But it feels like a win

What did you think about last night's game in Frisco? Another come-from-behind, last-minute draw with the Folks From Frisco. Because of the nature of the draw, it feels pretty good when it looked like the home side was about to snatch three points to our zero.

I think I'm pleased all in all. I certainly don't think we deserved a win. The first 30 minutes saw us as the 2nd best team out there -- pretty depressing stuff when the other team is Dallas. For the first time versus Houston, Dallas played like they should play with the collection of talented Latino players in their midfield. They were possessing well and passing sharply. The Dynamo? Weren't.

Except for the first game of the season (the debacle versus New England) and some of the international games, the Dynamo always looked like the sharper team on the pitch. They may not have gotten the results -- and that blame falls squarely on the performance in the attacking third -- but they controlled the tempo, the ball, and the real estate and just looked unlucky.

Unfortunately, the past two games, versus San Jose and Dallas, the MIO didn't even have the moral victory of being the better, if unluckier, team. That clearly needs to change if we want to have any hope of accomplishing anything nice for the naranja this season.

Add to the fact that we gave Dallas two goals. Saragosa should have had the first goal in the 26th minute, but Kenny Cooper would end up getting the first goal in the 35th. (Sending the dozens of Dallas fans crazy in the stands.) It came after horrendous positioning by Waibel, followed by his slow recovery run and slow backup by E-Rob in the center, gave the poky Cooper all the time he needed to trudge to the ball that he had pushed 8 yards in front of himself, then slot a solid shot around Onstad into the far netting. I would call the defense here "cavalier" or "complacent" with absolutely no urgency The second goal was also from ball-watching and listless defending. It saw Moor rising up completely open to head a corner kick into the net. As the ball sailed through the air and Moor rose to meet it, the Dynamo were so flat-footed that I thought the play must have been whistled dead. Nope. The defense was just ball watching.

Some games this season, the Dynamo are so passive that it almost is if their past success gives them too much confidence, so much so that they have become complacent. As if they think their skill and their destiny is to win each game, or at least to keep the other team from getting the goals they need for them to win the game. I wonder how far the Dynamo will have to fall behind before they realize their complacency won't get them very far. Other teams have augmented their rosters and changed up their dynamic to adapt to the ever-improving league. The Dynamo haven't. In truth, perhaps they didn't need to make any changes, but they still don't have the right to be complacent. And last night showed that they still haven't fixed their problem at forward.

The final sign of the Dynamo's lack of control came with E-Rob foolishly pushing Saragosa in retaliation for a foul in the box. E-Rob already had a yellow and could have put his team at a serious disadvantage (down a goal and down a man) but was lucky that Dallas got a red card as well. As it is, E-Rob did put the short-handed Dynamo in a bit of a bind for our next match. We'll be without his services as we face NYRB. Due to injuries and national team call-ups, we were already stretched. You've exacerbated the problem. Thanks, E-Rob.

It was not all doom and gloom last night. After the Frisco Folks scored, Dallas reverted back to its reactive, defensive, "protect the lead" style of play. Houston then looked more like their own selves, though still not quite their own selves. The improved play could be attributed to us switching to a 3-5-2, but we had switched much earlier and didn't see any resulting improvement until after the Dallas goal. I think the improved play might have been more a result of desperation on our part, complacency on their part, and the extra midfielder helping us to maintain possession.

We squandered many chances, but did well on the two goals we got. Ashe's goal, was a result of a good run by DeRo on the right flank, who sent a great ball to Chingy inside the FCD box. Ching trapped the ball beautifully and sent a nice square pass to the onrushing Ashe. The brilliantly-timed equalizer (in the 93rd minute, y'all!) saw a sweet cross by Ashe result in another frustrating off-the-crossbar header by Ching, but the rebound fell to DeRo who won't miss many of those gimees.

Other bright points:

• Ching's ear-to-ear grin after Ashe scored his first MLS goal.
• The Dom (who didn't seem too happy in the post game interview; I bet he's ticked at the situation E-Rob put him in) climbed into the stands after the game to thank the traveling Orange Supporters. Pure class!

On Saturday, with another makeshift starting 11, we'll need to get some points at home versus the Red Bulls. It's doable (particularly at home), but will require the MIO to stay focused on defense and to take advantage of the opportunities generated on offense. Some of our guys (like Davis and Mullan) might be rested for this game since they didn't play the full 90 last night, but the gaps in our starting 11 means some non-regulars will have to step up and contribute.

Media roundup
Offical MLSnet recap.

The Chronicle's B-Fall-less recap. "For the second straight week, the Houston Dynamo came out flat." Dynamo notes state that, along with all of the other lineup changes, Onstad will indeed miss the game versus NYRB.

B-Fall's thoughts and grades are here. "Seeing the Dynamo fight until the very last minute is both admirable and encouraging. Watching them twice fall behind in the score is troubling and yet another step backward. (Anyone remember the ties vs. Dallas and L.A. last month?)"

The DMN recap.

An article on the match, including the contribution of Corey Ashe. Credit to the color-man, Steve Jolley, on The Tube last night. Early on he said that Ashe should come on due to his speed allowing him to get behind the FCD D. I thought Jolley was wrong. Turns out he was right. Excellent game for Ashe.

Post-game quotes.

Here's a recap from Goal.com. Interesting description of the Dynamo equalizer by none other than Greg Lalas: " The game slid into stoppage time, setting up the opportunity for De Rosario. Ashe set things in motion, beating Wade Barrett [um, Wade Barrett?] to the endline and crossing to the far post. Ching rose over his marker to meet the ball, but his shot caromed off a stretched Moor and fell to De Rosario. De Ro fired it home to earn the Dynamo a massive road result."

Battle for El Capitan 2008 - Part Deux

Dynamo-Dallas game previews:

Official game guide.

