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

Dynamo Fans are already losing their minds, let's take this week off and refocus.

 

I'm not gonna lie, I'm grumpy.  I'm grumpy because we're 0-2, we lost a game against Cincinnati we should have earned a point from, I'm grumpy that we got embarrassed the next week, I'm grumpy because there's no game this week, we're playing Verde next, and because Dynamo fans are now complaining about...well....everything.  We've become Brick from Anchor Man, simply mad and shouting because we don't know how to handle all this.  I've read a lot of things the last week, and I'm going to try to go back and address some of them in a logical manner. I'm also going to address some things I'm sick of already, and use this as a bit of a therapy session for myself.

First of all:

I'm sick of hearing about "Inverted Wingers"

I get it. I understand the concept. I see other teams using it successfully. What we're missing here is that those teams have a lot of talent.   I see our team constantly look like we don't have a plan going forward, displaying dudes who can't finish (or pass) running into each other's space.  I see overlapping backs who either can't make plays with the ball at their feet or get back and defend (or both).  I see our back post constantly being exposed while our FB is trying to get back and cover it only to be 5 steps too slow. I see our CB's being put in bad positions a ton, and I also see most of our possession coming from passing it between our CB's for large sections of time.  I've seen us change coaches, players, and literally everything else, but yet I still see this garbage.  I honestly don't care what formation we run, I don't care if we want to be a possession team, a counterattacking team, or the boringest defensive team you've ever seen.  What I can't literally care about anymore is this concept: inverted wingers are the plan going forward.  If that's the key to unlocking our attack, go get Mo Salah/Darwin Nunes types.  If we are going to start Corey Baird or Thor there, find a different way.

"We can get anyone to do what Coco and HH can do for way less money"

Great, we just gutted our payroll and are back to being the lowest-paid team in the league again.  The same fans crying about this are the same ones that wanted the last ownership group out for failing to invest.  I could go around the world and talk about the cost of a good 8 in a 4-3-3.  Spoiler alert: they cost a bunch of money and don't put up a lot of key stats (Luca Modric).  Doesn't make them any less important, doesn't make them any less valuable. It's just their job.  I understand that MLS has, in the pass, had a cost associated with goals and assists.  That's changing.  CB's are starting to earn real money, and with Roman Burki goal keepers are too.  I literally don't care about how the Dynamo did things in 2006-2008, because THAT VERSION OF THE LEAGUE IS DEAD.  There were no DP's,  guaranteed contacts,  U-22 initiatives, or many other roster designations we have now back then.  The league is changing.  

Secondly, we have 3 DP spots.  Do we need more out of Sebas?  Sure.  Do we need more out of Teenage? Yup.  But you know who we really need....I don't know....anything out of?  Our Goal Keeper, RW, RB, LB and Ivan Franco.  Can we still buy down Teenage and get a legit third DP?  Yup, probably this summer.  Why does it take until summer?  Because that's when the biggest and best leagues in the world go on break. HH and Coco are our two most important players and have more asked of them than anyone on the field. It's the style and system we play. We need two pretty good players there, and we have those.  We need better players around them.  We hit HH because he's the highest paid player this team has ever had, and a top 10 highest-paid in the league.  I'm sick of the money portion of the conversation when it comes to HH because it gives some of us unreasonable expectations of him.  He's not a guy that's going to get you 20 goal contributions a year.  That's not who he is, that's not even what his position demands. HH's job is to control the game and get it to guys who make plays.  No, you can't find a guy just as good as him for $150-$600k.  Joao Paulo is the closest comparison, he's a DP too.  If they take a DP slot, it literally doesn't matter how much money they make because it all costs the same against the cap.  Some of us saw the figures that HH and Coco were bringing in, and set unreachable expectations.  I also think there's some jealousy there and (this is not my opinion, just calling people out) anti-Mexico sentiment. There are people that simply think he was brought here as an advertisement and nothing more.  I think every star is brought in as an advertisement, but if you listen to what Pat, Asher, and Ted have been saying, HH was brought in to transform the locker room and the mentality as well.  If he can get that done, I don't care what they paid him.

This is just the same ol' Dynamo:

No, this is a different version of the Dynamo......They're just (currently) still terrible though. I'll tell you one thing that's the same: the team loves to create chances they can't finish.  Last year's Goal Efficiency: (Goals Scored - XG): -1.3 (8th worst).  Through the first two games this year: -1.3 (4th worst in the league).  In 2020: -11.6 (5th worst in the league).  Sebas has actually helped that, because he's a solid finisher.  Despite not scoring a single goal from open play in 2 games this year, they're mid-pack in xG (13th).  The Dynamo are 5th in the league in shots/90, but have yet to score a goal from open play in 180 minutes. Tate Schmitt, our backup LB who is starting while Brad Smith rehabs a knee injury, has as many shots (4) as our two strikers combined (Sebas - 2, Thor 2) and more shots on target (3/1). There is a disconnect between this team and it's strikers, and a lack of creativity inside the box and final third.  

