2021 Houston Dynamo FC season

The 2021 Houston Dynamo FC season was the 16th season of the team's existence since joining Major League Soccer (MLS) prior to the 2006 season. It was the team's second season under head coach Tab Ramos and seventh season under general manager Matt Jordan. On August 30, with the team on a 15-game winless streak, Jordan was fired. On November 1, with one game left in the season, Pat Onstad was hired as the new GM.

The Dynamo finished the season last in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the 7th time in 8 seasons.

On the front office end, it was Gabriel Brener's sixth season as majority owner and John Walker's third season as President of Business Operations. On June 22, Ted Segal became majority owner after purchasing a controlling stake of the Dynamo and Dash for a reported $400 million. Former majority owner Brener kept a minority stake in the team, with James Harden, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ben Guill keeping their minority stakes. Minority owner Jake Silverstein sold his part of the team.

In October, BBVA Stadium was rebranded as PNC Stadium following PNC Financial Services' acquisition of BBVA USA.

Final roster

Appearances and goals are totals for MLS regular season only. No.NameNationalityPositionDate of birth (Age)Signed fromSigned inApps.GoalsGoalkeepers1Marko MarićGKJanuary 3, 1996 (age 25)TSG 1899 Hoffenheim202045026Michael NelsonGKFebruary 10, 1995 (age 26)Southern Methodist University201811031Kyle MortonGKMarch 31, 1994 (age 27)Saint Louis FC202110Defenders2Alejandro FuenmayorDFAugust 29, 1996 (age 25)Carabobo FC20183833Adam LundkvistDFMarch 20, 1994 (age 27)IF Elfsborg20189004Zarek ValeninDFAugust 6, 1991 (age 30)Nashville SC20204805Tim ParkerDFFebruary 23, 1993 (age 28)New York Red Bulls202134013Ethan Bartlow (GA)DFFebruary 2, 2000 (age 21)University of Washington20210015Maynor FigueroaDFMay 2, 1983 (age 38)FC Dallas201958218Teenage Hadebe (DP)DFSeptember 17, 1995 (age 26)Yeni Malatyaspor202117029Sam JunquaDFNovember 9, 1996 (age 24)University of California2019311Midfielders8Memo Rodríguez (HGP)MFDecember 27, 1995 (age 25)Rio Grande Valley FC20171061710Fafà PicaultMFFebruary 23, 1991 (age 30)FC Dallas2021311114Joe CoronaMFJuly 9, 1990 (age 31)LA Galaxy202130020Adalberto CarrasquillaMFNovember 28, 1998 (age 22)Cartagena202110121Derrick Jones (HGP)MFMarch 3, 1997 (age 24)Nashville SC202120022Matías VeraMFOctober 26, 1995 (age 26)San Lorenzo201980324Darwin CerénMFDecember 31, 1989 (age 31)San Jose Earthquakes201882325Griffin DorseyMFMarch 5, 1999 (age 22)Toronto FC202120227Boniek GarciaMFSeptember 4, 1984 (age 37)Olimpia20122351330Ian HoffmannMFSeptember 8, 2001 (age 20)Rio Grande Valley FC20216032Juan Castilla (HGP)MFJuly 27, 2004 (age 17)Houston Dynamo Academy202120Forwards7Mateo BajamichFWAugust 3, 1999 (age 22)Instituto20209011Ariel LassiterFWSeptember 27, 1994 (age 27)Alajuelense202035312Corey BairdFWJanuary 30, 1996 (age 25)Los Angeles FC20217017Nico LemoineFWApril 10, 2000 (age 21)Rio Grande Valley FC202012019Tyler PasherFWApril 27, 1994 (age 27)Indy Eleven202119423Darwin Quintero (DP)FWSeptember 19, 1987 (age 34)Minnesota United FC2020421033Danny Ríos (HGP)FWMarch 29, 2003 (age 18)Houston Dynamo Academy20210037Maximiliano UrrutiFWFebruary 22, 1991 (age 30)CF Montréal2021307

