Lots of good stuff going on with the Orange, so much so that I've not blogged. I've been trotting around enjoying other blogs though, leaving my opinions sprinkled about as I go. It's a good time to be a Dynamo fan ... and a US fan for that matter. The US has had its ups and downs, but the Dynamo are undefeated since my last post...maybe I shouldn't post...
To recap what's happened since my last post:
May 23 - We said "See Ya!" to Nick Garcia and his fellow Quakes. Nick was impotent and proven to be the "mental midget" as the MIO crushed the Quakes 3-1. Ching scored in the 4th, Kamara in the 12th, Waibel (!) in the 50th, and San Jose's Johnson (assist by Cam Weaver) in the 53rd.
May 27 - The Dynamo pick up Dominic Oduro from the Red Bulls. Oduro spent 2006-2008 with FC Dallas.
May 30 - DeRo comes to town for the only time this season. Davis-Kamara-Holden each score a goal from minute 20 to minute 24, and Hainault and Onstad are the only Canucks with three points after the 3-0 victory.
June 1ish - Clark leaves for the USMNT, where he plays in a WCQ 2-1 win over Honduras, then the Confederation Cup Tournament in South Africa. Ching departs as well, but comes back injured before the WCQ match.
June 5 - The MIO travel to Chicago. Holden scored in the 3rd minute, but the Dynamo are mostly outplayed and concede numerous chances, but the lone goal stands and they leave with 3 points. (Chris Wondolowski came on in the 75th minute in what turned out to be his final game as a MIO.)
June 7 - Cam Weaver sits on the bench in Dallas as San Jose leaves with a 2-2 draw. Six days later Cam would return in Orange and score a brace.
June 8 - Cam Weaver comes to Houston from San Jose, while Orange Reserve mainstay Chris Wondolowski heads home to San Jose. We wish Wondo well with the Quakes.
June 9 - San Jose say "C'ya" to Nick Garcia and ship him to The Great White North.
June 10 - Chivas USA comes to town and is completely out-classed, but we eke out only a 1-0 victory...but at least it's a victory. Holden gets the goal, with Cam Weaver getting the assist in his first game as a MIO. It was a nice flick-on from an Onstad goal kick in the final minute of the first half, and it fell in front of a streaking Holden who side-stepped the goalie and slotted the lone goal in. Cam Weaver also got a legit goal, but it was illegitimately called off for being offside (which he wasn't). Luckily we didn't need the goal, but it hurt Cam's stats.
June 13 - Pooped from the arduous Chivas match three days before, the Dynamo travel to Frisco to face an inspired Dallas. The ex-Burn played perhaps their best match, but the Dynamo, led by our new Cam Weaver's 2 goals and a blistering shot from distance by Mulrooney, go up 3-0 before conceding a late goal to leave with a 3-1 win, 3 points, and El Capitan. My wife and I were able to enjoy this at the Dynamo viewing party at the Hooters on Kirby.
June 20 - It was a weird match all in all when RSL came to town. There was an early injury to Waibel that caused him to be subbed out 7 minutes into the game, a water break for the teams around the 25th minute, an OG by Bobby Boswell 50 seconds after the restart, an OG by RSL that was called off because Hainault was offside on the freekick (but was he part of the play?), to a free kick pass-back to the RSL keeper that Rimando picked up but the ref allowed the kick to be retaken, to a halftime substitute that brought in Ching (has Dom ever made 2 subs by the 46th minute? Or even the 60th minute?) to a red card to RSL's Olave for a stupid delay of game when he had a yellow already, to a missed PK by Brad Davis, to a late brilliant play by Ching to fly through the air to score and give us 1 point. There were highlights: such as in the 13th minute when the Dynamo had six 1-touch passes among 4 people to set Kamara up with a fast break from the left side. Also in the 87th, second half sub Ching (who had been out with an injury since the Toronto match) made a long pass from the center to Mullan on the right, then sprinted up the middle for Mullan's return cross, skying in the air and driving the ball into the net to give his side the tie they so desperately earned but looked to have been denied. There were also lowlights (beside the reffing): the 16 uncontested passes by RSL after the water break, then a cross and a backheel pass that led to a poor shot on goal that Boswell knocked in with his knee.
So now the Dynamo are alone in the Supporters' Shield position, and Dom is set to coach the MLS All Star Team versus Everton.
