Houston Dynamo seek progress (and result) against New England Revolution

Despite a loss on MLS Opening Day, Houston Dynamo FC received good reviews around the league in its first match under new head coach Ben Olsen. On Matchweek 2, even with a tough snowy forecast, they'll hope to come away with a better effort.

"Just progress in all the aspects that we've been focusing on," said head coach Ben Olsen. "Seeing this team grow, on the offensive end, defensive end, transitions, mentality, the mindset. All this stuff, we're just gauging it week to week to see how we can continue to improve this team. All while getting results."

The Dynamo fell 2-1 at FC Cincinnati to open the 2023 season last Saturday, and Olsen will look for his first victory in his second MLS job as a head coach. This week's challenge comes against one of his mentors, U.S. coaching great Bruce Arena.

"Those that have paid attention know that he means a lot to me, as far as a guy that has coached me and been a big influence on my career," said Olsen. "It's always nice to go against him. We've always had a good relationship but I'd like to spoil his party, just as much as he'd like to beat us."

Key offseason signing Amine Bassi has yet to debut and is listed as questionable. Ifunanyachi Achara and Djevencio van der Kust, who both arrived in Houston this week, are also questionable, as is Franco Escobar. 

'We want results'

A Gustavo Bou-less New England Revolution was one of four MLS clubs that won away in the season's first weekend. Henry Kessler scored in the 89th minute against Charlotte FC to take a point on the road in front of 69,345 spectators.

Houston will look to take its first away result of the season as it visits Gillette Stadium this weekend. They'll not only have to do it in uncomfortable weather but also bring that 'nasty' that Olsen preached about in his introductory press conference. 

"We want results and those results are going to take a feistiness, a nastiness," said defender Griffin Dorsey. "I think it's the same message. The ability to get ... nasty and grind out a result away, especially at a place like New England where it's going to be cold and it's going to be snowy. We're just going to be there ready to grit out anything we got to grit out but we're coming home with three points."

Dorsey is in his fifth MLS season and is looking to improve on a season-high 1,644 minutes in 2022. He came off the bench for the final 19 minutes in Cincinnati in place of newcomer and starter Escobar.

His individual goals for the season coincide with the team's objectives to be a winning team, get better results, and be involved as much as possible. He's also vying for a starting spot if he can help it.

"I'll be here all season. I think Franco knows that. I think Ben knows that. I think even the wingers know," said Dorsey. "I'm confident that I can win the starting spot and I can be the starting outside back for this team and, for me personally, I think that it's going to take hard work, understanding and just going out there and having fun because I know when I do that I'm playing at my best."

Turning 24 on Sunday, Dorsey has sights on playing himself into the U.S. men's national team picture. He was called up at the U18 and U20 categories but has yet to earn a call-up at the senior level.

Dorsey is expected to get additional minutes in New England because of Escobar's status and being one of the more experienced options on the bench. He may have to defend former college roommate Justin Rennicks in the latter stages of the game.

Controlling the midfield

The Dynamo midfield of Artur, Adalberto Carrasquilla, and Hector Herrera was praised by Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan for controlling the game. Arena himself praised Herrera in this week's media scrum ahead of the match with Houston.

"Excellent midfield," Arena said of Houston. "Herrera is going to be one of the best players in the league. I was very impressed with his game against Cincinnati. That midfield play is outstanding so we're going to have to do a good job in the midfield...had a good tough game in Cincinnati, at times controlled the play. They're going to be a real difficult team on Saturday."

New England's midfield is led by 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil; Matt Polster and Noel Buck played behind him in Charlotte. The young Colombian duo of Damian Rivera and Dylan Borrero featured out wide.

Herrera had one of his better games with Houston in Matchweek 1, providing an assist on the corner and a close-range opportunity off a free-kick. The club has cited his leadership on numerous occasions since his arrival and it's an area in which he is expected to keep helping the team.

"I love Hector," Dorsey said. "I think everyone on the team loves Hector. He has a very likable personality. He doesn't speak much English but we get along through facial expressions and body expressions. It's fantastic. He's a character, he's a leader, he's a competitor and we all love him.

"Last year, I got some very positive words from Hector. It's always encouraging to get positive words from a player of that caliber. So I think anytime Hector has the opportunity to communicate with any of the guys on the team, it's taken as a bit of a mentorship."

General Manager Pat Onstad has mentioned, in prior interviews, his desire for Herrera to be the connector of the team. If HH can do that, perhaps the Dynamo can come away with a result.

Better service for Sebas

The struggles to set up forward Sebastian Ferreira continue. The Paraguayan, who provided 13 league goals in 2022 with limited service at times, only got two touches in the box last weekend, but the club feels he can provide better numbers in his second MLS season.

"We had enough possession and enough good attacks, playing balls forward when we wanted, to give him more success and more touches in front of goal," said Olsen. "I felt we probably passed up three or four really good opportunities to get service into the box. Our numbers in the box were very good. Our average of player in the box hit our target of where we want to be in that three to four players per service. So that part was all there, now it's just about delivery."

Ferreira came into the midfield in the first match of the season in search of the ball. Olsen clarified that's not how he wants his star forward spending his time during games and wants him playing as a traditional number nine.

The wide game is also an area of preferred improvement regarding attacking. The Dynamo head coached felt his team did not threaten enough in the spaces behind defenders  Whether it was our front three, we didn't exploit the space behind consistently enough in that game and that was disappointing.

When it came to the ending moments of the match, the Dynamo did not have a player that could help solidify a result on the road. While Olsen praised the qualities of his players, he also stated his desire to get deeper as the season goes on.

"We believe in our depth, but we would like to keep pushing that depth, for sure," Olsen said. "Amine's day to day, we're trying to figure out what we can do with him, so he'll bring us some depth. In a perfect world, we're a little bit deeper than we were against Cincinnati but yes, we're always looking to improve that and we understand that depth is a key component to success in this league."