The Official Houston Dynamo / MLS Thread

I'm just glad they're taking it even remotely seriously this year. In every year past, they'd play reserves and get knocked out early. It would be nice to add another trophy to the cabinet.

 

I'm posting this mostly for those of you who follow MLS more consistently than I do. I swoop in and pay attention to the league every few years, but also go entire seasons without so much as watching a game.

But I've been paying attention this season, and in following the league this year and then looking back at results from the last few years, I can't help but notice that many of the league's flagship early franchises have fielded some of the worst teams in recent years. San Jose, Colorado, and D.C. are all among the worst teams in the league right now, and in quickly scanning recent history, that's been the case for several years. Similarly, New England and Chicago have missed the playoffs more often than not of late, and like the NBA, you don't have to be all that much better than mediocre to slip into the playoffs in MLS. Meanwhile, the likes of Atlanta, NYCFC, and LAFC wasted no time in becoming powerhouses in the league.

Is it that some of these older franchises just haven't done a good job of adapting to the new economics of MLS, where the money flows a little more freely, or is there something else at play?

 

I definitely think the money is part of it. Some of the teams are owned by guys who, for many years, have been accused of not really caring about their MLS franchises (Bob Kraft, Stan Kroenke). A lot of the MLS 2.0 franchises also built their soccer-specific stadiums in bad locations (Chicago, Colorado, New York Red Bulls, Dallas, LA Galaxy and Philadelphia) that aren't in their cities proper and/or have little to no public transit connections. While getting these stadiums built was key for the growth of the league, the 3.0 teams that we see having so much success now are all (mostly) located in the center of town. One other original team, Columbus, has an owner who is actively trying to sabotage his market in order to move them to Austin.

Each successful club seems to have something unique going for it: the Sounders stepped into the Sonics' void in Seattle; Portland is a one-team town during the season; LAFC is new and shiny with a great stadium; Kansas City has worked hard to create a great game day culture with their new stadium; Atlanta had success from day one, has an owner who pumps money into the club and seems to be on the cutting edge of what MLS should be (finding and developing the stars of tomorrow rather than paying for semi-retired stars), etc. It remains to be seen if DC United can turn it around now that they finally have a new stadium.

I don't live in Houston, so I can't speak to why the Dynamo are so lackluster. As someone who used to pay a lot more attention to the team, I began to lose interest when it seemed like management had no philosophy. We never went the route of "overpriced, aging stars" but it seemed like we also couldn't identify young players like Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron. The club was content to tread water. And, for as nice as BBVA is, it's brutal to attend a game. If I'm traveling to Houston, I'll usually only attend a game pre-May or post-September because of the heat and the lack of coverage at the stadium. I really wish they'd invest some money into BBVA and put up canopies over every section. It has to be hard to persuade people to come out and sweat to death in mid-July.

Does anybody else in Houston have any ideas about why the Dynamo struggle so much with attendance?

 

They're lackluster because they have lackluster owners with a lackluster roster. Yes, the summer can be a crappy time to go to games. But it's a crowd that really wants a winner. They're not the Astros or the Texans. They will not keep the base for long with the just abject mediocrity the ownership seems to be fine with.

They struggle with attendance because this is a city in it's golden age of sports. The Astros are World Series Champs. The Rockets had the best record in the NBA. The Texans are football and have the most exciting young player in the NFL. The Dynamo are currently out of the playoff hunt...have no players worth giving a s*** about...have very little in the way of prospects or anything to believe their fortunes will change any time soon. Outside of the supporter groups loonies, the casual fan just doesn't give a crap anymore.

That and it's hot as f*** in the summer. I agree with your idea to find a way to add more shade. That would be a worthwhile investment in the stadium. But "worthwhile investments" aren't what they do.

 

Brutal game tonight against SKC. Gotta think there will be some fallout from all the cards...

 

Right, just (possible) regular season mls implications...

 

big match tonight, only trophy in play for this team

 

very cool they are in the final. Hopefully a sell out with a trophy, 300k and Champions League all on the line

 

Pretty cool that the team is playing for something meaningful this year. I hope that they market this and the stadium sells out.

 

Feels like it’s been a while. I know they were in the semis last year but that still felt like a fluke.

Very happy they’re playing for actual hardware and a shot at playing in the Champions League. Think I’ll try to go to that one.

 

I have to share this clip of Wayne Rooney's effort last night:



That may be the single most impressive run of play from an older DP in league history.

 

I think people forget that Rooney is only 32. He's got a ton of miles on his legs...but he's really not that old.