Tomorrow, we venture to LaLa Land to face the Galaxy without Hainault (Canadian National Team), Waibel (injury), Barrett (injury), and Clark (USMNT). Hopefully our cobbled-together defense can hold off LA's weak offense...
Go Dynamo!
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
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.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Killing their way to another MLS Cup
Yet again, the New England Revolution will grace the MLS Cup with their special brand of anti-soccer. Beating the Chicago Fire with an acrobatic chileno from Taylor Twellman, all the more impressive because he had two defenders pressing him hard, the Revs are in their third straight MLS Cup match.
Raise your hand if you thought "That's it: the only goal we'll see in this match" after Twellman scored. It's difficult to type with one hand in the air, but I'm a trooper.
The Revs were aided by an ineffective Wanchope who appeared able to take any half-chance and turn it into a no chance. I think Osorio was too late in inserting Carr --Wanchope looked like he would never score. I'm not a big fan of Blanco, but he has to be irritated with his quality passes being wasted by Barrett and Wanchope. Rolfe had some good shots from distance, but nothing that panned out. I think his battered body will do well with an off-season of rest.
Credit should go to the Revs ability to defend -- some would say "kill a game" -- and protect their lead. Shalrie Joseph, Michael Parkhurst, and Matt Reis are some of the best at this.
We're halfway to a rematch of last year's MLS Cup -- a match-up that most of the US soccer community is dreading. The only thing worse than a Dynamo-Rev match-up would be a Wizards-Rev match-up. Let's hope that the latter doesn't come to pass.
And given the success of Boston in football (with the Pats winning the Superbowl and undefeated so far this season) and baseball (with the Red Sox -- the new New York Yankees some would say -- sweeping the World Series), the Revs seem destined to win the MLS Cup. That would give them the domestic double, them having already won the US Open Cup.
However, if there is a pantheon of gods that governs soccer, the Revs will not be rewarded with a win, and either KC or the Dynamo will take the silver ball. I think Lark Howorth said it as well as anybody: "...the skillful cynicism Nicol brings to the playoffs, especially with the talent he has, frankly has met its just end in all his three MLS Cup finals. I'm so glad we've got a Dynamo team to support that's more interested in winning playoff games via scoring goals, rather than locking down opponents in tactical stalemates."
Word.
I haven't always been a Revs hater, by the way. In fact, I had been impressed with the quality of their individual talent over the years. But seeing them play in person at Robertson over the past two years made me realize that this is a team that hurts the sport. In both instances (2006 and this year), the Dynamo played open, possession-style soccer against a prosaic, cynical opponent that had prostituted its game. Last year's match ended 1-1 and this year's 0-1. Credit the Revs for earning 4 out of 6 points in 2006 and 2007; but they also earned my spite for squashing the creativity from either team and for confirming the haters' stereotype of soccer being boring and banal.
Since I've turned this piece into a bit of a Revs-bashing, I guess I'll continue.
How about Michael Parkhurst as the MLS Defender of the Year? He is a talented defender to be sure, and did you know that he only garnered 5 yellow cards and no red cards all year? Isn't that amazing? It must be: it's mentioned in nearly every article about the young defender.
Is it right that he beat out a player (E-Rob) on a team that conceded 20 fewer goals than his team and another player (Claudi Suarez) on a team that conceded 15 fewer? And Suarez playes for Chivas USA, which conceded fewer goals while also playing an open, attacking style of play. Parkhurst was at the core of a defense that allowed 9 more than even lowly Colorado -- and that's with a keeper as good as Reis in the nets behind him (and a defensive style of play ingrained by Coach Nichol). Maybe Parkhurst should have fouled more.
Despite the stats, Parkhurst is indeed a good defender, and I can't say that the award is an abomination. It's not like giving Eddie Johnson the Comeback Player of the Year award or anything. (What exactly did Eddie comeback from? Underachievement? And does half a good season constitute a comeback?) But I think it says a lot about the MLS when "feel good stories" win out over performance; and the Dynamo's record-setting defense -- which smashed the previous 29 goal record by conceding only 23 goals -- doesn't win a single award. Onstad in particular was slighted.
