This past week, the Dynamo got two draws in the first two countries of their four-country, 12-day stretch.
The Panama game (recap) was a good result, I thought, given the lineup, the travel, and the field. The best part was that we got power in enough time to watch the game. The game seemed surreal though, after living in a dark, quiet house for 11 days. It was bizarre watching TV and seeing the world moving on as usual.
The Toronto game (recap, and another) was a disappointment, but not unexpected. When discussing the impending game with a coworker on Friday, I said it wouldn't be a surprise if we lost because: (1) we're playing on fake turf and (2) we're playing a struggling team and we seem to struggle against strugglers.
Toronto scored two great goals, one a header for us (thanks, Mr. Freeman!) the other a blistering RicoClark-style shot by Marvell Wynne. If the Dynamo had scored that, it wouldn't win goal of the week, but since a Toronto player scored it I bet it does win GOTW. Such is the worthlessness of fan-based democracy. I got a kick out of Onstad's smile after Wynne's goal, realizing he and his defense were bested in that one moment.
Wynne followed that goal up with a possible goal-saving on DeRo just afterwards, when DeRo found himself almost 1v1 with the Toronto GK after a fast break, until Wynne slid in. I think Wynne was the MOTM Saturday.
I appreciated the empathy shown by Onstad in his televised interview prior to the game, where he talked about the last of the players' families finally receiving power that week but that there thoughts are with the others in the area (about 25% of the residents, were his words) who were still doing without.
The draw and Columbus' continued form essentially knocks us out of contention for the Supporters' Shield, which is unfortunate. But we can still place first in the Western Conference for the first time in our short history, but with Chivas USA only 4 points back, we'll need to start getting 3 points.
Tomorrow we're in country #3, as we face UNAM Pumas in the altitude of Mexico City.
Go DYNAMO!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Between Quake events, and After the Hurricane
I hope Hurricane Ike has had as minimal of an impact as possible on you, your family, and your property. As for me and my household, we lost several tree limbs but had no property damage. We are still without power, but we have water and gas, so we can cook on our gas stove and take comfortable showers with our gas water heater. If the cool front hadn't come through, we'd be absolutely miserable without air conditioning, but the weather has complied to make for pleasant evenings. We count ourselves very lucky and hope you can do the same.
(One of my neighbors stated that God gives us these challenges to help us grow and to test us. I replied that God must have a low opinion of my character under duress, because He went easy on us this time. Or maybe He thought we already had our hurricane test since we lost everything to Hurricane Andrew when I was a newlywed young Ensign stationed on Homestead AFB. Either way, I'm grateful for the minor inconvenience we've experienced this time.)
Still no power at home, but at work we have power. You might surmise that this means that I'm spending work time on personal blogging. I will not confirm or deny that.
I missed the Dynamo-Earthquake match this past weekend. (Official Recap.) We had no power at the time, and while I could've listened to it on the radio, I was actually asleep on the couch having stayed up most of the night watching the storm and spent most of the morning keeping our street gutters free of debris to prevent street flooding. I watched the highlights, though, and they suggest that we were lucky to leave San Jose with a point. We may have had better possession (I can't tell from the highlights) and may have been unlucky to not convert a few more of our chances, but the Earthquakes had several 1-on-1 shots on goal that weren't converted. After a botched header by ERob, Onstad made two desperate point-blank saves in a row in the first half. Not long after, Onstad displayed more heroics on another point-blank shot. In the second half, a point-blank header found Barrett's chest at the goal line. In fact, Ronnie O'Brien's goal that opened up the scoring in the 50th minute -- a blistering shot from just outside our box, taken from Onstad's left and ending up in the far right netting -- was more difficult than these four shots that Onstad and Barrett saved.
Of course, we had our chances too. And how about the spunk shown by Ching after he scored the equalizer, when he ran over to remind the feisty Earthquake fans where their 2 stars came from? Reading Ives' blog, at least one Quake fan thought that was a classless display and has decided to instantly despise his former hero. I think Ching was merely responding in kind; it was defiance to counter spitefulness and it was only directed at the fans who were spouting vitriol, not to the fans who were merely supporting their (new) players.
ERob got ejected yet again, this time for getting two yellow cards. From what I could see, though, ERob's second yellow came when he was fouled from behind. Either I missed something or the ref completely blew the call. Or both.
