We have an initial look at how the 2020 Toros’ squad will look.

Yesterday, RGVFC announced their roster moves for the 2020 season with a press release. Seven players are confirmed to return to the Houston Dynamo affiliate: Robert Coronado, Nico Lemoine, Isidro Martinez, Juan Carlos Obregon, Kevin Rodriguez, Andrew Samuels, and Ben Willis. The club declined to pick up options on Andres Arcila, Hector Copete, Nico Corti, Conor Donovan, Brad Dunwell, Romilio Hernandez, Sergio Mena, and Carlos Viveros. In addition to the loans ending for Carlos Small and Deshane Beckford, the following players are out of contract: Kyle Adams, David Cabrera, Robert Castellanos, Jesus Enriquez, Victor Garza, Zach Jackson, Camilo Monroy, and Aldo Quintanilla. As with every team, the club announced they are still negotiating with some of the players not already confirmed to return.

First, let’s look at the returning players. The two biggest names here are Robert Coronado and Isidro Martinez. Both players were breakout stars in their first professional action. Hopefully, Coronado will get a lion share of the minutes at left-back and Chelo will surely be the chief distributor in the midfield again. Andrew Samuels was also good in his first season and will likely start opposite Coronado. In limited 2019 performances, Ben Willis and JC Obregon were impressive. Willis is the only goalkeeper on the seven-man roster and should get every opportunity to lock up the starting job. Dynamo Academy products Nico Lemoine and Kevin Rodriguez were both inconsistent in the attack, but both are promising players that deserve a chance to prove themselves.

You could argue that three of the most important and best players from the past two seasons are out of contract: Adams, Enriquez, and Castellanos. Donovan and Corti were also typically first-choice options over the past two seasons and they both had their options turned down. Romilio Hernandez was pushed out of the rotation by Dynamo first-team loanees and younger options. I would’ve liked to see Arcila brought back. He’s a skillful player, but he couldn’t stay fit.

The group of Copete, Dunwell, Mena, Viveros, and Jackson are one-and-done players for the Toros as none of them made any notable impact in 2019. Aldo, David Cabrera, and Victor Garza saw limited or no action this season.

At the moment, it’s not certain who will be leading this group of players. Gerson Echeverry completed his second season coaching the Toros and it has not been announced yet if he will be back for a third year.