As for Parkhurst's only goal (and only shot) of his career -- his 60-yard shot versus Toronto this year -- being up for Goal of the Year: it's interesting how the MLS got this into the running despite the fact that it wasn't selected as the best goal even in the week it occurred. (Granted, that's probably due to the votes of overzealous Toronto fans voting for Dichio the same week.) The goal is certainly impressive due to its rarity (haven't seen one since Dwayne DeRosario's shot versus Chicago and Zach Thornton last year), and Lord knows the fans love goals from really, really, really far away (with bicycle kicks right up there). I can't argue that both types of goals aren't impressive, but Parkhurst's feat has the air of luck and coincidence about it. I think a better GOTY would be one that demonstrates intentional skill.
Joseph Ngwenya's doesn't have the "gee-whiz" factor that surrounds a fortuitous strike; however, it does impress due to its focused application of skill. In fact, it is the type of feat that proves that we have skillful players here in the MLS. I think that is what the MLS should emphasize and laud: skill. It seems that we should want the world to know that we are a league of talented players, rather than knowing us as a league that has some lucky blokes every now and then -- because everyone has blind luck from time to time.
When you get a chance, vote for GOTY.
Raise your hand if you thought "That's it: the only goal we'll see in this match" after Twellman scored. It's difficult to type with one hand in the air, but I'm a trooper.
The Revs were aided by an ineffective Wanchope who appeared able to take any half-chance and turn it into a no chance. I think Osorio was too late in inserting Carr --Wanchope looked like he would never score. I'm not a big fan of Blanco, but he has to be irritated with his quality passes being wasted by Barrett and Wanchope. Rolfe had some good shots from distance, but nothing that panned out. I think his battered body will do well with an off-season of rest.
Credit should go to the Revs ability to defend -- some would say "kill a game" -- and protect their lead. Shalrie Joseph, Michael Parkhurst, and Matt Reis are some of the best at this.
We're halfway to a rematch of last year's MLS Cup -- a match-up that most of the US soccer community is dreading. The only thing worse than a Dynamo-Rev match-up would be a Wizards-Rev match-up. Let's hope that the latter doesn't come to pass.
And given the success of Boston in football (with the Pats winning the Superbowl and undefeated so far this season) and baseball (with the Red Sox -- the new New York Yankees some would say -- sweeping the World Series), the Revs seem destined to win the MLS Cup. That would give them the domestic double, them having already won the US Open Cup.
However, if there is a pantheon of gods that governs soccer, the Revs will not be rewarded with a win, and either KC or the Dynamo will take the silver ball. I think Lark Howorth said it as well as anybody: "...the skillful cynicism Nicol brings to the playoffs, especially with the talent he has, frankly has met its just end in all his three MLS Cup finals. I'm so glad we've got a Dynamo team to support that's more interested in winning playoff games via scoring goals, rather than locking down opponents in tactical stalemates."
Word.
I haven't always been a Revs hater, by the way. In fact, I had been impressed with the quality of their individual talent over the years. But seeing them play in person at Robertson over the past two years made me realize that this is a team that hurts the sport. In both instances (2006 and this year), the Dynamo played open, possession-style soccer against a prosaic, cynical opponent that had prostituted its game. Last year's match ended 1-1 and this year's 0-1. Credit the Revs for earning 4 out of 6 points in 2006 and 2007; but they also earned my spite for squashing the creativity from either team and for confirming the haters' stereotype of soccer being boring and banal.
Since I've turned this piece into a bit of a Revs-bashing, I guess I'll continue.
How about Michael Parkhurst as the MLS Defender of the Year? He is a talented defender to be sure, and did you know that he only garnered 5 yellow cards and no red cards all year? Isn't that amazing? It must be: it's mentioned in nearly every article about the young defender.
Is it right that he beat out a player (E-Rob) on a team that conceded 20 fewer goals than his team and another player (Claudi Suarez) on a team that conceded 15 fewer? And Suarez playes for Chivas USA, which conceded fewer goals while also playing an open, attacking style of play. Parkhurst was at the core of a defense that allowed 9 more than even lowly Colorado -- and that's with a keeper as good as Reis in the nets behind him (and a defensive style of play ingrained by Coach Nichol). Maybe Parkhurst should have fouled more.
Despite the stats, Parkhurst is indeed a good defender, and I can't say that the award is an abomination. It's not like giving Eddie Johnson the Comeback Player of the Year award or anything. (What exactly did Eddie comeback from? Underachievement? And does half a good season constitute a comeback?) But I think it says a lot about the MLS when "feel good stories" win out over performance; and the Dynamo's record-setting defense -- which smashed the previous 29 goal record by conceding only 23 goals -- doesn't win a single award. Onstad in particular was slighted.