From The Chronicle. "The Dynamo have had to stomach the seemingly endless comparisons and similarities between this year and last ad nauseam. It is not like they are helping themselves by avoiding them."

Pre-game notes from The Chronicle. Barrett is injured and will be a game time decision.

From the Dallas Morning News.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

From Fox Soccer.

Commentary on the firing of the Dallas Coach and the underlying problems in Frisco.

The Earthquakes on the Hero's Journey

Tomorrow, the Dynamo meet Dallas in Frisco in the quest for El Capitan. But before we look to the future, let's wallow around in the past for one more post.

The San Jose Mercury News has a post-match analysis of the Earthquake victory over the Dynamo.

There's nothing particularly insightful regarding the match itself, but there's some neat stuff nonetheless.

For instance, "It was not only a win, but a win against the old Earthquakes," said forward Kei Kamara.

This quote suggests a mentality some have about sport. For these folks, sporting events are more than just a fun time or an impressive spectacle of athleticism; for them, sport can be a metaphor for life. Often it's a simple metaphor, like an underdog defeating a superior opponent; but sometimes the message is quite complex, like the one here where the new Earthquakes defeat the old Earthquakes. Here, we're treading on mythological ground in the mold of Joseph Campbell. Sometimes a hero cannot assume his rightful place in life until he has defeated (usually killed) the one who currently is in that position. "Killing the one who is before" sometimes takes the narrative form of a hero defeating a king to ascend to the throne, a son killing a corrupt father to assume the leadership position, or a Jedi-apprentice having to kill his father, Darth Vader. In reality, the message is hearkening to more psychological notions, such as by suggesting one cannot find oneself until one has killed one's own ego. If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha, if you will.

So, in other words, the Earthquakes defeat of the Dynamo was more than an expansion team beating a league champion. It was a timeless tale with mythological undertones that suggested to the insightful that the Earthquakes have defeated their predecessor -- have killed the Buddha -- and can now continue as a soccer club on equal footing with all others, rather than living as a lesser club.

Of course, we all know that the real reason for the loss isn't because of any archetypal construct, but because the Dynamo weren't focused on the task at hand until too late.

Besides suggesting mythological archetypes, the Mercury News also discusses the MLS as a "theater of the absurd" by summarizing the stadium situations for San Jose and Houston. "Apparently, AEG's ineptness (unlike the championship banners) stays with the franchise, no matter where it goes."

Another post-mortem article, this one from B-Fall and the Chronicle, has a great quote by E-Rob. "Our movement off the ball was pretty pathetic; our decision-making was bad; possession was awful. We were complacent. I really hope the guys look at how they played and are a bit embarrassed about it."

Pouting in my blog after a defeat -- keeping that tradition alive too

I think I'm coming off my stupor from last night. Like millions of Americans do every Thursday night, I played the John Harkes Drinking Game where you sip your beer whenever Harkes says "As Well". He squeezes that phrase into any sentence, even when it doesn't make sense. Harkes was in rare form last night, so I, as well, finished a whole 6-pack by halftime and had to make a beer run as well to keep the game going. Now that I'm sober, I find I'm still miffed at the loss to San Jose as well.

Our forwards & midfield as well had their typical anemic attack for most of the game. That's no surprise. The uncharacteristic play came from our midfield as well, which couldn't control possession much less territory, and our defense, which was unfocused and indecisive as well. Despite all of our deficiencies on the field, we still could have pulled of a tie if our defense stayed focused. The problem is that, while the defensive lapse is unusual, it wasn't all that rare just a few games ago. I had hoped that the disorganization had been fixed. This repeat performance suggests otherwise. Maybe we'll just hope it was a one-time relapse caused by the background circumstances surrounding this particular match.

But rather than lingering on the continuing troubles up front, and the surprising troubles in the middle and the back as well, I will say that the Davis-to-Ching goal was top notch. I'll leave with that positive thought before going to the...

Media roundup
The Chronicle has another B-Fall-less recap. It says this about the crowd reception: "It was easy to tell which Dynamo starters did not play in the franchise's San Jose incarnation. They were the three booed in pregame introductions. The rest got cheers from a Buck Shaw Stadium crowd of 10,046 willing to relinquish allegiance from the squad that left for Houston after the 2005 season in favor of the expansion San Jose Earthquakes, version 2.0."

Here's the generic AP recap. "For at least one night, the expansion San Jose Earthquakes were better than the champions they replaced." And the fans? They "chanted 'You're not Earthquakes any more!' and other game-specific songs."

The San Jose paper has an article that merges the AP recap with some of its own writing. Ching says here "I think (the rivalry) is more for them. They're out to try to prove something to us, and we saw that tonight. They came out with an intensity that we didn't match and that was the difference." That's not an inaccurate statement.

Goal.com has a nice, succinct game summary. They also have an essay by Kelly Gray, who is back in San Jose, his fourth team (incl. Dynamo, Galaxy, and Colorado) in two seasons. I didn't realize this, but "There are basically three main agents who have the large majority of players on their client lists: Richard Motzkin, Lyle Yorks, and Patrick McCabe." He lists LA, Toronto, and Houston as the teams with the best community supports. "In Houston, the Dynamo is the only winning team in the city. Because of this there has been a tremendous response from the community. All of the players are well known wherever they go."

The MLSNet has one article that ends with Kinnear's surprising commentary on the Earthquake fans. "The one thing I can say is that I was pretty surprised at some of the things that were said to the players and the staff (by the San Jose fans). A lot of these guys put a lot of effort to put those stars on (the Earthquakes') jerseys. Anywhere around the world, when players have had good careers, at other places when they come back, they get a good reception. I understand rooting for your team, I totally agree with that, but some of the things that were said, really kind of caught me by surprise. I'm disappointed. And I think the guys should feel slighted by the way they were treated. The time that they spent here really made (the Earthquakes) franchise a super success in the early 2000s. The players didn't ask to leave. The players had nothing to do with it. I understand you have to vent your frustrations somewhere, but to vent it at the players that were here and won championships and went out in the community and made friends, I think it's really disappointing and very, very unfair."

