Another media roundup - Midseason edition

As wordy as I can be, I won't waste time on prolix introductions. Here's a summary of some interesting articles that touch on all things Orange.

"Climbing the Ladder" has the midway stats for each MLS team. Last year Houston earned 1.73 points per game by the midway point, 0.48 higher than this year's 1.06 average. The reason for that drop is because we're only scoring 1.06 goals per game (0.37 fewer than last year's midseason average of 1.43) while conceding 1.19 goals per game (compared to last year's dominant 0.77 per game). Of the 14 teams, our points per game average ties us with RSL at #10. Our goals allowed average puts our defense at a respectable third place (behind only Chicago and New England and tied with RSL). We are allowing more goals than last year, and that change from last year's GAA is the second worst drop (of the 13 teams that played last year), but it just so happens that last year's defense was so good that a drop in quality is to be expected, and a significant drop still puts us in the top three defensively. Our offensive production is 11th, ahead of only New York, Kansas City, and expansion San Jose. In case you didn't know: that's not good.

Steve Davis does his weekly MLS roundup -- this one from the midseason perspective. He spends some time on the Dynamo. Houston has tied half of its 16 games. Why so many? Just look at the latest draw, one that kicked off Round 15 of MLS matches, a scoreless tie at Real Salt Lake. Houston's defense was good enough to keep an attack-minded RSL side from ever claiming the big goal. But at the other end, Houston managed just two shots on target. The result was a 0-0 tie, which isn't bad on the road. On the other hand, Kinnear's outfit has just two goals in its last four MLS matches. Good defense. Stagnant offense. Sounds like a draw waiting to happen, no matter how good the team feels about itself.

Speaking of the RSL match, Soccer America has an article that's mosting a "calling-out" of RSL Coach Jason Kries. About the Dynamo-RSL game: Houston’s tie was its eighth in 16 games yet it just missed scoring a late winner when Brian Ching just failed to get his head on a cross. Of its 10 shots, five came in the final 10 minutes. The Dynamo kept pushing to score a winning goal, RSL got into a pushing contest. That's an interesting unpartisan outlook on how the two teams approached the endgame of the match. The article concludes with some advice for RSL that the Dynamo should heed (and, fortunately, the Dynamo already realize): In all team sports, mediocre teams are mediocre because they can’t win close games, and in soccer, chances don’t decide game. Goals do. It’s harsh, it’s unfair, and sometimes painfully cruel, but that’s how it works. Don’t moan about being the better team. Prove it.

As you know, Dynamo will spend much of July battling for the SuperLiga Cup. The Chronicle has an article on how the tourney could revive the Dynamo's lackluster season. The League website has a similarly-themed article. The LA Daily News has a brief piece on the tournament as well. Despite the generally superior players (and far higher team salaries) on the Mexican teams, the timing of the tournament has proved a great leveler that accentuates the clash of futbol cultures.

And from the most recent tournament that saw Houston fall -- the US Open Cup -- comes some news that may hearten the disheartened Houston fan. As you know, Dynamo's Reserve team couldn't beat the USL Charlestown Battery, but managed a draw and lost only on penalties. FC Dallas' regular starting 11 couldn't even manage doing as well as our Reserves. The "Hoops" got manhandled by the USL team 3-1, with the lone Dallas goal coming as a consolation goal in the 94th minute. It could be worse, guys; we could be Dallas fans.

Finally, the Bellaire Examiner has an article on the Dynamo's supporters groups. The north and south ends of Robertson Stadium are home to Houston’s most rambunctious group of supporters, The Texian Army and El Batallon. To truly understand these groups, one must understand one basic concept: a supporter is very different from a fan. Also: With live music, nonstop singing and dancing, and more confetti and streamers than they know what to do with, Dynamo supporters provide the entire stadium, fans and players alike, constant liveliness and entertainment. They may be in large part to thank for a Dynamo home record of 24 wins, 12 ties, and only 6 losses. Hey, that's perfect doubling of results in the right direction 6=>12=>24.

Stay Orange.

Specials, Comics, and a little math work

I'm back from another business trip to California (I smelled more manure in the San Joaquin valley than I did in all my years in Texas). I didn't get to visit any soccer cathedrals this time, and I also see that I missed a Dynamo Dynasty special on the Fox Soccer Channel. From the press release:

Fox Soccer Channel will chronicle the Houston Dynamo’s incredible run to a second consecutive Major League Soccer (MLS) championship during Dynamo Dynasty, a half-hour special premiering Thursday, November 29 at 11:00 p.m. ET.