As for Parkhurst's only goal (and only shot) of his career -- his 60-yard shot versus Toronto this year -- being up for Goal of the Year: it's interesting how the MLS got this into the running despite the fact that it wasn't selected as the best goal even in the week it occurred. (Granted, that's probably due to the votes of overzealous Toronto fans voting for Dichio the same week.) The goal is certainly impressive due to its rarity (haven't seen one since Dwayne DeRosario's shot versus Chicago and Zach Thornton last year), and Lord knows the fans love goals from really, really, really far away (with bicycle kicks right up there). I can't argue that both types of goals aren't impressive, but Parkhurst's feat has the air of luck and coincidence about it. I think a better GOTY would be one that demonstrates intentional skill.
Joseph Ngwenya's doesn't have the "gee-whiz" factor that surrounds a fortuitous strike; however, it does impress due to its focused application of skill. In fact, it is the type of feat that proves that we have skillful players here in the MLS. I think that is what the MLS should emphasize and laud: skill. It seems that we should want the world to know that we are a league of talented players, rather than knowing us as a league that has some lucky blokes every now and then -- because everyone has blind luck from time to time.
When you get a chance, vote for GOTY.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
We are on Fire!
In our short history, we've lost to Chicago twice (at home) and tied them at Toyota Park in a game that featured D-Ro's goal from the midfield line. We've never beaten them, until tonight.
For our third Thursday night game in a row, we beat our opponent 4-0. Mullan, Mulrooney, Holden (who played like a veteran), Ngwenya (who played like a maestro at times), and Jaqua (who really wanted to impress his former fans) were in the zone tonight. I didn't see Clark do too much today (I didn't even see his first half blistering shot until the replay because ESPN thought we might want to see a Beckham commercial in the middle of the game), but (1) he was playing out of his usual position, and (2) he didn't need to do too much today. We tended to by-pass the midfield or use the flanks to great effect tonight.
Despite the clean sheet, I think our back line was a little loosey-goosey at times. (That's a technical term, by the way.) Perhaps it was over confidence. We are now firmly in second place to the 2000 KC Wizards for consecutive minutes without conceding a score. I worried that the thorn-in-our-side-that-is-Thiago would make one of his signature moves and sneak a ball in, but nope. Onstad was flawless and our overall team defensive abilities kept us out of trouble for the most part.
Ngwenya's amazing goal has moved me to Haiku:
A touch: "Bye, Curtain;"
Another: rounding Pickens
A knife to the net.
The first touch around Curtain was immaculate. The move around Pickens, well timed. The shot from the impossible angle was amazing precision. Definite GOTW candidate. That was a Ngwenya that I've never seen; I wonder if the Crew had ever seen it?
Kinnear has done an amazing job crafting a team in this, his sophomore year in Houston. The team is the best integrated group of individuals in the MLS. They have talent, but their obvious rapport with each other is what separates them. I loved the relaxed smiles Onstad had during the game, including his relieved grin after Cochrane's own-goal-that-nearly-was whizzed past the post in the first half.
Sliding, dirt flying,
His leg -- akimbo -- strikes out,
"Flee to safety, ball."
Another great game tonight -- and in front of a great crowd too. Impressive showing by the Fahr faithful: more than 20,000 on a Thursday night. Here's hoping for equally impressive attendance this Sunday at the Rob, where we hopefully can avenge our loss to Toronto and shut them out in the process.
Finally, about that Beckham commercial that took up the screen while Rico was teeing up his shot: the "S" in ESPN should stand for "Sports" not "Soap Operas." We're glued to the TV to watch a game, so show a game. Talk about Becks if you must, but don't hide the reason we tuned to your station. By the same token, my main focus is the game, not the news. If you feel your sports fans need to have an in-game update on whether A-Rod will negotiate his new contract now, later, or never, because that's news that just can't wait, then at least make the news video a smaller screen than the game -- the game that made me tune to your station in the first place. Thanks.
A small postage stamp
With Orange mites on green,
Oh, that's the 'Mo Game!
For our third Thursday night game in a row, we beat our opponent 4-0. Mullan, Mulrooney, Holden (who played like a veteran), Ngwenya (who played like a maestro at times), and Jaqua (who really wanted to impress his former fans) were in the zone tonight. I didn't see Clark do too much today (I didn't even see his first half blistering shot until the replay because ESPN thought we might want to see a Beckham commercial in the middle of the game), but (1) he was playing out of his usual position, and (2) he didn't need to do too much today. We tended to by-pass the midfield or use the flanks to great effect tonight.
