Ahead of Wednesday’s US Open Cup final against Inter Miami and world-famous superstar Lionel Messi, Houston Dynamo coach Ben Olsen understandably wants to keep his cards close to his chest.
“If I have the right plan to stop him [Messi]“I wouldn’t give it to you,” Olsen said bluntly in a chat with ESPN late last week. “I don’t want to dwell on this too much.”
Fair play to a coach who has the unenviable task of trying to stop the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner. Arguably the greatest ever to play the sport, 36-year-old Messi quickly silenced the idea of a potential semi-retirement after joining Major League Soccer earlier this summer. Despite his age and also basking in the spotlight of a World Cup win with Argentina last winter, Messi has maintained his incredible momentum since the Qatar 2022 tournament by becoming a powerful and dynamic attacking ball for Miami.
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Supported by summer additions such as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, as well as other key figures, the striker has already collected 11 goals and eight assists in 12 appearances in all competitions. Within this short time frame, he also: Revitalized a team that was sitting bottom of the Eastern Conference table with a League Cup title, achieved an unbeaten streak in the matches he participated in, and also earned a chance at another title this year. Wednesday. In the US Open Cup.
But what about the dynamo?
Going through a more under-the-radar renewal period, Houston will undoubtedly be the underdogs when they visit Macy’s and Co. in Florida this week. They don’t have the same star power or global attention as their opponents, but they still have a fighting chance to steal the spotlight and a potential trophy away from No. 10 Miami.
Ahead of the US Open Cup final, here’s what Olsen and two Houston players had to say about preparing for the tournament and trying to stop it No bulga.
Houston’s ‘reboot’ in 2023 promising
Before we get into Messi, let’s first quickly reconsider how the Dynamo got here to begin with—especially when you consider what a mess they were 12 months ago. In late 2022, Houston was known more for its flaws than its successes.
After relegating to last place in the Western Conference table in September last year, Dynamo sacked coach Paulo Nagamura before he could complete his first full season with the club. Shortly thereafter, with slim postseason chances, they then failed to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs for the fifth straight year.
In need of a much-needed rebuild, Olsen, the former D.C. United coach who won the U.S. Open Cup in 2013, was hired as Houston’s coach in November of 2022. Early in his tenure, he set three goals: Make his players more fitness, to clarify the way they should play, and to change the mentality and culture of a roster that had previous baggage.
“This is a team effort and hopefully this is just the beginning. We’re far from the finished product, and in many ways, it’s kind of a reboot of the organization on the athletic side. There’s a lot of movement within the front office,” said Olsen, who also pointed to the foundation the manager has built. General Pat Onstad and first-ever artistic director Asher Mendelsohn. Olsen added: “In some ways it’s a reboot.”
After a long list of roster reinforcements and changes made under Olsen and through the investment of majority owner Ted Segal, Houston began to pick up steam. The defense became more reliable and tough, and soon team captain and Mexican international Hector Herrera began playing at the level of a league MVP candidate, and the clubhouse at Shell Energy Stadium became a fortress with a continuing record of 10W-3D-2L. In league play.
Despite the busy schedule placed on them in 2023, Houston’s revamped roster has benefited greatly from this as they have made progress not only in the regular season, but also in the US Open Cup. “In a lot of games, you use a lot of players and that’s a good thing,” Olsen said. “It creates a better culture. Everyone helps the season, instead of just sitting on the sidelines.”
Physical, defensively solid and keen to pass the ball into midfield, especially through Herrera, the team that sits fourth in the MLS Western Conference now finds itself preparing for the US Open Cup final. And prepare for their biggest challenge yet in the rebuilding process.
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Lionel Messi is thinking about his retirement plans
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi talks about his future and whether he can play in Argentina before he retires.
Aiming or trying to stop Messi
“You could lose the game in one second,” Houston defender Eric Sviatchenko said about defending Messi. He added: “He can exploit the slightest mistake or the slightest lack of awareness in the team.”
