When Giles Barnes led his Houston Dynamo teammates out of the tunnel to face Toronto FC Sunday, he couldn’t help but take it all in.
With captain Brad Davis out due to a hamstring injury, the English transplant donned the armband for the first time. Fulfilling the captain’s role, the 26-year-old was in a position that might’ve seemed impossible just three years ago.
Barnes arrived in Houston in 2012 looking to revive his career. Injuries had throttled his progress in England and he was looking for a new challenge. Fast-forward to Sunday, and Barnes not only showed that he’s risen to that new challenge, but climbed well beyond it to new heights.
“It makes me so proud. It kind of understated where I came from a few years ago being injured and looking at things from a different perspective to leading the team out,” Barnes told MLSsoccer.com Thursday. “I’ve always believed in my ability, but I had a rough few years with injuries that kind of took it out of me mentally and physically.
“Coming here was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Since last September, he’s scored 11 goals in 20 games and has become not only a leader in the Dynamo locker room but a popular figure outside it, landing sponsorship deals and a large fan following.
“I knew him as a young player and he was one of the best for me in his age group,” said Houston head coach Owen Coyle. “Obviously he was curtailed by injuries and all that, but sometimes you have to take a step back to take two forward. And Giles has done that.”
While the forward is enjoying the fruits of his labor now, the trek there wasn’t easy. A talent on the ball, in Houston Barnes encountered a culture and coach in Dominic Kinnear (now with San Jose) that not only pushed him for more but demanded he add to his game. If he chose not to, the consequence was plain.
“No one’s ever said that to me before: ‘If you aren’t running both ways, you’re not going to play’ so I said ‘OK, I better do something about it,’” Barnes said. “When he said that to me it was kind of a wake-up call. I suppose because before, people just let me get away with it because I had ability.
“I’d get called a luxury player, and those guys don’t always fit in everywhere.”
It took some time, but Barnes responded to the challenge.
After finding his stride in MLS in 2012 and 2013, he found his comfort zone last season. His fitness – something Kinnear pushed him to improve – rounded into form, and he adopted some of the toughness that’s personified the Dynamo organization. He kept himself open to both criticism and praise.
Now, working with Coyle, he’s getting an additional voice – and continuing to impress.
“Working with Owen has allowed me to feel even better, even more comfortable; someone that allows me to go and express myself and knows how well I want to do for the team,” Barnes said.
Said Coyle: “I’m never going to stop demanding from him, because I truly believe there’s more to come from him. He’s now playing with a maturity and understanding of the all-around game.”
Barnes is now a regular target for the media, and a usual favorite for charity events and public appearances. The attention doesn’t seem to affect him. The 26-year-old is enjoying things as they come, whether it’s representing BBVA Compass or donning a beard at Houston Rockets games, as long as they don’t interfere with his game on the field.
So far it hasn’t. Barnes has become one of the more exciting players to watch in MLS, with a mix of power, pace and unpredictability. While it can come off as flashy or selfish at times, he’s become a player that his teammates enjoy playing with, mindful of his potentially game-changing effects on the field.
He reminds one veteran colleague of another playmaker who once donned the Orange uniform, and recently called time on a storied career.
“He’s got more pace and power than Dwayne [De Rosario], but I can see a similarity there sure,” Davis said of Barnes. “I think he’s playing with extreme confidence right now and he should be.
“Personally, I’m trying to put myself in a position to get him the ball because he can be dangerous from anywhere. Teams definitely have to be aware of that and I think we all need to be in spots to get him those dangerous balls, because we know he can finish.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
