Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Oh so close in El Salvador

The Dynamo Reserves did what they had to do and kept the Dynamo in the mix for moving on to the knockout stages of the Champions League. But they were within mere minutes of being the first MLS team to win a CONCACAF match overseas this year. (Recap. Recap by Ives.)

The second team carried the play of the first half and could easily have had another goal or two, but it conceded possession and territory throughout the second. Even then, though they lagged in possession, they had the more dangerous opportunities on goal. And, in the 87th minute, had Caig not mis-timed his punch or had Chabala gotten his legs together quicker on the goal line, the team would have gotten the full 3 points. (With Onstad on the field as the only change to the lineup, we win.)

But the team should be extremely proud, being better than the El Salvador first team in the first half and being their equal in the second. And, best of all, they got the result they needed.

The Dynamo Blog has some notes on the game. (The Chronicle and B-Fall do as well, as usual. Those links expire quickly though, so get there via the Chronicle link in the left margin.)

It'll be up to the first team to win the game on November 26 (3 days after the MLS Cup...and the Dynamo Three-peat?) so we can move to the next stage. Given the performance of the Reserves last night, one has to think the first team should be able to get the necessary 3 points, but they will be facing a side that will pack it in seeking the tie and the easy counter-attacking goal. The Dynamo often struggle scoring against sides that put 11 behind the ball.

But first things first: Let's get our first turf win of the season this Saturday. Go Dynamo!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Farewell, Regular Season 2008

The Dynamo wrapped up the season with a nice win, an ugly loss, and a disappointing draw.

A week ago, on a Saturday, the team racked up three quick goals in the first half to defeat the hapless Galaxy and lock up the Western Conference regular season "title". (Note: The Dynamo won't be called the Western Conference Champions unless they win the MLS Cup Semifinals in the post-season.) The past two years we came in second in the Conference, so it is a nice accomplishment to be first in the Conference and second overall for the first time. In addition to it being "nice," it also assures the Dynamo have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, a benefit that hasn't proven beneficial for the past two Western Conference leaders (FC Dallas in 2006 and Chivas USA in 2007), both of whom washed out in the first round. Hopefully we fare better with the advantage. We usually do.

On Wednesday, the Dynamo veterans and reserves met the UNAM Pumas veterans and reserves. We managed to tie them in Mexico City, so hopes were high here at home, particularly given the run we've had. It was not to be, as we fell to Pumas 1-3. It was our first loss since August 24, when we lost 0-3 to RBNY. (More on that later.) Pumas scored on a PK after a poorly positioned Ianni knocked down an onrushing attacker in the penalty box. Then Pumas scored on a quick counter that was essentially a 3v1 (Barrett was the "1", with Ashe coming in from behind). With the MIO pushed up on a free kick, the Dynamo lost possession and the midfield failed to contain or delay the Pumas middle, leaving the Dynamo backline exposed when undermanned. Before the half ended, the exciting rookie, Geoff Cameron, intercepted a goal kick, raced down the right flank, and sent a cross in for Nate Jaqua that a defender kindly knocked in. Pumas got the only goal of the second half, with a nice heel flick/volley off a corner kick where an offside Pumas player shielded Onstad from the shot. After the game, Coach Dom correctly pointed out that the goal should have not counted. But it did. We had plenty of chances to score in the first and second halves. But we didn't. And we were probably fortunate that Stuart Holden wasn't sent off with a second yellow card after repeated poorly-timed and executed slide tackles. Our first loss of the CONCACAF Champions League, and enough to knock us into third place and needing a win and a tie to get through to the next round.

The week ended with a miserable match versus Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center. It shouldn't have been a miserable match because (1) it was a meaningless match and (2) it would probably see our starters rested. BUT, it became meaningful when The Dom decided to play a full strength squad for some reason (you're not going to rest them for the match in El Salvador? For the playoffs?), and that veteran squad proved unable to score a goal against a 10-man team. We had plenty of opportunities, but poor finishing plagued the team as it seems to do at the most inopportune times, and almost always when playing against a short-sided team. We did get a PK in the second half, but nothing else. To add salt to the wound, our veterans also conceded a goal to the 10-man side after a freaky series of caroms in the final minute of the match. The first carom was when ERob nearly scored an own-goal, forcing Onstad to make a diving save, and Little Curtin was able to punch in the bouncing ball from a foot out.

