Real Salt Lake meets the Houston Dynamo on Saturday for the third and final meeting between the two clubs this season. After splitting the first two matchups, RSL has a chance to win the season series on Saturday. Here is a look at the Dynamo.
Barrett’s Barricade
Houston struggled through the first part of the season under now-departed Head Coach Owen Coyle. In 12 matches under the old boss, the Dynamo allowed 20 goals and posted a 3-7-2 record. While the outcomes aren’t dramatically better under Interim Head Coach Wade Barrett at 2-4-9, the defense had been quite stout in his first 13 matches, allowing just 11 goals for a 0.84 goals against average, nearly half of the 1.67 allowed under Coyle. However, the last two matches for the Dynamo have been less impressive on the defensive side. They include a 3-1 home loss to FC Dallas and a comeback 3-3 road draw against Sporting Kansas City.
Brothers in Arms
For five seasons, Barrett and Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel flanked the Houston Dynamo back line. Together, the duo won MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007 and remained together one year following Barrett’s 2009 retirement when he served as an assistant coach with the Dynamo in Waibel’s final season. Since then, they have both seen success in the coaching ranks, though Waibel’s path led him to a different area of the technical department as RSL’s GM.
Championship Pedigree
They Dynamo entered Major League Soccer as an expansion team in 2006, although it was the only “expansion team” in league history that was actually a relocated team, as the San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston after winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2005. So with a championship team already in place, Houston rolled to two straight MLS Cup titles in the club’s first two years in Texas. It has since returned to the final twice, losing to the Galaxy in 2011 and 2012.
