2 Countries down, 2 to go

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!

Dynamo down Toronto

Excellent match tonight. Our first goals versus Toronto lead to our first win versus Toronto. DeRo, Ching, and Ching gave us the 3-1 edge over DeRo's hometown team, and solid play from back to front gave the MIO a well-earned 3 points. Great job by Pat-I to set up that second goal. Great job by Pat-O to make at least one superhuman save (a double save, actually) to ensure the victory.

The Dynamo looked strong with 8 shots on goal to FC's 3 (and 19 total shots to FC's 5).

Proud, surging FC,
stopped by DeRo, Ching, and Pat.
"Flee to Canada!"

The Dynamo dance
because our humidity
wilts the Maple Leaf.

My urge to Haiku sated, here are the post-game media links:
The official MLS recap. In the first half "Houston had scoring chances in the 14th, 24th and 29th minutes before De Rosario scored late."

Another MLS article highlighting The Dom's personnel changes. Kinnear said, "That might have been our most complete game of the season from start to finish."

The Chronicle's recap. The Dynamo notes mention that the game was a face-off between the two Canadian Keepers. Luckily ours was the better of the two.

The post-game quotes. I don't know much about Toronto FC head coach, John Carver (other than that hullaballo about the MLS deeming him "too active" on the sidelines), but he's done well with the Reds this season, and I can appreciate his post-game candor: "They [the Dynamo] looked sharper, they looked fitter, they got closer to the ball, they passed the ball better than us, their finishing was very good and they could have had a few more, so no excuses. We got beaten by the better side, a side that's certainly on the way up." And how about Jeff Cunningham's assessment: "Now I know why they won two championships back-to-back. They're a very good side, and they were a different class tonight. It was a learning experience for us, so we'll go back and prepare next week for Colorado and try to improve. There are a lot of things to take away from this game. It's definitely a learning experience." The most flattering compliments are those that come from the opposition.

Hosting the fighting Torontonians

On Sunday, Dynamo face Toronto FC. (Game preview.) We've never beaten the Canucks. Maybe it would be more accurate to say "we've never beaten Toronto FC" because we fielded as many or more Canucks than they fielded, so maybe we weren't really playing Canucks at all. Maybe we're the Canucks.

Anyway, last year Toronto was a doormat, so we naturally lost to them in Toronto and tied them in a scoreless draw here in Houston when they had to play with 10 men for more than half the match. This year Toronto is playing some good ball, which means they're a better team, which means we're more likely to get a point or 3 off of them.

Don't know if Dichio will be playing. He's listed as questionable. Edu and Guevara won't play as both are with their respective national teams. That's a good thing. Just about everyone is back to healthy again on the Orange side, although E-Rob will be out because of the league-imposed special punishment for "fouling while wearing orange."

On Sunday, Toronto might have problems with our 12th man: the humidity. It could kill their attacking spirit, particularly if Dichio isn't playing. Still, the next goal we score against them will be the first goal we score against them.

Kersten Mullan's story
Did you catch B-Fall's article on why Mr. and Mrs. Mullan are strong supporters of the Ronald McDonald House? It's a good story and a good charity.

DC trip half a success.
Well, the DC game was rained monsooned out on Wednesday, but the team was still able to visit the White House. Ching said, "It's always a very special honor to meet the President. I can't wait to get up there and shake his hand again." Oliver Luck blogs about it too. "This trip was anything but 'been there, done that.'"

Chivas, on the rocks

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

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

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

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

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

My guess: Dynamo 2, Chivas 1.

Media roundup:
MLS game preview.

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

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

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

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

Glenn Davis' blog covers the key matchups.

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

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

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

Blame the Metric System!

There's something about the Canadians and their darn metric system that confounds us. We lost to them up there (but is that the same as a tie using standard measurements?) and now we settle for a tie (is that the same as a win with the conversion?) down here. One point out of a possible 6 versus the expansion team; I blame the metric system.

(Note: the Canadian side had only 2 Canadian starters: the GK and Brennan. The two subs -- Pozniak and Lombardo -- were also Canadian.)

Tonight was a frustrating rehash of the beginning of the season. Despite dominating the field, we couldn't get the ball in the net. Ching had a 1v1 with the GK in the first half. Post. Ngwenya had shot after shot, and offside after offside. Holden: Blocked or post. Clark: High, wide, or to the keeper. D-Ro: wide. Jaqua: header high. All in all, we had 16 shots, and probably twice that many scoring opportunities. Toronto had 4 shots, 2 on goal, and that was about it for their opportunities.

