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Well it’s nearly the off-season for the Houston Dynamo as they take their last game of the year on the road against the 2nd place in the West the Colorado Rapids. The Dynamo narrowly lost in their last meeting against the Rapids a few weeks ago, but the Rapids have much more to fight for in this match than the playoff eliminated Dynamo. The Rapids are hoping for a shot at the Supporter’s Shield while the Dynamo are hoping to finish the year on a high note.
With little too fight for, unless you’re interim manager Wade Barrett, it’s all about the new players in a game that serves little importance to the standings for Dynamo fans. That means seeing players like Yair Arboleda, Jose Escalante (if healthy), and others is a priority in evaluating the offseason for the front office and manager candidate Wade Barrett.
In the goalkeeping position, Tyler Deric will once again miss out which could leave the door open for Calle Brown to start, though I would suspect Joe Willis gets another chance to stake his claim between the sticks. Raul Rodriguez is also slated to miss out which lends itself to Keynor Brown to get another crack in central defense alongside either Jalil Anibaba or David Horst. In the full back positions I’d keep Sheanon Williams at RB with Abdoulie Mansally or DaMarcus Beasley playing.
The midfield is always the most difficult spot to predict for the Dynamo, but I’d expect to see Yair Arboleda or Jose Escalante to see time at a wing position over either Oscar Boniek Garcia or Andrew Wenger. Up top Manotas is still king so he should get the final start at center forward.
My Projected Starting Lineup
In my projected lineup I think Horst/Brown make a great physical combo that we all might want to see. In midfield we could see the creativity of Cristian Maidana combine with Alex Lima and Jose Escalante. If Escalante is not fit, I’d anticipate Yair Arboleda to fill his roll.
There are plenty of options to choose from and plenty to see with the possibilities being nearly endless with the playoffs out of sight. Let us know below and share your starting squad in the comment section!