It was not a good day for ERob, who also nearly gifted Anton Razov a goal when he lost control of the ball and coughed it up to Razov who was eventually denied in a 1-on-1 with Pat On-Stud.

In the end, the tie didn't do anything but tick fans off and deny the Dynamo the chance to better their point total from last year. (They had 52 points last year; 51 this year.)

So now what?

Well, Tuesday we face CD Luis Angel Firpo in El Salvador for CONCACAF Champions League. We need a draw to stay alive.

Saturday we take on RBNY in the first leg of the first round of the playoffs. The good news: RBNY sucks. The bad news: RBNY plays on turf. We don't do well on the fake stuff, having not won on it one time this year. In fact, it seems that in our history, we've only won one game on the fake stuff. Well, we need to get at least a tie this weekend then seal the deal here in Houston the following week. Losing out to RBNY in the first round is unacceptable.

Finally, congrats to the Dynamo Reserves, who won the Reserve Division title this past weekend. It was a brilliant campaign by John Spencer and the lads. I wonder what they will do with the $20,000 they won.

The victory in the Reserve Division is another success in the history of the club. Now let's get on with setting MLS history by getting the three-peat. Go Dynamo!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Holden it in until the end

The Dynamo apparently have a lock on late-game heroics.

Tonight, twice a Dynamo forward knocked the ball into the post, and twice Stuart Holden was there to clean up the mess -- in the 6th minute Stuie started the scoring and in the 93rd minute he sealed the game. (Recap.) In between, the Dynamo played 80 minutes with 10 men after Kei Kamara was red carded, but it was the Dynamo who looked comfortable and confident on the pitch. They controlled the game and should have had another goal on several occasions. In the first half Ashe was 1v1 with Joe Cannon but hit the ball into the GK, later Ashe completely juked Hernandez (at Right Back) and put a sweet cross across the goal that Stuie touched just wide, later Cameron fights his way into the box and is tripped from behind but gets no call, throw in some missed headers off corner kicks (Boswell had an open header on one corner, and in the second half had a shot from 40 yards that almost caught Cannon away from the nets), and later Mullan and Jaqua had a 2v1 with Nick Garcia (who was booed the whole game after his role in getting Kamara ejected) but a bad pass allowed Cannon to snuff the chance. Funny thing is, Jaqua and Mullen looked dead-legged in this poorly executed play, but being late subs, they were the freshest guys on the field.

Besides these opportunities on goal, possession and penetration favored the MIO ... that is until about the 60th minute when I think fatigue starting eroding the Dynamo's usual punch. It's tough playing a man down, and the Dynamo began conserving their energy and relying more on counters for offensive output. Fatigue probably also affected Robinson's decision making when he made that bad back pass that led to the Quakes' equalizer in the 68th minute.

But Stuie saved the day in dramatic fashion. We're now 5 points ahead of Chivas USA. We need to only tie one of our two remaining games (vs LA and at Chivas) in order to clinch home field advantage through the playoffs -- which is crucial for this team and for its fan base.

First we host the Beckhamless Galaxy this Saturday. We'll need to do so without Robinson (yellow card accumulation) and Kamara (red card), but luckily Stuart gave us some breathing room tonight.

Get some rest, boys.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Playing catch up

The lack of blogging isn't due to my lack of attention to the world of soccer. On the contrary, so much has been going on (in the MLS, World Cup Qualifying, and my efforts to be a decent coach for my son's youth team), that I haven't made time to write.

But here I am. Since my last writing, the Dynamo have been very active.

They beat Colorado in Denver (Recap) behind 2 goals from Ching (he had a saved PK that would've given him the hat trick) and a sweet shot from afar by Rico. The win ensured the Dynamo clinched a playoff spot.

Midweek, in CONCACAF play, DeRo earned 3 points for the Orange with a brilliant game winner in the 88th minute. (Recap.) It looked like San Francisco FC of Panama was going to escape from Houston with a point. It would have been unjust, but poor finishing was killing the MIO. (We had 20 shots to Fr'isco's 6.) The night saw several young guns making their mark. Corey Ashe had perhaps his best game ever as he tore up the left flank and showed strong runs and solid crosses. Caig was a surprise starter in goal, and his poor positioning off his line (in yet another match) allowed the Panamanians to equalize early in the 2nd half with an outstanding lob. Chabala did well at right back, but could stand some practice making crosses when his legs are tired late. Wondo had a goal and nearly another (a chip that hit the post, and then the followup went wide as it was borne of frustration than of steely intent to finish). Kyle Brown was a surprising sub. But the game changed when the veteran, DeRo, came in at the 78th minute. He energized the team and seemed to make things happen.

