For once in my life I hope I'm wrong: Approaching the season with pessimistic optimism.

 

Dude, what?  That doesn't even make sense.  Just wait......hear me out.  I want to be excited about this team.  I really do.  Despite my frustration with the front office, and my despise for many things this league does, I love this team.  I really want them to be good, I really want them to be better.   I'm pulling for Tab, and Matt Jordan, and the guys.  It's not for any reason other than.....they're part of the team.  They're Dynamo, so they're my guys.  I like the guys we added this offseason.  I hope we are better, more than that, I hope we are good. Not just "barely squeaked into the playoffs" good, but "solid playoff position and win a round or two" good.  That's what I'd like.......

BU-UT, there's these things called my eyes and my brain.  Do I like Pasher, Picault, Urruti, Jones and Corona?  Sure, they seem like decent guys to have in the locker room, and they play hard.  Do they help us get to the next level?  No.  Would they be OK with a dynamic #9?  They'd be great additions if we were putting them around 2018 Manotas, but that guy isn't here.  These guys are cogs, they aren't the wheel.  Urruti is a decent player.  He's going to drop 7-10 goals, he plays hard, and seems like a decent human.  It seems like he fits in well with the guys, and fits what Tab is trying to do. But he's not the guy we need. For one of the few times in my life, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm most likely not. 

It's mostly disappointing that we got a player of Tim Parker's caliber without using a DP slot to get him,

then left the other two slots vacant.  Having Parker as a non-DP basically should allow us to have 4 DP caliber-worthy players in #ForeverOrange and could have led to the quick turnaround we are looking for.  And before you guys start throwing the Tomas Martinez's out there as examples of how bad we are at picking DP's, remember Elis was a young DP. He was pretty good.  As much as I dislike things that have been done while Jordan was here (trading Quioto, selling Elis and Manotas for a bag of peanuts and some fertilizer) I don't necessarily blame him.  He offered Elis the biggest contract in Dynamo history, Elis turned him down.  That put our backs against the wall as he was bout to walk on a free. Quioto was a hothead who didn't really want to be here, and Manotas was the worst striker in MLS last year (and we still got a reported $4mil from him.)  and also about to walk for free.  Jordan brought in Quintero, and I'm convinced that Quintero, Elis and Monatas would have made a playoff push last year.

But, how does he go last year leaving a DP slot open, and this year leaving two open AFTER we just made $5 mil off Manotas and Elis?  Where's the James Harden money? This makes no sense.  What, are we saving it for a rainy day? While I'm trying to stay positive, I'm just as frustrated as many of you out there.  In this city, with this market, and the huge amount of soccer fans and players we have, the Dynamo should be bending over trying to field championship teams.  We all know the owners are absent and incompetent, which is why I somewhat cut Matt Jordan some slack.  We've all had a job with bad bosses who didn't care.  He can only do what they allow him to.  If we had unlimited funds and super aggressive owners, I'd be more critical of him.  I know those of you out there that disagree, and I respect it.  I just don't necessarily agree.

Welcome to the New Faces:

The list is long this year:

Joe Corona

Derek Jones

Ian Hoffman

Fafa Picault

Max Urruti

Tyler Pasher

Tim Parker

Ethan Bartlow

Kyle Morton

Juan Castillo

Welcome to the city of Houston.  We have the best restaurants and food in the U.S.  You have a starving and disgruntled fanbase.  There are those of us amongst us that will love you no matter what.  We just want your best.  We're here for you, and will even carry your bags to the airport for you.  We are as diverse as the city, ranging far in economic status and nationality.  It's part of being a Houstonian.  We love it as much as we love good Tacos and Southern Cooking.  We hope you help us build something special here, because we need it.  You have our support, and you'll need it.  

This City Deserves Better.

I was at Bayern vs. Real Madrid.  It was a beautiful experience.  Not just because of the product on the pitch, but also because of the 60,000 fans packed inside Reliant.  We need to recreate that at every home game.  I see you El Batalon and the Texian Army,  I see you The Surge, you're doing your part.  I see you season ticket holders.  It's not easy going out to BBVA every single Matchday just to wind up nauseous at the end of the year.  For us to have survived the combination of the Pandemic and the 2019/2020 Dynamo, we deserve medals.  Those of you reading this are the lifeblood of this organization because you care enough to read some Biology Teacher's thoughts.  You are the die-hards that are there even when nobody else is.  I see you, why don't they see you?

We have been pulled in eight million directions.  We need a star player, we need to develop local talent, we need a new GM, Tab's terrible.  We have been teased by the signings of Quintero and Parker, only to have nothing around them.  We have watched roster regression for years.  No matter the size of the signing, we need a squad of 15 quality players that can compete.  We have an aging roster, and we are going to depend on guys that are almost as old as I am.  I agree with two of the points above.  We need a star.  We need a goal scorer, AND we need to develop and harness young talent.  Young talent has developed here.  Elis and Monatas were both teenagers when we got them, and they developed into Dynamic talent here.  We need to publicize that.  We need to have a system where Christian Chappis is dying to come here, and not leave us for Frisco.  We don't need one thing to be better, we need the entire organization to be better.  We don't want a flash in the pan, we want a consistent dominant force.  We want it now.

Tomorrow night is just the beginning:

I'll most definitely overreact by whatever happens tomorrow night. If we win, I'll be on high hope island.  If we lose, I'll be on the "We aren't winning a single game" low.  I'm a fan, it's what we do.  I'm going to try and remain patient and see what this team does this year.  As I said, I'm hoping I'm wrong, and I hope for all of us.....I am. I hope to see you all there, and if you see me, come by and say hi.  

Thanks again for reading.

Brian