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.

All-Stars was entertaining ... Who'd've guessed?

I wasn't really looking forward to the MLS All-Star game ... like most people, I'm sure. I wasn't sure if I would watch. Turns out I did, and I'm glad I did. The match was fun from beginning to end; and I even found it relaxing since I didn't care who won or lost.

West Ham played well, but the players weren't going to hurt themselves in the process. That, and the fact that the Hammers probably aren't match fit yet, was really the factor that led to the MLSers controlling possession and territory so well.

But what was cool was watching Blanco and Beckham play together. Blanco actually was off with his passing and had several give-aways, but started getting into the groove and ended the half with a clever, skillful goal curving so nicely into the net. His earlier assist was even sweeter: picking up a pass from Beckham, Blanco popped the ball up then heel-flicked it to Christian Gomez, who slotted the ball clinically into the far netting. Becks-Blanco-Gomez-goal: That play right there made the All-Stars worth it.

B-Fall's blog has a good summary of the game. Here is a good article talking about DeRo and Onstad playing two MLS games the same day and in different countries. DeRo is capping off his day with a party benefiting Nothing But Nets.

Beckham played all 90 and looked very strong, particularly since no one cared if he helped with the defending.

DeRo, had some good flashes as a late sub, including a dangerous run that won a PK. I was surprised that he took the PK, and it was tense seeing his blast ping-ponging off the crossbar and into the net. With the goal, DeRo has another game winner for the All-Stars. The Creative Canuck made some nice runs and passing combos, which was all the more surprising since he had just wrapped up his MLS match in DC that morning. He was certainly pumped to be in front of his hometown fans. He had a solid free kick late in the game (Becks kindly let DeRo take the kick, I wager).

Onstad wasn't tested much, but did well with what he faced. I was very surprised to see him inserted in (just after DeRo's PK), but it was good to see him playing in this honorary game, as he is still one of the best in the league.

Landon Donovan was off his game and didn't seem to do anything.

And what was the formation there at the end, when Hejduk and Bornstein came off for Buddle and Ralston? Was it a 2 5 3? Ralston must've been playing as a back. It would be nice if the announcers would, you know, cover the game and instead of laughing over inside jokes or commenting on the obvious ("So-and-so would like to have that one back"). THEY can see the entire field. THEY should tell us how the formation is morphing as the game plays out and especially as subs come in.

Speaking of announcers, I have got my whole family to detest the "as wells" that Harkes includes in every other sentence regardless of whether the phrase is relevant. In the off-season, maybe Harksie can go to a speaking coach. I complain because I care.

I thought it was laughable towards the beginning of the game when JP Dellacamera thought the Toronto fans would even consider chanting "We want Landon." No, Harkes was right: they were chanting "We want Brennan." And while it was cool that JPD mentioned DeRo played a 4 hour game last night, it'd be even cooler if he pointed out that DeRo actually finished playing that match THIS MORNING.

Finally, I don't know if it started to drizzle during the game, but the turf looked matted and slick by the end of the match. I didn't see a lot of sliding and falling, but the field sure looked worn. Was that an optical illusion or does that brand of turf have issues with heavy use?

All in all, great energy in the game. Good performance by the Dynamo reps. The MLS "super stars" (Becks, Blanco, and Angel, who looked onside when scored what would've been the 4th goal for the MLSers and would've been an assist for DeRo) all played up to the moment for the spectators. West Ham acquitted themselves well too.

I'd have to say that, other than my gripe about the announcers, the only negative of the whole night is that sad trophy presentation. Why is the MLS giving a trophy to itself in what is basically a friendly exhibition match? Who keeps it? Does the trophy go into the MLS headquarters' trophy case? This is a festival of soccer, not a meaningful competition. Invite both teams onto a stage. Let them swap jerseys. Pick an MVP, maybe even one from both teams. Thank everyone for coming. Then let the music blare and the confetti canons fire away. Having a "hooray for us" ceremony is just sad.

Speaking of shirt-swapping: did you see DeRo wearing (Anton) Ferdinand's shirt? With those cornrows, DeRo looked a bit like Anton's brother, Rio Ferdinand. Cool.

In Other news:
Check out Garber's "State of the MLS" speech. We'll have two more teams come 2011 it seems. Where will we get the quality players? Cannibalization? In the halftime interview, Garber said that the McBride situation has been resolved. It looks like he's going to Chicago. ("I hope he ends up in Chicago, yuk, yuk, yuk," Garber guffawed in the interview.)

In Toronto, Dynamo-Houston make the moves necessary to pick up the speedy forward they've been wanting: Kei Kamara. He has scored only 2 goals this year (so far!) and one of them was against us back in May. Here is B-Fall's take.

Do you ever feel that the Dynamo's 2nd striker position (Ching's partner) is kind of like the percussionist situation with Spinal Tap? The band could never keep a drummer due to all sorts of bizarre events, including spontaneous combustion. We've had Alejandro Moreno, Ronald Cerritos (kind of), Paul Dalglish, Nate Jaqua, Joseph Ngwenya, Franco Caraccio, Nate Jaqua again, and now Kei Kamara. That's not even considering the Reserves and midfielders that have played up there as band-aid approaches. Here's hoping that Kamara is the piece needed by the Dynamo to finish the season strong.

A moment about Ching, DeRo's foot, and Rojo for Blanco

There's an article in the Seattle paper about former Sounder, Brian Ching. Regarding the move to Houston: "It was a hectic first couple of months, and we really didn't feel settled until August or September. Having said that, the fans have really made us feel at home, especially on the field. But they inherited a winning team and that definitely helps."

Who in the MLS is likeliest to break the sound barrier with his shot? According to DC goalkeeper Zach Wells, it's our own DeRo. Now if only the Canadian Rocketeer could get those on target this season...

Check this out. It seems the ever-creative Blanco does more than just highlight other players' fouls with melodramatic falls, he himself is a rapacious fouler of the most disgusting kind. Eye-gouging?

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.