"I'm sick of watching players leave and immediately get better":

There's maybe 1 guy you could make that case for.  No, Fafa hasn't gotten better.  I've watched every Nashville game and he's the same Fafa that played here (which was the same Fafa from Dallas and Philly by the way). He runs, he draws fouls, he had an assist, he did all of those things here too. He also still gets the ball taken from him inside the box.  Mattias Vera has yet to see the field for Argentinos Junior, Darwin Quintero has been pretty decent for America (2 goals, 4 assists in 6 games), Memo has had two very Memo games for LAG (and has 0 goals and 0 assists), and Lundy's barely made it off the bench for Austin.  Sam Junqua had 2 uneventful minutes for Frisco. They haven't gotten better, they just play for better teams.  

Tim Parker has actually played really well, a lot of that has to do with him being in a system with a good level of protection around him. He's got two really good defensive midfielders in front of him, and their two full-backs have been there covering his back.  He's also got really good chemistry so far with his partner Kyle Heibert.  St. Louis is a really good fit for him.  I liked all these guys and wish them well, but we also cant pretend like they are just beating the pants off MLS out there.

I'm actually sick of watching all these new teams win:

We all are.  HEY PAT!  HEY ASHER! Can we get a good team too?  MLS is like....handing them out like Halloween Candy.  Can we jump in on that?  Can we get a TAM starter pack, an extra international slot (because some idiot permanently traded one of ours away), and some really exciting young players?  

If the Dynamo don't make the playoffs, Pat Onstad needs to go:

He'll probably get fired.  They all have come out and said the goal is to make the playoffs.  They haven't exactly said it's Playoffs or bust,  but I think they're feeling the pressure.  My only problem with all of this is that I don't think I've ever seen a fanbase so ready to just fire every coach and GM that steps foot in Houston before they've even played a game.  I'm not saying give it time, but it's going to take time, no matter how impatient we are.

Other Notes:

I'm extremely jealous of the atmosphere in these new clubs:

St. Louis, Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, Atlanta, LAFC, and Cinci have built great atmospheres and fan bases.  It's honestly what soccer SHOULD be about.  In game atmosphere during games is what sets it apart from every other sport on the planet.  I'm hoping that we can rebuild this in Houston.  I never got to experience the Robertson Days, but it would be great to stand there singing and cheering with all of you.  I'd love to hear 20,000 strong singing 3 little birds more than just 15 minutes before kickoff.  We should sing it after every time the other team scores.  There's a million things I'd love to see done, but more than anything I just want to see a packed Shell Energy with rowdy and fun fans.

One thing we agree on:

If you're reading this, you love the Dynamo.  We also all hate Austin.  We need a win, let's show up, bring some friends, and get behind our guys.  They for sure need us. Let's show up, show out, and #BringTheNasty

Thanks again for reading:

Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange,

Brian

San Antonio FC & thoughts on Coco Carrasquilla

 

It wasn't the most convincing performance, but it was a win.  With the way the last three weeks have gone, we'll take it.  With the way the last two years have gone, I'll take something to cheer for and the chance at a trophy.  There are many things I like about the USOC, but mostly I just like winning.  There were some good things, some bad things, and some ugly things. But at the end of the day, the Good Guys won and advanced on to the next round of the Lamar Hunt: U.S. Open Cup. It was encouraging to get the win without heavy use of some of the starting 11.  While I'm worried about Sebas' availability for all the games #Naranja have coming up, being able to pull one off without the use of DQ, Parker, Hadebe, Coco, and Lundy is tremendous.  To get a clean sheet with a heavily rotated backline that included Zarek Valentine is even better.  We all would have loved for it to be 4-0, but we'll just take the win.

The Good:

Michael Nelson

I thought Nelson did a good job helping keep San Antonio off the score sheet.  Nelson stopped their best chance off a set piece 38 minutes in by Dominick Hernandez.  somehow managed to knock away a shot after Ethan Bartlow's errant backward header in the 71st minute.  Nelson broke on a couple of balls in the box, and although he wasn't perfect and definitely had a few plays that left you holding your breath (and me screaming at my television). Credit due, however, as he did enough to earn a clean sheet. 

Finding Sebas in the box:

It was nice to see Sebas get up in the box and bang home a header.  It was a nice ball into the box from Sam Junqua, and Sebas timed it well.  I was beginning to think it was going to go to PK's after Memo's miss.  We saw it in the preseason, if Sebas gets the ball in the box he can and will finish.  He hasn't gotten enough service this year, but they have found him off of two set-pieces now, and hopefully, they can start to find a way to unlock him in open play.  He did manage to get off 4 shots in this game which is a season-high, 2 of which were on target.

Brooklyn Raines

I thought Raines had a really good showing, but he was the lowest-rated starter by SofaScore.com.  He was highly active on both sides of the ball and was effective against San Antonio FC's press by taking people on.  He hit Thiago and Pasher down the flanks on some really nice through balls, though nothing really came out of it.  Raines runs plays through, he doesn't give up on balls no matter how far away from them they are which is a welcome sight.  He shut down several SAFC attacks simply through body positioning, and he angles his body really well in defense.  Brooklyn won the corner that led to Sebas' goal.  While he had a couple of bad mistakes in his own half, they (luckily) didn't come back to bite him.  There are rumors about his eligibility to play with the first team, but Raines definitely looked like a guy who will be a contributor here in the future.  Excited to see where the young fella goes from here. 

