Calm returns

Calm in quietude is not real calm; when you can be calm in the midst of activity, this is the true state of nature.
Happiness in comfort is not real happiness; when you can be happy in the midst of hardship, then you see the true potential of the mind.
-Huanchu Daoren

A few days after the Dynamo defeat, and I am once again at peace. In rewatching the game, I see that we played quite well, except for three plays on defense (two of which cost us) and except for an inability to get the ball into the net. We did nearly everything else right, though.

In looking at the standings, we're still well positioned. This is partially due to the fortune of being in the Western Conference, yes; but good teams will take advantage of good fortune.

I also noticed in my review of the match, that the Dynamo did, in fact, do more on the field than Marlen did. Apologies, fellas.

So, I'm spending Father's Day with a bit less REVulsion and less spite than I felt in the hours after the New England game.

However, should Barbados surprise the USMNT this afternoon, I reserve the right to throw peace and tranquility out the window and revert to venomous frustration.

I still believe

As I was traveling through America's heartland, I was unable to see the Dynamo-DC United match this past weekend. I did read the various synopses of the game, as well as Glenn's take, but I can't comment on the match with any specificity.

It does look like Dynamo acquitted themselves quite well, particularly in the second half, but still are having trouble getting the goals they need. DeRo misses a PK (argh!), but creates a goal to end the D-H scoring drought, but not our winless streak. (Here's a link to all Week 8 goals, including DDR's.)

Glenn Davis reiterates his claim that our troubles stem from conceding the first goal, then being unable to pry open the bunker teams fall into when protecting their lead. I agree with Glenn that chasing the game is always difficult (the only time we've succeeded this season was on Colorado's big pitch), but that's not the whole story of course. I wish I could say what the "whole story" is, but I think it's really just a combination of individuals being off their game (DDR at first, Ching later, the wingers intermittently), difficulty with the newbies (Ngwenya, who could have introduced himself to his new city and turned around our fortunes by taking advantage of some of his 1-v-GK opportunities), poor set-pieces, and bad luck. After the early collection of poor showings, the team has played solidly as a unit, so despite some individual blunders, there seems to be no systematic problem.

So what's the solution?

Some denizens of the Internet state that Dynamo need to spend money on a Designated Player because we need a bigtime striker that can finish what the team hath wrought in the first two-thirds of the field. Others say that Dynamo has stayed the same while the league has improved.

I don't buy either observation. Dynamo are not being played off the field -- in fact, we've looked to be the better team in every match since the RBNY match. Defensively we're solid. Offensively, we're possessing the ball well and creating chances. We have top quality in every position; we don't need new blood (the only exception being perhaps the #2 striker). The team only needs to work on bolstering their confidence, improving their free kicks, and becoming a little hungrier (even reckless) in the penalty box. Practicing set-pieces, in-box finishing, and long-distance strikes would help, but this is no secret -- Dom is already taking these necessary steps -- nor is there anything magical in the recipe. The team needs to continue working on these areas to refine their skills and (perhaps more importantly) improve their confidence so they don't waste time second-guessing themselves come game time. They have the skills, they just need to get their heads into the "zone" when under game pressure. (More of that Zen stuff I keep mentioning.) After the successes come, the confidence will return and we'll be back to our old winning ways.

Thankfully, our slump coincides with a lack of results throughout the Western Conference, so we're still in the fight even in the midst of our doldrums. Furthermore, 4 of our next 6 matches are against Western Conference opponents, giving us ample opportunity to gain ground. Hopefully the tide turns this weekend against our rivals of the I-45 corridor. I can't think of a better time to do it.

Two observations from the midwest:

• I saw no sign of the Wizards while I was in KC. The team was in New England this past weekend, and there was no other visible proof that the city had a professional soccer team. My in-town relatives were only casually aware that there was a team in town.
• As I was driving in Southern Oklahoma, I was passed by a 90s-era jalopy that had an FC Dallas sticker on its rear window. It seems FCD has some presence at least.
  
  

Revs in town; Time to turn this ship around.

Taylor Twellman and the Revs come to H-town to avenge their loss to Dynamo Houston in last year's MLS Cup. They look poised to do so, with a productive attack that has scored a league high 14 goals in 7 games and two scorers in the league top 10: Twellman who leads the league with 6 goals and Andy Dorman who is sixth in the league with 3 goals. On top of that, they have Steve Ralston, who has a goal himself and an assist on the other 6 goals for the team. Playing with three backs, the team has a goals-against average of just a goal a game.

Houston on the other hand has a struggling attack, with the entire team racking up a total of 4 goals, tied with Columbus and Toronto for last place. We've been shut out in 4 of our 6 games, and have only two goal scorers. On the plus side, our defense has allowed only 4 goals, for a .67 average per game.

Despite the stats and the standings, both teams are well coached, stocked with talent, and very capable. If the Revs play a true 3-5-2, we should have less trouble in the attacking third (our usual region of weakness), but we might have more difficulty with the build up in the middle (one of our stronger areas). If the Revs score first, I'll wager we lose the game and are probably shut out a 5th time for the season as the visitors bunker in and rely on only the counter. If we manage to score first, I bet the goals come in bunches -- perhaps for both sides -- and we win in the end.

Ngwenya finds his finishing touch tonight hopefully. His last game was disappointingly reminiscent of Ale Moreno's finishing, but his pace did give us a new aspect on the attack. Hopefully he settles in and gels with the rest of our attack, while finishing off the opportunities he creates on his own. I also hope that DDR relaxes, only then will he regain the form that is powered by mojo, Wu Wei, the Force, or whatever term you prefer.

To be candid, I'm no Twellman fan. He has talent, no doubt, but strikes me as the Dan Marino of the MLS: talented, arrogant, whiny when things don't go his way, and (so far) unsuccessful winning championships. I hope Twellman is shut out tonight by Onstad & Crew.

For the second home game in a row, I won't make it to the Rob. I'll be attending my son's guitar performance, so I'll have to watch the taped match with the echoes of "Smoke on the Water" and "Louie, Louie" still echoing in my head. I hope the crowd looks spirited and shows the TFC fans that we're still tops in the league, while the Dynamo does the same on the field. Go Orange.

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?