And here's another MLSnet recap. "The first half saw Houston struggle to get forward against a physical San Jose defense, and fortunate to go into the locker room scoreless after 45 minutes." Yup.

But what a great goal by Ching, as well!

Losing to bottom feeders -- keeping the tradition alive

A moment of candor here: My actual prediction for tonight was a 1-0 win for San Jose. I've mentioned many times this season, last season, and the season before, that this team gets weak results versus weak teams. I don't know if we ease up when facing bottom feeders, or if the bottom feeders are particularly revved for us. Or both. Actually, both of those reasons seem a bit too simplistic and both have holes in their logic...but I'm at a loss as to why we seem to have this slump versus mediocre teams.

I couldn't admit my dark thoughts to you, so I went with the 1-1 prediction. Apparently the one-goal loss was the correct way to go, although I really didn't think San Jose would get two past Onstad.

The sad thing about this game is that we deserved to lose this one. San Jose were aggressive with the ball. When we had the ball, they pressured us wherever we were, from our defensive third all the way upfield. In the midfield they successfully blocked up the passing lanes. That tiny field didn't help our passing either. (Is the field smaller than Robertson? Is that possible?)

So except for three problems, we played extremely well. Those problems as I see 'em:
1) Up front: absolutely no coordination in the off-ball movement. I think The Dom may not start Caraccio for much longer.
2) In the middle: too many turnovers and an inability to establish a good possession rhythm. Holden was stymied most of the night on the left, although he did have some good opportunities on goal. Davis had better luck, perhaps helped by San Jose sitting back a bit after their first goal.
3) In the back: hestitant, ball-watching defending like we saw in the very beginning of the season and at times during the pre-season tournaments.

The first problem kept us off the score sheet for 88 mintues. The second problem also kept us off the score sheet and led to one of the two goals. The third problem contributed to both of the goals and almost led to one or two more in the first half.

We let slip the opportunity of taking first in the West. It seems we did the same thing at the end of the season last year. I suppose it's better to get that out of the way early rather than late.

So we remain mid-table and the Quakes remain at the bottom. (Well, they're ahead of DCU at least. Bully for them.) Dynamo help San Jose earn its first home win -- is that irony? And The Dom's record versus his mentor slips to 2-2-3.

Okay, Orange: shake it off. Just focus on the final 5 minutes of the game and try to expand that by a factor of 18 to give us a full 90 of confident, aggressive soccer. And that goal by Ching was out-freakin-standing. Our first GOTW-potential candidate since Geoff Cameron's game tying goal versus FCD (and that one won the GOTW).

Speaking of FCD, we face them next. In Frisco. On Wednesday. I wonder if they'll be in a state of confusion due to the coaching instability, or if they'll be playing for their lives -- each driven to excel to ensure his survival in the turbulent time of their club. At least we should have our starting keeper -- despite national team callups -- this time we face Dallas. We need at least a point in Frisco since we gave away 2 when we hosted them. A draw at Frisco and a win at home when we face them on June 26 will return El Capitan to Houston.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just focus on getting into a better rhythm, creating more opportunities, and finishing better. And then let's snatch the full 3 from the Frisco lads.

Go Dynamo!

On the road to San Jose

Ah, lovely San Jose. Much will be made of the first official face-off between the ex-Quakes and the neo-Quakes. Certainly there will be background interest, with the fan support likely being a little more vociferous. That might spur the neo-Quakes a little more, but the neo-Quake players (save Ryan Cochrane and maybe Ramiro Corrales and, to a lesser degree, Joe Cannon) have no vested interest in the historical significance. They just want to win. The ex-Quakes might be slightly distracted by nostalgia; and don't forget, it's also mentor (Frank Yallop) versus pupil (The Dom). Still they (The Dom and his players) are professionals so the effect of distraction should be only minimal.

On paper, and given the recent run of form, it should be an easy victory for the Dynamo. Which is why I see a draw; probably at 1-1.

Why would I say this? Not because of any ex-Quake vs neo-Quake bubbling of emotions. I think a draw is the likeliest outcome because the (neo-)Quakes are a mediocre team and the Dynamo tend to get mediocre results against such teams. The 2006 season saw us get two ties versus the average Columbus Crew and a 3-1 loss to pathetic RSL, as well as a failure to score versus 10-man teams on more than one occasion. In 2007 we had a loss and a tie to bottom-feeder Toronto (and the 0-0 tie was after Toronto played with 10 men for more than half the game). We also lost to pathetic RSL and Colorado consecutively, and to the Beckham-less Galaxy in our final regular season home game.

The MIO do well versus talented teams, which is absolutely fantastic because it would be difficult to correct this flaw otherwise. An easier flaw to correct is the failure to get full points versus struggling teams, and the Dynamo need to be better in this regard. Winnning against top-tier teams is how you win high-stakes championship games (which is what the Dynamo do); but winning against the bottom-feeders is what builds up your point total so you can earn the "body of work" accolades, like the Supporters' Shield.

Hopefully the Dynamo step out of character and earn the full three from San Jose.

Here's is Jeff Carlisle's preview of the game. "De Rosario remains the player most teams try to stop, with two defenders often being thrown at the Canadian the moment he collects the ball. As a result, De Rosario has struggled to put up the numbers that made him an MVP candidate back in 2006. But Kinnear feels that by simplifying his game, De Rosario can get back to his swashbuckling ways."

Here's a piece from USA Today. Mulrooney on the San Jose fans, "They remember what we did for them in terms of winning a couple of championships, and we remember what they did for us in terms of giving us unbelievable atmosphere and memories we'll never forget. But living in the past is sometimes dangerous."

