Showing posts with label Houston Dynamo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houston Dynamo. Show all posts

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Positive Result, Negative Performance - Houston Dynamo 2:2 Sporting K.C.

 


On a night where the Houston Dynamo dominated a game for long periods of time, they also committed several crucial mistakes that led to the 2-2 scoreline.  While the Dynamo mauled Sporting K.C. is almost every statistical category, both goals conceded came directly from horrendous Dynamo mistakes.  On a night when they needed 3 points, the Dynamo cost themselves both in the scoreline and the standings as this team fights to remain above the playoff line for yet another year.  Let's take a look at the positives, the negatives, and everything else from last night's draw in The Shell. 

Bartlow set up S.K.C.'s first goal.

Peter Vermes' side came out playing the passing lanes between The Dynamo back 4 and their midfield 3.  Leaving the wings open, SKC was allowing the Dynamo to hold possession in the back line but forcing them to pass the ball deep and diagonal.  
Bartlow tried to force a pass through the middle, and Gadi Kinda's positioning forced the pass to be a dangerous one.

It wasn't just Bartlow, but his pass started a chain reaction in which SKC was quicker to the ball, quicker to space, and left the Dynamo chasing Pulido and the game for the rest of the half.  But the goal seemed to settle the Dynamo down.  Bassi and Quinones started dropping into that space on the left wing, which began to open space in the midfield for HH and Artur.  Over the final 20+ minutes of the first half, Ben Olsen's side held almost 70% of the possession and fired off 5 shots to none.
When the Dynamo finally did connect to tie the game right before half, it was one of the prettiest team goals I have ever seen in #ForeverOrange.  Hector Herrera led a matriculation of the ball down the field and through the middle of the SKC defense that was brilliant, perfectly timed, and perfectly skilled by all involved, and was soo great that I couldn't do it justice with a diagram, you just have to watch it.

The Ugly part 2: Artur's missed tackle.

From the opening kick of the 2nd half, the Dynamo were on the front foot.  Artur found his way through the defense and put a good shot on target (47:31) that was deflected by goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh and knocked out for a corner.  On the ensuing corner Thor got a mysterious Yellow (seriously, does anyone know what that was for?) and Erik Sviatchenko got a good head on the ball but unfortunately directly at the feet of Daniel Steres who was standing offside.  The Dynamo high press, Aliyu and Nelson running the channels, the Dynamo were completely controlling the run of play. But even though they were the more dangerous team, the Dynamo simply could not connect on the final play.  Nelson's run down the left side and low cross (54:07) was just knocked away.  But that high pressure came back to bite them when Baird missed a tackle in the attacking third and Andreu FontΓ s found Kinda on the left flank.  The pass seemed innocuous enough, but when Erik Sviatchenko had to come up and stop the ball, SKC had numbers forward, and Sviatchenko in a blender. 

Kinda hit Erik Thommy and raced down the left touchline.  Thommy placed a perfectly weighted ball down the sideline, and it was Artur racing back who slid over to pick Kinda up just outside the box.  Late, trailing and on an island, Artur quickly got put on his heels as Kinda took him on direct with what seemed like 500 stepovers.  Artur, who has been one of the best off-season additions in MLS this year and has barely put a foot wrong, put a step very wrong and knocked Kinda to the ground.  

Pulido calmly tucked it past Steve Clark and put SKC up 2-1.  But, once again, this goal seemed to energize and re-focus the Dynamo.  #Naranja buckled down and fired off the games final 9 shots pushing everyone (including Sviatchenko) forward.
Despite obvious attempts at time wasting (which went completely unchecked) by Sporting KC, the Dynamo put the throttle down.  Holding 77% of possession over the final 20+ minutes AND 10 minutes of added time, Ivan Franco finally found the back of the net to tie the game at 2.  While Franco made a tremendous effort play to get on the end of this ball, credit has to be given to the people that set this up starting with 60 yard dime from HH, to the headed ball from Thor, everything was set up for this goal to go home.  When Sebas dummied the ball through to Franco, it left SKC pants-less and Franco did the rest of the dirty work.  