With Edu sent off for his Flying Death maneuver on Mullan towards the end of the first half, and shots raining down on the Toronto goalkeeper, Srdjan "I'd Like to Buy A Vowel" Djekanovic, it seemed only a matter of time before we got one into the net. We even ended the game with 3 forwards: Ching, Jaqua, and Wondolowski. Dom also shifted the Middies around at the end, with Holden on the right, Mulrooney in the middle, and D-Ro on the left. I think that helped a lot (Holden was having trouble with O'Brien), but it didn't tickle the twine.

No goals; no Haiku.

But wait! There's still reason to celebrate. From the Dept. of the Glass is Half Full: We set an MLS record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. We're now at 695 minutes (the 2000 KC Wizards had the record at 681) and counting. I believe Dynamo's unbeaten streak of 10 games is a club record, and our shutout streak is at seven games. Plus, our 33 points put us at the top of the Conference and in the lead for the Supporters' Shield. Also, our 10 wins are just 1 shy of our season total in 2006. (Yeah, our 2006 losses were only 3 more than our total today, but I'm trying to keep it positive here.)

Other cool things: birthday wishes were posted on the Megatron for my oldest son. Happy 14th Birthday, bud!

How cool would it have been if Jaqua had squeezed his first touch into goal? Immediately after coming on, he had the golden chance following a corner kick. Dom has looked like a genius at times when his subs' first touch resulted in a goal or an assist. It's happened with Holden, Wondo, and Jaqua.

And how cool was it when the crowd cheered at the 77th minute -- during a routine goal kick -- when everyone realized the scoreless streak had attained record levels? That's a pretty savvy crowd.

But the crowd was sure light tonight. Just over 11,000 -- not a great showing. Our section (221) was very crowded, so I thought the attendance number would be higher. I guess they cram people into the eastern bleachers when possible to make the camera shots look more dynamic. Weather was probably a factor in the low turnout. Good thing the crowd was loud and ebullient.

Speaking of effusiveness; what was with Abbey-O demanding the streamers be taken off the field? We've had goalies complain about that before, and the refs just shushed them. Heck, Abbey-O has reffed here before and never had an issue with the party favors. This is the first time a game has been stopped for lawn maintenance at the Rob. (Except for when the sprinklers went off during the Dynamo vs Dynamo Open Cup match last summer...) I thought it was ridiculous that he stopped the game; but once he did, I thought the crowd should stop throwing things so we could continue the game. (Still every delay made the 77th minute get here faster.) I think we need a ruling from the MLS on this. Streamers are completely innocent; if cups and trash were being thrown, that would be a different issue entirely.

Despite the positives from tonight, losing to an expansion club that is one man down makes the evening a little sour. We seem to have trouble putting away games when a man up (see RBNY in our first road trip this season).

I think during the All-Star break we should do some finishing drills. Okay, it's not much of a break, but at least we don't have 4 games in 1 week.

At the All-Star exhibition. John Spencer will be the Asst. Coach (to Nichol, coach of our opponent next Sunday), and Ching, D-Ro, and Clark will represent.

Then it's off to New England, where the pesky Revolution will try to end our defensive streak. Here's hoping they don't, and that we find that net again. (Do we need to have a Thursday game to score?) Also, now that we're through facing the Canadian opponent, I hope that D-Ro will not try so hard and will return to his natural, game-controlling self.

Congratulations on the Dynamo U-17 team for going undefeated (so far) in the SUM U-17 Cup. Yeah, they're winless as well, but they're also undefeated!

Dynamo looking DynaLESS

Maybe I've been a Houston sports fan for too long, because I'm not at all comfortable with the Dynamo's current run of form. A fan from some other town might chalk this up to a rough patch and comfort himself with knowing that his team is good so good things will happen. Well, I'm Mr. Glass Half Empty after tonight's match.

It was a poor performance all around. Giving up the goal didn't bother me that much. On a wet field with a good dead ball specialist behind the ball, such things might happen. We're still at the top of the league in terms of goals conceded.

Let's get on to what does bother me:

• A continuing inability to score. We have scored in 2 of 6 games. That means we've been shut out -- shut out, I say -- by 4 teams. We have 2 goal scorers. We now have a speedy forward, Ngwenya, who can run to the goal faster than Moreno, which enables him to fluff the shot quicker than Moreno would. On the 1v1 with the keeper, Ngwenya looked exactly like Moreno at the end of the first leg of the Pachuca match. If you're earning a paycheck as a forward, you've got to get those in. Here's hoping that Ngwenya does better with his chances in the future. We weren't patient with Moreno doing the same...but at least we're paying less for the same results. Ching had very little service from the wings and his best work was working the middle or the flanks with his feet. When THAT is happening, the game plan has broke down. We had a few shots from distance, but little that threatened. And this is versus a keeper one year removed from the USL. And versus an expansion team. And a team coached by Mo Johnston.
  

