Now that the cows are out of the barn…. Options have been declined on Jan Gregus, Hector Herrera, Junior Moreno, Brad Smith, Ousmane Sylla, and Xavier Valdez. The club exercised options on Franco Escobar, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Micael and Gabe Segal. They are in negotiations to return next season with Latif Blessing, Steve Clark, Daniel Steres, Tate Schmitt, and Andrew Tarbell. Onstad press conference from yesterday:
If I am following along right, Micael will now be in his last year. Either re-sign him with the raise he deserves NOW along with a contract extension or shop him and sell him for the best deal you can get. Don't repeat the Stu Holden mistake.
Pat's comment about Micael reinforces my stated hunch from earlier this year that he will be in Europe before too long. Here's hoping Barlow can gain some muscle and be serviceable as a replacement
On Soccer Matters tonight Pat Onstad indicated they are leaning towards NOT replacing HH with a DP, but to go the 2 DP plus 4 U-22DP route. At the same time, he said a high profile DP is not off the table. Yes, these statements are in conflict with each other to a certain extent. Also, that Sebas is not being bought out. They will only consider a "solution" where someone takes him off Dynamo's hands. Glenn Davis theorized that a big DP would include offloading Sebas.
https://bsky.app/profile/tombogert.bsky.social/post/3lawnkxlnjc2i Tom Bogert saying Lucio Acosta wants out of Cincy. Could he be the #10 the Houston Dynamo need?
Hearing Pat lament that a Mexican player didn't produce attendance numbers that they hoped made me chuckle. The Mexican Yeti still exists in these peoples minds! I got the feeling that the chance of Sebas leaving was next to zero. We are gonna be stuck with that turd in the punch bowl until his contract completely runs out. Who's gonna buy him? The team would have to pay a ton towards his salary just to make any other team listen. Can't believe the FO is ok with one of our DPs being a bench player. Again. And I agreed with Glenns assessment that HH didn't do enough to put himself out to the english speaking audience. Learning a few simple words and learning a few lines to say for commercials, promos, etc would have moved the needle a bit. Pat pushed back by saying HH could handle himself in the locker room with English. Glenns retort was "why didn't he do that out side of the locker room?" BINGO! We could really use a player that can both be a star on the field and connect with the overwhelming majority of the people who provide revenue to the team...english only speakers.
Get on this Pat! Please brother!!! Acosta is a class #10 footballer. An MLS team can win over a Mexican man via his son's and daughters that grow up as Houstonians. When he wants them to not only watch his lifelong team on TV but experience live futbol. But the pandering to the entrenched Mexican lifer footy man should be understood by now from our FO. Sebas reminds me of Kelvin Cato of our city's Houston Rockets. He got a 5 year $55 million deal and then reported back in preseason camp overweight and unmotivated. The team had to eat his contract bad. Sebas is an empty jersey. Yao Ming of our city's Rockets crushed it with his desire to learn English and thus get out in the marketing of himself via commercials and the like!
Wednesday, Nov 27, 2024, 11:56 AM HOUSTON (Nov. 27, 2024) –After today’s deadline to submit all contract option decisions to the MLS League Office, Houston Dynamo FC can confirm roster decisions following the 2024 season. In addition to the initial decisions announced on November 6, the Dynamo enter the offseason with 22 players on the roster after exercising the 2025 contract option on one player and declining options for four players. Houston exercised 2025 contract options for the following player: GK Andrew Tarbell Houston declined 2025 contract options for the following four players: MF Latif Blessing GK Steve Clark DF Daniel Steres DF Tate Schmitt Houston’s updated roster can be found below listed alphabetically by position: Goalkeepers (1): Andrew Tarbell Defenders (6): Ethan Bartlow, Griffin Dorsey, Franco Escobar, Micael, Kieran Sargeant, Erik Sviatchenko Midfielders (6): Artur, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Brooklyn Raines, Sebastian Rodriguez, Jefferson Valverde Forwards (9): Stephen Annor, Exon Arzú, Amine Bassi, Lawrence Ennali, Sebastian Ferreira, Aliyu Ibrahim, Ezequiel Ponce, Nelson Quiñónes, Gabe Segal
Not surprised about Clark. Very surprised about Steres. Dang. I thought he had a great 2024. When either back was out Dynamo didn't miss a beat. Was dangerous when he got forward. I really thought he would be back. Surprised about Blessing. His # must have been pretty high. Not surprised about Tate Schmidt.
Agree. With Micael having one foot out the door, getting rid of Steres is not an obvious move. I was thinking that they've got a lot of confidence in Bartlow, I now think that they've decided to have ALL the confidence in Bartlow. I didn't see anything to warrant said confidence but he must practice well and reached a development that meets the teams standards. Hope he is ready to be the man next to Svia.
Steres was on $500k last year. He'd jump up from there this year with his option. That's a lot for a 34 year old depth player, no matter how much I like him and how solid he was. Could find someone with a similar level of contribution for less. Personally don't see Micael leaving soon. Still too error prone.
Tom Bogart's HDFC summary is up: https://www.givemesport.com/houston-dynamo-offseason-guide-state-of-the-roster-transfer-priorities/