houston starting fresh in a season where they have to prove themselves once again. Can the back line stay consistent and not be altered on a weekly basis? Is the midfield going to keep up with the demands to stick with the ball? Is the front going to receive enough service unlike last year? I have been very optimistic with the Dynamo but felt like I was burned last year. While I like the improvements made in the offseason, the playoff push is earned without half-assing it towards the tail-end of the season.
I’d like to be surprised though, and they can offload one of our DPs in time for a summer signing. We’ll see
I still live a very dynamic lifestyle. I am pretty active on Twitter/X - @DynamicFoxtrot and produce the Noodle Time, Dash Dispatch, Dinámico and Instant Ramen podcasts on my spare time
We also do blog stuff and more on our website.
Thanks for reading my fanfic again.
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