The Bad

The Quick/Short Passing Game:

Once again, there were some terrible passes by guys who are first-teamers and several extremely bad give-aways that luckily didn't turn into goals.  Early on, Sebas had a nice flick on to Fafa for a run, but Fafa took a bad touch trying to get back on his right foot.  Dorsey had several passes to the touchline video board, and the overall passing efficiency was 77%.  Houston dominated possession stats (61%).  Thiago had a couple of flick-ons that went into a crowd instead of the space players were running into. Memo had some really sloppy and lazy passes trying to be quick when he had time and no one on him. 

Griffen Dorsey

Dorsey wasn't on his best game.  Picked up several really bad fouls in dangerous positions, like the one 13 minutes into the game that SAFC almost capitalized on. What's funny, is SofaScore.com actually rated him as the highest-rated starter. For a guy who's been in the starting 11 for most of the early season, this was a disappointing game.  He did get forward and overlap quite a bit, but never really threatened.  He lost 15 of his 62 touches.  He did some good things, like winning 3 fouls, completing two key passes, and winning 6 of his 9 duels, but Dorsey needs to be more assertive against a USL side. 

The Ugly

Memo Rodriguez.

Everyone is going to remember the shot he missed.  A veteran of his ilk, Memo has to put that away.  Memo wasn't all terrible.  He won a ton of possessions for the Dynamo and made some good decisions on the ball.  SAFC gave him a huge pocket in the midfield for most of the night, and he did some really good things with the ball.  He had a really good chance through traffic at the 66-minute mark that was saved.  But when you are in behind the defense, 1v1 with the keeper and the left side of the net WIDE open, you have to put that home.

Marcelo Palomino

Everyone on social media was calling for this, and Palomino actually came on and was greatly disappointing. He touched the ball 13 times and lost 9 of them.  Had a freekick at the 76th minute he hit right into the wall, recovered it, and gave it right back. He was 0-4 in duels, only completed 43% of his passes, and looked fairly out of sorts the whole night.  Had a terrible one-touch pass directly to a streaking guy in the wrong shirt deep in his own end that led to a back corner chance in the 80th minute. I was hoping he'd come on with the same energy as Raines, but I'd seen this before in MLSNP games.  Palomino can really strike the ball if he has time and space.  He's not great against pressure and lacks poise in the final third. Palomino has to get better with the ball at his feet.  I'd like to see him again, but he's got a lot of growing to do.

Presentation on ESPN+

The video quality was terrible, and it seemed like they were shooting a Michael Bay movie.....((insert "shaky cam")).  Seriously, was the guy filming holding an iPhone 6 or something?  I'm not kidding when I say that our high school games shot on an iPad look better.  Not only was the quality bad, but there weren't even replays to look at some questionable calls.  There were three times that a ball hit a defender's hand in the box.  There was never a replay angle on any of the three that showed a definitive picture of any of them.  The game wasn't in a USL stadium, it was at PNC.  Surely we could get some better video equipment there.  

On Coco Carrasquilla.

A fan favorite, impact player, and great person. Securing services of one of top young players in MLS and CONCACAF was a top priority for the club this summer. #CocoSeQueda pic.twitter.com/NinNZyevj1

— Asher Mendelsohn (@asherhdfc) May 10, 2022

I see people that are fairly upset at this signing, I see people out there that are ecstatic about this signing.  I'm actually happy about it, because it shows to me that ownership and the FO are willing to spend money.  For years we bemoaned both for lack of investment and spending $2million to make Coco permanent shows intent.  As much as I have criticized Coco for not being good enough recently, he's also undeniably our best all-around midfielder.   It's not even close.  Coco leads the team in balls recovered, is third in tackles and second in interceptions.  He can put the ball at his feet and take people on, and he can (at times) make passes downfield to Sebas in pockets or to Fafa on the run.  He needs to be more consistent, but I think he's the best partner for HH in the midfield given the way that we want to play.  He's also 23, and if he continues to grow he's a player that we can sell on for more than we paid.  While I don't care about investment deals with my soccer team (I want another star above the crest), that's also the business of professional soccer and a piece we've been missing for years.

Coco settled in against Austin FC and actually played fairly well from minutes 60-80.  He needs to be able to play like that for a full 90 minutes.  He's got abilities nobody else on this team has, but he has to be more composed in the attacking third.  He's got to link up better with the top 4, and it would help if he could find the slot trailing the ball and bang home a couple of goals from the top of the box.  However, I'm never going to disparage this team for spending money (especially after the last seven years).   It's not my money or my budget.  To me, they still don't spend enough money.  I understand it's a salary cap league, but this should be an exciting story, not a frustrating one. Still a long way to go, but:

Next Up:

Nashville F.C.

Need to pick up at least a point in this one, but more importantly we need to play well.  

Also, first 2,500 get this sweet flag.  Please be late so I can bring one home :)

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

Brian

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

Stealing a point - Dynamo 1:1 Rapids

 

What a beautiful night it was at PNC.  The weather was terrific (70 degrees at kickoff), the crowd was fairly large (17,007 reported) and rowdy, and the Dynamo managed to eke out a point in the closing minutes of the game.  In a tough, hard-fought battle with lots to talk about the Dynamo managed to play toe-to-toe with one of the Western Conference's better teams.  It wasn't always pretty, and it didn't result in 3 points, but in the end, it was a workman-like performance that managed to do just enough.  

