This time last year Mauro Manotas was a flicker on the radar of the Dynamo starting XI.

With nine appearances and a meager 102 minutes over one season on his MLS profile, Manotas had a crowded depth chart to climb if he was going to make an impact.

Proven attackers Giles Barnes, Will Bruin and Erick Torres all seemed to have a leg up, and in former coach Owen Coyle's 4-2-3-1 formation there was room on the pitch only for one.

By the end of the season, however, Manotas was the one at the top. He took advantage of his late season opportunity and ended the year tied for the team lead with six goals.

Now that the 2017 preseason is underway new coach Wilmer Cabrera will talk about competition for every position, but nobody believes there is any chance Manotas, 21, will not be in the starting XI on March 4 against reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC.

"It is a huge difference," Manotas said this week through a translator. "Thank God last year we finished the best way possible so people already have a good concept of who I am."

Those people already had a decent idea who the Young Designated Player was after he got on the score sheet three times in two U.S. Open Cup games. Not long after that he started for the first time in a league game.

Then in September, Manotas really took off.

He scored six goals in a span of five matches, including one glorious night in which he scored the sixth hat trick in Dynamo history.

That is a big reason why he will not be able to hide this season. Cabrera said Manotas' maturity has improved and that it will be critical as he plays this season with many more eyes on him.

"In this sport if you cannot manage the pressure and handle the fact that you are recognized you have to retire and move to play a different game," Cabrera said. "The good thing about this sport or any sport is you have to be under pressure and compete the whole time. That is how you survive."

Manotas said his biggest focus this preseason is improving against physical play. He never got much of that as a teenager in Colombia so when MLS center backs began to body up to him it made him uncomfortable. He said he especially struggled in the last 15-20 minutes of matches when he was more tired.

There may not be as much contact this season if Cabrera trots out a 4-3-3 lineup that includes Torres and offseason acquisitions Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto. Rather than having one forward at the front of the attack, the Dynamo are likely to have several.

That is just one reason why this preseason Manotas has bigger expectations than he ever has. He hopes last year was just a flicker on the radar of his career.

"I want to go past the amount of goals I scored last year," Manotas said. "That is what we are preparing us for. This is going to be a productive year for me and the team."