The most charitable scenario I can come up with is that Dorsey, being on his last year, indicated he wanted a big bump and that didn't fit in the cap. So it was either get value now or risk losing him on a free. That is all speculation (except that he was on his last year -- that I understand is certain.) Frankly, I found Dorsey fun to watch but prone to turnovers in buildup, being out of position defensively, and struggled to lock down his side defensively. For $700k/yr I'm not heartbroken to get $1M GAM plus addons. I respect the hell out of him though. He carved out a solid stint here including a wonder goal or two.
They didn't use him in the preseason like they intended to trade him 3 days before the opener. Feels like the Michael deal but on a much smaller scale
There is an interview of Olsen out there, a TUDN reporter, where Olsen says the team needs two more pieces and he hopes, thinks, they can get done in the next two weeks. FYI
On RB, and I'm doing some guessing here, they see the role now in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. So the job is not really RB, but RM. They see Holmes and Andrade as adequate. Regarding who they should add, I'm guessing defenders, especially ones that can cover many positions. Their centerback core is kind of old -- need to anticipate fitness issues. If they can swing it, a really good CB, a defender of the year candidate. I would love to see this team have the ability to replace the RM with a lock-down RB and shut games down when they are ahead.
I listened to the entire Ben Olsen presser. What I found most interesting was twice, he hinted that there are a couple acquisitions being worked on, including one that was very significant, but that it would not materialize in the immediate near-term future. That last part came at the second hint, towards the end.
that suggests a cap issue. coach started him all preseason. coach would have voted to keep him. not personnel evaluation. and not a purposeful formation change. not when you have no time to work on it before opening day. (it might force a shift to cope but that's hardly something you do half cooked the week of an opener, not even in HS or college) if a guy refuses to extend future years at a reasonable rate, you'd deal with that either early in the preseason or this summer. he'd be under contract this season and his salary wouldn't be going up now. no replacement says this wasn't planned. coach didn't ask for it. do the math, they screwed up something on the cap or roster rules. MLS told them to fix it now. they then look at expendable players, and, yeah, dorsey might have been thin ice, and cost a lot. you toss him overboard.
they might be tentatively top-toeing towards replacing ponce. you'd want to do that one "just so." he's a lousy GM if he can only think of one player, who we might not get for a year, or ever. a good GM should have dozens of options including ones he can get tomorrow if they are saying wouldn't even be done this summer, "darwin quintero." you have to acquire players within the window of the rest of the team or so what. and if you just yearn for them for years but don't get it done, time they arrive here, they are past it. they just sold their starting RB.
i don't think you get how 343 or 352 works. it's not a "mid" spot, it's not a "back" spot. it's end to end of "both." you are wingback in a 5 man line on defense. you are also the wide engine on offense. you have to judiciously balance the 2 roles. you need to get forward some for your offense. you can't get caught up or they have that whole channel of clear grass to run in. so the idea it would be "nice" to have someone who can shutdown players misses it. for that formation, it would be required. they have to hold a whole wing, alone, no safety net. there is no layering of wing and back. it's all you. you have to get that done even if it reduces your wing offense. at best maybe a CB can try and slide over and bail you out. speed, crossing, and a natural knack for defense. someone like freeman from the NT. not dest or arfsten. they can't dive in and get beat, or you will ship easy goals. i expect a 4 or 5 man backline. you wouldn't sell a regular back from a mediocre defense and then make it more vulnerable with 3 back. they had nearly no time to work on things. it will be next man up in the usual shape.
I got a chance to hear Asher speak before the game. He said that they were not shopping Dorsey but got a call from Orlando and was offered a deal they couldn't pass up. They feel that 1 million dollars is far above his value & didn't turn it down. He confirmed that the GAM has to be used to get another player and can't be slushed to the bottom line or placed into revenue. The scheme of 3 center backs with 2 wing backs is not going to change. They are replacing him but now seem (IMO) to have to panic buy off the market quickly & who knows how long that will take.
I know that Dynamo fans have a lot of sentimental feelings towards Dorsey but it amazes me how many people online cannot grasp these two points
In the post-game presser Ben Olsen was asked about the Dynamo signing 15yo academy product Michael Arana who actually made the team sheet last night to become the youngest Dynamo player ever. I'm going to paraphrase and characterize here, not quote: He said they have been impressed by him at the lower levels so brought him up to train with the first team and everyone, first team players included, were blown away at how good he did. So gave him minutes in pre-season and the kid continued to impress with both his level and his growth and development. Says the majority of Arana's minutes will come in MLS Next this year but thinks Arana will likely get some MLS minutes this year.
Just your faithful reporter here. I personally have no idea how good the Dynamo off-season was. We will see …. I hope it was great. But The Athletic has an annual secret ballot poll of Chief Soccer Officers on a number of questions and one is “Who had the best off-season?” And the Dynamo came in second:
go get cole campbell on a transfer from dortmund. he is from houston. his deal is up this summer. his hoffenheim loan isn't working. he is struggling to make the transition from youth star to adult pro, but has speed and skills to play wing for us. probably cost us $5-10m. he's not quite sullivan or reyna but he's a high level talent.
Dynamo have officially selected 3 DP, 3 U20 model for their roster. Also, Quinones is listed as on-loan. Loan is to Dynamo Dos. So I assume we will hold that U22 slot open for him. Poor kid -- that injury was horrific.
the flaw in the expense explanation is we exercised dorsey's option in the fall. then trotted him out there all spring. but then we also optioned raines. which backs up more of a "sign and trade" take. but raines was done in december, which gives you all winter to find his replacement. but then i am watching mcglynn play 6 and holmes play RB. so, undercutting the "sell kids and replace in the winter" or "this is all the plan" arguments, we might just fart around. literally the only option player who dressed opening day was gillingham as backup GK. artur out. raines and dorsey sold. quinones is basically B team and probably about to be sold as well. HH signed then doesn't play. bouzat was fairly useless. negri and markanich as subs. it's really 4 impact signings, the 2 AM and the 2 backs. and the backs weren't stress tested so we'll see. and bringing it back around, they optioned 2 players they could have gotten rid of, liquidated them into cash, then didn't adequately replace either. so we're slapping together something opening day. and that's planned. no, i tend to think on dorsey either we were forced to sell for cap rules reasons, or the other teams called our bluff on trying to sell him more expensively after optioning him to retain his rights. dorsey didn't get snapped up in december like raines. he didn't net us actual cash like raines. he got us less in compensation than raines. they got to split in roughly half over 2 years the GAM for dorsey.
as i pointed out, we managed one unused opening day sub out of the 2026 exercised options. also, the dynamo quietly spent one of their emergency loans, on opening day, to dress resch the draft pick.
that's not really accurate, is it? GAM can be used to sign or keep a player, yes, but also to buy down a salary cap charge. i mean, yes, it's not literal money in the bank. it's a roster tool. but that tool's use is basically to bend the cap rules. my understanding is we got $600k cap bending GAM this year, $400k cap bending GAM next year. we don't get alerted when it's spent. we did not immediately acquire a new player. ergo this is about (a) general cap restructuring (b) last minute cap compliance or (c) we are back to the old dynamo where we ship people out and punch roster holes and worry about replacements next window.
i don't know what a starting player in MLS is worth in monopoly money, but ORL put dorsey on the field for 177/180 mins so far. raines has similarly played 172/180 mins for NE.
the "tell" we are an asset flipper is the incoming and outgoing are separated by whole windows. winning teams know someone they want to sign then make moves to free cap space. we clear space then think how to use it.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-...vailable-to-clubs-following-roster-compliance Dynamo currently have $2.3 million in GAM available