Hosted by Max Bretos, this insider’s look at the Dynamo’s road to glory will feature highlights and interviews, beginning with the team’s semifinal performance at the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup last spring and culminating with its second straight MLS Cup victory over the New England Revolution on November 18.

The Dynamo, led by head coach Dominic Kinnear and star forward Brian Ching, were featured prominently on Fox Soccer Channel in 2007, with seven MLS Saturday on FSC appearances, including their Western Conference finals victory over FC Dallas earlier this month.

If it doesn't rebroadcast (and I doubt it does), then I'll just have to console myself with the opinions of many BigSoccer posters, who opined that the show wasn't very special.

Speaking of BigSoccer, El Naranja has a nice compilation of the stats behind the Dynamo's year. His numbers include all Dynamo competitions, and it includes only the Dynamo-specific stats of the comers and goers this season. It seems DeRo did alright for himself when you look at his whole body of work, not just the league play (and he acquitted himself quite nicely even then when it mattered).

I had seen this during the playoffs, but I never commented on it. According to an EA Sports FIFA Soccer 08 simulation using the Xbox 360, Houston Dynamo were destined to win a second straight MLS Cup. Some of the details didn't come to pass (it was to be a 3-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls), but the bottom line was correct.

You can really tell win a team has arrived when it infiltrates pop culture. The LA Galaxy have benefited from this solely due to the arrival of Beckham, but Houston has also slipped into the public consciousness, and due more to merit and on-field performance. Check out these strips from December 3 & 4 (click for larger image):

Dynamo's record-setting defense draws no respect

Brad Guzan was selected as MLS Goalkeeper of the year by votes from the "media, players, coaches and general managers." Guzan is a talented keeper who looks to have a bright future ahead of him, but you'd think the award would go to the GK who had a record setting season.

Onstad was on the team that set records for most consecutive minutes (726) without conceding a goal, for fewest goals (23) conceded in the season, and for fewest goals conceded per game (an amazing 0.766). Onstad had the best goals against average (0.83) and the second most shutouts (11, second to Guzan's 13) of the season. And to do that at 39 years old? Impressive.

Guzan will surely win this award again. Will he be able to break the records the Dynamo set this season? I doubt it; Dynamo-H completely blew out the records that had stood through the millennium. If he were to break the record, I suppose someone besides him would get the awards and accolades that season, in order to keep the precedence established this season.

Michael Parkhurst of NE is the favorite to win MLS Defender of the Year on Monday. Eddie Robinson is also contending for that prize. Parkhurst is a young, solid, talented defender who plied his trade while committing only 5 fouls and earning no cards in the regular season. I can't argue with Parkhurst's selection should he take the award, but I do find it interesting that the Dynamo's record-setting defense has no one that the MLS considers worthy of recognition.

In other news where the MLS slights the Dynamo:
Ricardo Clark's appealed his "record-setting" 9-game suspension and accompanying $10,000 fine. Late last night, the disciplinary committee (comprised of Don Garber) upheld the punishment set by the disciplinary committee (comprised of Don Garber). Don Garber may be manipulative, cabalistic, tenditious, and soccer-obtuse, but at least this businessman is consistent.

(Side note: At the beginning of this season, I liked Garber and thought him unfairly criticized for the most part. I'm not sure what, specifically, has caused me in the interim to turn a jaundiced eye towards his machinations, but the whole Clark-Ruiz iniquity did play a role.)

Ricardo is going to spend his time off under the surgeon's knife, so maybe he'll be able to come out of this suspension in better health.

Well, the good news is...

Games like last night's Dynamo-Chivas match are exercises in frustration. (Recap.) We're up a man (a gift from the referee if you ask me) and we muster loads of possession, but not a single goal. When a good team has a man advantage, that should mean at least a goal, right? Not with the Dynamo, as proven this year versus RBNY, Colorado, Toronto, and Columbus (the last two being in Houston). In fact, when the red card was issued I said aloud, "This one's ending in a scoreless tie."

Last night the finishing touch was off, but often so was the touch to set up the finishing touch. With Jesse Marsch out, I thought D-Ro would have a field day. Instead, he was marked tightly the whole night and never had room to do anything, and his rhythm was taken from him. After going a man up, he had better play, but even so, the real problem wasn't what happened at center midfield, it was what happened (or didn't happen) along the flanks and in the attacking third. It's a frustratingly frequent occurrence with the Dynamo: they come up impotent in the final third. As Lark Howorth bluntly put it,"the Dynamo played with a passionate incompetence."

