Memo Rodríguez

José Guillermo "Memo" Rodríguez (born December 27, 1995) is an American soccer player who currently plays for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer. He is a homegrown player for the Dynamo.

Memo Rodríguez
Personal information
Full name José Guillermo Rodríguez
Date of birth (1995-12-27) December 27, 1995
Place of birth Wharton, Texas, United States
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Houston Dynamo
Number 8
Youth career
–2011 Houstonians FC
2011–2014 Houston Dynamo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Houston Dynamo 0 (0)
2015 → Charleston Battery (loan) 17 (1)
2016 Rio Grande Valley FC 30 (6)
2017– Houston Dynamo 54 (10)
2017–2019 → Rio Grande Valley FC (loan) 6 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 13, 2019

Club career

Youth

Rodriguez began his youth career with Houstonians FC, a youth soccer team in Houston, Texas.[1] He joined the Houston Dynamo academy in 2011 at the age of 15.[2][3] Rodriguez played in 83 US Soccer Development Academy games while with the Dynamo academy, scoring 18 goals.[1] He was named as the Dynamo Academy Players' Player of the Year in both 2012 and 2013. Rodriguez also trained with the Dynamo first teams for spells during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.[1]

Professional

On December 4, 2014, Rodríguez signed a homegrown contract with the Houston Dynamo, making him the sixth homegrown signing in club history.[3] On March 20, 2015, it was announced that Rodríguez had been sent on loan to the Dynamo's USL affiliate club Charleston Battery.[4] He made his professional debut the following day in a 3–2 victory over Toronto FC II.[5] Rodriguez scored his first professional goal in a 1-1 draw with New York Red Bulls II on April 18. However he would struggle the rest of to find playing time and produce the rest of the year.

Ahead of the 2016 season Rodriguez was released by the Dynamo and signed a contract with USL club Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, who had replaced the Battery as the Dynamo's USL affiliate club that offseason.[6] He made his Toros debut on March 26 in a 2-0 defeat to the Tulsa Roughnecks. Rodriguez would score his first goal for RGVFC on May 21, as he found the back of the net twice in a 4-0 win over Swope Park Rangers.[7] He enjoyed a successful season with the Toros and head coach Wilmer Cabrera, as Rodriguez scored 6 and recorded 7 assists in 30 games to help the Toros make the USL Playoffs.[8]

On March 1, 2017 Rodriguez resigned with the Dynamo[9] and reconnected with Wilmer Cabrera, who had taken over as coach for the Dynamo during the off-season.[10] On April 8, 2017 Rodriguez came on as a sub in a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution to make his MLS debut.[1] He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on June 14 in the US Open Cup vs North Carolina FC; scoring in extra time to give Houston a 3-2 win.[11] Rodriguez scored his first MLS goal in a 3-1 win over the Montreal Impact on July 5, 2017,[1] He would make nine appearances, most as a sub, as he helped his hometown team make it back to the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2013. Rodriguez would not see the field in the playoffs however.[1]

Opportunities would be limited with the Dynamo for the start of 2018. After getting one appearance and 12 minutes total through the first six games,[1] Memo was sent to RGVFC for a game, where he promptly scored.[12] Rodriguez returned to the Dynamo after the game and he scored his first goal for the Dynamo of the season on May 5. Memo headed in a rebound in the 90th minute to give the Dynamo a 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy.[13] Rodriguez scored a brace in a 5-0 win over NTX Rayados in the US Open Cup on June 7.[14] The Dynamo went on to win the Open Cup, the first in club history, with Rodriguez playing in every game and getting 3 goals and an assist.[1]

Rodriguez made his CONCACAF Champions League Debut on March 5, 2019 when he came on as a sub in a loss against Tigres UANL.[15] In the Dynamo's next match, Memo got the start against Montreal and scored on a short from 22 yards out. His strike was named MLS Goal of the Week.[16] Rodriguez followed that up with a brace, including the game winning goal, against the Vancouver Whitecaps and a goal against the Colorado Rapids in Houston's next 2 league games.[1] He picked up his first assist on season on May 4th in a 2-1 win over Texas Derby rival FC Dallas. Rodriguez added another assist on May 15 in a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. On May 18, Rodriguez would score to help the Dynamo secure a 2-1 win over D.C. United.[1] After appearing in a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on June 1, he missed around 2 months due to a hamstring injury.[17] Rodriguez made a rehab appearance with RGVFC on July 13 before returning to the Dynamo lineup on July 20, picking up an assist in a 3-1 win over Toronto FC.[18] Houston had 1 win and 6 losses during the 7 MLS games while Rodriguez was out injured.[19] His return to the lineup was unable to save the season as the Dynamo missed out on the playoffs despite the best start in club history.[20] Rodriguez was named as the Dynamo Young Player of the Year for his strong season, scoring 7 and assisting 5 in 26 MLS appearances.[21]

