Houston Dynamo

Made the playoffs in both years since Ben Olsen took charge. Had a run of 5 consecutive years without post-season football before that. Took a step back in 2024 though. After their Conference Final appearance a year earlier last season got knocked out in round 1. Many injury issues to key players, winger Nelson Quiñónes missed the entire season, led to patchy form all year. Still, the solid home form was enough to give Houston 5th place in their Conference. However, they scored only 47 goals, no player in the squad had more than 6 goals last year. The hopes for better forward actions lie entirely on the shoulders of the late-season arrival in 2024 Ezequiel Ponce. If he can become a regular contributor Houston might stand a chance of making the post-season again. The pessimistic outlook regarding Houston’s season is related to their negative transfer activity this winter. What the Dynamo fans called “The Trump-effect” led to indispensable captain Herrera, equally important winger Carrasquilla and numerous other players leave Houston for good. It has been hard to convince players to join the team too and the roster shrank significantly. Jack McGlynn is talented new arrival but none of the other 3 new signings made so far improve the quality much. Lack depth in many areas. Have only 2 typical full-backs on the roster right now. Also, only 2 goalies with both used to be mainly back-ups in past years. This brings serious worries regarding the only area that looked impressive last year – the defensive stability.