Although the big problem was in the attacking end, we were pushing forward so hard that our back line was sometimes unorganized and gave Chivas some extremely dangerous opportunities. In fact, the best save of the night wasn't on the 10-man side, it was Onstad stopping a point blank blast from Klejstan on a counter in stoppage time. Still, I thought Mullan did extremely well as the right back shutting down Maykel Galindo. On the other side of the field, it's a bit unnerving to see Wade Barrett being subbed out. An injury to him would make things harder in the playoffs.

Let's not dwell on the loss, because there were some good things to come from the match:
1) Not having home field advantage isn't that big of a problem. Why do I say that? Because this team excels when its back is up against the wall. Give the team an advantage (like going a man up), and it struggles. Give them obstacles to overcome, and the players meet the challenge.

2) We now play FC Dallas in the first round. Despite having had Dallas' number since the founding of the Dynamo, and particularly this season, FCD will not be a pushover. In fact, they might be gunning for us particularly hard. The Rico incident and the loss of El Capitan can be avenged in their minds if they end our season. Still, you've got to like the match up between the two sides, particularly since we play the second match in Robertson on Friday, November 2. The Dynamo should have no trouble getting up for this match. How will the paroled criminal, Carlos Ruiz, be greeted?

3) After the FCD match...If Chivas gets by KC, we'll face an overconfident Chivas at the HDC. We haven't won there, so we're due. If Chivas falls to KC, we face KC in Robertson. Our home record in vital games like these is stellar. We're 0-1-1 versus the Wizards in Houston; again, we're due.

4) Winning 5 games in a row is very difficult (RSL, Chivas, then the two-leg semis assumed to be 1 game, then the Conference finals, then the MLS Cup). Now we have to win only 3 games in a row. Much easier statistically.

5) With the shutout, we have officially set the record for fewest goals conceded in a season (23 beats the 29 goal record held by LA, KC, and San Jose). We have also set a record for fewest goals conceded per game (0.766 gpg, versus 0.906 gpg held by LA and KC). As far as our performance compared to other teams just this season: our goal differential is +20, second only to DC United's +22 goal differential this season. We've also had 13 clean sheets this season (11 for Onstad, 2 for Wells). Onstad's shutout record is behind only Guzan's 13 shutouts for Chivas USA this season.

6) Ianni didn't get sent off. His tackle on Galindo in the 68th minute or so was nearly identical to the one that got Chivas' Vaughn sent off. It was an unnecessary and foolish tackle at that point, yet the young and inexperienced Ianni was lucky to not have made his team suffer any consequences, which would have been particularly difficult given Robinson and Cochrane were already out. This protects our depth in central defense for the next match.

7) Dom Kinnear managed to soothe Preki's feelings before leaving LA. Dom had a beef with Preki's assistant coach, who was lobbying the referee hard to have a Dynamo player kicked out of the game. After the game, Dom shook Preki's hand, but wanted nothing to do with the assistant coach. Preki stuck up for his assistant, and he and Dom got into a heated argument before being separated. In a post-game interviews, Dom said he went over and talked to Preki afterwards to smooth over the incident, and Preki mentioned that it was a minor incident and he has the utmost respect for Dom. This is good for two reasons: it demonstrates yet again how we are blessed with a mature, respectable coach; and it doesn't give Preki any "locker room fodder" to get his troops more motivated than they will normally be should we meet them in the conference championship.

First things first: the FCD series starts this week. We don't have to beat them in both legs, but we should really focus on leaving Frisco with nothing less than a tie, then finishing them off here in Houston. Then again...maybe we need to lose to them in Frisco in order to get the job done here in Houston. You know, part of that "obstacles to overcome" strategy. Go Dynamo!

Gifts from the Galaxy - Playoffs here we come

Last night's 3-1 win was sweet on so many levels. For one, we needed the 3 points. For another, it's always nice when we can top the Galaxy.

Looking at the stat sheet, it doesn't look like the Dynamo were very superior to their opponent, and that was certainly true in the chippy, choppy first half. Neither team looked particularly composed in the first half, but the second half was all Dynamo.

Thanks to the miracle of modern media, I missed the first 20 seconds or so of the first half, so I didn't see the build up that led to the foul that led to the penalty kick that led to our eventual game winning goal from D-Ro. It was gratifying to see D-Ro put the kick away so forcefully and decisively. From that point on, the game was Orange.

