It was a poor performance all around. Giving up the goal didn't bother me that much. On a wet field with a good dead ball specialist behind the ball, such things might happen. We're still at the top of the league in terms of goals conceded.
Let's get on to what does bother me:
- A continuing inability to score. We have scored in 2 of 6 games. That means we've been shut out -- shut out, I say -- by 4 teams. We have 2 goal scorers. We now have a speedy forward, Ngwenya, who can run to the goal faster than Moreno, which enables him to fluff the shot quicker than Moreno would. On the 1v1 with the keeper, Ngwenya looked exactly like Moreno at the end of the first leg of the Pachuca match. If you're earning a paycheck as a forward, you've got to get those in. Here's hoping that Ngwenya does better with his chances in the future. We weren't patient with Moreno doing the same...but at least we're paying less for the same results. Ching had very little service from the wings and his best work was working the middle or the flanks with his feet. When THAT is happening, the game plan has broke down. We had a few shots from distance, but little that threatened. And this is versus a keeper one year removed from the USL. And versus an expansion team. And a team coached by Mo Johnston.
- Disappearing DeRo. The problem with DeRo isn't that he doesn't care or that he's going
through a work slowdown and pouting until his contract issues are resolved; no, the problem is that he cares too much and is working too hard. Whenever he wants to show the world his quality, whenever his heart is aching for everyone to realize that he truly is among the elite -- so he will get the raise he deserves, so the foreign managers will see him as a worthy adversary, so his hometown will see the boy grown up -- he struggles. Why? Because his skill, as masterful as it is, is instinctual and visceral. He cannot command his flair into submission. He is a player who must feel the play and just flow into the action. Don't condemn him for not trying; his problem is that he's trying too hard. Yoda could teach him a few things, but basically DeRo needs to come to terms with Wu Wei and return to being the Taoist Soccer Master that he is.
- Conceding a goal on the road isn't a cause for concern, but there was no excuse for how open Welsh was on the free kick. Lapses of concentration on defense hurt us last year at times, and is all the more dangerous because of our impotent offense.
- Cochrane has been shaky all season. I don't remember being nervous with him on the field last year, but this year he seems to get out of position, lose the ball, and concede fouls too often for a starting defender on a top flight team. Did he commit the foul that led to the goal? I'm not for sure, but it's not a far-fetched guess given how much he fouls. Waibel was a bit shaky at the altitude of Pachuca, but other than that he looked as good as Cochrane if not better. I don't understand why Waibel is being benched; I worry less with Waibel on the ball than I do when Cochrane is there.
- Apathetic coaching. I'm not one to clamor for massive replacement of starters, and I'm perfectly at ease with Kinnear's preference to let the Starting XI solve the problems thrown at them by the opposition, but when the starters aren't cutting mustard, you sub them out to (1) offer someone else a chance to excel and (2) let the starters know that they are going to have to work for their positions. Using only one sub, Kinnear failed to allow anyone else the chance to help the cause, prevented the possible development of bench players, and told his starters that mediocrity is acceptable. I thought Stuart Holden was a fine sub, and I thought that pulling Ngwenya was not unwarranted given the newbie's misfirings, but a middie for a forward is not a particularly aggressive sub. It does not say "we need a goal, guys." Ngwenya at least was penetrating the opposition (and THEN blowing it, yes), while Mullan, who moved up when Holden took the wing, did little more than get called offside about a dozen times when time was precious. I think Dom should have done more to light a fire under our guys.
- But mainly it's that thing about a lack of goal scoring that really ticks me off. If you're going to lose, at least score a bit so opponents have to open up the game to outscore you. I've called out Cochrane in this rant, but he has nothing to do with this, the greatest problem facing the 'Mo. The problem lies with the service from our middies to Ching, and with the on-ball abilities of DeRo and the non-Ching forward. Until the five players in this aspect of the game become consistent, we will struggle mightily.
- I haven't been very impressed with the refs this year. They missed another handball in the penalty box tonight. Worse than that was their lack of accuracy on the offside calls. I, for one, think the call should be like the "tie goes to the runner" call in baseball. If it's close, err on the side of attacking soccer and let the play unfold. If it results in more goals for all teams, then whoopee. I don't think that's a sin. I also hope the league's director of refereeing, Esse Baharmast, does a little refresher on the "advantage" too. As an aside, one of the four professional refs, Terry Vaughn, was the official tonight. Seems like some professional training is in order.
- I listened to Steve Mark, the voice of the Dynamo, on 790 for the first 10 minutes of the game. He has a good voice and is good on the pre-game, halftime, and post-game activity, but needs to listen to soccer on the radio and practice on how to describe the play to as it happens. I had very little idea as to who was doing what on the field for those 10 minutes. Steve Clarkson seemed to be a good color guy though.
- Toronto is a Canadian team, no? This Johnston clown fields only two Canadian starters, Sutton and Brennan. Is that really the best an entire nation can produce for its team? At least all three subs were Canuckistanis.
- I like the Glenn Davis-Charlie Pallilo team in the booth. Pallilo calls a good game and Glenn is solid in the analysis. Yes, they're biased for the home team; but that's because they're H-Town announcers. They're supposed to be calling from the local team's perspective. It's not a breach of etiquette like when the FSC crew led by Max Bretos pleads on camera for Toronto to win, like they did in the TFC-Fire game last weekend.
- I hate divers. On a related note: Eskandarian should not be allowed to wear #10. No one on Dynamo-Houston wears #10, and only DeRo would warrant it. No one else has the hubris for such garish self-aggrandizement.
- Right now we're tied for 8th in the 13 team league. Mid-season slumps are much easier to stomach than beginning of season slumps. This slump better end soon.
2 comments:
If we consider our one home loss a fluke, then all of our other losses were on artificial turf. Hmm, maybe synthetic grass messes with our mojo, or our Tao as you say. If we only lose on turf the rest of the season, we'll only have to worry about our 2 games at SLC from here on out. Not bad!
On rewatching parts of the game, I see that my man Mulrooney fouled Welsh to set up O'Brien's freekick that led to Welsh's goal. Sorry for wrongly insinuating it was you, Mr. Cochrane.
We sure had the edge in possession, not that possession means anything when you've got it because the other team is bunkering. We still can't break down the bunker.
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