We now have 39 points, 6 points away from the Supporters' Shield that I want so badly. We only have 6 games to make up the difference, and the next match is versus the very same Earthquakes this Saturday. With the generous post-Ike deal sponsored by the Dynamo and the University of Houston (free parking? free tickets for kids under 14? $10 adult tickets? Wow!) we hope to see a big turnout to root for the Dynamo, hope to equalize the Quake series (now at 0-1-1), and hope to get to 42 points (10 less than last year's final total, only 4 less than 2006's final total).
UPDATE: No game and no deal this Saturday, at the request of the City of Houston. This is going to really cram the Dynamo's remaining schedule, and the make up date falls on a FIFA World Cup Qualifier match day for the US and Canada. The media notes that the postponement could hurt the Earthquakes' momentum, but do we care?
Go Dynamo! (And take care out there, fellow Texans!)
(One of my neighbors stated that God gives us these challenges to help us grow and to test us. I replied that God must have a low opinion of my character under duress, because He went easy on us this time. Or maybe He thought we already had our hurricane test since we lost everything to Hurricane Andrew when I was a newlywed young Ensign stationed on Homestead AFB. Either way, I'm grateful for the minor inconvenience we've experienced this time.)
Still no power at home, but at work we have power. You might surmise that this means that I'm spending work time on personal blogging. I will not confirm or deny that.
I missed the Dynamo-Earthquake match this past weekend. (Official Recap.) We had no power at the time, and while I could've listened to it on the radio, I was actually asleep on the couch having stayed up most of the night watching the storm and spent most of the morning keeping our street gutters free of debris to prevent street flooding. I watched the highlights, though, and they suggest that we were lucky to leave San Jose with a point. We may have had better possession (I can't tell from the highlights) and may have been unlucky to not convert a few more of our chances, but the Earthquakes had several 1-on-1 shots on goal that weren't converted. After a botched header by ERob, Onstad made two desperate point-blank saves in a row in the first half. Not long after, Onstad displayed more heroics on another point-blank shot. In the second half, a point-blank header found Barrett's chest at the goal line. In fact, Ronnie O'Brien's goal that opened up the scoring in the 50th minute -- a blistering shot from just outside our box, taken from Onstad's left and ending up in the far right netting -- was more difficult than these four shots that Onstad and Barrett saved.
Of course, we had our chances too. And how about the spunk shown by Ching after he scored the equalizer, when he ran over to remind the feisty Earthquake fans where their 2 stars came from? Reading Ives' blog, at least one Quake fan thought that was a classless display and has decided to instantly despise his former hero. I think Ching was merely responding in kind; it was defiance to counter spitefulness and it was only directed at the fans who were spouting vitriol, not to the fans who were merely supporting their (new) players.
ERob got ejected yet again, this time for getting two yellow cards. From what I could see, though, ERob's second yellow came when he was fouled from behind. Either I missed something or the ref completely blew the call. Or both.
We now have 39 points, 6 points away from the Supporters' Shield that I want so badly. We only have 6 games to make up the difference
UPDATE: No game and no deal this Saturday, at the request of the City of Houston. This is going to really cram the Dynamo's remaining schedule, and the make up date falls on a FIFA World Cup Qualifier match day for the US and Canada. The media notes that the postponement could hurt the Earthquakes' momentum, but do we care?
Go Dynamo! (And take care out there, fellow Texans!)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Win vs Soca Warriors gives us 9 pts in 3 games
Nice game by the Americans, though I think our job was made easier by a timid (whether through mentality or personnel availability) T&T team. Recap.
Ives has a take on Brian Ching. He isn't a goal-machine, and he isn't making anybody forget Brian McBride, but he can still serve a purpose on this team. Some folks get caught up in him being a target forward and thinking that the current U.S. team isn't equipped to provide service from the flanks to make Ching effective. This ignores the fact that Ching is better with the ball at his feet that some realize, and he's great at holding up the ball for teammates to make runs off him. The job should eventually fall to a player like Jozy Altidore, but for now, Ching doesn't do a bad job.
Jeff Carlisle gives both of the Dynamo boys a "5" rating:
[Ching's] hold-up play was typically solid, and he deserves credit for being well-placed to score his goal. But for the most part, his play in the box was subpar, in that he either failed to convert some clear chances or wandered offside.
[Clark's] fresh legs were certainly needed, but his overall performance was erratic, as some sharp passes were mixed in with some careless giveaways.
I didn't see many of Clark's giveaways, maybe because I was doing other things at that point in the game, I guess. I did see his diving header that almost resulted in a goal.
