Soccer <\/p>\n
One of Jack McGlynn<\/a>\u2019s most striking qualities on the pitch is his vision, a facet of soccer IQ that guides an instinct for rhythm, tempo and distribution well beyond his 21 years of age. But the late-breaking circumstances of his arrival<\/a> with Houston Dynamo FC<\/a> at the start of February caught even him cold.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Acquired from the Philadelphia Union<\/a> via the second-ever use of MLS\u2019s new \u2018cash-for-player\u2019 trade mechanism, the homegrown central midfielder says he had no inkling a deal might be going down until he was abruptly informed of its completion.<\/p>\n Instead of touching down in Clearwater Beach, Florida with the rest of the Union for their second phase of preseason, or catching a flight across the Atlantic to make the transfer to a European club, he\u2019d be heading further south down the Gulf Coast to the Dynamo\u2019s base in St. Petersburg Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cI found out and had to leave right away,\u201d McGlynn told MLSsoccer.com at the team\u2019s preseason hotel shortly before the trade went official. \u201cSo yeah, it’s been a crazy week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way it all went down was kind of sudden and not the most informed, I think. \u2026 Leaving came as a shock, the way it all went down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n McGlynn’s price: a guaranteed $2.1 million fee, a \u201csignificant\u201d sell-on clause media reports place at 50 percent and performance-based bonuses that could garner an additional $1.3 million.<\/p>\n Understandably, Houston eased in their new star carefully, mindful he\u2019d already had a busy winter thanks to his standout performances in the US men\u2019s national team<\/a>\u2019s January camp, where he scored his first senior international goal and earned man of the match honors in a 3-1 friendly win over Venezuela.<\/p>\n Yet it only took about half an hour on the practice field for his new teammates to realize the talent that had donned their colors, starting with that \u201cwand for a left foot,\u201d in the words of former Philly head coach Jim Curtin.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had like 30 minutes of training with him, and then set pieces \u2013 four out of four, right on top of us running in, goal,\u201d defender Erik Sviatchenko<\/a> explained, making a bang<\/em> sound effect as he mimicked a thumping header. \u201cThat’s something I’ve missed, having that kind of [service].<\/p>\n \u201cH\u00e9ctor had it, but we just need that. In the modern game of football, set pieces is a huge thing,\u201d added Houston\u2019s Danish center back. \u201cIt’s kind of, \u2018Wow, OK, that level we are hoping for that can bring us to the competing positions.’\u201d<\/p>\n McGlynn grinned when asked later about that moment from his first session.<\/p>\n \u201cThey seemed kind of shocked that I can do that,\u201d he said. \u201cSo yeah, it’ll be a fun year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) February 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n That\u2019s certainly what La Naranja and their supporters are hoping. That \u2018H\u00e9ctor\u2019 Sviatchenko mentioned would be Herrera, of course, the Mexican national team icon who was the face of the Dynamo and their biggest personality over the past two and a half years, a leading ingredient in Houston\u2019s dramatic evolution into a ball-dominant, slick-passing possession side under coach Ben Olsen.<\/p>\n Paced by \u2018HH,\u2019 Panamanian international Coco Carrasquilla and other skillful members of the squad, Houston spent the past two seasons defying expectations about Olsen\u2019s game model rooted in his pragmatic leadership of D.C. United<\/a> from 2010-20. With flowing, skillful buildups week after week, a sort of Texas tiki-taka took root, reaching its zenith in the 2023 US Open Cup<\/a> final, where La Naranja played Inter Miami CF<\/a> off their own pitch to hoist one of the oldest trophies in world soccer.<\/p>\n Change, though, tends to lurk just around the corner in MLS.<\/p>\n Carrasquilla, Concacaf\u2019s Men’s Player of the Year for 2023-24, was sold to Pumas UNAM<\/a> last month for a then-Dynamo-record fee reportedly around $3.5 million. Herrera joined Toluca over the winter after HDFC elected not to pick up his contract option<\/a> for 2025, leaving a massive void \u2013 the sort that young homegrowns are rarely asked to fill, even as more than a decade\u2019s worth of investment in player development bears significant fruit across MLS.<\/p>\n \u201cHim and H\u00e9ctor are very different players as far as age and experience. But really, when you do the research on Jack as a player and what he offers, his qualities and his profile, it’s not far from what H\u00e9ctor offered to us,\u201d Olsen told MLSsoccer.com. \u201cA guy that can progress the ball, good range of passing, set pieces, and help us build and play in the way that we want to go about it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis kind of a double pivot\/[No.] 8 spot that we’ve been playing really suits him. I think it gets him more central into the field and allows him to pull the strings more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n “This is a special player” ????\ufe0f@JackMcGlynn7<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oF5xMy2mNC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) February 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Those are no small expectations to place on a 21-year-old. The Dynamo brain trust don\u2019t mind drawing that parallel, though.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how highly they rate McGlynn, whose extensive MLS r\u00e9sum\u00e9 \u2013 he was only 17 when made his Philly first-team debut \u2013 provided an ample data set for HDFC\u2019s analytics-driven recruitment process. The fact that his age qualifies him for U22 Initiative status, thus making him a bargain when it comes to salary-budget regulations, is another key facet, even if he earns that European move sooner than later.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, he’s replacing H\u00e9ctor, which, those are big shoes to fill. I mean, H\u00e9ctor probably plays it much differently than Jack will,\u201d said Houston president of soccer Pat Onstad, who ranks McGlynn among only \u201ca handful of guys in our league\u201d capable of that role. \u201cH\u00e9ctor was one of a kind. I think he really knew how to create tempo in the game, whether to slow it down, speed it up; he could recognize space extraordinarily well for that position. But that’s something we think Jack can do eventually as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be a fun time for Jack, I think, to be able to keep growing, and he should feel confident in the way that we play, that we’re going to showcase his skills.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, so good. McGlynn completed 96% of his game-high 79 passes in Houston’s season-opening match<\/a> vs. FC Dallas<\/a>, ably \u2018quarterbacking\u2019 his new team with two chances created, 5\/7 long balls completed, and 4\/5 duels and 3\/4 tackles won in addition to six recoveries. He began the sequence leading up to Amine Bassi<\/a>\u2019s goal with a searching switch of play to Griffin Dorsey<\/a>, and also clanged a shot off the woodwork.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Day 1 in Houston is officially in the books \u2705 @JackMcGlynn7<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/itTlUzV95n<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Up next: A huge test under the bright global spotlight that follows Leo Messi<\/a> and Inter Miami, as the Herons visit Shell Energy Stadium for a Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire clash this weekend (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>).<\/p>\n Betting big on a young domestic player at the heart of the lineup has drawn plaudits from another member of the organization: Tim Howard, the MLS and USMNT legend who joined La Naranja\u2019s ownership group last summer.<\/p>\n \u201cBringing Jack McGlynn in was tremendous for the Dynamo,\u201d the National Soccer Hall of Famer, who also works as an analyst on NBC\u2019s English Premier League broadcasts, said in a recent media availability. \u201cIt speaks to what I believe should and will happen in this country, and that is paying value for young US players. Young US players get overlooked, they do.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want to go out and find talent everywhere else in the world when some of the best talent is already here, and then they scoff at paying a certain fee for that player. A player has a market value, and US players have been undervalued globally since the beginning of time, and we still see that. Our most talented US players go for far less than young players in other countries. So I think Jack will have success in our organization, in our team, and I think that will start a trend.\u201d<\/p>\n McGlynn had never even visited the Bayou City before the trade that made it his new home; he\u2019s a New York City native and had been part of the Union setup since 2019. Yet it was immediately apparent that the Dynamo are a markedly better spot for his skill set than Philly, where the devotion to intense pressing and direct play always made him an awkward fit.<\/p>\n That stylistic contrast may end up being a useful step in the process, preparing him for the task that now faces him in South Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back on it now,\u201d McGlynn said of his Union tenure, \u201cI learned a lot. Obviously had to adjust the way I play, because I’m more of a, I’d say, technical player who wants to run the game on the ball, and the way they play, it doesn’t suit me.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it helped me a lot, adjusting to the way they play. I think it made me develop physically, and a lot more on the other side of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n All that said, no one will be surprised to hear he\u2019s got Philadelphia\u2019s July 19 visit to H-town<\/a> circled on his calendar.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI know who we play in the summer this year,\u201d said McGlynn. \u201cI’m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) January 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Olsen himself was once a babyfaced phenom, leaving the University of Virginia early to join D.C. United in 1997 as part of Project-40, the precursor to the league’s Generation adidas program. He also lived the European experience on a loan stint with Nottingham Forest and crafted a solid international career with 37 USMNT caps and a 2006 World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n He\u2019d love to have McGlynn as a foundational piece in H-town for years to come. Yet he\u2019s also ready to help him reach Europe in the best possible situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI still have a lot of respect for the American player. Look at our roster,\u201d said Olsen. \u201cIt’s a lot on a young kid like that, but in my short time knowing him and calling around, and some people that have been with him a long time, they say he’s ready for that challenge and ready for that burden of pulling the strings on the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI know he has goals to be with the national team,\u201d added the coach. \u201cI know he has goals of Europe. Great. Let’s go. Let’s get you there.\u201d<\/p>\n All that makes the Dynamo\u2019s 2025 campaign that much more interesting to follow. They\u2019re still in the market for a No. 10 to fill the Designated Player spot vacated by HH, recently signing veteran playmaker Nico Lodeiro<\/a> as a stopgap option, and await the return of lively wingers Nelson Quinones<\/a> and Lawrence Ennali<\/a> from long-term knee injuries.<\/p>\n Can McGlynn lead La Naranja to a level that\u2019s not merely comparable to their previous version, but even better? Perhaps even an MLS Cup contender?<\/p>\n \u201cI know what I’m capable of,\u201d said McGlynn. \u201cI know I’m capable of doing it. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n \u201cMy expectations for myself are always high: to be the best wherever I am,\u201d he added. \u201cThat’s the way you have to go into it, or there’s no point, I think. I trust in my training that I\u2019ve done from a kid to now to go on the field and step out there with confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n Marquee move<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Replacing H\u00e9ctor & Coco<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Lofty expectations<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Sunday Night Soccer awaits<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Foundational piece<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n