My wife and I jumped and cheered when Jaqua flicked in Ching's cutback pass for the goal off the far post at about the 60th minute...only it turned out the ball bounced the wrong way off the post and into Joe Cannon's arms. How did it do that? Ching, himself, had two sure opportunities with the ball at his feet, time to ready his shot, and no one between him and Cannon, but one shot went to Cannon and the other went just wide. Truly, the score could've been 5-1 in our favor.

The Galaxy are struggling to say the least. The teams midfield is capable, but the forwards are toothless (if we -- Clark was it? -- had not let Gordon run free on LA's corner in the 26th minute, they would not have had the free header and might not have gotten even that one goal) and the defenders are definitely raw and indecisive (on numerous occasions they inexplicably didn't close down our forwards in the box, and they habitually commit silly fouls). Clark's insurance goal was indicative of how naive the Galaxy's defenders were. Perhaps the game would have been different had Abel Xavier been in -- we surely wouldn't have had so many sitters in the box in that case -- and with Beckham in, Donovan would have been able to help out the struggling forwards more. We were definitely hurt by some of our missing starters, but the Galaxy have cast their lot on a select few players who weren't able to play. Maybe there's something to be said for balance when forming a team?

Thankfully we might have nearly all of our starters available at our next match, versus FC Dallas in Frisco on September 30. Hopefully Ngwenya and Mullen aren't new additions to the injured reserve, but our rare bye-week this weekend should provide much-needed help with everyone's recovery.

For now, we are definitely in the playoffs. We have 13 wins (better than our 11 wins last year) and our 45 points are only 1 point behind our season total for last year with 12 more points available on the table. We have conceded 21 goals this season, which puts us well on track toward setting a new MLS record for goals conceded in a season (the record is 29, held by 3 teams) and for goals conceded per game in a season (we need to allow no more than 27 to match the record, held by 2 teams).

I think our objectives for the remainder of regular league play should be to get at least 10 of the 12 points (and all 12 are feasible), which will help us position ourselves for the playoffs and probably get us into the top 4 teams for next year's SuperLiga. We should also work at keeping our Orange Crush defense focused on what they do best (and hope the RSL game was an aberration) to lock down the new defensive record. For the immediate term, and with those two goals in mind, we should rest our battered lads and hope the rest doesn't turn into rust.

Go Dynamo.

Another defensive record on tap?

The Dynamo have already set a league record this year: most consecutive minutes (726) without conceding a goal.

With a defense like that, it's no surprise that Dynamo-Houston is closing in on another league record: fewest goals conceded in a season. The record is currently 29 goals, a record set by Los Angeles in 1999 and equaled by KC in 2000 and San Jose in 2001. Three consecutive years saw a team with that total, interesting.

With 6 games remaining, Houston has conceded only 17 goals. We set a new record if we don't concede more than 2 goals a game as long as we also have one 1-goal game. Better yet, how about a shutout or two?

In points per game, LA and KC set their records in 32-game seasons, giving them a 0.906 goal per game ratio. San Jose played 26 games in 2001, giving them a 1.115 goals per game ratio. If we concede 27 total goals this 30-game season, we beat both of those ratios with 0.9 goals conceded per game. It'd be a great accomplishment.

And, frankly, with the way our team finishes chances, we need that stout defense if we want to get the results we need.

Ngwenya salvages 1 of 3 points

Saturday's game vs KC began a bit rough. Onstad's foot saved us an early deficit.

From 15 minutes on, we took control of the match and it looked like we'd generate enough opportunities to get a goal. Indeed, Ngwenya would have probably gotten the first goal had he not been mauled from behind by Nick Garcia. When I was playing soccer as a youth, I had a team mate who got his leg broken by an overzealous scissor tackle inside the box, much like the one Ngwenya suffered. Ngwenya didn't get off the shot, Dynamo didn't get the penalty, and Ngwenya (luckily) didn't seem to be injured. The only thing we got out of the ordeal is a Yellow for Ngwenya (dissent after the fact) and a general idea as to how the the ref (Ramon Hernandez) would call the match.

This was the first time the ref had officiated a Dynamo match. Let's hope he improves before the second time.

As is the norm, despite carrying the play and generating the threats from 15 minutes on, we couldn't get the ball into the net. The Wizards could. A few seconds past the 45-minute mark, a Harrington-Sealy-Johnson passing thread got them their goal against the run of play. We were way too loose on Sealy, the lynch pin on this play. Cochrane came forward to pressure Harrington, and Mullan let Sealy slip through for the through pass. Ianni slid over, but Sealy got the ball to Johnson who one-touched it into goal. Just like last week, Barrett was there, sliding only moments too late.