His goal was good in and of itself, but what he did to get himself into that position is what was truly amazing. In the 88th minute, a long pass by Barrett to DeRo was intercepted and the ball ended up at Blanco's feet (no, not THE Blanco). Blanco began dribbling towards the halfway line, but DeRo came up from behind, deftly stepped between Blanco and the ball, and cleanly stole away and reversed course. Given time and space on the fringe of the attacking third, DeRo was like a kid at Christmas and unleashed a bending rocket that flat-footed the goalkeeper and iced the game. DeRo had been in the game all of 10 minutes.

Later in the week, the US Men's Team booked passage into the next round of WCQ with an easy win over an overmatched (and undermanned) Cuba. (Recap.) I feel for the Cuban players. Ching scored a goal after the match had already been decided. (His goal was a header of a Kljestan cross that Ching knocked in...but he was in a gaggle with 2 other US players so it would have been knocked in had Ching not been at the vanguard of the group). The most exciting part of the match for me was the introduction of José Francisco Torres of Pachuca into the USMNT rotation. (Quotes.) Maybe it's just pie-eyed dreams, but I hope that Torres is part of the future that builds a better technically skilled and creative USMNT culture. A guy can dream.

Ives has some observations about the game. Ives also had a good treatise on the worth Ching brings to the USMNT. The article is followed by amusing drivel -- for the most part -- chundered by the blogging community. It's amusing partly because the comments are so predictable, and partly because they are naive for the most part. As one matures, one realizes that there is not just one kind of forward, but many types that have value depending on the system and the team. Ching simply makes the players around him more productive. In other words: Ching makes the team better. That's a good thing. 'Nuff said.

Tonight, the week finished with a boring scoreless draw between a mediocre DC United team and a Dynamo team bereft of ideas. (Recap.) The result earned the Columbus Crew the Supporters' Shield.

The MIO wore all-white tonight as part of a charity effort to help raise funds as part of the reconstruction after Hurricane Ike. The team also honored first responders and their role in helping with the storm recovery.

The game was filled with half-chances. Geoff Cameron was an early 2nd half sub despite being listed as "Out" due to hamstring issues. He came in for Holden who knocked heads in the DC penalty box and got a golf-ball size lump on his forehead...yikes! Ashe was the other sub. He came on with only 10 minutes remaining, so it took him a while to get into the groove, but once he got into a rhythm, he delivered some nice crosses from the left.

It's been a long month for the Dynamo, but the traveling is over for the time being. Hopefully the MIO can re-energize themselves, recapture the (healthy) passion (not the anger-management-issue-laden passion that ERob shows before drawing needless Yellows), and do what needs to be done to get the third consecutive MLS Cup.

Go Dynamo!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Orange in the Sky

A mile high today the Burnt Orange are playing Colorado. And the Men In Orange are playing the Rapids. Both orange teams face the prospect of an upset, but the Dynamo have an advantage: the Rapids are playing well. If the Rapids were slumping and looking like a pushover, the Dynamo would get a draw at best. Why? Because that's how they roll.

We have won only 1 time since August. Luckily, we haven't lost even that many times; but the four draws stick out like a sore thumb. Those from the CONCACAF tourney are actually accomplishments, given that they were on hostile fields and at altitude on one occasion. But the MIO need 3 points from their MLS matches to secure home field for the playoffs. The Western Conference is too tight -- and the parity of the conference is too unsettling -- to leave things to chance.

Keep your TV tuned to The Tube.

And to the human side of the MIO: Here's a great article that talks about how the Dynamo (and particularly Pat Onstad) reacted to Hurricane Ike. "We're really ingrained in the community, so what happens to Houston happens to us as well."

In other news: After this game, Ching is off to help the USMNT secure their passage to the next round as they face Cuba in World Cup Qualifications. A win puts us through to the 6-team final round and allows Coach Bradley to experiment with personnel with the remaining matches.