And here's an article from The Californian. Ryan Cochrane on the Dynamo, "They're going to come after us and get crosses in, because that is their strength. They're very similar to a lot of teams in that there are not a lot of holes and they are solid all the way through." And on the "Old vs New" story that will no doubt be reiterated endlessly by ESPN on Thursday, "We played them in the preseason and got that whole 'Old Earthquakes-New Earthquakes' thing out of the way from a player's standpoint. Now it's just another team."

Some final Chicago Fire observations
In an article with the cool headline "Rain, Wind, Fire Can't Slow Dynamo," The Dom says the Toyota Park field was perfect even with the rain. That surprises me. I saw several players slip, even when all alone with the ball and no pressure being applied. That made me think that the field must not be at the standards set by, say, Dick's Sporting Goods Park, which has an impressively immaculate field even when wet. If the problem doesn't lie with the field, maybe it lies with the Dynamo equipment manager who didn't have the players wearing cleats with long enough studs.

Also, here are the game summaries of two supporters. The Chicago supporter opines thusly "It’s clear to me that anyone in the East who wants to wrest [the] MLS Cup from Houston’s grasp is going to have to do it themselves at the Home Depot Center on November 23rd." I hope that holds true.

Outrageous Observation of the Week (OOW)-inaugural edition
You've heard by now that Dallas has fired its underachieving coach, Steve Morrow. He wasn't the best of managers, so I'm not surprised that he was let go; but the timing this early in the season is a surprise. Maybe it's because they have their eye on someone already. But who? It would have to be someone notable.

I've had an epiphany. My outrageous suggestion: Hugo Sanchez.

Yeah, I know: silly. But hear me out.

Sanchez is an ex-Dallas player. He played for the Dallas Burn in the first year of the MLS. So he has ties (albeit weak ties) with the club. This connection also gives him familiarity with the MLS environment. The familiarity is a bit dated, true; but it's better than the familiarity held by any other coach with recent experience managing a national team.

Dallas would want "Hugol" because of the celebrity. They have a history of bringing in Latinos with name recognition (Denilson last year, Davino this year). Most importantly, they are hungry for success on the field (which Sanchez might bring) and are especially eager to fill seats (which Sanchez would do).

Sanchez, for his part, would want the job because it would be a good start as he seeks to rebuild his credibility as a coach after a lackluster stint at his dream job: coaching the Mexican national team. Dallas would get him back into the industry, and has the added benefit of being outside of the intense scrutiny he'd face with a Mexican club. Yet he's still close enough to Mexico to snipe from close range, as he is wont to do.

Chalk it up as my wild prediction of the week.

Hold yer Fire!

I came to this game with some doubts, but the Dynamo's strong, aggressive effort was in solid form tonight and earned them a hard-fought 3 points. (Game recap.) Besides the 3 points, the best part was that the game was exciting with both teams playing strong. And the rain made it seem as if the match was being played in England.

The first half saw two fluky goals. Ours came off Ricardo's foot, caromed off a defender, and then off DeRo's head before surprisingly ending up in goal. Theirs came from a Blanco free kick that Carr headed down from the crowd. From Onstad's cavalier look at the bouncing ball, I thought the ball was going well wide, but it turns out Onstad was just caught unbalanced or perhaps he thought Mulrooney had the ball.

Overall, I thought the half played pretty even. The Fire came out strong, but after the first 10 minutes, the Dynamo might have had the better play overall, particularly after Clark's/DeRo's goal. At halftime, The Dom seemed pretty ticked, perhaps with the reffing.

The second half saw the MIO amp it up a notch and take the game to the Fire. "The Dynamo had five shots on goal in the second half to just one for the Fire, belying the belief that the road team plays for the tie and the home team plays for the win" says one article. And with the game winding down, Big Man BoBo headed a Mulrooney free kick into the net for the game winner. (It's a good thing he got to the ball before DeRo did, because DeRo was offside.) Big Man Bobo says, "We don't come in here to destroy the game and play for a draw. We want to win. We have our goals, to score goals and not give them up." Big Man BoBo not only scored, but also did an awesome celebratory slide (in the Navy we'd call it a "carrier qual").

Trailing the game, the Fire went back to their more aggressive ways, but even then the Dynamo didn't collapse into a shell. Man, I love this team!

Blanco is just a fantastic player. I'd love to have his footwork and accuracy. Clark did well to neutralize him most of the game. One thing I detest about Blanco's game is how the refs kowtow to his endless litany of dissent and haranguing. Some may argue that Blanco gets a lot of soft fouls called for him, but I don't see that as much of a problem as his endless lobbying for calls or (worse) cards. MLS officials need to put the kibosh on that and soon.

Overall props to the Fire for showing class. Other than the excessive lobbying for calls, they played a solid game. And remember how I said the quotes are an excellent way to see which teams have coaches and players with class and which have those who wallow in whining, poor sportsmanship, and lack of accountability? Remember how Colorado joined FC Dallas on the List Of Whiners? Well, the Fire acquitted themselves quite well. You'll find no excuses from Coach Hamlett. This is what he said when asked about Houston's game-winning goal: "Whether it was offside or not, they scored and won the game." And Justin Mapp: "Give them credit, because they did well, but we came up short."

I thought the whole broadcasting production was top notch tonight. Matt Musil was an excellent addition to the crew, even if his name does sound like a cereal designed to keep you regular. The way the cameras were focusing on Houston players and fans so much, it seems that The Tube must actually invest in the production by paying to run its own cameras rather than using generic national feed. That's simply outstanding. Another solid play-calling by Charlie Pallilo. I really dig having a local broadcast for the home soccer team rather than sitting through the soulless fare of most national broadcasts.