The starting 11 saw only one change from the previous game against Vancouver.  Teenage Hadebe got the nod over Tim Parker for his first start of the season.  Steve Clark, Daniel Steres, Adam Lundkvist, Griffen Dorsey rounded out the backline, with Coco Carrasquilla, Mattias Vera, and Darwin Quintero playing in front of them in the midfield.  Fafa Picault and Corey Baird provided the edge on the attack, with Sebas getting the nod again at striker.  With Colorado having an excellent defense (coming off back to back clean-sheets, returning most of a defense that ranked 2nd in the Western Conference in Goals Allowed in 2021), and having one of the more underrated midfield's in MLS, Colorado does a great job choking off the midfield and making teams play on the edge.  With Speedster's Michael Barrios and Jonathan Lewis at the top, they are always a threat on the counter. Paulo Nagamura's decision to go with a more attacking and creative midfield (over the conservative midfield we saw the first two games) and the more athletic Hadebe in the back was a risk-reward scenario that came out even.  A look at the night, the game, and a few of the highlights.

Bring on the Smoke:

Right away you could see the two opposing styles begin to take place, with the Dynamo trying to hold possession, play deep and control the lines and Colorado coming out with setting in a mid-block defense, pressing the midfield, and looking to play the ball deep down the sidelines.  Houston almost broke through early, after a decent buildup down the left side, Quintero found Baird just in behind the defense.  Baird chipped in a fairly decent cross but Lalas Abubakar was the only one on the other end of it.  Time and time again in the first ten minutes of the game, Houston gobbled up deep passes by the Rapids, built up play through nice combination work, and then lobbed a fruitless pass into the box.  Colorado's backline of Aaron Trusty, Danny Wilson, and Lalas Abubakar was making anything into the box almost impossible to connect on.  Fafa, Baird, and Dorsey all had crosses that went through the box without even a threat on the other end. Colorado in turn saw Barrios and Rosenberry both had crosses sail through the 6-yard box that had no one on the end of.  At the 10:00 mark, Colorado nearly broke through. A terrific deep ball by Abubakar found Keegan Rosenberry in perfect stride.  Rosenberry hit a perfect volley to Jonathan Lewis inside the box.  Lewis cut back to his right foot and hit a nice strike that Clark managed to deflect away for a corner.  Colorado dominated possession for much of the first 20 minutes, as the Dynamo set deep to look to protect.  Barrios made a dangerous run tucked in behind Rubio at the 11:00 mark, only to see the ball be a step too long.

The first 15 minutes also saw Thor loosening up in a hurry, and it seemed like Sebas was going to take a very early seat.  I never heard an explanation and they didn't mention it on the broadcast, but Ferreira wasn't moving very quick out there and had taken several awful touches just losing the ball.  The game bogged down a tad from minutes 15-30, with Michael Barrios' right-footed blast off a nice turn in the penalty circle being really the only clear chance by either team.  Michael Barrios fired another laser across goal that was just nicked away by Steres at the last second.  Daniel Trusty flattened Fafa Picault on a run down the right sideline moments later, earning a yellow.  

At the 40th minute mark, Colorado broke through.  Seeing it live, we couldn't see how Mark Anthony-Kaye was unmarked at the back post for a sitter.  Adam Lundkvist, Darwin Quintero, and Steve Clark were pleading their case to Nima Saghafi, and I thought it deserved another look to see if Kaye was off on the kick.  End of the day Danny Wilson did a great job getting between Clark and the ball, and Griffen Dorsey lost Anthony-Kaye for a split second, allowing him to get the tap in. Colorado won the first half, earning 4 corners and firing off 6 shots to Houston's 3 (0 on target).  They were definitely the most dangerous of the two teams.  The Dynamo didn't have a decent crack at the goal and Yarbrough made it through the first 45 minutes of play without having to make a single save.  Coming out of the half, when asked by Dany Rodriguez how to fix it, Paulo Nagamura said: "Stop giving the ball away at the middle of the field, as simple as that."  

The Second half was a different story:

While there wasn't a big tactical change, the Dynamo came out playing much more "quick" in the second half.  Lundkvist played a long ball into Fafa Picault on a sprint, Trusty was there to head it away, but Quintero nearly picked up the second ball inside the box. Although still sitting in a mid/deep-block, the midfield was playing faster and spraying the ball to the Center Backs or to Lundkvist on 1-2 touches. 3-minutes in, Carrasquilla took a pass from Lundkvist, pivoted, and fired a diagonal to Corey Baird about 20 yards out with Lundkvist looping down the left flank.  Baird fired in a perfect cross to Sebas, who missed the ball with his head and it went off the back of his shoulder over the goal.  Carrasquilla won a found a minute later, and at the 53-minute mark, Quintero dribbled through almost the entire Rapids defense, only to have it knocked away by Danny Wilson right in front of the goal.  Colorado set in deeper, playing 5 across the back, bottling up both Quintero and Ferreira.  The Dynamo just couldn't find that final pass for much of the second half but began finding cracks in the Rapid's fortified defenses and dominated the run of play for the better part of 20 minutes. 

-59th Minute: Darwin Quintero gets knocked down (and commits a total handball that the refs missed), gets up, tracks the ball down, and fires a lofted through ball to Baird on a dime.  Baird misplays the touch, and the ball gets knocked away.

-60th Minute: Thor makes a nice run down the left side, fires one across the box that is cleared by Wilson.

-63rd Minute: Baird wins a free-kick just outside the box.  Quintero fires it into the wall.  Baird tracks down the ball finds Lundkvist who fires a cross a foot too high for Fafa.