Sebas ridiculous yellow:

My thoughts on this are: (1) It should have been a red (2) It was absolutely ridiculous (3) I kinda love it.  Sebas, who has been in the dog house all year, actually showed a little fire and passion and refused to allow SKC's blatant time-wasting to go unchecked.  I'm not condoning the action, but I appreciate the fight.

Notables:

Hector Herrera: Was literally everywhere and played a hand in both goals.  Touched the ball 105 times in this game, and without Coco Carrasquilla was literally the architect of everything that happened last for the Dynamo.  Despite Peter Vermes' game plan of doing everything possible to take him away and not let him have an influence on the game, SKC simply didn't have the ability to hold him down for 90 minutes.
Hector continued to flash that he may be the best dead ball striker in MLS, and he had Erik Sviatchenko are a dangerous pair on set pieces. While there has been a lot of concern about HH by some fans since he arrived from Madrid a year ago, there have been 0 signs of him slowing down this year.  This is now his team.

This team desperately misses Coco:

We haven't seen him in a Dynamo uniform since 4-0 win against LAFC on 6/10, and while the Ben Olsen and Co have gone 2-2-1 without him the attack is missing a much-needed element without him in the lineup.  Coco wins balls and gets them upfield through the middle third as well as anyone in MLS, and while his play is missing in the final third, his work over 2/3rds of the field helps free up attackers to simply get forward and create.  He balances out the midfield and gives the back 4 another option to simply give the ball to and let them go to work.  He also allows the defenders to defend, without them having to creep forward and join in the attack.  While he's gaining notice in the Gold Cup, he's also been very much missed here.  Being that he won't be here again for Wednesday night's matchup either, Ben Olsen might need to look for some depth here or a slightly different positional situation in order to maximize this squad.

Next Up:

The Dynamo really need 3 points from this game.  Coming off the first win against a team that dominated them recently, on short rest with lots of weary legs.  

Until Then.....

Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange,
Brian

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Thursday, June 22, 2023

Get out of the Kitchen: Houston Dynamo 4:1 San Jose Earthquakes

 
Dear Houston,

You need to check this out.  Your Houston Dynamo are currently on a masterful run of form.  For the first time in a really long time, they are on a wi(shhhhhhhhhhhh, don't jinx)eak of 4 straight games, thoroughly dominating the opposition along the way to the tune of 13-2.  Winners in 4 of 6, they have navigated the Texas heatwave through June to climb up the table into 4th place in the conference.  They just thrashed the leaders, LAFC, both home and away, and just got done completely dominating San Jose to switch places with them in the standings.  Not only are they dominating, they are doing it because they have gotten better every single week.  They have depth, young exciting players, stars, and a couple of dudes that will be.  Neither rain nor 2-hour lightning delays, nor the blistering Texas heat can deter them from crushing their opponents.  It's time to get behind this team.

Shout out to our SG's

I can't tell you how happy seeing this makes me, and sad that I'm not there with them.  It's not the first time our SG's threw a party during a lightning delay, and it won't be the last.  Our supporters' are as resilient as our team, and this was a beautiful sight.

This game was over in 5 minutes:

 The play was simple.  Bassi had been reading this pass from early on in the game, and it must have been something that was picked up on film.  You could see Bassi cheating the pass between CB's just 20 seconds into the game.  San Jose was too flat, and the triangles between CB's and CM Judson far too acute.  
Bassi recognized it before the pass was even made, and positioned himself where only two steps were needed to snatch this pass.  He took one controlling touch and placed a left footer around keeper Daniel to break this game open after just 2:02 had accumulated on the clock.
The Dynamo press was killing San Jose from the get-go, and Luchi Gonzalez's side was sloppy, disorganized, and now down 1-0.  Bassi's goal celebration of an archer was appropriate because like Robin Hood he stole this and gave the fans a reason to believe.  It was on the next Dynamo possession that they scored again in a beautifully crafted goal built from the back.  Started by a tremendously weighted pass from Bassi to Baby Face Nelson on a full sprint, the goal was a wonderful team goal on many layers.
(1) QuiΓ±ones' left-footed cross was pinpoint and well timed.
(2) Baird actually broke off his original near post run when he saw Aliyu making the same run, and got back post.
(3) Aliyu's run took both CB's with him, leaving no one at the back post to cover Baird
(4) Credit to Biard for one-timing this into the back of the net.

