HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo defense was an enigma in 2014. Houston had the unenviable distinction of being in the top five in the league with 10 recorded shutouts, but also gave up a franchise-worst 58 goals.
If you’re confused, you’re not alone. Houston spent the entire season wondering where the consistency was, and in some cases healing wounded pride.
“There definitely was [a chip on our shoulder] because for half the year last year we played really well. I think we had 10 shutouts last year but when we’d go on the road we’d struggle,” defender David Horst told the media Tuesday. “It’s steady back there, it’s consistent and it’s showing in results for the defense right now.”
Six games into 2015, Houston have given up just three goals so far and all have been self-inflicted. Despite an own goal against Orlando City and two decision-making miscues that allowed two of the league’s best, Robbie Keane and Obafemi Martins, to score, there's little the Dynamo defense has struggled with this season.
Teams have created chances, but a strong effort from debutant No. 1 goalkeeper Tyler Deric and a renewed and organized collective defensive effort have made the Dynamo one of the toughest teams to break down in the run of play during this first month of the season.
The transformation has come under head coach Owen Coyle, who came to MLS with much more praise for his attacking ideas than his defensive ones. Turning on that narrative, Coyle’s group has relied on being stingy and instilling the team-defense attitude that marked Houston’s championship years.
“I think it’s been a group dynamic. You’re never going to stop teams from creating chances,” Coyle said. “When we’ve got the ball we can go and play and express ourselves, but when we’re against we have to understand what we need to go and stop good players and certainly try from running the game. There’s a lot the lads are doing right but there’s still room to improve in every area.”
Two changes that have shown early are a clear direction and accountability, according to Deric. The Homegrown 'keeper pointed to the clear instructions given to the defense in training sessions and the willingness of coaches and players to ruffle feathers when someone’s falling down.
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“I think we’re holding guys more accountable for their mistakes,” said Deric. “We’ll stop practice in the middle and tell guys they have to cover here. I think it’s one of those things where guys came into preseason where they knew last year wasn’t good enough.”
As good as Houston’s defense has been, though Deric’s heroics have been required at times, and the 26-year-old has been right on the spot to make saves.
“It’s definitely frustrating when goals are self-inflicted but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When goals are self-inflicted that means we can fix them,” Horst, who was the culprit on Keane’s goal after giving the ball away at midfield before the score in LA, said. “If we can fix them that means we shouldn’t give them up in the future. We’re not getting broken down, we’re not getting beat 1-v-1 by players so if we can fix those self-inflicted wounds
"It’s going to happen at the beginning of the year. If it’s happening at the end of the year then that’s our fault. If you fix it, it’s a sign of maturity.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
