Houston boss Coyle outlines learning curve to compete in 'elite' MLS

Houston Dynamo manager Owen Coyle is looking for more from his men in orange over the course of the 2016 season.

Having missed the playoffs once again in 2015, the Dynamo look like a shell of their former glorious selves. But Coyle doesn't think wholesale changes are the answer to his team's woes, but rather the opposite.

"What we've got to understand I think this year is to look for improvement and look for a little bit more consistency," Coyle told MLSsoccer.com. "If we do that, and if we pick up a few more points on the road, then we'll be in those playoffs competing to win the cup like everybody else wants to be."

Coyle has been around the block in Europe and has plenty of top-flight experiences under his belt. But, he says, no amount of success in the U.K. could prepare him for the unique challenges of Major League Soccer.

"MLS is an elite league now, but I don’t think any of the other elite leagues, the EPL, the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, the traveling there is minimal, and I mean minimal," Coyle explained. "The traveling involved, it takes a level of understanding and I think that’s been a huge learning curve, certainly."

Extensive travel demands aren't the only challenge, though, as Coyle also lamented the league's schedule, one that does not break for international windows.

"It's unlike the leagues I've been involved in because when there is an international game on, whether it was Scotland or England, the league doesn’t play," Coyle said. "I had 16 internationals with Bolton Wanderers, but not one of them ever missed a game for their club team, so that was a learning curve as well, that was a big takeaway that I had to get my head around."