Personal life

Rodriguez is of Mexican heritage.[22] He grew up in El Campo, Texas.[1] His mom would drive him over an hour each way for 12 years so he could play club soccer at a more competitive level in Houston.[2] Rodriguez has 3 younger brothers.[1]

Career Statistics
As of December 10, 2019[23][24][25]
Club Performance League US Open Cup Continental Playoffs Total
Club Season League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Houston Dynamo2015MLS0000——00
Charleston Battery (loan)2015USL17100—00171
Rio Grande Valley FC2016USL306——10316
Houston Dynamo2017MLS9221—00113
Rio Grande Valley FC (loan)2017USL43———43
Houston Dynamo2018MLS19153——244
Rio Grande Valley FC (loan)2018USL11———11
Houston Dynamo2019MLS267002[lower-alpha 1]0—287
Rio Grande Valley FC (loan)2019USLC10— ——10
Dynamo Total54107420006314
RGV FC Total36100000103710
Career Totals1072174201011725
  1. One appearance in CONCACAF Champions League, one appearance in Leagues Cup

Honors

Club

Houston Dynamo

Individual
  • Dynamo Young Player of the Year: 2019[21]

References
  1. "Memo Rodriguez". houstondynamo.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  2. "Breakout: Memo Rodriguez". MLS Players Association. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  3. "Houston Dynamo sign Memo Rodríguez to homegrown contract". HoustonDynamo.com. Houston Dynamo Communications. December 4, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  4. Conover, Dan (March 20, 2015). "Three players cleared, one in limbo". CharlestonBattery.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  5. Conover, Dan (March 21, 2015). "Mueller gives Battery dramatic 3-2 win". CharlestonBattery.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  6. "Houston Dynamo announce Memo Rodriguez, Taylor Hunter have signed with Rio Grande Valley FC Toros". houstondynamo.com. February 26, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  7. "USA - J. Rodríguez - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  8. Hill, Glynn A. (April 22, 2019). "Memo Rodriguez hitting his stride with Dynamo". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  9. "Interview: Dynamo Starlet Memo Rodriguez Ready to Prove Himself - EiF". EIF Soccer. July 21, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  10. "Dynamo introduce coach Wilmer Cabrera with hopes of bringing back club's winning ways". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  11. "Recap: Houston Dynamo 3, North Carolina FC 2 (AET)". houstondynamo.com. June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  12. "2018 | Rio Grande Valley FC vs Orange County SC | uslsoccer.com". www.uslsoccer.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  13. "Houston Dynamo vs. LA Galaxy - Football Match Report - May 5, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  14. "Recap: Houston Dynamo 5, NTX Rayados 0". houstondynamo.com. June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  15. "Recap: Houston Dynamo 0, Tigres UANL 2". houstondynamo.com. March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  16. "Houston Dynamo's Memo Rodriguez takes AT&T Goal of the Week for Week 2". mlssoccer.com. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  17. Hill, Glynn A. (June 25, 2019). "Dynamo face another pair of tests on the road". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  18. "Memo Rodriguez 2019 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  19. "Houston Dynamo Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  20. "Season Review: Despite best start in club history, Houston Dynamo miss playoffs again". SportsMap. October 17, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  21. "Houston Dynamo Announce 2019 Team Awards". Houston Dynamo. December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  22. "Houston Dynamo's Memo Rodriguez: The Beginning and on to the Future". amplifiedsoccerathlete.com. Amplified Soccer Marketing. April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  23. "Memo Rodriguez". houstondynamo.com. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  24. "J. Rodriguez". soccerway.com. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  25. "Jose Memo Rodriguez". uslsoccer.com. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
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