Another day, another post, some
trades, some U.S. Men’s National Team crap…
Leoardo, Roy. Roy, Leanardo
Whenever I felt bad about the
Portland Timbers’ chances last year, I could look south, then a little east…no,
more, where I’d see the Houston Dynamo. In those dark minutes (don’t like to
dwell), I could tell myself, “hey, it could be worse, I could be a Dynamo fan.”
These flashes of superiority lasted right up to the moment when Portland tripped
over the same red, velvet rope as Houston, the one that keeps teams out of the
playoffs.
Having heard whispers of a “total
rebuild” down in Dynamo-land, seeing them add Leonardo from the Los Angeles
Galaxy reads like going cheap on parts. So, in the context of “total rebuild,”
I dug a little deeper, spotting two more names in the report on Leonardo, Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto. They’re both young, Honduran attackers, not exactly the
hottest names in the transfer market, plus, how many young players come to MLS
only to flame out? In search of where the there is here, I finally dragged my
lazy ass over to the Dynamo’s current roster, where I found still more names: Adolfo
Machado, Juan David Cabezas, even Eric Alexander, who might not be the best
player MLS has ever seen, but he’s smart, reliable depth, and a gamer with the
right people around him.
Even if you think Portland’s in a
slightly shinier boat than Houston heading into 2017, the Dynamo appears well ahead
and seeing, and addressing, the need for repairs. If this were just a case of
weighing Leonardo as a pickup versus Portland’s latest, Roy Miller, it’d be one
thing. Sure, every one of the Dynamo’s reinforcements might go bust, but I
wouldn’t count on it. So, yeah, pick it up, Portland.