It's what you get when you get unselfish and intelligent teamwork.  This goal was the result of everyone doing their job, doing it together, and doing it properly.  Each part, from Steres finding Bassi in the pocket until ending with Baird's finish was done exactly how it was needed to be done, no more and no less, and these types of goals are coming with a much higher amount of regularity than we've seen since we moved from the Rob.

The Dynamo weren't even done.  Despite a few meager attempts to get back into the game by San Jose, #ForeverOrange rocked the entirety of the first 45 minutes.  Erik Svaitchenko nearly got a third with his headed attempt (31st minute) which also was nearly banged home by Micael.  The Dynamo never let down, and even after Charles Akapo's goal to cut it 2-1, there was never really any question that #HellInTheShell was in full force.  Ibrahim Aliyu broke loose only moments after Akapo's goal, and just narrowly missed a left footer after a tremendous downfield pass by Daniel Steres.  At the half, not only were the Dynamo leading 2-1, but they were dominating the game in almost ever statistical category and San Jose was looking gassed. 

The second 45? We put the throttle down.

The second half began with the same as the first half.  As they broke for half, you could see Steve Clark rallying the guys.  I don't know what he said, but I know he was pointing at the crest and getting after it :)  Ben Olsen had his team sitting in a mid-block defending with 2 lines of 4.  Disrupting the midfield and forcing San Jose to attack down the wings, the Dynamo were looking to allow the Earthquake to hold possession in the back line and react quick off turnovers.  This was not a team content with two goals and looking to park the bus. 
There had to be concern, however, when the lightning delay hit in the 62nd minute.  Never knowing how this could disrupt things or rejuvenate a team that was down a goal.  With the stadium emptying out as fans didn't know when the action would return, coming in after a two hour delay with no fans in the stands and up only a goal was worrisome.  But those worries were quickly tossed aside as the Dynamo came directly after San Jose.  Bassi's attempt 66' in was as well crafted as the second goal of the game, with runs, one-touch passing, and a nearly perfect first-touch strike that would up in Daniel's lap.  

Thor: Endgame


I mean, who doesn't love a good Thor reference?  Thor's first goal (a left footed, far post curler) put the game out of reach.  His second one was for show in more ways then one.  With the three points, the Dynamo have now jumped to 4th in the standings, with a game in hand over Seattle (who the Dynamo play July 1st). They're two points off of second and could achieve that on Saturday.  This weekend's game against Green Tree F.C. is one of the biggest games for the Dynamo in years, and could mean an end to the curses of summer that we've seen for the better part of a decade.

Next Up 


Despite all the chest-thumping by the weirdo's in Austin, the Dynamo have won two games against Austin this year pretty convincingly.  The Dynamo should make this a third.

Until then,
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange,
Brian

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Sunday, June 11, 2023

Dynamic Duo: Quinones, Aliyu changing the way this team attacks.


Two young attackers who came with large expectations.  An attack that has greatly struggled and a franchise who has been in the tank for the last three years.  This could be a match made in heaven.  Nelson Quinones came last year on loan during the summer transfer window with a lot of hope he could provide the wide wing play the Dynamo were severely lacking.  Ibrahim Aliyu just got here, but has had an immediate impact on pitch.  When the two have been put together, the results have been staggering.  It's early in the process, but over the last few weeks, the young duo of Nelson Quinones and Ibrahim Aliyu are transforming the Dynamo attack.  

Aliyu's running:

Aliyu is not only keeping the defense honest because of his speed and quickness, but his runs are smart and well-timed.  He's not just running to get behind the defense.  His angular runs often occupy multiple defenders (CB and FB) and leave wholes for Coco, Bassi, and HH behind him.  His runs are not only successful in getting himself behind, but he's drawing enough attention the backside wing is often wide open.  Take Baird's goal against Vancouver for example:

But he can also simply turn on the jets and leave the defense with their pants down.