As for Ching, I think Carlisle's rating was a little low (for Ching contributed greatly to the win through his holdup play), but it WAS irritating to see his missed opportunities and the lack of awareness that resulted in several inopportune offside calls.
And that reminds me that we might be lucky to have won 3-0. The replays of the first goal sure suggest that Ching and Bradley were still offside at the time that Donovan struck the free kick -- great outside of the foot volley by Bradley though. The replays of the second goal show that it began with a turnover when the ball hit off Gooch's arm -- great through ball by Beasley and strike by Dempsey though. The last goal was a gimme for Ching, but it may have been the only goal that wasn't tainted by a foul or offside. (John Harkes initially said that he thought Ching was offside, but replays show the Hawaiian clearly wasn't.)
Nevertheless, we took the 3 points and it was well deserved. Bob Bradley may feel more comfortable now, so he might stop playing conservatively and starts looking at experimenting a little. Maybe the USMNT will feel loose enough to play joga bonito style soccer...
Good luck with Hurricane Ike, everyone!
And go Dynamo! (I hope we have power to watch your game vs San Jose on Saturday.)
Ives has a take on Brian Ching. He isn't a goal-machine, and he isn't making anybody forget Brian McBride, but he can still serve a purpose on this team. Some folks get caught up in him being a target forward and thinking that the current U.S. team isn't equipped to provide service from the flanks to make Ching effective. This ignores the fact that Ching is better with the ball at his feet that some realize, and he's great at holding up the ball for teammates to make runs off him. The job should eventually fall to a player like Jozy Altidore, but for now, Ching doesn't do a bad job.
Jeff Carlisle gives both of the Dynamo boys a "5" rating:
[Ching's] hold-up play was typically solid, and he deserves credit for being well-placed to score his goal. But for the most part, his play in the box was subpar, in that he either failed to convert some clear chances or wandered offside.
[Clark's] fresh legs were certainly needed, but his overall performance was erratic, as some sharp passes were mixed in with some careless giveaways.
I didn't see many of Clark's giveaways, maybe because I was doing other things at that point in the game, I guess. I did see his diving header that almost resulted in a goal.
As for Ching, I think Carlisle's rating was a little low (for Ching contributed greatly to the win through his holdup play), but it WAS irritating to see his missed opportunities and the lack of awareness that resulted in several inopportune offside calls.
And that reminds me that we might be lucky to have won 3-0. The replays of the first goal sure suggest that Ching and Bradley were still offside at the time that Donovan struck the free kick -- great outside of the foot volley by Bradley though. The replays of the second goal show that it began with a turnover when the ball hit off Gooch's arm -- great through ball by Beasley and strike by Dempsey though. The last goal was a gimme for Ching, but it may have been the only goal that wasn't tainted by a foul or offside. (John Harkes initially said that he thought Ching was offside, but replays show the Hawaiian clearly wasn't.)
Nevertheless, we took the 3 points and it was well deserved. Bob Bradley may feel more comfortable now, so he might stop playing conservatively and starts looking at experimenting a little. Maybe the USMNT will feel loose enough to play joga bonito style soccer...
Good luck with Hurricane Ike, everyone!
And go Dynamo! (I hope we have power to watch your game vs San Jose on Saturday.)
Monday, September 08, 2008
KC withers and Dynamo soar
What a hot, miserable time to play a soccer game. The players and coaches will say that everyone has to play under the same conditions, but the fact is, it feels a lot hotter when you're behind than when you're ahead.
And, as B-Fall put it: Sunday's 3-1 home victory ... was as good as they come.
Pre-game guide.
Post-game recap.
Says one article: Entering Sunday's match against the Kansas City Wizards, Kamara, an MLS veteran of 54 matches, had never recorded a single assist in his career. Before the match he told a few friends of his that he wanted to get rid of that donut that, to some, makes him look like a selfish player.
The post-game quotes include this one from ERob: "We knew that mentally, if this beautiful weather today wouldn't get to them, just being down might." I'm sure that "beautiful weather" was said with sarcasm, not praise for the 12th man (or 13th man, if you count the fanbase as the 12th).
I remember The Dom complaining about a 3 o'clock game in summer of the 2006 season. That one was scheduled due to TV commitments; but surely this game wasn't played at this godforsaken hour because of Telefutura!?