Just a day before the roster was announced a co-worker of mine was talking about Pachuca and asked if I heard of Jose Francisco Torres. "Nope," said I. He told me that Torres was a middie for Pachuca and was from Longview, Texas. (The Longview part sounded familiar to me when he said that, so I must have heard a commentator talking about that when we played Pachuca in SuperLiga, but my memory is not what it was.) My co-worker continued by saying Torres is a great talent and is someone that my co-worker would love to see on the USMNT. He'd bring a fresh style and presence to a team that is devoid of creativity.

Less than 24 hours later, and Torres has been called up to the team. My co-worker didn't even know the USMNT had a match coming up. THAT was a weird coincidence.

Okay, Bradley, let's cup-tie this phenom and bring some style to the USMNT...but let's secure our berth to the next round most importantly.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Ol' Fashioned Texan Shootout at UNAM

What a great result in Mexico City last night, bolstered by scoring 4 goals. (Recap! And another!) What an opportunity lost too, after conceding an un-Dynamo-like 4 goals. But the accomplishment of the Dynamo is nothing to sniffle at.

The game started off with a scary moment: Fox Soccer Channel listed Caig as the man between the pipes. It wasn't until the first goal kick was taken that I was relieved to see that Onstad was rightly in goal. Phew! But I wonder, could Caig have actually let in more goals that the 4 we let in? (Answer: probably. Onstad made at least two brilliant saves, in addition to his other run of the mill saves.)

Let's look at the goals:
1. Dynamo score a bit against the run of early play. Waibel's header off a corner kick fits into the Dynamo set-piece paradigm.
2. Dynamo goal: Cameron proves he's no ordinary rookie yet again, hustles down the right flank, sends a cross that Ashe brings down for Kamara to unload into the net. A great combination by the middies and forwards, and a terrific finish by Kamara.
3. Pumas goal: a through ball exposes a gap in the line putting Onstad on the wrong end of a 1v1 situation. A seriously hurt Holden is part of the reason for the gap, and the hosts take advantage rather than go out of their way to be sporting. In truth, it was the ref's job to stop play.
4. Pumas goal: after a foul by ERob that either shouldn't have been a foul or should have been a red card ("last defender" rule), Pumas gets a free kick that's blocked by the wall, but it caroms to a Pumas player who knocks it in from 25+ yds. The ball didn't look particularly well struck -- especially for a shot from so far away -- but Onstad was probably screened and couldn't get to it.
5. Dynamo goal: Kamara is poised and puts away a PK that he set up with a through ball to Ashe, before Ashe was tripped from behind.
6. Pumas goal: moments after Kamara botches a 1v1 chance with the GK (he did well to get in that position, but completely misfires afterwards) the Dynamo backline ball-watches, letting a middie through and letting Paco Palencia run onto the subsequent cross to equalize.
7. Puma goal: the Dynamo defense again are flat-footed, letting a man run free on a corner kick to head in the go-ahead goal. Pumas beating the Dynamo in the air? I used the term "lazy" last night, and that's not a word I ever associate with the Dynamo, but a more appropriate word would probably be "fatigued" given the altitude and the recent schedule.
8. Dynamo goal: Pumas had the better play in the 2nd half, but the Dynamo got the only goal of the half, Waibel bookends the scoring with another header, this one after a busted corner kick turns into about 3 crosses into the box by the Orange. Waibel (completely onside) times his run with a Mullan short cross, and finds himself alone with the goalie whereupon the Bald One ensures his team goes home with a point.

And then the game closes with a blast from distance by DeRo that forced the best save of the night by the Pumas keeper. DeRo, a late sub, nearly stole 3 points at the end. B-Fall says: "Hands down, the best match of the tournament."

Great bullet point summary of the key elements by Glenn Davis here.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night was that, up 2-0, all the Dynamo had to do was play their normal defensive quality -- nothing beyond themselves or requiring uncanny luck --and they would have gone home with 3 points. But the fact is, the MIO scored 4 goals at altitude in smoggy Mexico City, held Pumas scoreless in the 2nd half, and did so without their full starting XI and with several young players that not only played, but were able to create opportunities against a strong Mexican side. Don't forget, having 2 points after 2 away games is excellent strategically.

The other worry about the night: how are Holden and Cameron, both of whom came off the field injured? Here's hoping they're AOK.

Finally, did anybody count how many times the Fox Soccer announcer mistakenly said Ashe was driving into the attacking third, when it was in fact Kamara? Kamara had an outstanding game, beyond even his 2 goals (and forgetting his awful finish when 1v1 near the end of the first half).