Taking all the "big" signings that were promised to us this summer together does run counter to the win now narrative. Isolating edge cases can make it appear that everything is fine and there's nothing to see here, but that's a tactic of a press secretary and counts on folks not being able to see the complete texture. We've been told since the beginning of last off season to wait until this summer & all will be well. The anticipation and the intimation was much larger than the delivered goods. So far.
Reality is what is a "big" signing to the Dynamo FO and "the project" is not likely to move needles with fans. They may be excellent signings, but the Dynamo in current soccer transfer markets today are highly unlkely to ever spend enough for a name player anywhere near his prime. HH is the ceiling.
This popped up on my Youtuber feed: Its a short, rather silly, interview with Eric Sviatchenko and his father.
Young Raines!!!!! Brooklyn Raines! 🤯💥The @usynt leads 2-1 🇺🇸 #U20Championship pic.twitter.com/BHJw8rRAKP— Concacaf (@Concacaf) August 2, 2024
Bombazo of a strike in the Semi Final! However, Raines was showing well in the Final but suffered two leg cramps late on in the Final versus Mexico circa minute 89. He didn't need to be subbed off but the coach decided to do just this in stoppage time and this move had a tremendous domino effect on his teammates. I mean their collapse late on was epic in performance. Specifically the player that replaced Raines.
Reports from Columbia of a new kid headed in an orange direction: 🚨 Exclusiva: Andy Batioja (18) está muy cerca de ser nuevo jugador de #HoustonDynamo. #AtléticoNacional lo envía a préstamo (un año) con opción de compra 🇨🇴👀 El extremo, figura del equipo Sub-20, fue el mejor jugador del Torneo Mitad del Mundo. Se va sin 1 minuto profesional pic.twitter.com/zCGQrErXQ3— Pipe Sierra (@PSierraR) August 14, 2024
Yeah. Guy has less than a few minutes as a pro. I like the team putting effort into finding young prospects.
Dynamo choose DP roster model over U22 model. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-clubs-declare-roster-construction-models-for-2024-season LAFC chose a 5DP 3 U22 model. Miami chose the no limits option.
https://www.houstondynamofc.com/new...on-arzu-on-full-transfer-from-real-c-d-espana Exon Arzu has been signed on a permanent deal to the Dynamo first team. He’s a U22 signing but is on the roster due to Quinones’ Season Ending Injury designation. Of course that leads to a decision to be made next season. With them having 3DPs and 4 U22 someone will have to give way. The obvious answer is to sell/buyout Sebas. Alternatives include not renewing HH’s contract (team option after this year) or selling Aliyu. It’ll be interesting to see which direction they end up going.
Actually I'm glad you mentioned that. I saw this yesterday but forgot to post. Asher suggests they have room to do that with Econ. We originally planned to execute his transfer this coming winter, but decided to utilize Nelson’s open U22 spot this window to save future cap space. His fee is low enough that he can be converted to a senior roster player in future.— Asher Mendelsohn (@asherhdfc) August 20, 2024
Sources: The Houston Dynamo have signed midfielder Junior Moreno.Moreno, 31, has been a free agent since the summer. Longtime MLSer with D.C. United and FC Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/No17OgY8Ai— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) September 14, 2024 Dynamo make their final roster addition of the year (roster freeze apparently occurred last midnight) in signing Junior Moreno. Most recently played in the Saudi league but was a major contributor to Cincinnati’s Shield winning team last year
MLS has released updated club roster profiles. The Dynamo chose the 3 DP and 3 U22 model for this season. Houston has 17 players with options for next season. #Hustlin4More pic.twitter.com/NlIsqv5ry5— Bayou City Soccer (@BayouCitySoccer) September 18, 2024 Dynamo roster information after the roster freeze
Technically this would be roster 2025 I guess, but Dynamo take the big step of not picking up HHs club option for 2025.
Answering my question, I found this online: https://www.houstondynamofc.com/new...ce-roster-decisions-following-the-2024-season
Man o man, just reading over that Roster of the 17 players under contract. I want to be up for a run next season but we need reinforcements at every position!
Thank god they went out to get Junior Moreno! Probably was the idea all along to grab him, evaluate, and negotiate new contract if they think he still has mileage left. Only thing I would quibble about is saying "As we look to 2025, we will return the core of our team, and we are already working hard to build on our foundation in the coming transfer windows." I'm not really complaining here. It matters not how they describe it. But letting HH go is not returning the core of this team. I don't know why this club insists on constantly saying crap we all know is not true. How many times has Olsen said "As HH goes, we go." That sounds pretty damn core.
One more thing ... if they don't buyout Sebas Ferriera then Onstad deserves any and all criticism anyone wants to heap on them. Now that matters. No team in this league is failing to buyout seriously underperforming contracts when they have the chance.
I'll be curious to see what they say about HH. For right now I'll assume the objective is to try and bring him back at a smaller contract.