My two favorite events of this game:
I do think Brad Davis may be practicing his attacking headers this week. Minutes after his first goal, he missed what should have been an easy header on goal from the back post. It was nearly identical to one he muffed in the previous game versus Chicago. My wife said he shouldn't be doing headers anyway, because his ears probably unbalance him. (She is actually a big fan of "Keebler".) Luckily, in both games Davis made up for his muffs with a dynamite assist in one game and a dynamite goal in the other.
So now we're solidly in the Western Conference lead, 7 points ahead of #2 RSL. Overall, we're behind only Columbus (which has 43 points) and tied with New England and Chicago. The Supporters' Shield is a longshot, but still a possibility. Taking the Western Conference and having homefield advantage through the MLS Cup tourney is something that is not only feasible, but had better be realized. I'm still holding out for the Supporters' Shield, even though our upcoming schedule congestion will make that a difficult feat.
In his weekly MLS recap, Steve Davis has this to say about Brian Mullan:
USMNT
Solid showing by the USMNT in Cuba, I thought. Ching did well in his role holding up the ball, and got the assist on the goal, laying off the pass that Dempsely put away. I agree with Doug McIntyre that Ching was the field player that probably did his respective job the best. (Tim Howard being the best and most valuable player overall.) People clamoring for new faces up front will rip him for missing that sitter near the end, but the big Hawaiian played his role as a target forward to perfection. He was able to effectively body up with his back to goal from start to finish and set up the winning strike doing just that.
McIntyre also has an article that laments the lack of offensive umph from the USMNT. Although the U.S. team deserves full credit for winning two difficult road matches to begin this potentially treacherous round of qualifying, it has done so by using a combination of grit, good fortune and Howard. The Americans didn't create many quality chances against either Guatemala or Cuba, and with all due respect to Brian Ching, who next to Howard was the best player on the field Saturday, their forwards still simply cannot score.
Other Soccer Coaching News
After a 3 year hiatus, I've been pulled back into the soccer coaching ranks to coach my son's U16 team. The kids are older and more sarcastic since I last coached, so I'll have that obstacle to overcome.
I have a new philosophy that I'm instituting now that I'm running the zoo. My focus is to ensure every player has the individual dribbling skills to hold their own regardless of the team (whether club or school) they play for next year. I've always worked on passing exercises and taught positional play in past terms as coach, but now I want every person -- regardless of position -- to be an excellent First Attacker (or "guy with ball") and excellent First Defender (or "guy on the guy with the ball"). To work towards this, the first 30 minutes of each practice is on footwork and 1v1. In this first half hour I'm also working on receiving skills, since players with good footskills must be able to pluck the ball out of the air and get it to their feet for their footskills to work.
After the first 30 minutes, I am working on some tactics, mostly in 4v4 mini-matches. But the emphasis is individual development.
The most likely result is that we won't win a lot of games since I'm not focusing on masking weaknesses through teamwork. Hopefully another result is that the players do become more adept at individual play...but it remains to be seen if the kids will do their part to make this happen. It takes practice and discipline and patience, and I don't know if this group of teenagers has that. We'll see.
And, as B-Fall put it: Sunday's 3-1 home victory ... was as good as they come.
Pre-game guide.
Post-game recap.
Says one article: Entering Sunday's match against the Kansas City Wizards, Kamara, an MLS veteran of 54 matches, had never recorded a single assist in his career. Before the match he told a few friends of his that he wanted to get rid of that donut that, to some, makes him look like a selfish player.
The post-game quotes include this one from ERob: "We knew that mentally, if this beautiful weather today wouldn't get to them, just being down might." I'm sure that "beautiful weather" was said with sarcasm, not praise for the 12th man (or 13th man, if you count the fanbase as the 12th).
I remember The Dom complaining about a 3 o'clock game in summer of the 2006 season. That one was scheduled due to TV commitments; but surely this game wasn't played at this godforsaken hour because of Telefutura!?
My two favorite events of this game:
- In the first half: Brad Davis' one-touch rocket into the net from a Kei Kamara layoff.
- In the second half: Stuart Holden's unselfish and prescient touch off to Nate Jaqua to get the goal that effectively won the game. Stuie had a good look on goal with that ball, but his pass was pure class. And the goal, coupled with the heat, crushed all of KC's motivation.
