By all accounts, 2023 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Houston Dynamo FC.
Yet as they flip the calendar from August to September, the Texan club have already qualified for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, secured a spot in the US Open Cup Final and, as of Wednesday night, put another convincing win under their belt.
Matchday 29's 2-0 home victory over Eastern Conference powerhouse Columbus Crew was a fourth straight victory in all competitions as the Dynamo jumped to fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Were the regular season to end today, Houston – who haven’t made a postseason since 2017 – would enjoy home-field advantage in the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“I don’t look at the standings. I swear,” head coach Ben Olsen insisted about the team’s positioning during his post-match press conference.
Still, the manager is extremely proud of what Houston have done this season amid a massive roster overhaul that’s seen nearly 20 new signings arrive between the winter and summer transfer windows.
“We’re doing it in different ways: service, some combinations, some magic from some players,” Olsen said in an interview with MLS 360 after the final whistle at Shell Energy Stadium. “It’s a fun group right now. We wanna keep riding this wave.”
Nobody on the Dynamo is riding a bigger scoring wave than winger Corey Baird, who tallied in the 14th minute with his second straight goal in as many games (and fourth in his last five matches) to reach 11 on the season in all competitions. With the Crew searching for an equalizer in the game’s waning moments, late substitute Aliyu Ibrahim iced the affair in the 90th minute.
“We just wanna keep this thing rolling. Columbus is a very good team,” Olsen added.
Herrera's team
While an offseason overhaul has played a vital part in Houston’s 2023 turnaround, it’s a leftover from the 2022 squad – Mexican Designated Player Héctor Herrera – who’s had arguably the biggest impact.
After a slow start to life in Major League Soccer, the 33-year-old has been elite this season, pulling the strings in midfield to the tune of three goals and 13 assists – and now earning a surprise return call-up to El Tri for the September international window this week.
“It wasn’t his team last year,” Olsen said of Herrera, who arrived in Houston under then-manager Paulo Nagamura. “… In a lot of ways, there was a blank canvas this year. It’s his team as much as mine.
“He understands the responsibility that’s put on him through being a Designated Player and the responsibility of being a big-name player for our club. He’s just taken that very seriously.”
Fortunately for the Dynamo, it’s not just Herrera but the entire squad that’s buying into Olsen’s extremely promising project.
“Not much has changed, other than we’re deep and we’re doing the same things,” Olsen said. “We’re getting good performances from everybody on gameday.
“Everybody’s showing up.”