Player movement

In Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed. DatePlayerPositionAgePrevious clubNotesRefJune 14, 2020 Juan CastillaMF15 Houston Dynamo AcademySigned as a Homegrown Player, effective January 1, 2021July 10, 2020 Danny RíosFW17 Houston Dynamo AcademySigned as a Homegrown Player, effective January 1, 2021July 27, 2020 Ian HoffmannMF18 Rio Grande Valley FCSigned a contract with Houston effective January 1, 2021. Spent the rest of 2020 with Houston's USLC affiliate RGVFC.December 1, 2020 Ariel LassiterFW26 AlajuelenseExercised the purchase option on loan agreement. Transfer fee undisclosed, but is rumored to be around $400,000.December 17, 2020 Fafà PicaultMF29 FC DallasAcquired in exchange for $275,000 in general allocation moneyDecember 31, 2020 Joe CoronaMF30 LA GalaxyFree transfer, acquired his rights in stage 2 of the 2020 MLS Re-Entry Draft on December 22, 2020.January 14, 2021 Tyler PasherFW26 Indy ElevenFull transfer. Transfer fee undisclosed, but reported to be around $50,000.January 18, 2021 Maximiliano UrrutiFW29 CF MontréalAcquired along with Montréal's 2nd round pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for Aljaž Struna and a 2021 international roster slot.January 19, 2021 Tim ParkerDF27 New York Red BullsAcquired in exchange for $475,000 in general allocation money.January 21, 2021 Derrick JonesMF23 Nasvhille SCAcquired in exchange for $250,000 in general allocation money.January 27, 2021 Kyle MortonGK26 Saint Louis FCSigned on a free transfer.June 28, 2021 Teenage HadebeDF25 Yeni MalatyasporSigned as a Designated Player. Transfer fee undisclosed, but is rumored to be $1,650,000.July 5, 2021 Griffin DorseyMF22 Toronto FCSigned on a free transferJuly 30, 2021 Corey BairdFW25 Los Angeles FCAcquired in exchange for $750,000 in general allocation money and a 2022 international roster slot.

Out DatePlayerPositionAgeDestination ClubNotesRefDecember 1, 2020 Kyle AdamsDF24 Real MonarchsContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Victor CabreraDF27 TigreContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Cody CropperGK27 FC CincinnatiContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Tomás MartínezMF25 Defensa y JusticiaContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Ronaldo PeñaFW23 Universidad CentralContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Michael SalazarFW28 Memphis 901Contract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Wilfried ZahiboMF27 DundalkContract option declinedDecember 1, 2020 Niko HansenMF26 Minnesota United FCContract expiredDecember 8, 2020 Mauro ManotasFW25 TijuanaFull transfer, Fee undisclosed, rumored to be $4,000,000 with Houston keeping a sell-on percentage.January 18, 2021 Aljaž StrunaDF30 CF MontréalTraded to Montréal along with a 2021 International roster slot in exchange for Maximiliano Urruti and Montréal's 2nd round pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.June 28, 2021 Christian RamirezFW30 AberdeenFull Transfer. Fee undisclosed, rumored to be $250,000.

Loans in DatePlayerPositionAgePrevious clubNotesRefAugust 5, 2021 Adalberto CarrasquillaMF22 CartagenaSigned on loan for the remainder of 2021 with an option to buy.

Loans out DatePlayerPositionAgeDestination ClubNotesRefNovember 9, 2020 Mateo BajamichFW21 InstitutoLoaned until January 21, 2021February 24, 2021 Erik McCueDF20 Charleston BatteryLoaned for the 2021 seasonMarch 3, 2021 Marcelo PalominoMF19 Charlotte IndependenceLoaned for the 2021 seasonJuly 9, 2021 Kyle MortonGK27 Memphis 901Loaned for 2 monthsAugust 5, 2021 José BizamaDF27 Charlotte IndependenceLoaned for the 2021 season

MLS SuperDraft

RoundPickPlayerPositionAgeCollegeNotesRef16 Ethan BartlowDF20WashingtonSigned to a Generation Adidas contract.230 Kristo StricklerFW22Virginia TechSigned with South Georgia Tormenta.357 Brandon TerwegeDF22SMU

Coaching staff

+PositionNameHead coach Tab RamosAssistant coach Omid NamaziAssistant coach Martín VásquezCoach Michael DellorussoGoalkeeper coach Paul RogersSports Performance Director/Fitness Coach Paul CaffreyHead of sports science Alex CalderEquipment Manager Chris MaxwellAssistant Equipment Manager Eddie CerdaChief Medical Officer Dr. Rehal BhojaniHead Athletic Trainer Chris RumseyAssistant Athletic Trainer Casey CarlsonHead Physical Therapist Nathan HironymousMassage Therapist Ivan Diaz

Non-competitive

Preseason

Competitions

Major League Soccer

Standings

Western Conference

Overall

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

U.S. Open Cup On July 20, U.S. Soccer announced that the Open Cup would be cancelled for 2021 and would resume in 2022.