Alrighty, then. We have a few days off before having to face San Jose in San Jose. Should be a good time for the MIO. Hopefully it's also productive.

Media roundup - more match reports:
From the Chronicle (no B-Fall?)

From the Chicago Sun-Times.

Here's an interesting recap from Big Soccer. "Credit Houston for: alert, continuous, and useful movement; connecting multiple passes on multiple occasions and generally playing positively - it's good to be the home team, right?" Also: "And I love Charlie Pallilo...or whatever his name is and however you spell it. Between the 'Section 8/Maxwell Klingler' comment and barking '5-second violation!' he's a pretty magical presence in the booth."

Ah, here's B-Fall...with player grades.

Fighting the Fire afar

The D-mo are in Chi-town to face the red hot Fire at Toyota Park. The Fire truly are red hot, that wasn't just metaphorical hyperbole; they are playing some of the best soccer in the league, and they're getting the results to boot.

They are two points behind the Crew, and are second place in the East and overall. They have scored nearly twice the goals scored by the Dynamo, and they have conceded about a third of the goals allowed by the Dynamo.

The Dynamo have their work cut out for them. I wonder if they can score on the Chicago defense (well, we all know they can; but will they?) DeRo needs a big game setting up the attack and controlling the tempo, while Clark and E-Rob need to contain Blanco.

We have yet to lose to the Fire in Chicago. This is the site where, two years ago, DeRo scored the goal from midfield, and also scored the lone goal versus Chelsea in the All-Star Game. Still, I'd be happy with 1 point and some solid play by the MIOs.

Game preview is here. And here's a little article "Kinnear said the experiment with Mullan is over...'That's kind of done. We put (Mullan) up top for his speed and his energy. That's kind of the only one we've been doing. Sometimes when you are losing, you try and put another player forward on the attack or change your formation. I'm pretty happy with the way things are going right now.'

In truth, there is little to be happy with regarding the results, but the play on the field has been solid...except for the last game when we DID get the result we want.

US Soccerplayers previews the game thusly, "Houston - Chicago could end up highlight worthy, with Cuauhtemoc Blanco the best player in the League right now and the Dwayne De Rosorio/Brian Ching connection finally working for Houston." I think it's still too early to say the DeRo/Ching connection is working, but I won't be upset if it is.

Speaking of upset, last week's Dynamo-Colorado game saw a clamor raised by an upset Bouna Condoul, Coach Clavijo, and Colorado fans who universally agree that a team should be allowed to use their hands in the penalty box if they are subtle about it or say they didn't mean to. Therefore, I'm waiting on Colorado to petition the MLS to reduce their own goal tally after their recent 2-0 win over RSL. Colorado was given a PK after an inadvertent handball by Matais Mantilla. I haven't read the post-game quotes, but I'm sure Bouna said something about only deserving to win by one because the Salt Laker didn't mean to use his hand. Let me know if you find his quote on this, I'm having trouble finding it for some reason.

CONCACAF slots; Spencer speaks about the Fire job.

The MLS has released the CONCACAF Champions League format. Here are how the slots are filled (and who filled them this year) for the US:
USA1: 2007 Major League Soccer Champion (Houston Dynamo)
USA2: 2007 Major League Soccer’s Regular Season Winner – AKA winner of the Supporters' Shield (D.C. United)
USA3: 2007 MLS Cup Runner-up (New England Revolution)
USA4: 2007 US Open Cup Champion (slot given to Chivas USA. Since the winner of the US Open Cup – New England – already has a slot, Chivas was given the slot as the next highest team in overall points from the 2007 MLS Regular Season.)

No need to write extensively on the format as Lark's blog has a good look at how this tournament may affect the Dynamo. Basically, the tournament doesn't help the schedule situation for the MLS. We have round-robin play when we're in mid-season form (and due to the squeezing of tournament matches into the already-crowded regular season schedule, we might be in mid-season fatigue), but if we move to the next round, the quarterfinals and semifinals fall into our preseason just like the old CONCACAF format.

US Soccerplayers blog gives the Dynamo some love. In the preview for tonight's match between RSL and Colorado, there is this paragraph: "No offense to tonight's winners, who will take the West lead into the weekend, but Houston remains the class of the Conference. Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosorio both scored last week, and there's the feeling that the Western order will return to what we expected fairly soon." Indeed, even at the bottom of the standings, we've been the class of the conference on the field. (I won't go as far as to say the "class of the league" yet.) Those who watch the games know this; those who know just the results don't. Here's hoping the Western order does return to orange normalcy.

Rumor was that John Spencer had been offered the Chicago Fire coaching position in the off-season. Here are the first official quotes I've seen from Spencer and Fire players regarding the situation. Spencer says, "I came very close [to accepting the job]. They offered, but we couldn't agree on monetary terms. But that's water under the bridge."

Longtime Fire assistant Denis Hamlett then was offered and accepted the position. The Fire have to be happy with their choice what with the team being off to its best start in franchise history. Let's hope that we put a dent in the Fire's record this weekend, get some quality goals for our team, and reverse the East-over-West trend that we've seen so far this season.

Other links:
The Dynamo website talks about Robinson's recovery. And the fickleness of Lady Luck.

It's three points, so it gets two posts...

The weekend concludes with the Dynamo's 3 points putting them right back in the race for the Western Conference. They're 1 point from second and 2 from first. Go figure. Only DC United trails them in the Eastern Conference though.

As with any win (or loss), a little luck was involved. Still, the win was a deserved one.

I agree with others that Bobby Boswell played well. Onstad says "I thought Bobby Boswell had his best game of the season for us." He definitely saved the game outright on one occasion, and did his job stifling the attack throughout the game. I just wished he was better at passing the ball forward when he wins the ball, but he's got outside backs that do that just fine.

Our midfield is still solid and our backs now seem to be clicking, so we only need to worry about our forwards. Those Colorado forwards by the way, were fast. I thought for sure we'd get burned on a fast break. While we did get burned by their speed on their goal, it wasn't a true fast break I guess. I wonder if we can bottle up any of that speed to give to our forwards.

I linked to the "official" match report yesterday and here it is again. And here is another MLS article. "Now, for the first time since winning the MLS Cup last November, they won't have to talk about what could have been or what should have been."

The post game quotes are helpful in seeing which opponents are good sports (like Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid the last time we faced the Crew) and which are poor sports (like FC Dallas coach Morrow every time we face Dallas). Rapids Coach Fernando Clavijo toes the line of poor sportsmanship when he says "In the second half, I thought there was one team there." For portions of the second half, sure. But larger portions of the first half were all Dynamo, and a good portion of the second too. If he wants to apportion victory based on the time spent dominating the game, we win 3-1. So there. Regarding the handball, Clavijo says "The outcome should be decided by the two teams and I don't believe that today was the case." I hope that when he sees the replay of the game when he returns to Denver, he realizes the call was the right call and the ref didn't decide the game, Umo Imehelu decided the game when he used his arm to deny the ball from Barrett.

The 'Pids GK, Bouna Coundoul proves himself to be a moron when he says "I was expecting better from [the referee]." Since the ref made the right call, I guess he means that he expects the ref to allow his defenders to use their arms when their skills can't cut it. Then Coundoul adds the badge of poor sportsmanship to his cloak of torpidity when he states "They were lucky enough to get the 'W,' but they didn't deserve it. In the second half, we were the better team on the field. But sometimes, it's out of our hands when it comes to the referee." Again with the feeling that 15 or so minutes of solid play, plus another 15 or so of even play, means more than the remaining 60 or so that saw you on the defensive. The math doesn't even support it, much less the Laws of the Game.

And you know what? You'd have had more time to get the equalizer you needed if you didn't take 15 seconds to get the ball back in play every time you touched it. More of your precious time was wasted by your 'mate Mastroeni, who spent more than a minute and a half rolling on the carpet because of contact that is but a small fraction of what he unleashes on others repeatedly through the game. I think if you had been behind, he would have found his cheek to have not been hurt severely enough to stall play. Something to think about Coundoul: stalling can hurt you in the end.

Back to the media. Here's The Chronicle's story on the match and the Dynamo Notes. B-Fall's player grades are here.

Jarrambide has a good summary of the game in Glenn Davis' blog.

A final word. Most of us root for the Dynamo because of geographic coincidence; we happen to be located in or near the town in which the Dynamo play. But the reason we become passionate supporters and recurring rooters is because the Dynamo never quit, they play exciting ball regardless of the result, and the players are good sportsmen and upstanding people. Check out this article (also mentioned by Lark). The Dynamo -- the Men In Orange -- are great guys. Plain and simple. It's easy to root for guys like these.

2008's first Three pointer

Dynamo get their first win tonight, thanks to the Rapids and their poor record at Robertson.

This game seemed to be one of irony. I thought we played one of our weakest matches, yet we got our best result so far this season. The ref seemed to have trouble calling the game, but his decision in 87th minute set us up for the winning goal. We have some of the best shooters in the league, but had only 3 shots on goal and could only score with a PK and an easy side-footer into an open net. BoBo made a fantastic goal-saving block in the second half; Robinson got beat and allowed the equalizer. There were no fireworks in the sky, but there were some on the field and in the bench area. The weather was hot and sticky, but the night was beautiful because we finally got 3 points.

Sitting with my two sons in Section 118, we were at the wrong end of the field to get the best viewing angle during the MIOs aggressive play in the first half. We also were at the wrong end in the second half when the MIOs defensive stance kept the ball at the far half of the field. At least we were well positioned to see the final press after Colorado got their equalizer. We were there as Mullan fought his tireless battles along the flank. (We also saw Mullan steal the ball off a 'Pid defender, then get tackled from behind and somehow MULLAN got called for a foul -- part of that "trouble calling the game" thing I mentioned above.) We could see Mulrooney as he combined with Mullan (and later, less effectively, with Cameron) to try to open up the flank. We could see DeRo and his entourage of two (and sometimes three) opponents surrounding him and shutting him down. Luckily, we didn't have a close up view of Ching's sad, sad miss in the 18th (and less dramatically around the 27th) minute when he lobbed the keeper and lobbed the goal as well.

When I saw that, I told my kids, "That's it. It's in his head now. He feels cursed. We're not going to see a score from Ching tonight." But he proved me wrong, thankfully. Yeah, it took an open goal and an easy side-footer, but he did get the goal. (On the replay on the Jumbotron, it looked like he may have opened up the goal by fluffing his first touch, which fooled the keeper. I'll have to check that out.)

Now we've got the monkey off our back, we've got some goals, and we've got three points. Let's try to build momentum. If possible, lets try to combine beautiful play with earning three points. But for tonight, the three points was enough. I'm content.

Hopefully the locker room is upbeat and raring to go. We've got more points to earn.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, so I'll be feting the wife and entertaining kids and will be unable to watch my DVR of the game I'm sure. I'm curious to watch it because I want to see if we were playing defensive in the middle of the second half, if we were tired, or if we just couldn't match Colorado in the midfield when they slipped into a 3-5-2. Our passes just weren't connecting and we couldn't establish a rhythm, much less set up a solid scoring opportunity. Whatever the reason, it led to a long 10-15 minutes where it looked like Colorado was destined to score.

I also want to see the hand ball. I didn't notice it in the match (it happened on the end of the field where we were sitting, but on the opposite side of the field), but was glad the ref did.

I might fast forward past the 18th minute so I don't have to see Ching miss that one opportunity. But credit to him: he fought hard throughout the match.

Did you see The Dom and Fernando Clavijo chatting it up in the center circle for most of the warm up? That was pretty cool. I didn't realize until I read the game day flyer that they had been teammates on the USMNT.

