HOUSTON – After numerous seasons of down-the-stretch excitement, the Houston Dynamo saw their 2014 campaign end with a whimper Sunday afternoon as a 3-1 loss to D.C. United ended their playoff hopes with two games to spare.
For a club that’s not used to early vacations, it’s a tough reality to face.
“To get knocked out of the playoffs [picture] is a sickening feeling,” said head coach Dominic Kinnear. “We’ve had some magical moments here and our playoff record here over the years is fantastic, and to not be a part of the second season is a real disappointment.”
Early summer struggles put Houston in a big hole, including an eight-game winless run that saw them earn just two points while being outscored 21-6. Houston followed that with a 6-4-2 run since that stretch, but the hole they dug themselves into was simply too deep to escape.
"To be totally honest, over the last 11-12 games we’ve been playing some pretty good ball, but we’ve got to continue to do that throughout the year,” said Brad Davis. “When you look at over I think like the summer, right before the summer or whatever, we went like [eight] games where we didn’t pick up any points. That’s something we’ve obviously got to work on.”
The negative stats jump off the page, one of which is 54 goals conceded, the highest in team history. Another is 15 losses, a mark duplicated only in 2010. While the club has two double-digit goal scorers - Giles Barnes and Will Bruin with 10 apiece - they are fourth from the bottom in the league with 37 goals scored.
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Those are marks of inconsistent play and poor execution. But a contributing factor was a season-long roster battle with a vicious injury bug that saw three ACL injuries and other major ailments. There were also international absences that contributed to the team’s roster puzzle, some of which, including the current FIFA window, could not be avoided.
“For sure it was a weird year with injuries and World Cup and guys coming in and the league not having FIFA dates,” Davis said. “We’re missing [Boniek Garcia], Luis [Garrido] and Jermaine [Taylor] right now at a pretty important time of the year.
"That’s one thing we definitely feel needs to change. Those aren’t necessarily excuses … But as far as the absences, I think that’s something we can all be better as a league.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