Season statistics {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" |+ ! rowspan="2" |No. ! rowspan="2" |Pos ! rowspan="2" |Nat ! rowspan="2" |Player ! colspan="5" |Total ! colspan="5" |MLS |- ! ! ! !style="width:30px;"| !style="width:30px;"| ! ! ! !style="width:30px;"| !style="width:30px;"| |- |1||GK||||align=left|Marko Marić||22||0||0||0||0||22||0||0||0||0 |- |2||DF||||align=left|Alejandro Fuenmayor||3||0||0||0||0||3||0||0||0||0 |- |3||DF||||align=left|Adam Lundqvist||25||0||2||1||0||25||0||2||1||0 |- |4||DF||||align=left|Zarek Valentin||29||0||1||5||0||29||0||1||5||0 |- |5||DF||||align=left|Tim Parker||34||0||0||3||0||34||0||0||3||0 |- |7||FW||||align=left|Mateo Bajamich||9||0||1||1||0||9||0||1||1||0 |- |8||MF||||align=left|Memo Rodríguez||31||2||2||3||0||31||2||2||3||0 |- |9||FW||||align=left|Christian RamirezTransferred out during the season||6||1||0||0||0||6||1||0||0||0 |- |10||MF||||align=left|Fafà Picault||31||11||5||9||0||31||11||5||9||0 |- |11||FW||||align=left|Ariel Lassiter||19||0||0||1||0||19||0||0||1||0 |- |12||FW||||align=left|Corey Baird||7||0||0||0||0||7||0||0||0||0 |- |13||DF||||align=left|Ethan Bartlow||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |14||MF||||align=left|Joe Corona||30||0||2||5||0||30||0||2||5||0 |- |14||MF||||align=left|Marcelo PalominoLoaned out during the season||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |15||DF||||align=left|Maynor Figueroa||13||0||2||4||0||13||0||2||4||0 |- |16||DF||||align=left|José BizamaLoaned out during the season||1||0||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||0 |- |17||MF||||align=left|Nico Lemoine||1||0||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||0 |- |18||DF||||align=left|Teenage Hadebe||17||0||1||3||0||17||0||1||3||0 |- |19||FW||||align=left|Tyler Pasher||19||4||3||0||0||19||4||3||0||0 |- |20||MF||||align=left|Adalberto Carrasquilla||10||1||0||2||0||10||1||0||2||0 |- |21||MF||||align=left|Derrick Jones||20||0||1||4||0||20||0||1||4||0 |- |22||MF||||align=left|Matías Vera||30||3||1||9||0||31||3||1||0||0 |- |23||FW||||align=left|Darwin Quintero||20||3||2||2||0||20||3||2||2||0 |- |24||MF||||align=left|Darwin Cerén||25||0||2||4||1||25||0||2||4||1 |- |25||MF||||align=left|Griffin Dorsey||20||2||3||2||0||20||2||3||2||0 |- |26||GK||||align=left|Michael Nelson||11||0||0||0||0||11||0||0||0||0 |- |27||MF||||align=left|Boniek García||16||0||0||4||0||16||0||0||4||0 |- |28||DF||||align=left|Erik McCueLoaned out during the season||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |29||DF||||align=left|Sam Junqua||22||0||1||4||0||22||0||1||4||0 |- |30||MF||||align=left|Ian Hoffmann||6||0||0||1||0||6||0||0||1||0 |- |31||GK||||align=left|Kyle MortonLoaned out during the season||1||0||0||0||0||1||0||0||0||0 |- |32||MF||||align=left|Juan Castilla||2||0||0||0||0||2||0||0||0||0 |- |33||FW||||align=left|Danny Ríos||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |37||FW||||align=left|Maximiliano Urruti||30||7||4||4||0||30||7||4||4||0

Honors and awards

MLS Team of the Week Week Team of the Week Ref Starting XI Bench1 Boniek García Memo Rodriguez6 Memo Rodriguez (2)8 Maximiliano Urruti10 Marko Marić24 Fafà Picault25 Michael Nelson26 Griffin Dorsey28 Teenage Hadebe30 Darwin Quintero

MLS Goal of the Week +WeekPlayerOpponentDateRef.30 Darwin QuinteroSeattle Sounders FCOctober 16

Dynamo team awards +MVPDefensive Player of the YearNewcomer of the YearYoung Player of the YearPlayers' Player of the YearRef. Fafà Picault Teenage Hadebe Teenage Hadebe Griffin Dorsey Fafà Picault

References