Early Position Battles: Zeca vs. Dorsey

This offseason, there was little debate which two positions every fan saw a need to upgrade: (1) Striker. Coming off back-to-back seasons of very disappointing play from our #9's, the Dynamo HAD to get a striker capable of capitalizing on chances and creating a few themselves.  (2) Right Back.  Zarek Valentine is a great guy.  I absolutely love listening to his interviews, he seems to be involved in everything the Club does (including attending Dash games), and the locker room seems to have latched on to him. But, as much as I like the guy, he was a problem last year.  Valentine isn't the quickest player, and he was often a step slow.  While no one can really question his effort (Valentine gives all he can), his slow steps often led to goals.  He also isn't a fullback that's going to help you move the ball methodically down the field, and especially isn't going to help you move it with his feet.  Message boards were literally in a panic when an early-season injury forced Valentine back on the field.  Dorsey has been the clear-cut favorite since the early days of Training Camp and has shown some flashes here in the early part of the season.  Newcomer Zeka immediately perked up ears and has been somewhat impressive in the few minutes he's been on the field.  This is a position that could use some healthy competition.  We'll take a look at the two, why they should start, and why they should sit.

Zeca

Signed on February 10th, 2022, Zeca brought with him an Olympic medal and a lot of question marks.  Many fans hoped he would be the answer at RB, while hardly any of us knew anything about him.  The 27 year old has spent his entire career playing both back positions in Brazil's Serie A (and a year in Serie B), racking up almost 13,000 minutes played professionally.  From everything I've seen, he's super quick, not afraid to take on attackers, and has a good amount of skill with the ball at his feet.  In highlights and on paper at least, he seems like the type of back that fits Pat Onstad and Paulo Nagamura's vision.  The most intriguing thing about Zeca so far, however, is that we haven't seen much of Zeca.  Listed at 5'6" and 139 lbs, the diminutive Brazillian has come on twice for the Dynamo this season.  The first appearance, a 0-1 loss to Sporting K.C., he came on in the 86th minute for Zarek Valentine and barely even touched the ball.  His second appearance, 19 minutes off the bench against Colorado, was much more impressive.  He was extremely active up and down the right flank picking up 3 interceptions, 3 tackles, 2 recoveries, and getting 24 touches.  With those touches, he managed to complete 16/19 passes, mostly connecting well up to Tyler Pasher and inside to the midfield, and bringing the ball hard into outside spaces in the attacking third.  Zeca definitely left many of us wanting to see more, and some of us calling for him to be the starter.  

Strengths:

Zeca is quick, fast, and he plays angles well on the defensive end.   He's good with the ball at his feet, does a good job taking what the defense gives him, and can strike down the sideline when it's there. While we haven't seen much of him in MLS, his time in Serie A and with the Brazillian National Team can give us a slight glimpse.  Last year at Vasco de Gama (2,567 minutes played) he was successful on 56% of his dribbles, averaged 3.1 Tackles + Interceptions per game, averaged .8 key passes per game, and lit up the heatmap down the flanks with his ball possession.  Understandably, there are skeptics out there with the numbers being accumulated in Brasil's second division.  He was producing basically the same amount during his time at Internationale.  While there is a lot still to be seen with him, two things are for sure: (1) He's an energetic player with a good work rate. (2) He has skill to get at you multiple ways on the wing, and the patience to play the ball back when he needs to.

Weaknesses:

Size.  At 5'6", 139 lbs he's a tough matchup against some of the bigger wings in MLS.  While most of the dangerous wingers in MLS aren't necessarily going to overpower him, he'll be in a considerable size disadvantage on most nights.   

Why he should start:

Because he seems like a perfect fit for Paulo Nagamura's system and from the flashes we've seen he could be the RB we've been waiting for.  Playing him on the outside could take some creative pressure off of Corey Baird, and he's played well enough in the brief glimpse we've had of him to warrant a longer look. 

Why he should sit:

Because the bench has little to offer going forward, and Zeca could be an energy producer late in games to help turn the tide. Because he's still adjusting to a new league and a new coach, and because he wasn't here for all of training camp and isn't ready.

Griffin Dorsey

Believe it or not, Griffin Dorsey has been better than you think.  While he hasn't been Kyle Walker, he's been fairly solid in his 1 1/2 games starting at RB.  Dorsey, the former Generation Addidas player we scooped up last year, Dorsey is a guy with good size (5'11" 165), and speed.  The one-time #6 pick in the MLS Super Draft, Griffin came into the year having played the vast majority of his time as a pro up and down the right side of formations.  Dorsey seems to have settled in at RB since the start of camp.  Dorsey just turned 23, and still only has a little over 3600  minutes played as a professional.  Dorsey made a lot of strides last year towards becoming a dependable professional, and (from the limited amount we've seen of him) also made a decent jump over the offseason.  Dorsey could be a guy who makes a nice, long career here in Houston if he can continue his upward trajectory.  There has been little actual controversy as to who's position this is to man through the early part of the year.  Starting all preseason and in the first game of the year, Dorsey missed a game and a half with a slight leg injury before returning to the starting lineup against Vancouver and the Colorado Rapids.

Strengths:

Dorsey is an attack-minded player who is not scared to take on defenders or play crosses into the box.  He gets forward, he plays direct, and he's fairly good with the ball at his feet.  Dorsey is a good athlete and has good (but not great) straight-line speed.  He can cover box to box down the sideline, and is normally in the right position on defense.  Dorsey ranks 4th in total distance progressed with the ball at his feet, is 2nd in progressive carriers (18) and second in times progressed into the attacking 3rd (9). He's winning the Dynamo back possessions with high frequency, ranking 2nd on the team in tackles + interceptions, tied (12) with Mattias Vera and one behind Fafa Picault (13) although he's played 150 less minutes than either.  He's picked up as many loose balls as Daniel Steres, who's played the full 90 in every game.  Dorsey has been extremely active, and more often than not in the right places to find the ball.  He's also hitting the ball downfield and connecting to Quintero and the forwards.  He has 11 progressive passes in 206 minutes played. Dorsey is He's a decent all-around back who's young and athletic and should have a lot of upside and room to grow.

Weaknesses:

Defending.  Dorsey has trouble defending space in 1v1 situations.  He's not a terrible defender, but he can get his hips turned and beat back to the inside.  Some of this is from not playing a ton of minutes as a defender.  While it's not killing the Dynamo at the moment, it's an area he definitely needs to improve on.  His passing accuracy on creating that final pass inside the attacking third also needs work.  Griffin has to get better at getting his crosses by the first man and picking out teammates instead.  While he's not scared of taking defenders on, he needs to improve in that area also.  He's been dispossessed 4 times, which is 3rd on the team.

Why he should start:

Because he's been solid on both sides of the ball and helped balance out an attack that was very one-dimensional last year.  At 23 years of age, he has room to grow into a pretty solid RB with his athleticism, mentality, and ball skill combination.

Why he should sit:

There's simply only one reason at the moment:  Zeca is better.  We can't know the answer to this until we see more of Zeca on the field.

Final Thoughts:

This has actually been one position that the Dynamo haven't had to worry about this year.  Dorsey has done his job for the most part, and has been a solid upgrade over last year.  While I think this is most likely Dorsey's job to lose, I've seen enough of Zeca to think he could be an upgrade.  While Dorsey is solid, Zeca could be the Dynamic RB we need in this "Proactive" 4-3-3 style of play.  As this team appears to be gearing up to make some noise this year with the additions coming in, we need to find the best possible 11 to put out there.

Next Up:

Hadebe vs. Steres vs. Parker

Thanks again for reading,

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian