The Season Of Mediocrity (SOM) continues. Tonight, we continued our chronic inability to shoot balls on frame. Add an amateurish coffee break by the usually stalwart defense (Ianni and Barrett not communicating, thus allowing Cooper an open header on goal). Sprinkle in spineless officiating by a ref who is afraid to force players to play quality soccer; on that note, it was a smart play by Richetti to trip Holden from behind when Holden was going 1v1 with the keeper, but the price for his smart play would have to be leaving his team with 10 men for the final 13 minutes. It's a heavy price, but a worthy one...and one it turns out he didn't have to pay thanks to the spineless ref.
The result: a 1-1 tie, the third draw in this three-game series. With 4 away goals to our 2, Dallas takes El Capitan for the first time. Enjoy the gun in 2009, fellas; your cynicism earned it tonight (and Caig's cold hands gave you the 2 decisive away goals you needed on April 6).
Pet peeve of the night: Shooting the ball so high or so wide that Sala just glances casually at the ball as we blow another chance.
Pet peeve of the night, runner up: With 4 minutes of stoppage time and the clock at 4:01, our defenders pittypat the ball around the back rather than driving the ball quickly forward. Slim chance you score in the last moments with a rushed ball. No chance you score when the ball is at the halfway line and the final whistle blows. Another example of our non-champion mentality this year.
Without a doubt, Houston was the best team on the field tonight -- just as we were for most of the 7 draws we suffered this season (on schedule to set a MLS record for most draws in a season, woo-hoo!). But there is also no doubt that Houston is borderline incompetent when it comes to the attacking third. Also, there's no doubt that they are uncharacteristically lax and cavalier on defense at inconvenient times. This is not the Houston Dynamo that won the 2006 Championship nor the 2007 Championship, doing so both times with a crushing defense and potent (if sometimes inconsistent) offense. The only thing that remains from those teams is the ability to penetrate along the flanks from the back, and the ability to possess the ball and generate opportunities in the middle. But until we fix the problems up front, and until we regain the continuous (as in "non-stop") professional composure in the back, we can't expect to win the MLS Cup.
There are other things that we can achieve instead of the MLS Cup this season, including (in descending order of prestige): winning SuperLiga, winning the US Open Cup (maybe this should be first, since it guarantees a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League), and winning the Reserve League that we currently lead. Personally, I hope we fix our attack first.
The Supporters' Shield? Oh that's out of the question. You have to win consistently to get that. Even the stalwart teams of yesteryear couldn't do that.
Of course, with half the teams getting into the post-season in this silly league, the Dynamo should remain in contention for the MLS Cup, even with their bajillion draws. But we've seen plenty of harbingers that suggest this season will not be like the last two. The most recent harbinger is losing El Capitan for the first time, but there have been others, including losing by more than one goal at Robertson (New England, 0-2, June 12).
Having said that, this team tends to deliver results when the odds are stacked against them. If that's the case, then they're setting themselves up for some crazy-awesome results later this season. Here's hoping.
Until then...Go Dynamo!
Addendum:
Here are the game quotes. Kinnear: "The guys are disappointed, as we should be. At the halfway point [of the season], I don't think we are getting as many points as we want or need."
But he claims the team is still one of the league's elites. Disappointing season aside, I agree with him. The team is one of the best; it just has to become more composed and more consistent. How about Ching's take on the defense? "You look at our team and what has made us successful the past couple of years. It's defense. We have been one of the best defensive, if not the best, defensive team in the league. But now we've got guys letting in mistakes. They are making big mistakes and costing us games. It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games, so it's disappointing." Wow: It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games. I can't disagree with that, but that's not something you hear from a teammate like Ching too often. And while the defense could always counter by pointing out the chances repeatedly missed by the forwards, I hope they instead focus on what they can do to make the team better. That would be the mature and honorable thing to do. In other words: the Orange thing to do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
That is a great post and those comments are on point with how I felt leaving the game tonight. I don't want to get down on the Dynamo but this is not the same as the last two seasons, as much as they will try to make it sound like it is.
We miss Eddie Robinson, he is a commanding presence in the back and he and Boswell were really working well together when they have been out there at the same time.
Who has been more disappointing this year - Wade Barrett or Brian Mullan?
Thanks for the comment, JJ.
For me it's no question: Barrett is the most disappointing. He's to blame directly for more than last night's goal (and each conceded goal is critical when your offense isn't scoring). Part of the reason he's the most disappointing is because he has set the bar so high through his stellar, consistent play. He's definitely not consistent now. It might be due to the injury.
Mullan doesn't beat players automatically like he used to, but he does beat them enough to generate plenty of chances; the forwards just aren't finishing them. Plus, he's still a workhorse coming back to support the defense.
DeRo and Onstad are our best, most consistent players on the field at the moment, I think. Davis had a good game yesterday too, bad free kick aside (you know, the one right after Richetti got his "red" card?). And I can't complain about Holden other than his ability to seal the deal in the attacking third (including penalty kicks). He used to be money there; what happened?
You cut off your acronym early. It's: Season Of Mediocrity Originating From Always Being Inconsistent, Thus Crushing Hope (SOMOFABITCH)!
Agreed on the defensive woes. What's changed? Apart from Ryan Cochrane our backline is the same. Bobo certainly seems to be filling that space well (looking better all the time). Wade's absences have hurt and maybe he is not fully fit. E-Rob needs to stay healthy and keep his head. Funny, at the start of the season it seemed like he had taken a step towards the world of calm.
About Stuart, I wondered early on in the season if he wasn't a bit tired. He did not have a break because of the U-23 call ups and has not stopped since RFK that great November day. He's young and at that age I'm sure he has a lot of energy but who knows.
Same could be said for Ianni, in some respects. Plus working the Houston Singles Scene must take a lot of time and energy...not that I'd know of course, I'm just saying.
Interesting comments from Ching though, I wonder if there might be some tension in the clubhouse, I mean locker room. You might need to run a Stros Dynamo Comparison Blog again...
I've heard it said that after a few years of living in Houston people tend to develop allergies...maybe the boys sinuses are swelling and they are having to adjust to sneezing more often...
Hmmm...swelling sinuses. You may be onto something.
You know, an O vs D mentality in the Mo's locker room might in fact be another parallel to the Stros, what with Chacon's antics in the Stro's clubhouse. I hope we don't ever have to draw a parallel between the Mo's season and the Stro's miserable season.
I don't know what the deal is with Stuie. I wouldn't think it is fatigue, because he's doing just fine in the exhausting part of the game in the middle; just not in the final third. Could be mental fatigue I suppose. Or maybe he has a girlfriend now and is trying to impress her as she sits in the stands. Ya never know.
SOMOFABITCH? I may have actually said that acronym at somepoint during the game, come to think of it...
Post a Comment