The second half continued the Orange-tilting game. DDR, playing more as a forward, was having one of his better games this season. He was moving the ball, finding his mates, taking the shots. Just before the 70th minute, E-Rob intercepts a pass in our defensive third. He slides a forward pass to D-Ro, who then dribbles through the middle third while the KC defenders retreat. Ngwenya runs to the left, then cuts back to the right. D-Ro splits two defenders with his pass and Ngwenya, pressured by his marker, one-times the ball into the net.

This was an outstanding play, and very well timed. I just wish all of our finishing could have been this crisp. In the first half Mullan has a direct shot sent wide left, and D-Ro has a shot from about 8 yards out go into low earth orbit. We'd get a lot more goals for ourselves if we'd just put our shots on frame. I know that ain't easy sometimes, but sheesh!

Taking away the first 15 minutes (which didn't hurt us) and the 2-3 isolated threats on our net (only one of which hurt us), it was the Dynamo's game to win. Skill, heart, and teamwork were in our favor, but finishing was not. For the second week in a row we take only 1 of the available 3 points. That one point may prove big later...but the lost 2 points could also prove big in a bad way.

Here's a simple listing of the current top 7 teams, the points they have, the number of games they've played, and the number of points still available to them (3 x remaining games)

Team / Pts / GP / PA
D.C. United / 42 / 22/ 24
New England / 42 / 23 / 21
Houston / 39 / 24 / 18
New York / 36 / 23 / 21
Chivas USA / 36 / 20 / 30 - 1 game left vs Dynamo
FC Dallas / 36 / 22 / 24 - 1 game left vs Dynamo
Kansas City / 33 / 24 / 18

The most disturbing fact is that we have only 18 points available to us, while Chivas USA (a mere 3 points behind us) has 30 points available to them. Furthermore, the teams ahead of us also have more than 18 points available to them.

Bottom line: we need just about every one of those 18 points to ensure we distance ourselves from the other contenders for the Supporters' Shield. If we fail to get the Shield, we need to (1) be one of the top 4 teams so we can be invited to SuperLiga (this will also require us to get a majority of those 18 points) and (2) win the MLS Cup so we get the recognition of being the MLS champions and so we get the invite to the CONCACAF Champions Cup (with only a few more points we can probably secure our position in the playoffs, and then it's just a matter of winning our way through the MLS Cup tourney).

To get those points we're going to have to score more goals. Hopefully our guys get healthy over the next week so we can field a rested and recuperated lineup to face RSL next Saturday. We also need DDR to continue improving his form; tonight was a good indication of what he can do, but we need more.

Mid-Term Eval

At the All-Star Break is a convenient time to look back on our progress thus far. We're over halfway through the season (18 games down, 12 more to go), but most other teams are closer to the halfway mark (15). LA, on the other hand, has only played 12 games and has 18 to go. If they turn their ship around, they have enough games to catch up with anybody and everybody. In other words, we've got to keep on doing what we've been doing in the last month and a half.

If the MLS Cup tourney started today, here's how the teams would break out (showing points and number of games played):

Two West Leaders
33 Houston (GP: 18)
30 Dallas (GP: 18)

Two East Leaders
26 New England (GP: 15)
25 Kansas City (GP: 16)

Next Four Qualifiers
24 DC (GP: 15)
24 New York (GP: 16)
24 Chivas (GP: 15)
22 Columbus (GP: 17)

Five Out Of Playoffs
19 Toronto (GP: 16)
17 Colorado (GP: 17)
16 Chicago (GP: 16)
13 Los Angeles (GP: 12)
9 Salt Lake (GP: 15)

Things look good at this point, but there's plenty of time for things to go sour should we not continue getting results. I'd say that we can still get to the playoffs if we play mediocre (as long as we don't play badly), but I think we should be shooting for the double: the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup. It's an achievable goal.

How do our numbers look compared to last year? Looking at totals won't tell us much, since we've only played 18 games to last year's 32; but we can compare the game-to-game statistical performance by looking at the averages and percentages. Here's a simple table that I crudely uploaded, thus making it virtually unreadable:

In short, we're doing better all around. More than half our games are wins (as opposed to a third last year, and less that 10% on the road). We're getting 1.8 points per game (2 per game at home) and scoring 1.4 goals a game, while conceding about 1 goal every 2 games (0.56 goals per game). Last year we were scoring slightly less per game (1.38 goals per game), allowing much more per game (1.25) and earning fewer points on average. All in all, we've improved. Credit goes to Dom and the lads on the field. Let's take this All-Star breather, then continue with our foot firmly on the Dynamo accelerator.