-65th Minute: after some deliberate buildup, Teenage fires a 40 yard pass on a rope to Thor.  Thor takes a quick touch turn and fires a shot right at Yarbrough.

-69th Minute:  Coco makes a nice 20-yard pass to Thor, who controls it and squares it back to a trailing Baird, Colorado manages to recover and the Dynamo win a throw in. On the throw-in, Coco one touches a pass to Quintero who fires a shot just high (Pasher and Zeka come on).

-71st Minute: Dorsey lobs a beautiful ball over the top to Vera, who heads it to Quintero inside the right side of the box, Quintero fires it wide right.

-75th Minute: After some slow buildup, the ball finds Zeka on the right side.  Zeka fires in a cross which finds Thor's head, but Thor doesn't get enough of his head on the ball and it scoots wide left.

-75th Minute: The Rapids finally hit on a counter.  After Tyler Pasher stumbles taking on 3 defenders and gives the ball away on the right side, Rubio finds Center Back Aaron Trusty on a beautiful run in between Steres and Hadebe, and behind Coco who is flying down the center of the pitch.  Trusty is 1v1 with Steve Clark, but Clark reads it perfectly and takes the ball off Trusty's foot.  The ball deflects away and Steres knocks it out of bounds.

-76th Minute: After a nice interception, Teenage brings the ball forward all the way into the attacking third and lays one off to Fafa.  Fafa hits a cross, but it's blocked by the nearest defender.

-80th Minute: Quintero takes the ball away from Shinyashiki, taps it to Pasher, who combos it to a streaking Vera.  Vera just looses his footing and the ball gets knocked out to Lundi.  Lundkvist fires up the left sideline to Fafa, who drills in a cross for Thor that goes all the way through to Yarbrough.

-82nd Minute: Zeka chases down a loose ball and fires one up to Pasher.  Pasher fires a side footer into the box that also makes it's way to the Rapids' Keeper.

It was at the 84th minute when Nagamura used his final two subs (Memo -> Quintero; Ceren -> Vera) that things turned fortunate.  In the 65th Minute I looked at Baird struggling to get up and down the field and told Wade: "We're gassed.  We need some fresh legs."  You could see some of the guys were really puffing out there, and the transitions were getting slower.  Pasher and Thor had turned the game with their energy.  Memo and Ceren helped turn the tide.  Colorado was struggling to simply get the ball across midfield for most of the second half, and while it was a complete unbelievably bad series of plays by Yarbrough that cost them two points, the energy of the bench made a huge difference in the game.   It was a turnover that found it's way to Coco in the 87th minute that set up the series of events.  Coco pushed it right down the middle of the field and had his choice of two wide-open teammates to choose from.  With Fafa on his left and Thor on his right, Coco hit one about a yard too far out in front of Fafa.  The stadium deflated, for about 5 seconds.

What happened next was soo quick, there wasn't much time to process it.  Yarbrough lined up the goal-kick, and was watching the ref (while wasting as much time as allowed.)  He then fired a pass directly to Memo Rodriguez standing all alone inside the midfield circle.  The ball hit Memo right in the chest.  

Memo controlled it, with Pasher, Thor, and Fafa streaking to the goal.  Thor's run down the middle drew both Wilson and Trusty.  Abubakar stepped up to take Memo, leaving a gaping hole behind him. Memo fired a perfectly weighted ball his right and hit Pasher just in perfect time.  Here's where things get really weird.  Yarbrough had come up and out of the box.  If Memo had hit it a yard further, Yarbrough snags it.  Yarbrough can't make a play with his hands, because he's outside the box. When Pasher hits it, Yarbrough knee slides instead of getting wide.  Pasher tucked one right past him and into the right side of the goal.  89:09 gone in the game, all the momentum was our way, and I actually though we might be able to sneak another one in.

The place exploded, but you could see the guys were pushing for a second.  Steve Clark was yelling and waving the guys to get in place.  Memo fired a 91st-minute cross into the box that got deflected and wound up in Yarbrough's lap.  Colorado wasn't done yet either, however, as seconds later Jack Price squared one to a wide-open Bryan Acosta who fired it yards wide to the left. On the ensuing possession, Thor won a free kick in a dangerous area that Memo hit well but didn't have enough on it to get past Yarbrough.  The whistle blew and you had to feel fortunate to get a point, but also a little disappointed we didn't get three.  It's not a game we should have won, but it's one that could have gone either way.  Landing the point at home was a testament to the team battling back, and stepping up to the challenge of playing a real quality Western Conference team.  There's still a lot of room to grow, and a lot of season left, but it was nice to get a point regardless of how it came.

Will Sebas breakthrough?

It's not even about scoring a goal at this point, it's just about putting together a decent performance.  Sebas has yet to impress in literally any facet of the game.  His combo play has been a little off, his holdup play has been poor (dispossessed 9 times through 4 games, team-high), you can often see him watching the ball when he should be running to space (which he's having trouble finding).  You can make a case that he's not getting good service, but you can also see that he's just not finding space to get the service.  He doesn't really seem to make runs at all, and he's not using his body to shield off defenders. For most of the last two games, he's actually playing under Quintero instead of vice versa. Of the 7 shots he's managed this year, 1 has been on target and 6 have been blocked.  He's also complaining to his teammates a lot and had some words for Paulo when he came off last night.  I don't know what it'll take to unlock the guy we saw banging home goals in the pre-season, but Paulo needs to figure it out soon.  With Ferreira being called up to Paraguay for World Cup Qualifying, it's a shame they don't have this time to work out some kinks. 