That's it for now. Happy three points, Dynamo; and to all a good night.

P.S. Go Fulham. Tomorrow is it: do or die.

Rapids, Stadium, Ngwenya, and the cost of criticism

To whet your appetite for the Dynamo's first victory this weekend (Yeah, you heard me: victory. That means: scoring.), here is an MLS article about the similarities between the MIO's start last year and this year. As long as that equates to a third MLS Cup, deja vu is fine with me. Here's the official game preview. In three meetings at Robertson, we've won twice and tied once.

And here's an article about Ianni. "Ultimately, Ianni wants to be a preacher." Who knew?

B-Fall's Thursday blog covers a range of topics as we approach the Rapids match. The Dynamo are working on finishing, particularly Ching and Mullan. (Yay!) Sideline reporter Jeanette Fernandez is gone. Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis was fined by the league.

This is the article where Kreis airs his grievances. (Here are some commentary and the MLS press release.) I can't say I blame him. If this is a professional league, we expect the officiating to be professional. In many ways, the officiating will define not only a game, but a league. Consistently calling most contact as a foul will help attackers, increase scoring, and force defenders to improve their positioning rather than rashly tackle. Consistently allowing physical play will help defenders, discourage diving, and establish a more physical style of play. Inconsistent policies and calls will not establish any style of play and will just frustrate players and fans, and eventually owners too when the fans stop paying to watch a sport with the integrity of the WWF (or whatever it's called these days).

Despite my confident forecast of victory, are you still worried about our offense? B-Fall has the latest on Ngwenya. "Ngwenya added a dimension to the Dynamo attack, bringing pace into the arsenal. His presence near the opponents' box kept defenders on edge and gave teammates Ching and Dwayne De Rosario more room to operate." Glenn Davis has an interview with Joe on his blog. "My pride has been hurt by not being able to play for a bottom placed team and I really want to prove people wrong here in Europe ...if I did come back to MLS it would definitely be Houston though!"

I don't know that Ngwenya is the answer, but speed could definitely help open things up for everyone else. It helped last year...

More on the stadium saga
The Chronicle has articles about the potential entry of TSU as a partner for Dynamo stadium. This article talks about how the stadium would be a facility shared equally by the Dynamo and TSU, while this article has B-Fall stating that the joint venture would work to the benefit of the Dynamo.

I think it would work to the benefit of AEG, but I'm doubtful it would be better for fans, except that the toilets might be cleaner. Yippee.

LOST is about to start. Must go...

De La Hoya and the politics of the MLS

Did you see this article about the most famous of our owners, Oscar De La Hoya? "I can't wait, once I hang up those gloves, to be at every single soccer game, cheering on the Houston Dynamo." The article talks about how OdlH may or may not mesh with the political arena of stadium negotiations.

And here's an article about the fight itself. How about that slick shield on them shorts?

Source: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

The Commish and more inept and amateurish comments about the stadium
From San Jose, the Commish speaks again about the Houston stadium situation. The article says "There's no way that [the Dynamo relocate] with De La Hoya involved, and a record of two titles in two seasons, and raucous crowds most nights at Robertson Stadium, and [De La Hoya's business partner Gabriel] Brener having a sister and brother living in Houston."

Regarding the letter Garber sent to the Dynamo's owners in an attempt to sound like a cultured thug, Garber said, "I didn't think that [the mayor releasing the letter] was playing fair. But this is a tough business we're in and the mayor is not somebody we've had a close relationship with. That wasn't a public document." Sounds to me that he should blame his friends at AEG for giving the letter to the mayor. Originally Garber said that it was an internal letter to AEG and the mayor wasn't the intended recipient, but these words sound as if the mayor was the assumed recipient after all.

In the past I have considered Garber a good commissioner. He has done a lot of good things for the sport in general and the MLS specifically. He's taken measures to try to improve the quality of play on the field, including by trying to improve the officiating and the general atmosphere (for example, by instituting the pre-game MLS Anthem [recorded in Prague for an American league, but I digress....]). He's been open to new ideas and has been a champion for the league. But recently he has seemed arrogant, abrasive, and without any tact whatsoever. I will be happy (1) when the stadium issue is resolved, and (2) when the final ownership structure stabilizes. Then we can go back to focusing on the GM, coach, and players who have proven themselves to be the class of the league, and Garber can go back to hawking the LA Galaxy as the jewel for the casual soccer fan.

Speaking of The Jeeze, you know their DP, Becks, will have to be selected as player of the week even though he led his team to only a draw with RSL. Generally, the player of the week is a simple addition formula: add up the goals everyone has made that week, and the one with the highest number must be the player of the week. You don't have to be able to appreciate the subtleties of the sport if you can boil the process down to simple math. And if you add His Royal Beckness to the equation, you've got a lock for player of the week. (And he's so dreamy, to boot!)

Still, sarcasm aside, that first goal of his versus RSL was a beauty. (But even so, I think he is the first player to have two GOTW nominations in one week. The hint of special treatment continues.)

Raise your hand if you're tired of being winless

Have I got a quote for you. It's a doozy that I just happened to stumble upon. I can't believe I haven't seen it before, because it is a completely new perspective that perfectly sums up Dynamo games. The first sentence in the second paragraph of the MLS game recap has this unique description of last night's draw with Chivas: "The defending champions controlled the tempo yet again, had most of the game's scoring chances, but could not get the one goal they needed."

What's that? You've heard that one before? Many times? Even last season? Well, whadaya know.

So, is anyone else tired of not winning? Of being unlucky? Of not scoring? We've been held scoreless in 4 of 6 games. That 66.7% for you number crunchers out there. And we're the first team that couldn't score on Chivas-Lite.

