Houston Dynamo forward Will Bruin enters his sixth season as a professional in 2016 and will remain with the Houston Dynamo after his new contract was announced Tuesday, along with Giles Barnes and Tyler Deric. For Bruin, an increase in pay was a large factor but assurances the club is built to win soon were important as well.
After reaching the MLS Cup Final in each of his first two seasons—2011 and 2012—and falling just short in the 2013 Eastern Conference Championship, the Dynamo missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. With opportunities available in Belgium, France, and elsewhere in MLS, he was convinced by head coach Owen Coyle and general manager Matt Jordan the club was in position to win next season.
“I am excited to be a part of something that I know can be, and is going to be special,” Bruin said. “I was disappointed last year—I thought we had the team to make the playoffs. I think we have the core here that can make a run in the playoffs.”
After Jordan was appointed general manager last November and Coyle picked as the new head coach a month later, Jordan described the rebuilding of the club as a “project". The same description was used as a wave of players joined the club during the offseason. The project included change and uncertainty for veterans such as Bruin.
“I think last year was more of the “project”, and going into this upcoming year we know how the team will be run. We know that to expect from the gaffer and his staff, and Matt (Jordan). It is easier going into preseason knowing what to expect, as opposed to last year, when there were so many unknowns. Now, going into next year, everybody is less tense, and we know what to expect. At the same time, it is exciting because we’ve had two disappointing years and trust me, that’s not going to happen a third year in a row.”
After beginning the season in and out of the starting lineup, Bruin scored his first goal in a wild 4-4 draw with Sporting Kansas City on April 25. Goalless through his first six games, Bruin scored 11 times in his final 27 appearances, starting the final 24 games of the campaign. After mixed levels of comfort and results playing in a 4-5-1 formation in years past, Bruin’s confidence within the role in Coyle’s system grew as the season progressed.
“I think my hold-up play as a target forward got better each game throughout the season. Obviously it can still improve, but I am comfortable in that formation now. I feel like I get more chances in and around the box as opposed to picking the ball up in midfield. I get to stay higher up the field, and I get to combine with Giles. We like to play close to each other and combine and we know where we will be on the field.”
Entering 2016, the competition for starting places in the front line figures to be intense. Three highly-regarded forwards are under contract, and each 26 and younger, with Barnes (27) capable of playing striker as well. Bruin will be pushed by Erick Torres, with the 22-year-old expected to benefit from his first preseason with the Dynamo after his loan return to Chivas Guadalajara last January failed to provide consistent playing time. Mauro Manotas, 20, will push Bruin and Torres for starts after the former Colombia U-20 national team striker made nine substitute appearances in his debut season.
“The club did not have to re-sign me,” Bruin acknowledged. “They didn’t have to go out of their way to tell me that they want me here, so that is reassuring. Through my whole career, I’ve always preached you want competition. That makes you better every day at practice and it makes the team better. Competition only makes my game rise, and I think we saw that last year.”
Bruin has made 134 starts in five MLS seasons and is part of a seemingly dwindling pool of American forwards that consistently start in the league. Last season, only two American forwards—Chris Wondolowski and Jozy Altidore—scored more goals than Bruin. A similarly small group—including Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies and C.J. Sapong—were regular starters for their clubs.
“I have shown I can do it consistently, and score goals. I am still waiting on my next call for the national team, and hopefully that comes pretty soon. I think my inner drive, not wanting to lose, and being competitive has helped me throughout my career. I may not be the best soccer player in the world, but I am going to find a way to beat you, no matter what I have to do, and that is my mentality, and I think that mentality will rub off on the team next year.”
Despite the consistent start through his first five seasons—he has tallied double-digit goals in three different seasons, the first Dynamo player to do so—Bruin could still be on the cusp of a breakout year. Wondolowski’s breakthrough 18-goal season came at age 27 in 2010, after he scored seven goals in his first six years in the league. The former Dynamo forward has now tallied 102 goals in the last six seasons, the best scoring run in league history. Another recent “late bloomer” is 28-year-old Jamie Vardy, currently on a record 11-game scoring streak for Leicester City in the English Premier League. Vardy came up through the Sheffield Wednesday Academy but was released at age 16. He continued to score goals in the lower divisions, but did not make his England national team debut until June. Bruin made his professional debut at age 21 and doesn’t disagree with the notion that he's not a finished product.
“I went a different route than a lot of the Academy players,” Bruin said. “I played multiple sports in high school, and have improved every year. I still don’t think I’m at my full potential, which is interesting to say because I’ve been in the league five years. I think I’m close. I think this year when I got benched and got my starting job back, that is my standard, and that is my standard going forward, and I want to have it increase. I have had talks with the gaffer, and there is still more to come from me—I know that. I will be 26 all of next season, and I am still relatively young and have a lot of gas left in the tank.”
