Houston Dynamo face brutal truth about roster after 2025 season collapse

The start of the Houston Dynamo in the 2025 MLS season has been far from ideal. From bad losses to constant injuries, the team has had to fight extremely hard for every single point they have gotten.

They have indeed found a bit more consistency after the rough start. Going undefeated in five games, they didn’t pick up enough momentum and had some bad defeats, including an early exit in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round of 16.

The Dynamo started the season with two straight losses. A 1-2 loss against Dallas, followed by a 1-4 defeat versus Inter Miami, who, even without Lionel Messi present, have shown they can be a dangerous team, though right now they are going through a rough patch.

At first two losses don’t seem too bad. But a few more matches went on and the team seemed not to gain momentum. By game six their record was far from positive, with their first win coming just in  April.

Against LAFC, the Dynamo seemed to still be finding its footing.  A Suffered 1-0 victory was enough to bring relief to not only the players and staff but the loyal fans that come to every home game. 

The team lost some of their most important players during the offseason, like Mexican icon Hector Herrera, who was essentially the team’s leader until last season, and Panama national team player Adalberto Carrasquilla, a vital presence on the midfield. Such players are hard to replace. Even though the coaching staff tried to equip the team in the best way possible to start the 2025 season, it has taken a while for manager Ben Olsen to put together the pieces.

There were also some unfortunate injuries. In the first few games, Jimmy Maurer and Andrew Tarbell, the starting and second goalkeepers got injured. Some other key players have been on the injury list for a while, like Nelson Quiñones, and Lawrence Ennali, who recently made his return against Sporting KC.

In search of solutions, the Dynamo brought new players in the transfer window, like experienced forwards Ondřej Lingr and Toyosi Olusanya. Defenders Pablo Ortiz and Felipe Andrade, and goalkeeper Jonathan Bond take over for the young Blake Gillingham.

"“We know who we are, we have a better feel for who these players are and what they offer us.”"

Manager Ben Olsen

In this first chunk of the season, Ben Olsen has had to use players from the Dynamo II team, like Awodesu, who signed with the first team in January. Though some of the players have had solid performances, there have been moments in certain matches where their inexperience has come afloat. At the beginning of the season, almost every game started with a goal for the opposite team in the first 15 minutes. It takes a mental toll on the team having to come back from 1-0 so early in the game.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup seemed to give the Dynamo a break from the bad MLS performance, knowing there were going to possibly be easier opponents to face in the first few rounds.  In the round of 32, playing with mostly subs, the team was losing 1-0 until halftime, when Ben Olsen had to sub-in the regular starters like Dorsey, Awodesu, and Sebastian Kowalczyk. In the end, Houston won it 4-1.

However, they weren’t as lucky in the following round where they lost to Austin FC. Houston had clear chances but was not able to put it in the back of the net. 

The constant rotations in the starting 11 seem not to help the players build strong chemistry between them, with the Dorsey Mcglynn duo being the exception, not just creating the most number of chances of goal, but also scoring on almost every game.

There is still time for the Dynamo to change the course of this season, with half of the matches still to go.

"“Now it is about us as coaches, working with them, putting this puzzle together, putting our best team out there and continuing to grow.”"

Ben Olsen

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