I do think Brad Davis may be practicing his attacking headers this week. Minutes after his first goal, he missed what should have been an easy header on goal from the back post. It was nearly identical to one he muffed in the previous game versus Chicago. My wife said he shouldn't be doing headers anyway, because his ears probably unbalance him. (She is actually a big fan of "Keebler".) Luckily, in both games Davis made up for his muffs with a dynamite assist in one game and a dynamite goal in the other.
So now we're solidly in the Western Conference lead, 7 points ahead of #2 RSL. Overall, we're behind only Columbus (which has 43 points) and tied with New England and Chicago. The Supporters' Shield is a longshot, but still a possibility. Taking the Western Conference and having homefield advantage through the MLS Cup tourney is something that is not only feasible, but had better be realized. I'm still holding out for the Supporters' Shield, even though our upcoming schedule congestion will make that a difficult feat.
In his weekly MLS recap, Steve Davis has this to say about Brian Mullan:
Because Brian Mullan is usually surrounded by more dynamic players (De Rosario, for instance), several internationals (Pat Onstad, Clark) and younger, emerging forces (Stuart Holden), it's easy to forget what a guy like that means to Houston. Manager Dominic Kinnear knows exactly what he'll get from Mullan every time on the pitch.
When opponents are in possession, Mullan tucks inside reliably when the ball is on the other side. When it's on his side, he's always in the right spot, helping the right fullback. On offense, Mullan consistently, effectively links with the man playing behind him and can be counted on to supply two or three good crosses a half.
Brad Davis, on the left, does some of the same. But where he's more of a goal-scoring threat with a tendency to drift inside often, Mullan is more of a classic flank attacker, always providing the width that stretches defenses.
You need guys like De Rosario and Clark to win championships. But you'll never get there without the dependable workadays such as Mullan.
USMNT
Solid showing by the USMNT in Cuba, I thought. Ching did well in his role holding up the ball, and got the assist on the goal, laying off the pass that Dempsely put away. I agree with Doug McIntyre that Ching was the field player that probably did his respective job the best. (Tim Howard being the best and most valuable player overall.) People clamoring for new faces up front will rip him for missing that sitter near the end, but the big Hawaiian played his role as a target forward to perfection. He was able to effectively body up with his back to goal from start to finish and set up the winning strike doing just that.
McIntyre also has an article that laments the lack of offensive umph from the USMNT. Although the U.S. team deserves full credit for winning two difficult road matches to begin this potentially treacherous round of qualifying, it has done so by using a combination of grit, good fortune and Howard. The Americans didn't create many quality chances against either Guatemala or Cuba, and with all due respect to Brian Ching, who next to Howard was the best player on the field Saturday, their forwards still simply cannot score.
Other Soccer Coaching News
After a 3 year hiatus, I've been pulled back into the soccer coaching ranks to coach my son's U16 team. The kids are older and more sarcastic since I last coached, so I'll have that obstacle to overcome.
I have a new philosophy that I'm instituting now that I'm running the zoo. My focus is to ensure every player has the individual dribbling skills to hold their own regardless of the team (whether club or school) they play for next year. I've always worked on passing exercises and taught positional play in past terms as coach, but now I want every person -- regardless of position -- to be an excellent First Attacker (or "guy with ball") and excellent First Defender (or "guy on the guy with the ball"). To work towards this, the first 30 minutes of each practice is on footwork and 1v1. In this first half hour I'm also working on receiving skills, since players with good footskills must be able to pluck the ball out of the air and get it to their feet for their footskills to work.
After the first 30 minutes, I am working on some tactics, mostly in 4v4 mini-matches. But the emphasis is individual development.
The most likely result is that we won't win a lot of games since I'm not focusing on masking weaknesses through teamwork. Hopefully another result is that the players do become more adept at individual play...but it remains to be seen if the kids will do their part to make this happen. It takes practice and discipline and patience, and I don't know if this group of teenagers has that. We'll see.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Good form keeps us on top
A great night for Dynamo soccer last night. With the creative Blanco in town and US international star (and one of my favorite players) Brian McBride, along with a solid Chicago defense, the Dynamo faced a formidable challenge. They were up to the task. Here's the recap, which points out: The Houston Dynamo have not lost back-to-back games all year, and they did not want Sunday night to be the first time against the high-powered Chicago Fire.
Yeah, we gifted the Fire an opening goal. Apparently it was McBride’s first in MLS since 10/26/2003, with Columbus. He's scored a few since then in some league called the EPL. In fact, the goal might not have been so much gifted as stolen, with Bobby Boswell pulled down in order to get the ball into the Fire's hands.
