Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Houston Dynamo 2:1 San Jose Earthquakes - The Good, the bad, & the Ugly


Let's take a little time and just let this set in.  After a 2:1 victory on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes, we have a few days to sit back, evaluate, and breathe.  Dynamo fans have been lighting up social media with depression over the team's current state, pleas for help, and anxiety over what will happen during this Transfer Window.  While all those feelings are warranted, let's just take a moment to enjoy a glimpse of success.  After going just 1-5-1 over the previous 7 games, it's nice to have a come-from-behind win on the road to enjoy.  The win showed both key plays from struggling players and stretches of play that were extremely poor.  Here's a breakdown of the key takeaways: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. 

The Good:

While it wasn't the prettiest, it was a good team performance:


There's a lot of 7's on there.....

Fafa Picault:  



With full awareness that I might get eviscerated for putting his name in here, Fafa had a decent game and made the play that led to the first goal.  His streaking interception to win the ball back in the opponent's box and assist to Sebas all alone in front of the net was the key play that changed the tide.  While many (including myself) have wanted to see the Dynamo move on from Fafa this year, it was nice to see him make that play and simply do what was needed to be done.  

Fafa was applying good pressure from the opening kick, and was extremely active on both wings. Fafa had several opportunities early on to break the game open.  He (as he often does) did too much with them and couldn't put the ball in the net.  However, he was a constant threat in behind the San Jose defense the entire game.  Also had a nice cross to Thor, but Thor wasn't looking for it.

Sebas:  

Easy one.  Came on in the 68th minute and immediately changed the game.  Scored the first goal, and attacked the ball twice to help win it back deep in San Jose's half which led to the second goal.  Sebas had actually been fairly steady before going goal-less in his last 4 appearances, and not even making it off the bench on Tuesday.  Paulo Nagamura had a.....well.....interesting quote about Sebas before the game.

Maybe Paulo was right and Sebas just needed a break........maybe he was dinged up, maybe there was something else. I don't know and honestly, I don't really care. What I do know is that there should never be a time where Sebas doesn't make it into a game especially against Austin F.C. after he was pulled early the game before. Even with the dry spell, he's got 7 goals and 3 assists in his last 12 appearances, which is nothing to be ashamed of. He needs to hold that form with the schedule we've got the rest of the way.


Tim Parker:

Came up with the biggest save of the night, at the biggest moment of the night.  Hector Herrera owes him and Mr. Woodson a steak dinner. Tim had a fairly solid game before that, with 2 tackles, a couple of interceptions, and 6 clearances.  He had a fairly poor yellow, given that Benjamin Kikanovic had no real chance to get to the ball, but I'll even take that.  Tim's our enforcer, sometimes an enforcer has to do enforcer things.   It wasn't the best use of a Yellow, but it's really my only complaint about him on the night and it wasn't a huge one.

Parker helped hold Jeremy Ebobisse to only two touches inside the penalty area, and neutralized his only dangerous touch of the game.  Ebobisse, tied for 3rd in the league with 11 goals, never got a clean look at goal with the exception of the 1 Paker went full Super Hero mode on.  Parker and Hadebe combined to hold Ebobisse to only 20 touches the entire game.  This was probably Parker's best game of the year, even without even taking the brilliant shot stoppage (74th minute) into account. Parker's save was even bigger when you realize what happened next.

The Bad:

The first half:

The first 45 left much to be desired.  Both teams seemed content to get through he first half and move on to the 2nd.  Outside of Coco Carrasquilla, and a couple of good runs from Fafa, there wasn't much going on for either side. Of the 9 combined shots in the first half (5 for San Jose, 4 for the Dynamo) 7 where either off target or blocked.  Only Christian Espinoza (12:07, saved by Clark) really threatened for either team.  Especially after about the 30th minute, both teams kind of parked it and seemed resigned to go into the half 0-0.  The second half definitely picked up, but the first half was pretty slow and uneventful.

Hector Herrera:

Don't get me wrong, it's not that Hector Herrera was terrible in his starting debut.  It's weird to say this, but of his 66 touches in the game, the only one that is really remembered was the terrible mistake inside his own box.  You could point out his really nice left foot cross (15th minute) that accidentally hit Fafa and would up bouncing of Teenage's face when he whiffed on a scissor kick, but even that was about it.

The Ugly

Thor's defending the back post:

Thor completely misread the rebound and went flying towards the endline.  While he was flailing around trying to recover, Jackson Yuell never moved and the ball fell right in his lap.  

Whatever Sebas was doing with his shorts:


This doesn't really need commentary.  And if he keeps scoring goals, he should keep doing it.

Next Up:


Minnesota United: 2022






Run of Form:

The Loons are unbeaten n their last 5, outscoring their opponents 11-6 in that span. Fortunately, for the Dynamo, The Loons also have a friendly against Everton on Thursday.  Minnesota United is a top 10 defensive team once again this year, and are especially good defensively at home.

Houston Dynamo: 2022







Until Next time:
Thanks again for reading,
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange
Brian

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