Despite the clean sheet, I think our back line was a little loosey-goosey at times. (That's a technical term, by the way.) Perhaps it was over confidence. We are now firmly in second place to the 2000 KC Wizards for consecutive minutes without conceding a score. I worried that the thorn-in-our-side-that-is-Thiago would make one of his signature moves and sneak a ball in, but nope. Onstad was flawless and our overall team defensive abilities kept us out of trouble for the most part.
Ngwenya's amazing goal has moved me to Haiku:
A touch: "Bye, Curtain;"
Another: rounding Pickens
A knife to the net.
The first touch around Curtain was immaculate. The move around Pickens, well timed. The shot from the impossible angle was amazing precision. Definite GOTW candidate. That was a Ngwenya that I've never seen; I wonder if the Crew had ever seen it?
Kinnear has done an amazing job crafting a team in this, his sophomore year in Houston. The team is the best integrated group of individuals in the MLS. They have talent, but their obvious rapport with each other is what separates them. I loved the relaxed smiles Onstad had during the game, including his relieved grin after Cochrane's own-goal-that-nearly-was whizzed past the post in the first half.
Sliding, dirt flying,
His leg -- akimbo -- strikes out,
"Flee to safety, ball."
Another great game tonight -- and in front of a great crowd too. Impressive showing by the Fahr faithful: more than 20,000 on a Thursday night. Here's hoping for equally impressive attendance this Sunday at the Rob, where we hopefully can avenge our loss to Toronto and shut them out in the process.
Finally, about that Beckham commercial that took up the screen while Rico was teeing up his shot: the "S" in ESPN should stand for "Sports" not "Soap Operas." We're glued to the TV to watch a game, so show a game. Talk about Becks if you must, but don't hide the reason we tuned to your station. By the same token, my main focus is the game, not the news. If you feel your sports fans need to have an in-game update on whether A-Rod will negotiate his new contract now, later, or never, because that's news that just can't wait, then at least make the news video a smaller screen than the game -- the game that made me tune to your station in the first place. Thanks.
A small postage stamp
With Orange mites on green,
Oh, that's the 'Mo Game!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The Lords of Soccer are Cruel
To punish me for my latent cynicism, the Lords of Soccer conspired with the Fates to keep me from the game tonight. Thankfully, The Tube provides a local broadcast of the game. Charlie Pallilo does a decent job (he knows sports, even if he's just learning soccer) and Glenn Davis is always insightful. The camera work is as good as Fox Soccer Channel's local crew, if behind ESPN's professionalism. I didn’t have any complaints except for the camera losing the ball a couple of times, and the replays were a bit frustrating (replaying the wrong play in question, for instance).
Some things about the game:
Davis Chevrolet needs to check their commercials for typos, unless they really are at 610 and Kriby.
The commercial pronouncing that the Dynamo had 51 goals last season but have only one goal this season is supposed to indicate how focused the Dynamo are on winning it all again. Instead, it is a bitter reminder that the Dynamo have only one goal this season. One goal after 4 games. That puts us behind everyone except for Toronto FC. Yes, even RSL and the Crew have more goals.
DeRo had a much better game. In fact, this is the first game this season where I thought the team played well for a majority of the game. For that reason, the loss wouldn't worry me if it hadn’t been preceded by the first three games that we've ambled through. The first half was all Dynamo, and DeRo was working the ball and taking chances. But then: what happened at the beginning of the second half? The first 15 minutes, we were completely flat and let the Fahr dictate the game. And once the goal was scored, we faced the bunker; and we know how hard it is for the Dynamo -- or any team, really -- to find the net on a bunkered team.
As for the goal, I was surprised to see Wade Barrett mistime his challenge. That's unlike him, and was an unfortunate mistake. Also, I wonder if the other back (Robinson, was it?) shielded Onstad from the ball, because the shot looked a bit soft yet easily beat a delayed Onstad.
Dynamo let go of the throttle at the beginning of the second and had to pay the price. And despite carrying the first half and the last part of the second half, Dynamo lagged behind the Fahr on shots, shots on goal, and of course the most important stat: goals.
Next week we play Colorado. Dynamo prefers the narrow confines of The Rob, but I wonder if their style of play wouldn't be better on a wider field. If so, then maybe they'll fare better in Colorado. One could hope. Lords of Soccer, can you help?
Some things about the game:
Davis Chevrolet needs to check their commercials for typos, unless they really are at 610 and Kriby.
The commercial pronouncing that the Dynamo had 51 goals last season but have only one goal this season is supposed to indicate how focused the Dynamo are on winning it all again. Instead, it is a bitter reminder that the Dynamo have only one goal this season. One goal after 4 games. That puts us behind everyone except for Toronto FC. Yes, even RSL and the Crew have more goals.
DeRo had a much better game. In fact, this is the first game this season where I thought the team played well for a majority of the game. For that reason, the loss wouldn't worry me if it hadn’t been preceded by the first three games that we've ambled through. The first half was all Dynamo, and DeRo was working the ball and taking chances. But then: what happened at the beginning of the second half? The first 15 minutes, we were completely flat and let the Fahr dictate the game. And once the goal was scored, we faced the bunker; and we know how hard it is for the Dynamo -- or any team, really -- to find the net on a bunkered team.
As for the goal, I was surprised to see Wade Barrett mistime his challenge. That's unlike him, and was an unfortunate mistake. Also, I wonder if the other back (Robinson, was it?) shielded Onstad from the ball, because the shot looked a bit soft yet easily beat a delayed Onstad.
Dynamo let go of the throttle at the beginning of the second and had to pay the price. And despite carrying the first half and the last part of the second half, Dynamo lagged behind the Fahr on shots, shots on goal, and of course the most important stat: goals.
Next week we play Colorado. Dynamo prefers the narrow confines of The Rob, but I wonder if their style of play wouldn't be better on a wider field. If so, then maybe they'll fare better in Colorado. One could hope. Lords of Soccer, can you help?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Playing with Fahr
For the first time in this early season, Dynamo have a full week off between matches. Plus, they've had home cooking for the past week. Thus they should be rested, reinvigorated, and, most of all, hungry for a win when they meet the Chicago Fahr (the Texas way to pronounce the name) tomorrow.
It's too early to talk about "must wins" and worry about a poor season, but the fact is that Dynamo Houston have not impressed so far this season. They need to show their mettle -- and soon -- to show that they are a team that can drive their collective selves to a higher level, and show that they don't require an outside agent (like adversity) in order to thrive.
On a less psychological level, Dynamo need to show some sort of creativity and even diversity on the attack. Our strength is our flank play, sure; but is that all we really can throw at people? Ching is perfectly suited for that style of play (as are Davis and Mullan on the distribution side), but can teams just shut him down to hold us toothless? We don't have any other solid threats to redirect crosses, except for our defenders on set plays.
What we need on the attack is DeRo and Clark to show their wizardry in the middle, while Ching's partner up front needs to threaten with penetrating runs. Last year, Dalglish was the only forward to offer that threat; this year his slump in form is no different than the rest of the team's. With a solid threat up the middle, plus Ching's talents on finishing the work of our wingers, we are a dual threat and a solid contender in the MLS West. With one-dimensional play? Well, we'll score 1 goal every 3 games until Toronto and RSL come to town.
(Is DeRo the Dynamo Lance Berkman this year? And last year, for that matter? So goes Lance/DeRo, so goes the Astros/Dynamo? Discuss.)
On the other end of the ball, the defense is as physical as ever, but seems slower than last year. Whether it's Pachuca, or Donovan of LA, or Galindo of US Goats, or Dane Richards and Jozy-A of RBNY, if you've got speed, you're knocking on Onstad's door. (Or Wells' if you're Pachuca.) If we can't handle speedy attackers, then we need to rely on better positioning instead. It's a fixable problem.
I am optimistically thinking the offense responds to the rest, and the defense (particularly Onstad) maintains the integrity of their homefield. I say 2-0 Dynamo.
A Brief Sojourn into Cynicism
I must confess, when I heard that Dynamo Houston had taken on the Virginia Tech cause for this match versus the Fahr, I didn't cheer for the the team's humanity. I groaned.
No, I am not heartless ... or at least not due to a lack of sympathy for the victims and (most especially) their families. Whenever such pain is inflicted on a scale that makes the media flush with excitement, then those of us who are powerless spectators want to do SOMEthing because we are compassionate yet, as I said, powerless.
Enter the merchants who offer their charity as long as you buy their product. "Buy a six pack of beer and we'll give a percentage to MADD." In other words, give me money and I'll be sure that some of that money goes to something you value. Of course, if we wanted to help, more help would go to the needy if we gave directly to the charity and avoided the middle man. But we instead praise the middle man for his benevolent soul and ignore the slick marketing line we've been fed.
Sometimes it seems our need to come to terms with our own feelings of pain and/or impotence forces us into action even when our intrusion is not needed or wanted. Yet, we selfishly force ourselves onto the true victims, as if our need to cure our minor pain overwhelms our desire to help those who are truly in pain. Sometimes we even take on the mantle of victims ourselves.
So, that's my beef. But having said that, I've heard several VT alumni say they appreciate the gesture, which means the gesture certainly has some worth. (Of course the alumni are emotionally hit even harder by the magnitude of these events, yet are just as powerless as the rest of us, so the urge to do SOMEthing probably is more acute with them.)
Note that my disdain for such marketing spins has nothing to do with Team Dynamo: the coaches and players. They're merely playing a game and doing what they can to help and bring attention to a cause. Nor do I condemn the purchasers who feel good in what they do, as long as they don't feel superior because of what they did. My cynicism (and I rightfully admit that it is jaded cynicism) is reserved for the marketing merchants who prey on the emotions of others. Does that describe Corporate Dynamo? Possibly not. But I still don't feel like I'm helping the world because I'm watching a soccer game, just like I don't feel like I've supported public education because I've bought a lottery ticket.
Fantasy Soccer
I've never been into fantasy sports, but I did venture into fantasy soccer last year and enjoyed it immensely. I ended up something like 950th overall, but I did take my league. This year I'm floating around 15th in my 75-team Dynamo league. That puts me nearly 3000th overall. Less than stellar, to be sure.
Last year the game was played differently. Players' cost rose and fell according to demand. A good manager could find an overlooked talent and bring him on cheaply, then sell him for more at a later date and use the profits to bring in even better talent. That made cheap players as valuable as expensive players. This year, the prices are the same each week and the team cap doesn't waver. It seems luck plays a bigger role with this method. (Yeah, luck is why I'm 3000th. No, really!)
I got an extra dose of fantasy pain this week. I knew that KC had two games this week, so I picked up Eddie Johnson and put him as my captain. Just before the transfer deadline, I inexplicably switched to Carlos Ruiz as my captain. That was a bad move, as Eddie J has 2 goals this week to Ruiz's 0. I guess I should be happy that I at least have Eddie J on my team at all, but switching captains cost me several hundred points. I guess I'm pulling for a brace from Ruiz tomorrow vs the Revs. I wouldn't mind if the Revs won though, just to keep FCD's points down. Lessee, Shaka is still in goal, so a 3-2 Revs win isn't unthinkable.
Last week I had:
Dynamo ties RBNY 1-1 (nope, 10-man Red Bull won)
KC over Fire (Nope)
Chivas over RSL (Yep, a no brainer)
FCD ties Colorado (Nope, FCD was outplayed, but won)
That puts me at 3-2-5 (W-D-L) or 3-7. Don't take me to Vegas, friend. I'm just glad that I'm too late this week to enter any more predictions for the weekend.
Catch you on the other end of the game. Go Maroon.
It's too early to talk about "must wins" and worry about a poor season, but the fact is that Dynamo Houston have not impressed so far this season. They need to show their mettle -- and soon -- to show that they are a team that can drive their collective selves to a higher level, and show that they don't require an outside agent (like adversity) in order to thrive.
On a less psychological level, Dynamo need to show some sort of creativity and even diversity on the attack. Our strength is our flank play, sure; but is that all we really can throw at people? Ching is perfectly suited for that style of play (as are Davis and Mullan on the distribution side), but can teams just shut him down to hold us toothless? We don't have any other solid threats to redirect crosses, except for our defenders on set plays.
What we need on the attack is DeRo and Clark to show their wizardry in the middle, while Ching's partner up front needs to threaten with penetrating runs. Last year, Dalglish was the only forward to offer that threat; this year his slump in form is no different than the rest of the team's. With a solid threat up the middle, plus Ching's talents on finishing the work of our wingers, we are a dual threat and a solid contender in the MLS West. With one-dimensional play? Well, we'll score 1 goal every 3 games until Toronto and RSL come to town.
(Is DeRo the Dynamo Lance Berkman this year? And last year, for that matter? So goes Lance/DeRo, so goes the Astros/Dynamo? Discuss.)