• Disappearing DeRo. The problem with DeRo isn't that he doesn't care or that he's going through a work slowdown and pouting until his contract issues are resolved; no, the problem is that he cares too much and is working too hard. Whenever he wants to show the world his quality, whenever his heart is aching for everyone to realize that he truly is among the elite -- so he will get the raise he deserves, so the foreign managers will see him as a worthy adversary, so his hometown will see the boy grown up -- he struggles. Why? Because his skill, as masterful as it is, is instinctual and visceral. He cannot command his flair into submission. He is a player who must feel the play and just flow into the action. Don't condemn him for not trying; his problem is that he's trying too hard. Yoda could teach him a few things, but basically DeRo needs to come to terms with Wu Wei and return to being the Taoist Soccer Master that he is.

• Conceding a goal on the road isn't a cause for concern, but there was no excuse for how open Welsh was on the free kick. Lapses of concentration on defense hurt us last year at times, and is all the more dangerous because of our impotent offense.

• Cochrane has been shaky all season. I don't remember being nervous with him on the field last year, but this year he seems to get out of position, lose the ball, and concede fouls too often for a starting defender on a top flight team. Did he commit the foul that led to the goal? I'm not for sure, but it's not a far-fetched guess given how much he fouls. Waibel was a bit shaky at the altitude of Pachuca, but other than that he looked as good as Cochrane if not better. I don't understand why Waibel is being benched; I worry less with Waibel on the ball than I do when Cochrane is there.
  

• Apathetic coaching. I'm not one to clamor for massive replacement of starters, and I'm perfectly at ease with Kinnear's preference to let the Starting XI solve the problems thrown at them by the opposition, but when the starters aren't cutting mustard, you sub them out to (1) offer someone else a chance to excel and (2) let the starters know that they are going to have to work for their positions. Using only one sub, Kinnear failed to allow anyone else the chance to help the cause, prevented the possible development of bench players, and told his starters that mediocrity is acceptable. I thought Stuart Holden was a fine sub, and I thought that pulling Ngwenya was not unwarranted given the newbie's misfirings, but a middie for a forward is not a particularly aggressive sub. It does not say "we need a goal, guys." Ngwenya at least was penetrating the opposition (and THEN blowing it, yes), while Mullan, who moved up when Holden took the wing, did little more than get called offside about a dozen times when time was precious. I think Dom should have done more to light a fire under our guys.
  

• But mainly it's that thing about a lack of goal scoring that really ticks me off. If you're going to lose, at least score a bit so opponents have to open up the game to outscore you. I've called out Cochrane in this rant, but he has nothing to do with this, the greatest problem facing the 'Mo. The problem lies with the service from our middies to Ching, and with the on-ball abilities of DeRo and the non-Ching forward. Until the five players in this aspect of the game become consistent, we will struggle mightily.
  

Since I'm crabby, let me gripe about other things, none as important as my gripes about the Dynamo's offensive impotence, but here it is:

• I haven't been very impressed with the refs this year. They missed another handball in the penalty box tonight. Worse than that was their lack of accuracy on the offside calls. I, for one, think the call should be like the "tie goes to the runner" call in baseball. If it's close, err on the side of attacking soccer and let the play unfold. If it results in more goals for all teams, then whoopee. I don't think that's a sin. I also hope the league's director of refereeing, Esse Baharmast, does a little refresher on the "advantage" too. As an aside, one of the four professional refs, Terry Vaughn, was the official tonight. Seems like some professional training is in order.
  
• I listened to Steve Mark, the voice of the Dynamo, on 790 for the first 10 minutes of the game. He has a good voice and is good on the pre-game, halftime, and post-game activity, but needs to listen to soccer on the radio and practice on how to describe the play to as it happens. I had very little idea as to who was doing what on the field for those 10 minutes. Steve Clarkson seemed to be a good color guy though.
• Toronto is a Canadian team, no? This Johnston clown fields only two Canadian starters, Sutton and Brennan. Is that really the best an entire nation can produce for its team? At least all three subs were Canuckistanis.
• I like the Glenn Davis-Charlie Pallilo team in the booth. Pallilo calls a good game and Glenn is solid in the analysis. Yes, they're biased for the home team; but that's because they're H-Town announcers. They're supposed to be calling from the local team's perspective. It's not a breach of etiquette like when the FSC crew led by Max Bretos pleads on camera for Toronto to win, like they did in the TFC-Fire game last weekend.
• I hate divers. On a related note: Eskandarian should not be allowed to wear #10. No one on Dynamo-Houston wears #10, and only DeRo would warrant it. No one else has the hubris for such garish self-aggrandizement.
• Right now we're tied for 8th in the 13 team league. Mid-season slumps are much easier to stomach than beginning of season slumps. This slump better end soon.

On a brighter note: That Onstad is a rock. And how about that Dynamo Stadium news?