Opinion: It’s Time for Change in Houston | OneFootball

Written by Juan Pereira / Foxtrot Media

Not A Hit Piece

No, this isn’t a #BenOut, #PatOut, or #SegalOut piece. If you were expecting me to personally bash the entire ownership and staff of the Dynamo, you can click right off. However, this is an honest look at what has gone wrong this season, who’s to blame, and what can be done to fix it.

Stale Tactics

When you look at the 2025 Houston Dynamo, it’s easy to call out the players for poor performance, and it’s true that many of them haven’t played at the standard we expect. However, for a lot of people, it’s clear that this isn’t just a player issue. It’s a management issue, and for too long, this coaching staff has stuck to similar ideas with little evolution.

We see the team trying to build up from the back as if Héctor Herrera was still in the midfield, with Griffin Dorsey or Felipe Andrade pushing up the right side and overlapping as an inverted forward. But here’s the thing: the league figured it out. Teams know what they are facing when they look at Houston. The secret’s been out for three seasons.

Headscratcher Lineups

Some of the lineup decisions this season have been questionable to say the least, the most confounding of which being Ondrej Lingr’s integration to the team. It was clear from the start of the offseason that Houston needed a DP 10 to reach the next level. Eventually, the team brought in Lingr, whose performances have honestly been pretty decent so far. So what does the coaching staff do? They plug him into the wings, a position he’s not entirely comfortable in. This past match against Austin was one of the first times he was slotted in the middle with Jack McGlynn and Ezequiel Ponce both on the pitch.

Pundits and fans were salivating at the thought of Houston having their two DPs centrally with McGlynn on the right and Lawrence Ennali on the left, but we haven’t seen those three on the field together consistently at all.

Defensively, the club has been a circus, partly due to injuries. But regardless, they’ve been left constantly exposed and easy to pass through.

The midfield has been hit or miss. McGlynn has shown a lot of promise but hasn’t been given a lot of support. Ennali has sparks, but it feels like he’s being tied down to the left wing with no freedom, similar to Ibrahim Aliyu, who’s now succeeding at Columbus Crew much more than he did here.

Where Do We Go?

So, what does change look like for the Dynamo? The clearest option is for the coaching staff to shake the tactics up. Anything that is different from their 3-box-3 shape could work. Houston needs to give teams a different look, something they’re not expecting. You can still keep that 3-box-3 shape around, but it shouldn’t be your only way to set up in possession.

When it comes to signings, the team has unsuccessfully addressed the impact of Micael and Herrera’s departures. Pablo Ortiz and Femi Awodesu have been severely inconsistent, and with Erik Sviatchenko struggling with injury, much of the team’s defensive fortitude has evaporated. It is important to state that the club recently brought in Antônio Carlos from Fluminense, and hopefully he can be the consistent defender Houston desperately needs.

Nevertheless, selling Coco and Micael while letting Herrera go wasn’t the mistake. The mistake was not replacing them correctly. Houston struck gold with McGlynn, but he ended up becoming the Coco replacement, and although Brooklyn Raines has stepped up to be a vital contributor, he is a different player than Herrera. Ben Olsen’s system requires an HH clone, and the team never got one.

It’s also noteworthy to know that according to spotrac.com, the Dynamo are 27th out of 30 MLS clubs when it comes to total financial allocations at $13,414,691. One has to wonder if a lack of investment has hindered the team’s ability to properly replace their assets.

Not All Bad…

So, with all that said, the Dynamo still have life and are within striking distance of a play-in spot despite the recent trainwrecks. The fans are itching for something to cheer about, and it’s up to Ben Olsen, Pat Onstad, the front office, and the owner to all change course and right the wrongs, or before long, the entire fanbase, not just a vocal minority, will start calling for their replacements. That’s just business.

Photo by Rafael Rincon (@r2captures)