On the other end of the ball, the defense is as physical as ever, but seems slower than last year. Whether it's Pachuca, or Donovan of LA, or Galindo of US Goats, or Dane Richards and Jozy-A of RBNY, if you've got speed, you're knocking on Onstad's door. (Or Wells' if you're Pachuca.) If we can't handle speedy attackers, then we need to rely on better positioning instead. It's a fixable problem.
I am optimistically thinking the offense responds to the rest, and the defense (particularly Onstad) maintains the integrity of their homefield. I say 2-0 Dynamo.
A Brief Sojourn into Cynicism
I must confess, when I heard that Dynamo Houston had taken on the Virginia Tech cause for this match versus the Fahr, I didn't cheer for the the team's humanity. I groaned.
No, I am not heartless ... or at least not due to a lack of sympathy for the victims and (most especially) their families. Whenever such pain is inflicted on a scale that makes the media flush with excitement, then those of us who are powerless spectators want to do SOMEthing because we are compassionate yet, as I said, powerless.
Enter the merchants who offer their charity as long as you buy their product. "Buy a six pack of beer and we'll give a percentage to MADD." In other words, give me money and I'll be sure that some of that money goes to something you value. Of course, if we wanted to help, more help would go to the needy if we gave directly to the charity and avoided the middle man. But we instead praise the middle man for his benevolent soul and ignore the slick marketing line we've been fed.
Sometimes it seems our need to come to terms with our own feelings of pain and/or impotence forces us into action even when our intrusion is not needed or wanted. Yet, we selfishly force ourselves onto the true victims, as if our need to cure our minor pain overwhelms our desire to help those who are truly in pain. Sometimes we even take on the mantle of victims ourselves.
So, that's my beef. But having said that, I've heard several VT alumni say they appreciate the gesture, which means the gesture certainly has some worth. (Of course the alumni are emotionally hit even harder by the magnitude of these events, yet are just as powerless as the rest of us, so the urge to do SOMEthing probably is more acute with them.)
Note that my disdain for such marketing spins has nothing to do with Team Dynamo: the coaches and players. They're merely playing a game and doing what they can to help and bring attention to a cause. Nor do I condemn the purchasers who feel good in what they do, as long as they don't feel superior because of what they did. My cynicism (and I rightfully admit that it is jaded cynicism) is reserved for the marketing merchants who prey on the emotions of others. Does that describe Corporate Dynamo? Possibly not. But I still don't feel like I'm helping the world because I'm watching a soccer game, just like I don't feel like I've supported public education because I've bought a lottery ticket.
Fantasy Soccer
I've never been into fantasy sports, but I did venture into fantasy soccer last year and enjoyed it immensely. I ended up something like 950th overall, but I did take my league. This year I'm floating around 15th in my 75-team Dynamo league. That puts me nearly 3000th overall. Less than stellar, to be sure.
Last year the game was played differently. Players' cost rose and fell according to demand. A good manager could find an overlooked talent and bring him on cheaply, then sell him for more at a later date and use the profits to bring in even better talent. That made cheap players as valuable as expensive players. This year, the prices are the same each week and the team cap doesn't waver. It seems luck plays a bigger role with this method. (Yeah, luck is why I'm 3000th. No, really!)
I got an extra dose of fantasy pain this week. I knew that KC had two games this week, so I picked up Eddie Johnson and put him as my captain. Just before the transfer deadline, I inexplicably switched to Carlos Ruiz as my captain. That was a bad move, as Eddie J has 2 goals this week to Ruiz's 0. I guess I should be happy that I at least have Eddie J on my team at all, but switching captains cost me several hundred points. I guess I'm pulling for a brace from Ruiz tomorrow vs the Revs. I wouldn't mind if the Revs won though, just to keep FCD's points down. Lessee, Shaka is still in goal, so a 3-2 Revs win isn't unthinkable.
Last week I had:
Dynamo ties RBNY 1-1 (nope, 10-man Red Bull won)
KC over Fire (Nope)
Chivas over RSL (Yep, a no brainer)
FCD ties Colorado (Nope, FCD was outplayed, but won)
That puts me at 3-2-5 (W-D-L) or 3-7. Don't take me to Vegas, friend. I'm just glad that I'm too late this week to enter any more predictions for the weekend.
Catch you on the other end of the game. Go Maroon.
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