Also important to note that on the other end of these plays is Coco Carrasquilla.  Coco's final product in the attacking third has been much maligned and highly criticized this year.  But his deep lying playmaking has been heavily on display with Quinones and Aliyu in the starting lineup.  Aliyu's ability to stretch the defense plays into both Coco and HH's strengths, and takes pressure off of them from having to do everything in the attack.  Aliyu is what this club has desperately needed: (1) A fast runner who can repeat those runs extended time on the pitch (2) A guy that can play with the ball at his feet and make things happen.  Take his first touch of the game against Vancouver for example.  He positioned himself in the pocket between center backs, took a touch that snuck between both CB's, muscled both CB's off the ball, cut back to his left foot and blasted one on target.  It's the kind of sheer talent and willpower that reminds of Alberth Elis.  If this team is to have any chance of making the playoffs, and especially making noise once they get there, they have to figure out how to keep him on the field and getting him the ball.

Quinones is bringing both wide play and inverted play.

Baby Face Nelson had an unbelievable week against Chicago and Los Angeles, but his success started back in the 4-0 win vs. Sporting KC in the Open Cup.  Nelson has started three games in the USOC, and has terrorized the left wing during that run. Each time we've seen him this year, he was better than the time before.  He had Ryan Hollingshead in a blender on Saturday night, and relentlessly beat him one on one.  

While his stats on the year are meager, it's the last week that shows what he can be.  He torched Chicago repeatedly, and if that wasn't enough he terrorized the back line of the best team in the league for his entire time on the pitch.  In the last two games, he scored two goals, drew two pens, and is beating players both to the touchline and inside. Against LA, he had 28 touches, was 12/14 passing, won 5/9 duels and had a 50% conversion on his take ons in 63 minutes.  Against Chicago he played all 90, had 27 touches, was 12/13 passing and was 3/7 on ground duels.  While he's still giving the ball away at too high a rate, he's starting to show the end product and danger that we've been lacking. For most of his tenure here he was simply a fast player with no end product, the last two games has shown why they brought him here to begin with.  He's a player that has simply gotten better every time he's gotten on the field, and hopefully we continue to see him through the end of the season.  

When it goes together:

When Aliyu dropped his brace against Chicago in the U.S. Open Cup, it started with a tremendous take on by Nelson Quinones and ended with a well-timed back post cover by Aliyu.  

The last four games these two have been in the starting lineup together? 4-0 (LAFC), 4-1 (Chicago), 4-0 (Minnesota United), and 1-0 (Sporting K.C.)  That's 12 points in 4 games and a scoreline of 13-1.  Add to that a road win in the USOC, and a drubbing of the defending champions and team with the most points per game in the Western Conference, and the results speak for themselves.

Synopsis:

There's enough here to keep Quinones here permanently.  He's part of the MLS U-22 initiative, and Pat Onstad should be working to make his loan deal permanently this summer.   Nelson is explosive and is finding his niche on the right wing.  Aliyu should be the every day, all day #9.  With these two the Dynamo have two dynamic athletes with pace that few backline defenses can keep up with.  They play well off each other, and the results speak for themselves.  The question is who plays with them? (Baird, Bassi, Franco, etc). These two give the attack enough punch to launch the Dynamo into playoff position, especially since they can't be scored on at The Shell.   

Next Up:

 The Dynamo face LAFC on Wednesday, a team in which they have actually faired well against in recent history going 2-2-2 with a +2 GD dating back to 2020.  However, this is a road game on a short week against a team we just played (because MLS completely hosed the Dynamo by moving Wednesday's game there to help LAFC CONCACAF Champions League).
Then, on Saturday the Dynamo return to PNC to play San Jose.




Also, major head nod to this:


Until then:
Thanks again for reading.
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange
Brian

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Friday, June 2, 2023

Roller Coaster Ride: Wins against Minnesota and Austin, disaster vs. Vancouver.

 

This season is going to be taxing.  For all the work Ben Olsen has done to transform PNC into a true Hell in the Shell, this team is still absolutely abysmal on the road.  We had the highs with the thrashing of Minnesota United in the Lamar Hunt USOC, beating Austin FC at home, and experienced the lows after getting dismantled against Vancouver on the road Wednesday night. Is this a season of highs and lows?  Will it be a year-long roller coaster home vs. away? Or, is this the beginning of what has become our annual pitfall into the abyss.  There are some signs this team is built differently than the ones we've seen over the last half decade, but to keep asking the question: is it better?

What we see at home:


Simply put, the Dynamo are the best Defensive team in the league at home.  They've given up a league-low 2 goals in 9 games, have outscored their opponents 13-2, and are 7-1-1 in the friendly confines of Shell Energy Stadium. Playing primarily in a mid-low block, taking very few risks going forward, the team is simply grinding out games consistently in front of #ForeverOrange fandom. One of their losses came with only 9 men on the field (1-0 vs. Seattle). They've made Shell more than a fortress, they are making teams not want to come to play here.......and it's not really summer.  We haven't had much to be cautiously optimistic about for a while, but this trend is a positive one. Recently, putting up 4 on Minnesota's stingy defense AND beating Broccoli F.C. felt good! While I can't foresee this team being this good at home for the entire year with all this travel and short weeks, they will remain good enough to stay in the playoff hunt.

Rough Times Ahead:

They've got one of the ingredients for making the playoffs down, but the rest of it is nowhere near ready.  Unfortunately, there's an entire load road games on short rest coming up, as The Dynamo have some brutal stretches in June and July. Only four of their next ten matches are in Houston.  Their next 6 MLS games are a meat grinder, with St. Louis (3rd best in the league @ 1.92 points/match), then back-to-back with LAFC (best in the Western Conference @ 2.08 points/match) over a 4-day stretch, and especially after a short rest with Chicago smashed in prior to it on June 6th.  There are soo many short rest weeks in June and July, before having a month off to start August.  Road games, short weeks, summer heating up, and we are about to really find out what this team is made of.

Why we shouldn't give up.....yet.

(1) Ibrahim Aliyu is good.  He's changing this attack in a positive way with his runs, his first touch, and his pace.  Opponents not only have to worry about his speed, but he also knows how to do something with it in pockets of space dropping back to the ball.  He's not only creating shots for himself and being aggressive, but he's opening up gaps for Bassi, Baird and HH as well.

(2) Corey Baird is starting to score.  There were a lot of people poo-pooing his hat trick against Minnesota, but he came back and scored a nice one against Vancouver before the wheels fell off. 

(3) This game was part of a scheduling nightmare by MLS.  To go from Houston to Vancouver on a short week is extremely harsh.  Play Saturday night -> fly 2,000 miles, play one of the best home teams in MLS ->  Vancouver is really good at home, we played terribly and looked like we had just traveled 2,000 miles on short rest.

(4) Steve Clark (minus Wednesday night) had been playing extremely well since the first two games of the year when I questioned whether or not he had anything left.   He was

Why the sky is falling.

(1) Micael has been trending downward for a couple of weeks, and played terribly on Wednesday night.  I understand why Ben Olsen is trying to get him in the lineup, because with Escobar, Bartlow, Sviatchenko, and Steres, there's not a left-footer in the lineup.  Micael at CB was even showing cracks against Austin, but he was able to make plays when needed.  Playing both Steres and Escobar at FB severely limits what you can do forward, and Escobar is better on the right side.  Micael has been getting a lot of time since Teenage got hurt, but it might be time for Sviatchenko to step in.

(2) The card situation is getting completely out of hand. While the Dynamo are actually improving in the Yellow Card situation over a year ago, the red accumulation of 4 (and don't forget about the one in the Open Cup) not only lead the league but would have been good for 3rd most in the league last year......for the entire season.  While two of them (HH's second yellow vs. Seattle & Nelson's from Saturday) were extremely petty, it's something they have to get under control. (rant about this later)

(3) The team, who had been fighting for 90 minutes in every game, flat-out quit on Wednesday night.  Not only did they quit, but to give up a goal in under 18 seconds to start BOTH halves is flat-out embarrassing.

(4) This team is winless on the road and has lost 5 of 7.  Winning on the road has been something this team simply can't do for more than a decade, and Ben Olsen has to find a way to start pulling at least 1 point from these games.

Final Thoughts:

It's a long season, there are 20+ games left, and we haven't even gotten into the heat of summer yet.  This team is set up defensively really well, and they are attacking better of late.  I think we saw some of that in the first half before they gave up a goal 18 seconds in the second half and threw things out of the window.  Wednesday night was a chaotic game where Vancouver banged the ball deep and it paid off.  Bartlow, Artur, and Escobar have logged a ton of minutes lately and were on short rest. The best thing for us, and for the team to do, is burn the Vancouver tape and never watch it again.  Let's just get ready for St. Louis on Saturday and figure out how to pull points on the road.

Final Rant:

Major League Soccer is the softest officiated league on the planet, and there is enormous inconsistency in Yellows, Reds, and sometimes even fouls.  Not only the quantity of reds given in this league are ridiculous, but the standard by which reds are given is soo low that it makes the league hard to watch.  Add to that the fact that calls are soo inconsistently given you don't even know what is a card or not.  Take Wednesday night for example.  Cordova, sitting on a yellow, toe pokes Steve Clark who had just fell on the ball.  Not only is there no card given, there's nothing given at all except a yellow to Clark who asked where the call was.  I'm not a "The Refs hate us" guy, but I am a "ProReferees are embarrassing this league and the standard of officiating has to dramatically improve" guy.  The refereeing makes games choppy, it's creating a league where diving is encouraged because of the ease in which cards are given.  While I am holding back on how all of our sports leagues have gotten ridiculously soft over the years, MLS has global standards by which to compare themselves and compete in.  I both of these areas they are currently fighting a losing battle.


Thanks again for reading,
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian



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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

GOD MODE ACHIEVED: Houston Dynamo 4:0 Minnesota United

 

What a game!  On short rest, playing a team they hadn't beaten in their last 8 matchups (going back to 2020), the Houston Dynamo exploded in an offensive display we haven't seen in quite some time.  Led by Corey Baird's epic performance (3 goals + 1 assist), the Dynamo completely dismantled the Minnesota backline in a multitude of ways in order to advance to the quarter-finals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.  For once, we were on the other side of the red card, and benefitted from another penalty.  Let's take a look at some interesting facts from last night's game.

Corey Baird:

  • Bettered his goal total for his entire tenure in Houston during league play. (2 in 2,607 minutes played)
  • Equaled his goal total for his entire Houston Dynamo tenure (3 in 2,834 minutes played).
  • Had twice as many shots on target (4) as he's had in 900 MLS minutes played this year (2).
  • Had a pen, a right-footed chipper, and a left-footed chipper on his three goals.  Of Bairds 24 Career Goals, 18 of them have come off his right foot, 4 left footed, and 2 off his head.  It was his first left-footed goal since 2021 (with LAFC). He hasn't had a headed goal since his rookie year.
  • Produced the first Houston Dynamo Hat Trick since Cubo Torres on April 2nd, 2017.
Andrew Tarbell:
  • Has yet to concede a goal during regulation on the season.  The only goal he's given up on the year was the one game he played for DynaDos: The first Pen attempt in the overtime shoot-out, he saved the next two to secure the win.
Valuable Experience:
  • Talen Maples added to the list of young Dynamo players making their debut in the USOC.  Ben Olsen has done a good job weaving these guys in this year.  Raines, Murana, and Micael, have all filled in nicely and gotten valuable experience in the opening rounds.  Add to that Nelson Quinones getting a full 83 minutes, and Erik Sviatchenko making his Dynamo Debut and it was a very successful day for #ForeverOrange as a whole.
  • On top of Corey Baird's performance, Ibrahim Aliyu opened his Dynamo account.  Aliyu made two perfectly timed runs to get in behind The Loons' back line, and the through balls were perfectly timed and weighted.  The first, on his goal:

  • The second was on this assist: 

  • Aliyu had a tremendous night.  In 28 minutes he managed 14 touches, was 9/10 on passing, had a goal and an assist, and his runs completely opened up the game. 
  • Amine Bassi was also stellar evening.  Playing more centrally than usual over his 73 minutes on the pitch, Bassi was 48/50 (96%) on passing and had a whopping 5 key passes.  Had a bunch of nice weighted passes behind the defense to Nelson, Baird, and Aliyu.  It was his best game from a shot creation standpoint to date.
Clean Sheet Haven:
  • The Dynamo have 8 clean sheets in 15 games across all competitions. They've already bettered the number of clean sheets from last year (7) and have the same number as 2021 (5) & 2020 (3) combined.
On a night like tonight, there's not much else to do but dance.
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN CHING! Not that he reads my blog, but it'd be cool if he did.

Until Next Time!
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange
Brian

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Sunday, May 14, 2023

I...can't.....even......Houston Dynamo 0:1 Seattle Sounders

So, there's not to say about this one, so this will be probably the shortest post ever.  Last night was a game soo ridiculous, I.....just....can't....even.  It was 90 minutes of "Ugh", "WHAT?" "How in the world!" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??".  In the end, it was the Dynamo's first home loss of the season as well as Seattle being the first team to find the back of the net against a 9-man side with Head Referee Rubiel Vazquez playing steadily at their side.  To quote Krystopher Scroggins from Dynamo Faithful Podcast: "The story of this game was much like Galveston Bay.  You know...it's a distinctive Houston feature, but it just kinda stinks."

The Refereeing:

I really don't like complaining about officiating or blaming losses on Refs. In his post-game press conference, Ben Olsen said "I don't think it was his best night", but it's not the first time something like this has happened with Head Referee Rubiel Vazquez at the helm.  Remember the game last year against the Sounders (May 18th -> 1-0 Sounders win) when Coco got a soft yellow in the first 10 minutes of the game, then got a second soft yellow in the first ten minutes of the second half while the Dynamo were chasing a goal?  I'll give you a guess who was the head Referee in that game. Before either Vasquez ever read for his back pocket the first 18 minutes of the game was completely dominated by whistles and was unbearably choppy. 

I have no real problem with the Bassi red-card.  There was obviously no intent behind it by Amine, and it happened so fast that Vasquez didn't even catch it in real-time.  You can even see Nicolas Lodeiro sitting on the ground and saying "You're gonna look at it right? Are you gonna look at it?" and Vasquez shaking his head "no" right after it happened. Then you see his facial expression change as the call comes down, and him going to the screen.  If you really want to know if it was a red, check out Bassi's facial expression when Vasquez communicates that he's going to the screen.  Bassi knew it was the end of his night the second it went to V.A.R.  Just two guys going after the ball, and a poorly placed cleat by Bassi, but definitely not a malicious act.  The second red that put the Dynamo to 9 men?  That was a call that was given because HH had spent a little too much time arguing with the ref.  That's never a yellow, not even if he was sitting on one.  This is what it took for the Fortress of Solitude to be broken into.  Rubiel Vasquez found the enormous golden arrow leading to the door, which also happened to be the key, and sneaky Nicolas Lodeiro found his way in.  It wasn't just that we got two reds, and that one of them was ridiculously weak, it's the amount of stuff that Vasquez let go to begin with.  If you think about it, if VAR hadn't called down, Bassi wouldn't have even gotten a foul called against him.  Go from not calling a clear red, to calling a second yellow on HH (also a phantom call at midfield in the 40th minute), to calling NOTHING against a guy grabbing Corey Baird by the face and dragging him down and it was just an inconsistent mess of a performance, and it honestly cost the Dynamo points.  There are soo many things about this league and its structure that needs to improve for the United States to make a jump to a top Soccer destination World-Wide.  Adding to that consistent low level of officiating year after year, AND that those refs continue to make appearances year after year.  There needs to be major change in the way MLS holds referees accountable, trains referees, and promotes referees.  If they put together a system training referees the with the same fire that they put towards developing players, we could see some of these referees out of here and replaced by a better level of officiating.  Don Garber recently said that the USOC wasn't the level of product that MLS wanted, but at least the officiating didn't overshadow the game.  This is something that's killing his league, he needs to act on it.

Winning Ugly is fun, not winning makes it hard to watch.

Credit to Ben Olsen, this team defends like it means it.  This team represents all the clichΓ©s that you hear coaches and pundits speak.  They fight for the badge, they give 110%, and the have turned their home into a fortress.  But I'm not going to sit here and say it's pretty.  It's not.  In fact, at times this attack is a large dose of UGLY with a pinch of some decent attacking soccer.  Spending large chunks of time sitting in a low block of 4 and barely getting the ball across midfield?  It's not exactly Must-See-TV.  It's not even the WB.  It's basically a two-hour block of Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers on PBS.  I give them full credit, they played to the final whistle, but being two men down and against fresh legs was too much for them to handle on this night.  

I'm mad, I'm watching this game for a second time and I just...can't....even.   So, on this one, I'm done.  

Thanks again for reading,
Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Brian

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