Dear Pat Onstad: Please bring us the change we deserve (Part II)

This is not a repost, it's a revival.  I wrote this originally on Jan. 2nd, and I'm re-aasking Pat to do the same thing I asked before the season even started.  There were some changes made to the roster, but they aren't good enough.  There are some things that are still the same, and some things that still need to change.  We are in a transfer window, and some small changes could occur, but it seems like The Dynamo as a whole are content with where we are.  I'm going to leave parts of this original post intact because it still rings true.  Now (8 months after the original posting), I'm going to expand on this concept.

On August 30th, 2021 new owner Ted Segal made the decision to move his new shiny toy on a new path with the firing of long-time GM Matt Jordan.  On November 1st, 2021, Pat Onstad was named the new Houston GM.  The message boards and Twitterverse since then have been been a mixed bag of hope, excitement, skepticism, and vitriol.  Both Segal and Onstad have brought a ton of excitement, hopefulness, and interest in the club, but the one thing we were all hoping they'd bring has been lacking: change.  Let's go back and look at the timeline on Pat, what was said, what's been done, and where we are currently at.

What Segal said:

“I don’t want to give away all of the elements of our search,” Segal said. “What I will say is that we certainly will be looking at candidates with MLS experience. MLS experience, given the unique rules of MLS and the unique style of play, certainly is an important thing and a factor we’re going to consider.” 

Segal seemed open to changing the front office structure of the club, stating: “It (creating both a GM and a Technical Director role) is certainly going to be a consideration. We’re making our evaluations right now. We’re in the early days of our search. We’re going to see what kind of candidates we’re able to field, and who expresses interest to be here. I do think it’s an appealing location and an appealing opportunity, both with respect to the quality city and the successful history of Houston. And hopefully some folks who are encouraged by new ownership.” 

I highlighted the second phrase because I think it was part of why Pat got the job.  Pat definitely wanted it, past players and even Glenn Davis seemed to be in favor of Pat, and even the fan base jumped on board.   Pat seemed to be a perfect fit: a Dynamo legend who won plenty of hardware on the pitch, had success as both an assistant coach, and helped oversee a quick turnaround and transition as the Technical Director of the Columbus Crew.  

What does Segal want his club to be?

While Segal has never come out and said it, he's come out and said it.

  "I'm not going to get into the specifics of our partnership agreement. What I will say is I'm the ultimate deciding authority and I will further add, the league wants to have one deciding authority and so you're talking to him." (The Striker)

• "The picture in my mind was 22,000 seats filled with screaming fans, cheering on champions for both the Dynamo and the Dash, so that's what I picture and that's what I hope can happen for us and in the relatively near future." (The Striker)
• "I think you can take pieces or best practices from from a variety of clubs across the league. I think the community enthusiasm in a place like Atlanta, when they can sell out a building as large as it is in a relatively new soccer city, is very impressive. I think if you read across the league, I think there's a lot of praise for the player development that's occurred in Philadelphia. I think if you look towards Portland, you have community events rallied both for the Timbers and the Thorns – which is great for somebody in my position who's now the new owner of the Dynamo and the Dash. You look at what Sporting KC has done in their evolution over time, both in terms of creating that fan enthusiasm, creating winning sides and how they develop players. So there's a lot of examples across the league and best practices where you can take pieces from from all those and hopefully synthesize into what we're trying to achieve." (The Striker)
• “In addition (to shaving a proven track record and knowing MLS), success is a proven track record of developing the youth system, both from a perspective of channeling those players into the first team and potentially cultivating players that can perform for you or that you can sell on as well. So those are a few metrics." (MLS.com)
• "Of course, we need people who have a deep-rooted passion for the game," Segal commented on future hires. "What I will say is it would be very nice to add additional Houstonians to our organization and in particular, what I'd like to highlight, and you, Glenn, as somebody who has been involved with the sport in this city since 1984, I'd like to welcome back a lot more of our players from the glory days." (MLS.com)
• "I think, again, if we go back to your prior question, if we develop the right talent and we succeed on the field, we're going to have full stands and a talent development sporting element of our club that is the envy of the league." (The Striker).
• “What we have in the Dynamo is a sleeping giant,” Segal said. “A club that has experienced success in the past. And with the adequate resources, which is what I’m here to do … we can reawaken that sleeping giant.” (The Houston Chronicle)

First and foremost, Segal says he wants to win.  Segal has talked all about fan involvement, developing youth, and increasing spending.  In almost every interview he's talked about how success on the pitch will lead to 22,000 screaming fans inside PNC (still seems weird).  He wants the club to be full of past greats, connecting us to our glory days. He wants us to have a passionate fanbase and community connection to Atlanta and Portland, and develop players and win like Sportin K.C.  All of those things sound amazing on paper, but to awaken this Sleeping Giant, and overcome a cynical fanbase, is a lot more work than I think anyone is willing to admit.

I feel that Segal has put his money where his mouth is.  He's ponied up the biggest transfers in the history of this franchise.  Hector Herrera, Sebastian Ferreira, and even Coco Carrasquilla weren't cheap.  While we can argue over whether they were the RIGHT moves is a different story, and doesn't fall on Segal's lap.  There have been changes all around P.N.C. Stadium as well.  Not just the new mesh seats, but there have been other subtle changes that have made the games a fun place to be.  The pre-game scene around P.N.C. is fun, the concerts and vendors, and even Ted showing up to tailgate with the SG's is great.  I know, I know, to all the disgruntled fans who don't care about this:  I'll get to the other part.  Ted has lived up to his word, now he needs start holding others accountable to theirs. 

Pat Onstad states the obvious:

On Glenn Davis' "Soccer Matters" (July 26th) Pat said the same thing several times: 

• "Well, we're not where we want to be.....that's for sure" (opening quote)
• "The thing is.....I would look in the mirror.....and first and foremost, we're to blame. We are what we are."
• "We're not a playoff team at this point in time."
• "Our record, I think, speaks volumes about where we are as a club and we've got a lot of work to do."

Thanks Pat, I appreciate it.  How about some signs of life over there in the front office.  We solve this by loaning in an 18-year-old Columbian who...according to you.....is not ready to help our team right now?  Thanks man.  Good talk!  Pat, you have a small, but very loyal fanbase that has it's patience wearing thin.  We have a roster full of USL players, and we are in a transfer window.  While we are in no way a playoff team, we are only 6 points off and actually could compete for the final spot with some help.  I'm not asking you to go full bore Jimmy Johnson with the 1989 Cowboys, but you've got to do something.  We could, with the contracts expiring, have a nice little offseason.  We can, with some extremely smart and gutsy moves, have a transformative one.  It's time for this team to be gutsy.

The process:

When I originally wrote this, it was about the process to hire Pat Onstad.  This time it will be about the process to turn this lackluster franchise into a winner.

Anybody who thought we were going to be a playoff team this year was setting themselves up for disappointment.  This year, despite bringing in some big-money players, was never about making the playoffs.  If it was, we wouldn't have hired Paulo Nagamura.  We would have gone and gotten a more seasoned coach that could right the ship.  Paulo wasn't a win-now hire.  Neither (by the way) was the guy before him.  There's a reason for it, and like it or not, if we fired Paulo tomorrow we would be stuck with a different version of Tab Ramos and Paulo Nagamura.  That's what they want here.  A guy that can build a system and develop a roster.  

That being said, Pat has done some things to help this roster, but he needs to do more and he needs to do so quickly.  There should be 5 players safe on this roster: Sebas, Coco, Thor, Hector Herrera, and Teenage. Even with those 4, if a good offer comes up, take it.  Literally every other player on this roster has had their chance to show they are up to the task, and none of them has truly succeeded.  Sure, there are a few decent players in the rest of the bunch.  Zeca?  An exciting player at times, but not good enough.  Lundy?  Solid LB, love the guy, his work ethic and his attitude, but he's not good enough.  Vera, Memo, Fafa, DQ?  All had their chance to shine and turn this thing around, and all of them failed.  Any one of them could be a good piece on a decent team, but the collective of them has led to "hot pile of garbage" status.  The entire rest of the squad?  Couldn't even break through on THIS team.  Thank you for your service, may Inter Miami or the USL serve you well.  

The Dynamo have a chance to clear some good money this offseason.  There are guys we HAVE to move on from.  If Pat stops with the guys coming out of contract or picks up several of the options that are available, we will be in the same situation next year.  We have to pick up at least 4 new starters next year, and need roughly 6. With the way Clark is fading down the stretch, I should probably make that 7.  Pat has to have the impact offseason this winter the fanbase dreamed of last winter.  He's got to make the right moves to get key guys in place around the 4 I mentioned, and he has to do it now.  That, and Paulo has to make a jump.

The Head Coach:

Glenn Davis first said it right after Tab Ramos and the Houston Dynamo parted ways: "The new head coach will come with a huge question mark......" and he was spot on. Bob Bradley, or anyone like him, was never coming here.  Not only do those guys probably not want to come here for a multitude of reasons, but it's also not what the Dynamo are looking for.  The list of candidates was notably underwhelming to say the list.  Not to say anything else about the other guys that were mentioned, but most of the potential candidates' lists were pretty much on par with the way we've done business here for the last decade.  When Jessie Marsch was let go, I thought we should go do whatever it takes to get him here, but it doesn't take long to realize that this team isn't interested in anyone on that level. 

