Recent decisions beg question about direction of Houston Dynamo FC

What exactly is the direction of Houston Dynamo FC?

The Dynamo have qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs only once since 2014. Nine seasons of decline have led to a diminishing fanbase and a further disconnect from a soccer-passionate public who, in spite of the struggles for relevancy from its two representatives in the top domestic leagues, has earned its city the right to be a host during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The appointment of a head coach, a decision facing both the men's and women's teams, is only the start of a phase that will (hopefully) instill long-term success. Given that the entire organization is going through, arguably, the most important offseason in its history, it begs the question of if the club is headed in the right direction.

New owner was off to hopeful start

With a second-to-last finish in the Western Conference in 2022, the Houston Dynamo has now failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs in five consecutive seasons. The arrival of new owner Ted Segal in 2021 inspired hope for a return to a winning culture but that has yet to be the case despite a sizable investment on and off the field.

The firing of longtime sporting director Matt Jordan, along with the hiring of club legend Pat Onstad as his replacement, looked to be the first turn of the page. Last offseason, around $4 million was spent to acquire Paraguayan forward Sebastian Ferreira, the most expensive signing in club history. Shortly after, Mexican national team midfielder Hector Herrera was signed on a pre-contract to a reported annual salary of around $5.2 million in guaranteed compensation, a move that has catapulted the team's payroll into the top ten among in MLS teams.

These are the types of moves fans have hoped for years to happen but, having fallen behind the pack for many years, those moves alone were not enough to get the team into the postseason. Paulo Nagamura, hired by Onstad to be the head coach of the first team, was relieved of his duties just eight months after his appointment — but the disappointment began upon his announcement as fans were baffled by the hire of a coach with no prior MLS head coaching experience. 

Under Segal's ownership, the hope was to finally be in contention for a more high-profile name, similar to what Atlanta United did in hiring Gerardo Martino, especially with Houston's global population. As Onstad undergoes a second coaching search in as many years, the hopes for that type of hire have been rebuffed.

Olsen hiring the opposite of the desired ambition

Perhaps the Dynamo were never going to aspire to pay the likes of a Marcelo Bielsa, but fans could not have imagined ending up with another unproven winner in former D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen. After retiring from the Dynamo, Onstad played briefly and coached under the D.C. United legend who will become the next head coach of the club, which is a simple summary of the relationship between the two.

For starters, even if Olsen has the qualifications, the "hire a friend" policy was one that was supposed to have ended with the prior administration. Onstad was supposed to adopt a more serious way of running a club and the Segal era was expected to be one of realized potential.

Olsen coached ten full seasons in MLS, with six of those resulting in playoff trips, albeit in the less demanding Eastern Conference. Yet the outcome of those postseason appearances is less impressive. Olsen went one-and-done on four occasions and had Wayne Rooney and Luciano Acosta in his last two attempts.

Moreover, the expected announcement of Olsen as a head coach is a gut punch to the hopes of seeing the club aspire to a pedigree worthy of the fourth-largest city in the United States, a supposed goal of the club under Segal. Instead, it is a hiring that signals more of the same mediocre attempts that have led the club to miss the playoffs eight times in the last nine seasons.

The Houston Dynamo missed an opportunity to make an impactful signing that could inject confidence from the Houston soccer public. The club could have brought in an experienced coach to instill an exciting playing style and dig deeper into the player development side of things.

Granted no coach is a guarantee and each comes with questions. Best of luck to Ben Olsen, he'll need it.

Roster improvement remains a concern

Regardless of who was hired as the head coach, the roster also needs to be vastly improved this off-season. Depth has been a problem for years and one that rears its ugly head as the Dynamo's playoffs hopes take a nosedive every summer.

With about 14 expiring contracts, the opportunity is there to inject a lot of fresh new faces. The hiring of Olsen, a coach praised for his ability to motivate players, seems to point to more players staying than going, though that remains to be seen.

The one guarantee is that the club's three Designated Player spots are spoken for, with Herrera, Ferreira, and Adalberto Carrasquilla in those roles. Only if MLS adds a rumored fourth DP spot can the Dynamo add another high-salary impact player.

Given those conditions for the Houston roster, Olsen will have to get more out of that trio than what he got from his two MLS Best XI stars at D.C. United — which included the second all-time goalscorer in the Premier League and one of the top assist men in MLS. At least at this point, it's a losing situation.

The pipeline from the Dynamo Academy isn't a promising one, at least not one that has MLS-ready talent, and the club isn't exactly hitting on every SuperDraft pick they get. The supporting cast needs to be bettered through free agency and in-league moves because there are hardly any other options.

Onstad will have the opportunity to explain the current direction of the club but, for now, it looks like a longer rebuild than what was initially expected. The setbacks of 2022 led to a year lost and 2023 doesn't look to be setting up for a drastic turnaround.