Bipolar Play Can Still Win Games

Work put me in Lake Charles, LA, this past Thursday, so I wasn't able to watch the game vs Pachuca. I managed to record the match, and when I got home at 9, I sat down with trepidation to watch.

The first half saw my (almost) worst fears confirmed: we were playing prosaic, pathetic, panicky soccer. We didn't concede a goal yet (that would be my worst fear) but a goal didn't look far off given our play. Our touch was off still, yes; but the worst part was the lack of awareness and the inability to display any game intelligence. As bad as they looked in Costa Rica, this was much, much worse. In Costa Rica, Dynamo looked exhausted; here at home, Dynamo looked amateurish. Horrible passing and horrible decisions weren't just the purview of the pseudo-newbies, like Kelly Gray, but of solid veterans like Eddie Robinson, and -- gasp! -- Mullan and Davis.

Dynamo's work rate was solid, which led to many good defensive plays, and these were often followed by a good pass. But the next decision was -- almost without exception -- a blind, Hail Mary pass easily intercepted by the Pachuca defenders, or a hasty, lazy pass to the Pachuca forwards.

Pachuca forwards Luis Landín and Christian Giménez had plenty of opportunities to grab a lead. Their poor finishing (perhaps due to nonchalance?) saved the day for the Dynamo. Zach Wells' solid goalkeeping also helped.

My halftime funk was pleasantly spoiled by a reversal of quality in the second half. Dynamo became aggressive, confident, and savvy, and we saw them stringing passes together. In the 57th minute, after sustaining increasing pressure from the hometown team, Pachuca did a poor job of clearing a Houston free kick, and the ball landed at Craig Waibel's feet on the right flank. His subsequent cross was clinically headed by Brian Ching and the game changed yet again. Dynamo's confidence amped up some more, as did their play. The crowd was even more energized and the Tuzos became unsettled.

Bully for Coach Kinnear, who much have said something at halftime (he sure was vocal on the sidelines too), and bully for him for keeping the foot on the accelerator by subbing in De Rosario and Chris Wonolowski late in the game. In the 84th minute they provided a much-needed insurance goal -- and equally needed was the class of the play that led to the goal. On a throw-in deep in Pachuca territory, Brad Davis finds DeRo, who displays outstanding vision in sending his pass into space for Davis to run onto. Davis penetrates further, and (with great peripheral vision) sends a crafty cutback pass to Chris Wondolowski, who easily slots the ball into goal. Game, set, match. That goal accomplishes much in its timing as well as in its caliber.

To cap things off, Alejandro Moreno has a pure-sitter of a goal in stoppage time that would have given us a 3-goal lead that would be difficult to overcome in the second leg. He missed the opportunity, but we'll call it even since Pachuca missed similar opportunities in the first half.

(Zach Wells provided the biggest boneheaded decision in the second half when he was caught out of position on a Pachuca foray...but Waibel was there, too, to head out the ball headed to goal, preserving the lead and bailing out Wells in the process.)

With the 2-goal lead we're sitting pretty, but we're definitely not out of the woods. The return leg will take place somewhere near the edge of our Troposphere (actually 8,000 feet above sea level), and Pachuca will probably not sit their effective attackers again. Their backs are against the wall and they won't take us for granted.

Better play will be needed by the Dynamo. Most of all, the team needs improved possession. A goal (or two, dare we hope?) would be nice...and it is comforting to know we have solid goalkeepers, regardless of who mans the posts (Wells or Onstad).

As difficult a road as we face in Pachuca, we still need to lose by 3 goals (or 2 goals and a PK loss), which puts us in a better position than DC United, who have to win at Guadalajara.

And, at least in the first legs of these semi-finals, it looks like the mojo-pendulum may have swung from United's Christian Gomez to our own DeRo. Gomez looked like a maestro in United's Quarterfinal matches, while DeRo was ineffective. In the semis, DeRo looked sharp in his brief appearance, whereas Gomez was neutralized for the most part by Chivas (or was it something else?).