The Fire then reciprocated, gifting us a goal through poor marking on a set play, allowing DeRo to even the score a minute after the Dynamo conceded the opening goal.
The Fire played pretty poorly overall in the first half, with nothing organized in the center and little activity out wide. The Dynamo could have put several more into the net, notably a wide open header by Davis in the 35th minute from a cross by DeRo, but Davis, though unmarked and staring at an open goal, sent the ball into the side of the net. It was actually harder to miss than to score that time.
Minutes later, Davis started the chain that led to the winning goal. Davis passed to Nate Jaqua, who held onto the ball just long enough to feed a short pass to Davis in the center. Davis found some room just outside the box where he dished the ball to Mullan, who was alone and able to place the ball past Busch into the far corner netting. It was a bit of a redemption for Davis, who had missed the earlier header, and for Mullan, who had missed an almost identical shot earlier.
The second half saw more of the same, with neither team able to put away their chances. Chicago realized it was positioned to steal a point and amped up its attack in the final 15 minutes, with Blanco counting on his fingers as best he could whenever Onstad got the ball -- even when Blanco himself was delaying Onstad's release of the ball. As Bill and Ted would say: Egregious.
In the end, we defended our lead unspectacularly, we maintained sniping distance on the Supporters' Shield, and virtually guaranteed our playoff slot. It would be nice to lock up home field advantage for the conference championship game, and with 24 points left on the table, we still could pull a surprise and sneak off with the Supporters' Shield.
THAT would be nice.
Here are some more articles:
Dynamo show mettle. A quick look at the MLS standings shows that the Eastern Conference has the upper hand when it comes to overall league play. Four teams in the East have at least 10 wins and the fifth-place New York Red Bulls have more points than every team in the West, save for the conference-leading Houston Dynamo. But the two-time defending champions have played well against the superior conference this year. Counting Sunday's come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire, the Dynamo are now 6-4-1 against the East, better than any other team in the West.
Houston Having No Problems. The Dynamo are back to their big, bad selves...and the rest of the league better be afraid, very afraid.
Yeah, we gifted the Fire an opening goal. Apparently it was McBride’s first in MLS since 10/26/2003, with Columbus. He's scored a few since then in some league called the EPL. In fact, the goal might not have been so much gifted as stolen, with Bobby Boswell pulled down in order to get the ball into the Fire's hands.
The Fire then reciprocated, gifting us a goal through poor marking on a set play, allowing DeRo to even the score a minute after the Dynamo conceded the opening goal.
The Fire played pretty poorly overall in the first half, with nothing organized in the center and little activity out wide. The Dynamo could have put several more into the net, notably a wide open header by Davis in the 35th minute from a cross by DeRo, but Davis, though unmarked and staring at an open goal, sent the ball into the side of the net. It was actually harder to miss than to score that time.
Minutes later, Davis started the chain that led to the winning goal. Davis passed to Nate Jaqua, who held onto the ball just long enough to feed a short pass to Davis in the center. Davis found some room just outside the box where he dished the ball to Mullan, who was alone and able to place the ball past Busch into the far corner netting. It was a bit of a redemption for Davis, who had missed the earlier header, and for Mullan, who had missed an almost identical shot earlier.
The second half saw more of the same, with neither team able to put away their chances. Chicago realized it was positioned to steal a point and amped up its attack in the final 15 minutes, with Blanco counting on his fingers as best he could whenever Onstad got the ball -- even when Blanco himself was delaying Onstad's release of the ball. As Bill and Ted would say: Egregious.
In the end, we defended our lead unspectacularly, we maintained sniping distance on the Supporters' Shield, and virtually guaranteed our playoff slot. It would be nice to lock up home field advantage for the conference championship game, and with 24 points left on the table, we still could pull a surprise and sneak off with the Supporters' Shield.
THAT would be nice.
Here are some more articles:
Dynamo show mettle. A quick look at the MLS standings shows that the Eastern Conference has the upper hand when it comes to overall league play. Four teams in the East have at least 10 wins and the fifth-place New York Red Bulls have more points than every team in the West, save for the conference-leading Houston Dynamo. But the two-time defending champions have played well against the superior conference this year. Counting Sunday's come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire, the Dynamo are now 6-4-1 against the East, better than any other team in the West.
Houston Having No Problems. The Dynamo are back to their big, bad selves...and the rest of the league better be afraid, very afraid.
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