Balance. That's the magic word. It's the key element lacking in this early stage of the MLS season for the Dynamo after one win, two draws and three defeats in their first six games.

"It's easy to think that one week you are Barcelona and the next week you are the worst team in the world," Dynamo coach Owen Coyle said during a recent interview with Glenn Davis for the Dynamo's Coach's Corner.

The British-born coach is correct. How is it that the same team that humiliated FC Dallas, one of the best in the league, with a 5-0 win gets annihilated just a few weeks after on the same BBVA Compass Stadium, falling 4-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy?

Coyle acknowledged that he is a little frustrated by the results, but believes that, except for the lopsided loss last Friday against the Galaxy, his team performance has been good. So he thinks better results will come. Eventually.

"We have a young team, it's going to grow, it's going to get better and I am really optimistic on moving forward", Coyle said.

His team, for example, must still learn how to finish games, though it is not yet playing at its full potential. That, of course, is developed throughout the season and obviously takes a while to put it into practice and see long-term results.

Since arriving in Houston to lead the Dynamo last season in his first year in the MLS out of Europe, Coyle has said repeatedly that his teams always go out to win, trying to achieve that by playing an expansive and entertaining game.

Under that premise, and taking into consideration the lack of goals last season, perhaps Coyle was concerned about strengthening the attack this season. But the team now shows its greatest weakness in the defensive end.

The arrival of Argentine playmaker Cristian Maidana and Andrew Wenger, both in a trade from Philadelphia, opened the Dynamo's options in the attack. That proved encouraging in the first few games.

Only one major lineup change

But, in the back four, the only significant change from last season in the starting lineup has been the incorporation of right back Jalil Anibaba. Perhaps he is a good player when he moves forward into the attacking mode with great runs along the right flank, but his overall performance on defense has been far from ideal. His main task as a defender should be to be reliable on defense, the offense considered a perk. Last Friday, Mexican star Giovani Dos Santos enjoyed plenty of free space almost every time he decided to go forward, especially when he moved to the left side of the attack.

Dos Santos, named player of the week by the MLS for his great performance at BBBVA Compass Stadium, scored twice and was also instrumental on plays leading to two other goals from the Galaxy. Anibaba, in particular, and the rest of the Dynamo defense is going to have nightmares with the Mexican international for a long time.

Coyle, visibly frustrated by the mistakes of his defense after the first half against the Galaxy, reacted in the second half by making three substitutions at the same time, something rarely seen at this professional level.

However, despite these subs, the team remained unchanged in the area where the improvement was evident: the back four.

Perhaps coincidentally, the Dynamo perhaps enjoyed more possession and controlled the ball from that point. But it's fair to say that was more because of the attitude of the opposition, which settled quite comfortably with the lead. Anyway, the Dynamo never caused any harm to the Galaxy.

"The opposition scored some wonderful goals but equally within that there were some self-inflicted … and then the individual mistakes," Coyle said. "I think it's important that we brush up on them, we brush up individual mistakes and then it helps you as a group".

Moving on to Saturday's game in Columbus, Ohio, against the Crew, Coyle is convinced that the Dynamo can replicate a performance like the one against Dallas. At the same time, he knows he must change the mindset of his team to earn points away from home.