Sviatchenko, the Ukraine-born Danish player who arrived at Dynamo earlier this year, knows a lot about the prospect of trying to stymie a player like Messi. In 2016, he faced the Argentine twice in Champions League group stage matches between Celtic (his former club) and Barcelona.
“I can’t say I had the best experience,” the defender said with a laugh. “The first game we played against Messi and Barcelona, with Celtic, we lost 7-0.” The second match, in which he received a yellow card for obstructing the Argentine striker, was lost 2-0. With this experience, he took boarding lessons.
“We need to be very composed and we really need to be ready,” Sviatchenko stated on how to deal with Messi on Wednesday. “If one person loses their marker or loses a duel, the next person will be there to help each other out. It’s more of a mentality than a way of defending.”
Staying composed and organized will be key for Houston as they try to prevent Messi and others from creating dangerous chances, but that does not necessarily guarantee that they will simply sit back and let others dictate the game.
“One of the important things for us is keeping the ball and being clean with the ball,” added Artur, a midfielder and new teammate for Houston in the 2023 season. “Because for me, that’s the best way to defend, it’s when you don’t need to defend. So we need to keep the ball well, move the ball and maybe make them defend a little bit.”
Another option is to stop Messi high up the pitch. Considering that Dynamo average 12.8 fouls and 2.56 yellow cards per game in MLS, this may not be so far-fetched.
“If you can keep him away from goal for the entire duration of the game, because sometimes Messi is in the role he plays now, he also moves away from goal to get the ball,” Sviatchenko said when asked about a possible source of weakness. For the Miami player. “But of course that won’t be possible for 90 minutes. He will appear, he will appear in spaces where he will put himself in dangerous positions, either to provide assistance or to shoot the ball on goal. It is very difficult for him to do that.” “See where the weaknesses lie,” Sviachenko added.
Olsen, in his own way, also confirmed the idea that Messi would be a very unique player to face. “Let me ask the 5,000 coaches who have tried to stop him before and couldn’t, and they are people with better credentials than me,” Olsen said.
The right mentality, but the pressure is on Miami
What will make things especially difficult for Houston is that Messi will not be alone. While it’s easy to focus on other elite figures like Busquets and Alba, Miami has been able to get additional attacking influence from names like Leonardo Campana, Robert Taylor and Facundo Farias, among a few others.
“Of course you want to condense and limit the space [Messi] “We’re doing all the things that everyone tries to do with all the great No. 10s, but we’re really going to dissect them as a group and do what we do with all the teams,” Olsen said of the preparations. “What we need to focus on, where we need to maybe adjust some of our tactics, [is] To prevent their strengths and also know how to exploit their weaknesses. This is all we do for each team and there will be no different preparations.”
Sviachenko agreed with this concept of seeing it as a mission against a group rather than an individual. “I think we just need to seize this great opportunity as a team, as a player, to face more than just a player [like Messi]but a team of great people [it]“It’s a good team,” the Houston defender said.
The idea of the mental state necessary in a high-level match like Wednesday’s was also raised by Sviatchenko.
“Mindset is the most important thing when you go into these crucial games that are finals. We have a group that has been to the finals, won the finals. I think we need to get that kind of experience and share it.” “That experience,” the former Celtic player said.
“Sometimes it’s hard to share it verbally, but it’s easier to share it when you’re on the field… to focus, to focus on every detail of the game and it’s only 90 minutes, you know, and we’re able to focus ourselves for 90 minutes.”
Olsen, who held the metaphorical cards close to his chest, eventually gave in a little when the topic of the team’s messaging and mentality came up. He wasn’t willing to share any details and emphasized that he “didn’t really want to get into that,” but he did briefly shed some light on the awareness of how others view Houston and Miami heading into the final.
He added: “There will definitely be pressure on them [Miami]. “They’re in the house, they’re going to be the favorites,” Olsen said. “We’re used to it, and we live in this space anyway, so nothing will change in terms of expectations from outside of Houston and us having closed closets.”
“We’re fine with that,” Olsen said.