Notables:

Teenage Hadebe:

Landed his first start of the season and put in 90 solid minutes.  Had three interceptions, 7 recoveries, 8 clearances, was 100% in areal duals and hit 97.8% of his passes.  Was stride for stride with Colorado's front line the entire game.  He gobbled up Rubio and Lewis a few times and hit Thor on a laser to set up a chance late in the game.  Wasn't his best performance, but was a solid one.

Thor: 

Came on at 59:40.  Played really physical, made several nice runs, a couple of dangerous crosses, and was extremely physical fighting for the ball.  The tap and turn shot he took in the 65th minute was a veteran Center Forward type play.  Yes, it was right at the keeper, but the touch and body control are something not a lot of guys in this league have.

Tyler Pasher

Only played 19 minutes, and was a little up and down.  Had two plays after he first came on that were really rough.  His taking on 3 defenders trying to cup back to his left foot led to a counter that should have put Colorado up 2-0.  Lost the ball trying to cut back inside in the 77th minute too.  But settled down and made a couple of dangerous plays late including the goal.  Hit on 10/11 passes and drew a late foul. Oh, and this 👇

🇨🇦💰🐐. Enough Said. #HoldItDown @Typash pic.twitter.com/Eo1ysQh8cT

— Houston Dynamo Memes (@dynamo_memes) March 20, 2022

Memo Rodriguez:  

Only chipped in 7 minutes but made the big play that earned the point, Also got the most laughable yellow card I've seen while still on the bench for throwing the ball to his teammate in the corner.

Coco Carrasquilla:

Was really good once again.  Picked up 15 recoveries, and 2 tackles and 3 interceptions.  Coco hit on 81% of his passes, but was under pressure every time he touched the ball.  Had a bit of an up and down first half but adjusted nicely and really took it to Colorado's midfield in the second half on both sides of the ball.

Enjoy the break everyone!  Thanks again for reading!

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian

Houston Dynamo - Vancouver White Caps.

 

Pregame Talk:

There was some buzz pregame when starting 11's were introduced.  Fans have been waiting to see Coco Carrasquilla and Darwin Quintero in the starting lineup, and after two scoreless games Paulo Nagamura made the switch.  And while there was buzz around this, Pat Onstad also dropped a bomb during the pregame show.  When asked by Glen Davis about the GAM brought in by the trading of Derrick Jones:  "Yeah, we're looking to spend that right away. We have somebody lined up, hopefully in the next week or so.....we'll be able to announce.....in an attacking position. We need to get some more players in here I think to help the group. But what we are excited about is the group we do have. I think they work really hard defensively.  We gave up 59 goals last year, so far we've only given up one.  So that's good but on the other side, you know, we haven't scored yet. So hopefully we can go bang in a few against Vancouver."  It's an exciting time to be a Dynamo fan, this group is being aggressive as far as getting new guys in here.  No idea who Pat is talking about, but hopefully it's a 10 or a right-winger to help with the attack."  

While this statement perked up my ears, what happened on the pitch over the opening 30 minutes perked up my eyes.  Coco and Quintero didn't disappoint and did more for the attack in the first five minutes than the midfield has done all season. Coco's ability to break lines with lights out passing and Quintero's ability to....well....be Darwin freaking Quintero was a much-needed sight for La Naranja and Paulo Nagamura.  The game started off fast, the Dynamo came out aggressive early, and even though they fell behind 1-0 managed to battle back and take control of the game.  In a game that featured a lot of firsts, the 3 points were much needed, and hopefully there's more to come.

The first 30 Minutes:

From the opening possession of the game, the Dynamo held firm on the back two lines forcing Vancouver to play over the top.  Setting up in a 4-3-3 that played more like a 4-2-3-1, with Quintero really pushing high and playing in space behind Vancouver's midfield, the Dynamo were looking to play long balls through the lines to Quintero, Baird, and Fafa.  It returned immediate dividends. On their first possession, building from the back, Griffen Dorsey fired one down the right touchline to Sebastian Ferreira who one-touched it to a trailing Corey Baird. Baird fired it to Darwin about 30 yards from goal in the middle of the field.  After some quick combos from Quintero and Sebas, Quintero tried to play a through ball that just missed a streaking Sebas, but found Corey Baird trailing behind.  Baird fired in a near-perfect cross that just missed Fafa's head at the back post.  Quintero chased the loose ball down and fired a right-footed bender that goalkeeper Thomas Hasel just managed to get a hand on and knock over the net.  It was 1:30 into the game, but the Dynamo had let their intentions be known. 

Not only were the Dynamo pushing the ball with tempo and purpose, but they were also defending and pressing much higher than in the previous two games.  The first ten minutes saw the Dynamo look increasingly threatening, and the White Caps were barely able to get the ball across midfield.

5:00 - Quintero tries to play Fafa through, the pass is just a hair too long.

5:30 - Sebas puts pressure on Hasel, who hits one directly to Baird.  Baird heads it to Quintero, Quintero plays it to Vera, who hits one just over the crossbar.

