Alex Lima, Andrew Wenger and Cristian Maidana celebrate after a goal in Houston Dynamo’s 5-0 rout of Houston Baptist University. Victor Araiza / Prost Amerika.
After spending a little over a week in Tucson for the Desert Friendlies, the Houston Dynamo were back home in front their fans to host Houston Baptist University in an open scrimmage that took place Saturday at Houston Sports Park.
The Dynamo dominated in the 5-0 handling of the Huskies and were able to see four of their forwards find the back of the net. Dynamo Head Coach Owen Coyle used two different lineups in each half in a game that featured the debuts of former Philadelphia Union midfielder Cristian Maidana and Spanish newcomers Agús and David Rocha.
Here are my five takeaways on the Dynamo following Saturday’s game:
There are positives but don’t be fooled by the scoreline.
This result has to be taken with a grain of salt. HBU is an NCAA Division I soccer team, not a professional team like the three Major League Soccer sides the Dynamo faced in Arizona. There’s not much the Dynamo players and coaching staff can take away from this result based on the level of competition.
With that said, this game was more about finding their rhythm, building confidence and showing face in front of the orange faithful. The Dynamo accomplished all three of those objectives. They integrated two different players into the squad, and Owen Coyle saw two different starting XI (either of which could be the starters in any given game this season) perform well.
The Dynamo are far from completely finding their stride but that is normal in preseason. Still, the opening date of March 6 is just three weeks away and the Dynamo can’t afford another sluggish start like they did in 2015.
Confidence for the forwards
.@MauroManotas19 makes it 3-0. #ForeverOrange pic.twitter.com/PYJYm8Wd0v
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) February 13, 2016
A big problem for the Dynamo down the stretch last season was that their forwards weren’t able to finish games for them. Some of the wins late in the year masked the fact that guys like defender DaMarcus Beasley and midfielder Ricardo Clark were the ones scoring clutch goals.
A good sign today was that all four of the Dynamo forwards found the back of the net. Erick Torres scored off an open play (his only other goal this preseason was off a penalty), 20-year-old Mauro Manotas had a brace, and Will Bruin and Giles Barnes were creative with their attempts on goal by shooting from outside the box.
Now that the Dynamo return to Arizona for their participation in the Desert Diamond Cup it will be interesting to see what they can do against MLS competition this time around.
¡Bienvenidos Agús y David!
Houston Dynamo newcomer David Rocha featured in his first preseason match since joining from Spanish club Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Victor Araiza / Prost Amerika.
The two new Spanish signings for the Houston Dynamo arrived earlier this week and went into Saturday’s scrimmage with only a day of practice. Agús featured as a central defender with fellow Spaniard Raul Rodriguez in the first half. My guess is that these two will be the starting center backs on opening day if Agús’ performance in preseason satisfies the coaching staff. David Rocha played in the second half in the midfield with Cristian Maidana and was active all over the field.
‘Chaco’ debuts
Anibaba with the throw, Bruin with the flick and Chaco with the easy finish. #ForeverOrange pic.twitter.com/UMr25IebIa
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) February 13, 2016
This one is important because, indirectly, the Dynamo punted on Brad Davis to go all in on a new midfield that features around Cristian Maidana’s playmaking ability. This was Chaco’s first game with the team as he missed out on the first three preseason games due to injury. Maidana played the entire second half and looked to be limping early in the second half. His appearance is a positive and featured his first goal in a Dynamo jersey.
Defense and other closing notes
I didn’t get to dive too much into this but the defensive play also looked positive. Newcomers Bradley Bourgeois, Sebastien Ibeagha and Jalil Anibaba all fit in to Coyle’s defensive scheme of using his defenders to contribute to the attacking game and providing promising passes. Andrew Wenger looked active on the right side and contributed with a great pass that set up Will Bruin for an easy goal in the second half.
The only negative from Saturday’s scrimmage: Ricardo Clark remains absent from preseason friendlies due to injury.
The Dynamo will take part in a scrimmage against their U18 Academy team on Tuesday afternoon before hopping on a plane Thursday for their second trip to Tucson to take part in the Desert Diamond Cup.
Correction: February 14, 2016
In the 11th paragraph, this article misstated that Cristian Maidana played the scrimmage against HBU without shin guards. In an effort to correct this error, that statement has since been omitted.