I suppose I could break out my soccer-genius cap and, in the hopes of demonstrating my analytical prowess, say that we need to do better -- much better -- in the attacking third. In the box. Near the net. But something tells me that the sentiment isn't a unique one. I think most would agree that things won't turn around with this team if we don't start scoring with more regularity. I think I typed something similar last year, but when the problem occurs at the beginning of the season (and with such concentration: held scoreless in 7 out of 10 matches if you include CONCACAF competition...oh, and that's 70.0% of the matches), then it becomes worrisome, because there is no other trend to counterbalance the existing (and only) data.

If you don't watch the team play and you know only the results (in other words: a journalist outside of Houston), then you assume the team is the crappiest one in the league, except for maybe that one-win, one-tie expansion-ish team in San Jose. If you were to watch Dynamo matches and break down the play, on the other hand, you'd be hard pressed to think of the Dynamo as being anything other than one of the highest caliber teams in the MLS. But the fact is that until we get better results, we are no better than last place in the second best conference of a two-conference league. And some would say that this is the definition of crappy.

But the good thing is that, just like in 2006, we have so many blasted draws that we're still in the race in the Western Conference. Currently we're tied for last place (in the league as well as the Conference), but one win kicks us into 3rd place and only a point away from 2nd place. Two wins puts us in first place. A few wins, particularly versus Western Conference foes, catapults us to a dominant lead, though we'd still be a bottom feeder if we were in the Eastern Conference. So we're still very much alive in the West. This may be a small consolation, perhaps, when you're following a team that can't score or win, but it's still a sign that the Men In Orange haven't dug their own grave yet. And that is going to have to keep us going until next week, when we (hopefully) get our first victory when Colorado comes to town.

Media roundup:
Quotes from the game.

The Dynamo Reserves did about the same as the first team: a (1-1) draw.

The Chronicle's recap. Mullan says that all the team needs is "A goal. Getting ahead. Something." Also, here's The Chronicle's post-game notes, B-Fall's player grades, and thoughts on the game from a non-soccer dude.

Here are Glenn Davis' impressions. No, he doesn't do impressions; these are his thoughts on the game. Such as "As much as the Dynamo had the territorial advantage due to Chivas tactics, simple things let them down. Numerous attacks broke down due to poor control and a poor first touch. Franco Caraccio had two great shooting opportunities go to the wayside because his touch narrowed his shooting angle."

You know, what is perhaps most disappointing about this game is that I am not at all surprised at the result.

Chivas, on the rocks

Chivas is coming to town, having about as much trouble in the young season as the Dynamo are. Thing is, Guzan is a good keeper who can shut us down, Kljestan is a proven goal scorer as is the Razov/Galindo combination. And that Galindo? He's fast. Our back line? Not so much.

Last year we managed to keep a clean sheet versus Chivas in all three of our matches, while we scored 1, 4, and 0 goals in the matches. This year Chivas has won only one game (to our none) and lost three (to our two). They've beaten RSL, drawn with Dallas, and lost to Dallas, LA, and Columbus. Versus similar opponents here are the goals for and the goals against:

v Dallas:
Houston GF: 3, GA: 3
Chivas GF: 1, GA: 3 (over 2 games)
v LA:
Houston GF: 2, GA: 2
Chivas GF: 2, GA: 5
v Columbus:
Houston GF: 0, GA: 1
Chivas GF: 3, GA: 4

A slight advantage goes to Chivas for goals scored (6 versus our 5) while a more significant nod for goals conceded goes to Houston (6 allowed versus 12 allowed by Chivas).

The only solid conclusion about tonight: either team can win. Let's make it the Dynamo, since they'll be at home and they don't want to start May like they left April: winless.

My guess: Dynamo 2, Chivas 1.

Media roundup:
MLS game preview.

MLS game article. Witty Waibel quote: "Winless? Who is? We are? I didn't even realize that we were winless."

The Chronicle's pre-game article. The Championship rings that will be passed out today are "nothing more than a memento of triumphs past in a present in which that winning feeling has been tough to duplicate." Here's hoping that the Lords of Irony don't follow the ceremony with an unceremonious loss. The Dynamo "seem to have graduated from frustration to optimism throughout the week as they digested last Saturday's 1-0 loss at Columbus, which kept them winless to start the season."

Here are Game Notes from The Chronicle. Stuart Holden will play for the (re-)injured Brad "Keebler" Davis.

Here's an article on Stuart Holden. "Holden, who was born in Scotland yet calls Houston his hometown, is one of the team's better passers and has a rocket for a shot that is highly accurate."

Glenn Davis' blog covers the key matchups.

B-Fall talks about Joe Ngwenya. "With league play over, Ngwenya appeared in just one game for a team that finished second to last in the standings. If you're thinking Ngwenya is not happy, you are correct."

Random soccer stadium talk:
US Soccer Players talk about the Toronto stadium, and the qualities that make it one of the better stadiums. "Toronto has the appropriate stage, a working critique of the earlier rounds of soccer-specificity that wanted micro sized Euro stadiums as a partial grab at authenticity. Well, they got it...." And "One of the working critiques of the building currently under construction in Salt Lake is that it's too close to the Bridgeview model. Toyota Park shouldn't be the template after seeing it in practice. The same is true for the rest of the League's multi-use venues. None of them are bad necessarily, but they're not the Camden Yards style revolution in stadium construction. Shifting the focus towards staging events rather than soccer takes away from the environment. Even Carson doesn't quite get it right." I italicized the sentence that really summed it up for me.

Ives Galarcep talks about his experience at the BMO here ("The benefit of having a stadium filled with season-ticket holders is that all these people know each other, so when one section can finish the chant another section starts it's pretty damn impressive.") and here ("A typical Toronto FC match day begins with the club's largest supporters' groups, the Red Patch Boys and U-Sector, converging on a pair of local pubs hours before kickoff.")