6:30 - Dorsey dribbles through the entire Vancouver team, fires in a cross that gets deflected by Dajome, and ends up in the lap of Hasel. High pressing wins them a Throw-in deep in the final third. 

7:55 - Sebas finally gets the ball in a dangerous position with space, fires a shot that's deflected, and earns a corner.

9:30 - High pressing forces Vancouver to play the ball long from deep in their own third, Parker heads it to Coco who earns a foul. 

11:00 - Pressure once again forces a bad pass from Vancouver, Parker plays it to Baird who earns a foul.

That's when disaster struck. In really their first possession in some time that went into the attacking third, off a throw-in and after some quick combo play, Ryan Gaud laid a perfectly weighted pass to Cristián Dajome who was streaking down the sideline after throwing the ball in.  Dajome hit a pinpoint cross on the first touch, Lucas Cavellini found his way behind Daniel Steres and blasted it past Steve Clark.  Steres got too wide of the posts, Parker didn't get over in time, and Cavallini found the space and side-footed it to the near post.  It was the only threat Vancouver had had in the opening 15 minutes, and they found a way to capitalize on it.  

Although Vancouver broke through, it really didn't seem to phase the Dynamo or alter their plan.  They just went right back to it.

17:30 - Ball played up to Fafa, Fafa takes on Tristan Blackmon and wins a corner.

18:00 - Quintero fires in a corner that just misses Fafa, Coco chases down the ball and fires in a dangerous cross, but a goal kick is given.

18:30 - Fafa steals the goal kick, races past everyone and fires a cross to Sebas that Hasal manages to steal away.

20:00 - Dynamo take the ball away again in the attacking third, and after some excellent quick touch combo plays, Darwin corrals the ball and fires a shot that is deflected out of bounds earning a corner.

20:30 - Dynamo short play the corner, Coco fires in another cross that just misses Sebas' head, earns another corner.

21:42 - Dynamo take away a clearance at midfield, play it up to Coco who earns another foul.  After the foul, Darwin fires a great ball into the box, which is knocked away by Hasel.  Coco takes the rebound and fires a blast that is deflected, which Baird chases down and fires one wide.

25:00 - High pressure sees Quintero take the ball away from Leonard Owusu.  Quintero takes the ball and lobs a dangerous pass to a racing Fafa, ball ends up in Hasel's lap.

29:46 - After building from the back and switching field a couple of times, the ball finds Darwin Quintero on the right flank who chips a lob to Sebas, but Hasel goes up and gets it in front of him.

30:49 - The high press gets Vancouver again, as Baird forces a bad pass by Florian Jungwirth. Coco tracks the ball down and one-touches it to Sebas.  Sebas has Fafa wide open on the left flank, but tries to do too much with it had has the ball taken away.

The first 30 minutes were dominated by the Dynamo, they were by far the better team in every way except the scoreline.  Most of it was spent in Vancouver's half of the field with the Dynamo looking extremely threatening on the end of almost every possession.  It was an exciting, but frustrating start.  Things would turn however, over the next 15 minutes.

The Next 15 minutes:

After Vera won a foul at the edge of the attacking third at the 31:00 minute mark, the Dynamo quickly found Coco who carried the ball left.  He found Fafa ducking inside about 30 yards out, and cut back inside to his right.  Fafa laid it back to him, and Coco lobbed an unbelievable pass over the top to Baird who had found his way behind Vancouver's back three.  While their entire backline lobbied for an offsides call, Baird tracked it down and just managed to hit Darwin right in front of the net to level the score.  It was a really good play by Baird, but the Dynamo were helped out by Vancouver just giving up on the play.  Vancouver, however, started to find cracks in the Dynamo defense.  Lundkvists huge block on Cavellini in the 34th minute was one of several huge plays by Dynamo defenders on the night and helped save 2 points.  Moments after, Baird found Quintero just outside the box who fired a left-footer on target, but Hasel just manages to knock it away.  The last 15 minutes of the first half was much more even, and a lot slower paced.  The Dynamo got into the dressing room tied 1:1, but had really been the most dangerous team without question. 

Total. Team. Goal.

That's lovely stuff, y'all 😍#HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/CEBNunIjaU

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) March 13, 2022

The Next 15 Minutes:

The second half started much like the first half ended.  The opening 5 minutes was fairly slow-paced, back and forth and even.  When Lundkvist gobbled up a poor touch from Ryan Gauld in the 49th minute and fired it upfield to Coco, that turned quickly.  Coco took one good touch, and fired a laser to Sebas 30 yards downfield and just outside the box.  Sebas had two defenders on him and tried to cut back to his right with Florian Jungwirth charging hard. It's hard to tell if Sebas took a bad touch, fumbled under the pressure, or meant to pass the ball, but the ball wound up right at the feet of Darwin Quintero who scored a golazo from about 20 yards out.  The blast found the top right corner, clean past a diving Hasel.  

We'll be watching this one for weeks to come, @darwinJR3.

Time to put this one on repeat, H-Town 🔁🔁🔁🔁 pic.twitter.com/Q9xLhzxg6x

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) March 13, 2022

The next ten minutes was more back-and-forth action, as each team was really working the high press and spreading the field. Quintero just missed Sebas a couple of times.  And while both teams managed 1 more shot over this span (Dajome's 56th-minute scooter through a pack of players that went wide, and Vera's 60th-minute blast off a corner clearance that was blocked), neither team really managed anything of danger.

The Final 30 Minutes:

Minutes 70-90 belonged to Vancouver.  After Vanni Sartini subbed on Marcus Godinho and Deiber Caicedo in the 66th minute, the tide seemed to turn. From minutes 70-90, Vancouver managed 10 shots on goal, although only one was really close.  6 of those shots came in a 70th-minute flurry off back-to-back corners after Steres headed a Dajome cross out of bounds.  The first flurry saw a header hit the crossbar, and then Dorsey made a tremendous play going up and blocking Lucas Cavallini's header with his head from just inches away. Vancouver found the ball twice more, for two more shots inside the box that were both blocked by a wall of Dynamo defenders.  The second flurry had Caicedo miss-hit the corner (which was blocked by Parker) and Tristan Blackmon track that down and mishit one that Clark gobbled up.  Time and time again the White Caps threatened, and time and time again Dynamo defenders stepped in front of shots.  At the 75th minute, Paulo subbed on Memo, Thor, and Ceren for Quintero, Ferreira, and Carrasquilla, and the game settled back down a bit.  Thor had a great chance off an 82nd-minute set-piece that he just mis-hit into the ground, but it still managed to make Hasel dive to get the bouncer off the post. The Dynamo managed one more barrage of blasts in the 90th minute which saw Memo blast a free-kick off the crossbar that just missed the top left corner, which a defender tried to clear but it hit Darwin Ceren and deflected back in play.  The ball found it's way back to Thorinside the box, and he turned fired a left-footer that was saved by Hasal. 

Notables:

Coco Carrasquilla

Had an unbelievable night.  10 recoveries, 3 interceptions, 17 pressures, 236 Yards of progressive distance, 51/51 in targets received, 2 fouls drawn, 71 touches, 54/60 on passing, including 11/14 on deep balls, 1 key pass, and 4 through balls, and 6 passes completed into the attacking third.  He generated 5 shots and was part of both goals. He was all over the field and was instrumental in many of their chances and buildup play.  He and Quintero played off each other all night, and he got the ball to Baird, Fafa, and Sebas in areas where they could do something with it.  Was really nice to see this, and wish he would have been healthy from the get-go.

Darwin Quintero

Did what Darwin does.  63 touches (45 in the attacking third, and 5 inside the penalty box), his two goals don't tell the entire impact he had on the game.  He was breaking lines with the ball at his feet (4/5 in taking on defenders, 104 yards in progressive distance), he was dicing Vancouver up with passes (13 progressive passes completed, 2 key passes, and was trying to force-feed Sebas all night while still dominating the game), and he was actively defending in the attacking third (10 pressures in the attacking third, 5 recoveries.)  I know Darwin can't play 90 minutes a night 34 games a year, but here's to hoping he is making starts and playing 70+ minutes more often than not over the rest of the year.

Griffen Dorsey

Dorsey made a case for himself last night.  Defensively (9 recoveries, 2 tackles, 1 recovery, 2 blocks and an unbelievable goal-line clearance, 100% defending 1v1), Offensively (54/60 passing including 10/13 on deep balls, 4 passes into the attacking third, and 3 through balls completed) and in possession (173 yards covered with the ball at his feet, 43/43 in receiving targets), Dorsey played like a guy fighting for his job and didn't disappoint.  With Zeka still waiting to make his first start, Dorsey made a strong case to keep the job for now.

Sebas

The Dynamo were trying to force-feed Ferreira the ball last night, and the results were mostly disappointing. Not because he didn't score a goal, but because many times he was trying to do too much with it.  He got the ball taken away from him several times inside the box, he took too many touches often and missed open teammates.  He did (accidentally) notch the assist on Darwin's second goal, but he needs to relax and let the game come to him more.  He did manage 3 shots, but all were blocked.   

Corey Baird

It wasn't always pretty, but he got the job done.  Baird did a good job leading the defense, posting 2 tackles in the attacking third, both of which led to chances. He notched an assist on Quintero's goal and linked up with Quintero several times which led to a shot on goal. It wasn't always pretty, he gave the ball away too many times, but it was the most productive performance for Baird in a Dynamo uniform. 

Minor Notes:

• Teenage Hadebe looked terrible in the minutes he got down the stretch. He mistimed a header badly right before blocking the second shot.
• Adam Lundkvist also had a very quiet but highly productive night. Lundy had a big block in the first half and turned several Vancouver mistakes into counterattacks.  
• I love the supporters' sections totally firing up the Orange Smoke.  We need more of it.  PNC should be covered in Orange Fog when tipoff hits. I want 360° of Orange hell when our starting 11 walks on the field.
• The Dynamo now rank 1st in MLS in passing success rate (85.3%, slightly ahead of LAG) after ranking last for most of last season.
• The Dynamo held 58.7% possession last night and now rank 11th in MLS with 54% on the season.
• On the night of firsts: First Win, First Goal, Nagamura's first win as an MLS manager, First start for Quintero, First Start for Carrasquilla, the first appearance for Hadebe on the year, and first goal or assist for both Baird and Sebas in a Dynamo uniform. There's probably more, but those are just off the top of my head.

Next Up

Saturday, March 19th @ 7:30

PNC Stadium

Thanks again for reading, feel free to drop a comment.

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian