It’s hard not to look at the Dynamo’s 2018 campaign as a lost season. They wasted magnificent early-season attacking performances from the still-electric front three; Mauro Manotas’s career year will have come in a 10th-place season. The core from the deep playoff run last year, seemingly young and hopeful, doesn’t seem to be there the way it once did. Questions are starting to linger about coach Wilmer Cabrera’s management acumen.
A trophy, which potentially could come at home on Wednesday in the US Open Cup final, would preserve some goodwill. They’ll have to beat the young and hungry Philadelphia Union to accomplish that — the Union have built an enviable core, with Homegrown players and a fun, proactive style, things the Dynamo have failed to add to their own once-enviable core.