Onstad has repeatedly stated that he wants a "collaborator".  What does this mean?  He wants someone to work with him.  "It's certainly difficult for us to have someone come in and say 'hey, I have nine staff members that need to come...'. That's certainly not the club that I want to lead. The club I want to lead is you still have people that work for the club." (Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis). "......those are the guys (Paul Rogers, Paul Caffrey, etc) that put the club first and foremost, and those are the guys that you need working for the club."  He stated (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he doesn't want the team to be sectional, that he doesn't want to be a guy that just gets players, and the coaches just coach.  He wants to rely on the coach's expertise and input but also wants a coach that relies on his.  He wants coaches and technical staff that are just as involved in recruiting players they want as he is.  "I'd like to say now I've been in this league since 2003, I have a pretty good idea what works in this league. So I also think my expertise to be isolated would be a waste...."  He's not looking for Bruce Arena or a Gregg Berhalter situation where they are both coach and sporting director/GM. Pat has his ideas on how to build this team, what he wants his team to look like, and what he wants his coach to be. That's a good thing because no high-level coach will ever come here if he can't pick his own assistants.

Pat thinks they have that man in Paulo.  That's the #1 reason why Paulo will be back next year.  While Paulo has actually done some good things this year, he also does things that are mind-numbingly irritating to the fanbase.  The constant shuffling of the starting 11, the complete inability to field a starting 11 with his best 11 players, his undying devotion to the 4-3-3 when we don't have the guys to play it, subbing in CB's when the Dynamo are losing (twice).  I was absolutely fired up watching Paulo in the post locker room conferences early in the year when we were winning.  I was thinking: "This is my kind of guy".  But teams have us figured out, and Paulo is CONSTANTLY fielding starting 11's without at least two of his best 11.  Other than simply putting his best 11 on the field to start a game (and for the record, that's: Clark, Hadebe, Parker, Zeca, Lundy, Vera, Coco, HH, Fafa, Sebas, and DQ.) he has yet to show any creativity in getting those players on the field together with tactical or formation switches.  There have been slight changes like dropping Sebas deeper, pushing DQ higher, etc.  But the overall scheme is relatively rigid.  Paulo is a young coach, he's also learning this new role.  But he needs to take a jump this year.  He's got to get better. I don't think it's all bad, there are times we are in a position to make a play, and simply won't or can't make them.  How many times have we seen guys simply not shoot the ball in position to shoot?  How many 1v1's have we seen from Fafa, Thor, and Pasher on the wings, only to come away with nothing? How many times has DQ turned the ball over in the attacking third when teammates are wide open? How many crosses have you seen sail to nobody outside of the box?  Those aren't tactical problems, those are personnel/skillset problems.  

This team is boring to watch.  We occasionally have nice combo play, and we occasionally hit a counter, but the majority of the game is spent passing sideways and backward and not posing much of a threat.  The Dynamo rank 20th in goals/90, and 17th in xG despite being in the top 1/2 of the league in shots and shots on target.  We have spent a good part of the season without DQ, Sebas, or Fafa in the starting 11 (Sometimes 2/3). The tactic of attacking wide with Zeca, only to have him cross a ball into 1 guy with nobody covering the back post doesn't work.  Our spacing is bad, guys cover each other up, there's poor communication in the front line and the back, and the midfield has no chemistry.  Paulo has to fix these things and find a tactical style that fits what we have. Next year, no one is going to want to hear that we don't have the guys to play this style.  Adjust or get out.  If Paulo can't take the step up, Pat needs to stay committed to "leaving no stone unturned" to improve this roster.

The Roster:  

This section will be short and sweet.  We actually need to make any change we can, now.  I'm not deep diving into this, but with teams looking to make a playoff push, much like in MLB, any player that can be offloaded now needs the trigger pulled.  A USL team calls and makes us an offer that we're going to take a bath on?  Make it happen.  We need to set ourselves up for this offseason, and if we can find any relief now we need to do so.  

Credit to Pat for owning up and being transparent on Thiago, but no more Thiago's.  Nelson Quinones is our Summer signing, and he needs to be able to help this roster.  We need wings, he's a wing, he needs to be a hit.

Closing thoughts:

While this is clearly not the Matt Jordan/Ownership group of years past, and things off the field and around PNC have changed drastically, things on the field haven't changed all that much.

After 23 games the last two years:

Hector Herrera and Sebas were a lot of money for a +3 goal differential, a +3 in points, and a +2 in table position.  While admittedly, this could change, the realist in me says it won't.  The schedule isn't exactly a cupcake for the rest of the year.

So, one last plea, Pat.....Please bring us the change we deserve. And if you can find a way to #BringBackElis, I'd be forever grateful. 

Thanks again for reading,

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian