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.

It's all level now in Houston!

Aliyu Ibrahim answers back with his debut goal in MLS! #HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/HLcEgTEWiE

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 9, 2023

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 Fontàs 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

After a 2:1 Loss to Sporting K.C., one thing is abundantly clear. It's time to change the focal point.

 

This isn't the first time we've seen this, and this isn't a snap reaction.  What we saw on Wednesday night was a litany of inefficient, ineffective play from the focal point of the attack.  Over the last few weeks, Coach Paulo Nagamura has hunkered down his defensive gameplay and looked to strike on the counter.  Even though the game plan has been thrown out the window twice in the last 4 games, you can see what he's been trying to build.  Some of this has been out of necessity due to squad rotation, Vera missing several games, and a lack of attacking creativity.  Some of it has been out of teams exploiting gaps in our 4-3-3 defense.  The plan, however, has inarguably worked.  Beating Nashville while down a man,  playing Seattle toe to toe (although coming out with a 0:1 loss at PNC), and trouncing L.A. Galaxy before heading into Wednesday night's matchup vs. Sporting K.C. in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.  

While it was ultimately the defense that faltered,  it was the inability to either hit on the counter or hold possession that really did the Dynamo in.  The focal point of that attack, Darwin Quintero, did little to change that.  We all know that Darwin can make plays nobody else on this team can make.  To be absolutely clear, when Quintero is at his best, he makes plays few in this league can make.  But those plays are becoming fewer and far between.  What's happening over the month of May with large amounts of frequency are several key things:

(1) Darwin is giving the ball away in key positions on the field.  There are too many flicks, punches, lobs, and dribbles that end up in possession of the defense.  Against Sporting, Darwin touched the ball 50 times and gave it back 15.  Against Seattle, 43 touches, 14 possessions lost.  He played pretty well against Nashville but still gave the ball away 12 times on 42 touches.  He was abysmal against DC United, giving up 17 possessions on 41 touches.  That basically equates to turning the ball over 1 out of every 3 touches (58/176).  On the year he's averaging 38.3 touches a game, and giving away 12.8 of them (33.4%). 

(2) DQ only plays hard in brief spurts.  While he's only playing about 60 minutes a game, he doesn't move often enough.  If you compare him to Nico Lodeiro, Darwin is mostly a statue up top.

(3) He spends too much time playing on top of Sebas, instead of underneath him looking to give him service.  This causes Sebas to break back to get the ball, hold up, and make the play to the forwards in front of him, or DQ.  

(4) When he does get under Sebas, he's not getting Sebas the ball often enough.  Darwin likes to shoot, DQ loves to make the fancy play.  Right now, he just needs to rely on the simple play of getting the ball to the right guy.  If it's not there, play it back and reset.

(5) DQ's passing accuracy is awful.  He's 232/336 (69.4%) on the season, and only hitting on 71.9% of his short passes.  For comparison, Memo (78.5%; 91.7%), Coco (82.7%; 86.7%), and Sebas (72.4%; 74.2%) all surpass his numbers.  The only regular with a worse passing efficiency is Thor.  While he's been better the last three games, Darwin needs to start finding the passing touch we saw his first year here.

What happens from here?

Honestly, the attack looks better without DQ on the field.  Against L.A. Galaxy, Paulo basically went without a #10 (playing Ceren at a 6/sweeper position, and almost playing Vera and Memo as double 8's).  This put Ferreira squarely at the focus of the attack.  Sebas responded beautifully, with a goal and 2 assists.  Memo did an amazing job getting on the ball and firing to guys ahead of him on the run.  While Sebas was by far the engine that drove that win, Memo was the ignition.  #8 hit Baird three times in the opening 10 minutes, knifing the Galaxy defense.  The attack has been at it's best this year when Sebas gets the ball in space at the top of the attacking third.  This gives him enough room to find guys ahead of him, chase and get back into the box.  Without DQ fighting him for the same spot, Sebas absolutely flourished.  Thor and Baird kept good space and made well-timed runs to really put pressure on Carson, California's back 4.  Memo simply did (and has been doing) what the Dynamo need Quintero to do.  Hit guys on the run.

With HH in tow, and all the fans speculating who's going to lose minutes, it could easily be Quintero. For this team to progress and make a push this year, Sebas has to be the focal point.  The most amazing point about Sebas' game against the Galaxy was how efficient he was passing the ball.  He only passed the ball 12 times (completing 10) the entire game, 4 of them went for point-blank shots.  HH will play under Sebas, giving him the room up top to operate.  If you've watched Herrera play, you know he can hit guys on time, on target, in space.  There is a high likely hood we see HH play with a rotation of Ceren/Vera at the 6, and Coco/Memo opposite him.  To give Sebas more space, simply take the #10 out of the picture and let your 8's connect up.  This let's you drop an extra defender in defending, get's good triangles all over the field, and let's Sebas be the primary focus of the attack.

Some notes on Wednesday night:

Wednesday night is a super frustrating loss.  I was absolutely sure at the half we were going to win.  I mean, Corey Baird scored a goal for Pete's sake.  It had to be destiny.  While we looked shaky at times, we also were holding like this team had done over the last 4 games.  The second 45' was a completely different story.  We struggled to get forward, and Johnny Russell was blistering us.  When he leveled the score on a great strike, we failed to close down space and pressure him.  The second off a no-brainer pen was a beautiful strike.  I never at one point felt like we were the better team after the second half opened.  

While it's frustrating, and we can blame the lineup, squad rotation, formation, etc.  The Dynamo just played a really compact schedule. Tired legs and lack of depth had to have come into play. I wanted to win this cup badly, and give us some hardware to put in the cabinet.  However, this could be a blessing in disguise.  The Dynamo greatly lack quality depth, and getting into a regular schedule with a more steady lineup should give them more consistency over the second half of the season.  They can also now just focus on one campaign, and throw all their chips in.

Brooklyn Raines is the real deal.

He might have been the best CM on the field Wednesday night.  And while he's been playing really well in the USOC, Wednesday night was by far his best performance. He hit on 36/40 passes, had 1 key pass, won 4/5 of his duels, had 2 tackles, drew a foul, and on 47 touches, only gave 4 of them up.  But besides the stats, Raines flys all over the field.  The youngster flat out chases everything with desperation.  He flys into challenges, he's calm on the ball, he has super quick feet and can take on defenders and get the ball to the next level.  While we have to wait for him to achieve his HG status (which nobody really seems to know what that means exactly), this guy has a future here.  Here's hoping we get to see it before Europe comes calling.  

Next Up:

Dynamo vs. Real Salt Lake

Saturday, May 28th @ 7:30 PM

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy Utah

Until then, thanks again for reading.

#DejaloTodo, remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Brian

Dynamo fail big test on the road to Sporting KC

 

Ugh....

On a night where the Dynamo were matched up with rivals SKC in a packed Children's Mercy Park, they somehow clung to a 1-0 lead at the half.  That game shortly turned right after the break, when Peter Vermes' squad began to completely expose flaws in this Dynamo squad.  Yes, Gianluca Busio's strike was perfection on the free-kick, but the foul that led to it was indicative of the problems that the Dynamo were having in the defending third all night.  The cracks were apparent early.  Sporting found their way through on their very first possession of the game.  It took .22 seconds for Gadi Kinda to find a way through on the wing, and the Dynamo were lucky that Zarek Valentine drew a foul. Immediately you could see that Sporting KC's press was going to cause problems, and without a player capable of breaking them down through the middle on the pitch we had to hope that Tabs team could hold them off the scoreboard. At 2:55, Khiry Shelton blew by Boniek only to find the pass from Ille Sanchez a foot too long.  The Dynamo managed to connect one pass before Adam Lundkvist gave it back at midfield. KC was dominating possession and finding gaping wholes that led to a numbers advantage on literally every attack.  In the first 5 minutes of play, the Dynamo connected on a grand total of 4 passes, and never held the ball across midfield. 

It wasn't until the 10:47 minute mark when the Dynamo finally found their way across midfield and formulated some semblance of an attack.  When Fafa won the ball in the corner, and fired a ball that ended up to a streaking Mattias Vera (after a bad touch from Urruti) the Dynamo found their way in front 1-0.  The goal completely went against the run of play, because the Dynamo were really struggling at the time.  Vera made a great effort to get the ball and put his left foot on it.  It was the Dynamo's first real threat of the game, and Vera put a good finish on it for his first career MLS goal.  

Kansas City was completely unfazed, they simply went right back to work.  Sporting was methodical, they moved the ball, they found open space, and if they didn't get what they wanted from a possession they simply went and got the ball back.  The Dynamo didn't cross midfield again until the 22-minute mark, and that was off an errant pass by Sporting KC.  They didn't connect on a single pass across midfield until Tim Parker found Vera on a 30-yard strike at the 33-minute mark,(which Vera couldn't control and gave back). They didn't enter the attacking third until the 37-minute mark when Derrick Jones finally won a challenge just right of the box but that possession ended with Jones being stuck in the corner and giving it back after he crossed the touchline.  There was no attack in the attack.  The Dynamo didn't complete a pass in the final third again until the 41st minute, and in reality it was only their second completed pass in the final third for the entire half.

The second half began the same, with Sporting winning 3 straight corners in the 1st minute of the half.  On the third, Urruti played a deep ball to Fafa, but Graham Zusi chased it down with a wonderful sliding tackle.  Down 1-0, Sporting was in no hurry to change the game plan.  They were methodical, moving the ball and moving the Dynamo like a chess match.  That all culminated from minute 50-60.  KC didn't just win this 10 minutes, they had dominated the game in every way and were losing 1-0.  When Busio hit that amazing free-kick (and make no mistake, it as a tremendous strike), you knew we were in trouble.  On back-to-back plays: (1) Derrick Jones had gotten the ball taken away from him in a bad position leading to Salloi's run (2) The ensuing corner, Valentine had a terrible header into the middle of the field that led to Vera's foul. The Dynamo simply couldn't connect anything or get the ball across midfield.  They won their first corner at the 53rd minute. Tim Parker got a nice head on it, but Melia was in the right place to knock it away.  The Dynamo looked like they were going to break ahead off the counter at the 57-minute mark. Fafa had chased down a deflection by Vera and had a 2 on 1 with Urruti.  He played a really nice chipper over the defender leaving Urruti alone with the keeper.  Urruti took too many touches, got chased down from behind, and had the ball taken away from him by 2 KC defenders.  Soon after Pulido got the go-ahead instead on his penalty, then Kenda got free on the counter.  This was the first counter-attack goal the Dynamo have given up this year, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.  Lassiter came on for Memo shortly thereafter, and the combination of fresh legs and some speed opposite Fafa seemed to spark the team a little, but Lassiter immediately gave the ball away trying to take on Zusi and whiffed at a tremendous chance off a pinpoint cross from Fafa. Darwin Ceren helped hold down the midfield and was the best Dynamo player in the midfield at stringing passes together on the night.

The Dynamo attack looked better after Lassiter and Ceren came on, Bajamich came on at the 79-minute mark for Vera and gave a little spark.  He earned a corner on his very first touch and got his head on the ensuing corner.  He got the assist on Urruti's goal and really put some pressure on KC's backline both going forward and in the press.  Urruti got the late consolation goal, but it was too little too late.  The Dynamo are a terrible road team, and this year has done nothing to change that.  They are (and excuse me if I use the European style here) 0 (wins) 1 (draw) 3 (losses) on the year, after going 1-4-7 last year and 1-0-15 the year before.  In 2018 they went 2-5-11 on the road, making them 4-9-36 on the road over the last four years.  

It was worse than the final score, and your eyes said:

Sporting KC was better, faster, stronger, more physical, quicker on the ball, literally whatever you want to say, Sporting was it.  They dominated all the key stats: 69% Possession, 21 Shots (9 on target) to 10 by the Dynamo, 665 passes to 328, 20 interceptions and 23 tackles, and 11 corners to 4.  Sporting simply dominated this game, yet the Dynamo had a real chance to pick up points.  Urruti and Lassiter both had real chances to get goals.  Urruti took too many chances and let the defense catch up, and Lassiter swung and missed at a sure-fire goal after a great cross from Fafa. 

Marco Maric kept the Dynamo in it for a half:

His save on Roger Espinosa's attempt at the 39th minute was superb. His diving save on Khiry Shelton's header at the 41st minute was also tremendous. He got just enough on Daniel Salloi's 49th-minute attempt that Ludqinst was able to knock it away.  After a tremendous through ball by Gadi Kenda, Salloi was alone with Maric streaking down the right flank.  Maric just got his armpit on it and slowed it down just enough for Adam to get there.  He had another tremendous save on yet another free-kick strike from Busio in the 82nd minute keeping the Dynamo somewhat in the game.

He didn't even try to play the ball from Busio, but honestly, he had no chance if he had.  He guessed wrong on Pulido's penalty kick, but Pulido is a bona fide goal scorer with experience, not many keepers are stopping that.  His distribution was actually good, and you know that because you didn't notice it. Marco is showing consistently that he is a good keeper, but he needs more help in front of him.

Vera and Jones were surprisingly terrible in possession, and Corona disappeared:

Jones' soft lay down in the 48th minute was somewhat indicative of his game. He gave the ball away on the play that led to Salloi's attempt, he gave the ball away on the play that led to Kenda's goal.  What made the play worse is he pouted and trotted back while Vera was scrambling trying to set in between Parker and Boniek.  This compressed the defense and left Kenda all alone on the left flank.  Busio actually had 2 to chose from. Memo beat him back to the midfield, even Maxi Urruti beat him there.  After several weeks of glowing reviews, this outing as a major disappointment.  He had moments, but he wasn't there going forward.  He got frustrated and it looked like his frustrations got the better of him.

Vera's foul on Kenda was the spark that ignited the fire.  You can say what you want about the call, but it looked like an unquestionable foul to me.  It was Vera's second foul, and while I applaud his effort he was already sitting on a Yellow and was lucky he didn't get a second one.  He had uncharacteristically given the ball away several times in bad positions in the first half, and couldn't find open space in the midfield.  When he got the ball, Busio was on him like glue. Memo only attempted 19 passes through his 79 minutes of play, and while he was his usual accurate self (16/19), only one of them was a progressive pass (downfield of more than 10 or more yards).  He had a season-low 1 recovery.  He was second to the ball more often than usual, and it wasn't for lack of effort.  He didn't even get credit for trying to dribble past a single KC defender. While Vera strings things together nicely at times, he looked like he was fending off a swarm of angry bees for most of this match.  He also committed 5 fouls in the midfield altogether.  Just not a great night from Matias.

I don't even know where Corona was, the only times I noticed him, he was giving the ball away. 0 tackles, 1 interception, 18 pressures, and was owned by Busio for most of the night.  

Boniek was no match for KC's front line:

He was beaten early and often by everyone who matched up against him.  He was drawn up high on Khiry Shelton's header, leaving a wide-open space for the big man to run into.  His clearance right after halftime almost ended up as an own goal. Boniek was soo bad, if you took the foul that led to the penalty away, he still played a terrible game.  While the stats show that he was busy (4 interceptions, 6 clearances, 90% Passing Rate), he committed 4 fouls and was routinely beaten or out of position. Part of that stat accumulation is just simply because of how much Sporting had the ball in their attacking third. Sporting was targeting him, and the way they were creating movement on his side was putting him in really bad spots.  Khiry Shelton would drop deep, creating space for Espinosa to run in behind.  This was putting Ludkqvist in a bad spot, and creating a 2-1 between Espinosa, Pulido, and Garcia.  When the ball was opposite, Pulido would hold Garcia while Shelton ran into the space behind him in the box. This was what led to the penalty.  Pulido cut across in front of Boniek, who reached for the ball poorly.  You can't make this foul in the box.  It's a foul every single day, every single time, at every level.  A vet like Boniek should know better. He had another terrible foul on Johnny Russell in the 81st minute that led to a yellow card and Busio almost banged home another one. He got beat badly by Russell again in the 86th minute, trying to track down a ball and completely left Tim Parker hanging out to dry 1 v 3 with an entire half-pitch of grass at Sporting KC's disposal. That one took Maxi Urruti tracking all the way back to stop. This was by far Boniek's worst game of the year.  

Other notes:

• Where was Memo? In the first half, Memo had a total of 6 touches.  Of the touches he got, 5 were on the wrong side of midfield and resulted in a back pass or a turnover, and 1 touch was in the final third and resulted in a cross.  His first touch in the second half, he dribbled into a trap, tried to split it, and gave the ball back instead. On his second touch of the second half, he fell down and got a handball call.  He was subbed off in the 65th minute, but was nonexistent most of this game.
• Maxi Urruti was unbelievable tracking back.  He raced back to stop a goal in the 87th minute, and constantly throughout the game you saw him race back to take a midfield position after someone was caught too high.  It was nice to see him get the goal, but his defensive work was tremendous in this game. Also, Urruti now has more goals than Manotas had last year.
• Busio and Kenda combined for 62 pressures, 5 interceptions, 7 tackles, 4 blocks, and 117 passes completed.  Oh, and they also nabbed 2 goals and 1 assist.  
  
  
  

Yellow Card Watch:

Thanks again for reading, 

#HoldItDown and remember to stay #ForeverOrange

Dynamo vs. Sporting KC - A hard earned and well deserved three points.

 

It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it:

Before the game, Jimmy Mack from SBC Nation wrote:

Houston always gave Sporting KC fits in years past due to their speed. With winger Alberth Elis no longer in the picture, who is Houston’s primary offensive weapon and do they have the speed they used to?

Former Sporting KC man Tyler Pasher has been a revelation for the Dynamo so far this season on the wing. He missed Saturday’s Texas Derby with an injury, but Tab Ramos has suggested he will be available against SKC. I would look for the Canadian to come off the bench, with Fafa Picault and Memo Rodriguez likely on the wings. Picault has loads of pace to make up for the speed Elis had, but his other abilities aren’t as refined as La Panterita.

You could tell from the announcement of the starting lineups that this was going to be an ugly game. With Pasher out yet again and Memo on the wing, the Dynamo have very little punch going forward.  Tab instituted Derrick Jones again in the midfield. Once Johnny Russell went down, you kind of expected the free-flowing nature of this game to disappear.  This was an old-school boxing match, designed to go the full 12 rounds.  The teams were testing each other out, throwing jabs, but looking to drop that haymaker when the defense was down.  As the game set in, Sporting set in high and compact daring the Dynamo to try to beat them deep. Urruti nearly cracked them open in the 3rd minute of the game but was caught just offside.  The Dyanmo were trying to draw them out and kept pulling the ball back into their own half trying to stretch KC enough to find Memo or Joe Corona in the pocket between lines. One minute later, Derrick Jones turned a well-timed interception into a fast break the other way.  Fafa got in behind Luis Martens and fired a shot to the back post.  Houston finally landed one but spent plenty of time rope-a-doping in the corner absorbing and deflecting body blows to get it.   The first big shot came just before the 10:00 mark when Tim Parker narrowly missed the goal off Joe Corona's cross.  A large portion of the first half was played in the midfield. It turned into a tactical defensive half that resembled something out of Serie A.  It was a slow-paced game, with both teams really trying to find a way through.  Houston began finding Urruti in the wide areas to the right of the box, cutting Fafa and Memo back inside.  While Urruti got a couple of decent crosses off, it wasn't really posing a danger.  Urruti lobbing balls into Vera and Picault isn't ideal, but we were finding cracks and slipping through.  

The move to Figueroa in the second half was a smart tactical decision.  Maynor has a good leg and decent accuracy on the deep ball. Figuroa hit several guys through the lines in the opening minutes, and the Dynamo began to look a little more dangerous and controlled at the same time. He opened the second half with a blasted diagonal to Fafa that found it's mark. Fafa should have made it 2-0 after an amazing deep ball by Zarek Valentine.  Fafa was the most active player out there by far, and his work rate was tremendous all the way through the 95th minute. In the end, we sealed all the cracks uptight for the last 25 minutes of the game.  KC wasn't much of a threat, especially after they pulled Pulido off.  There was some late-game controversy, the game got a little chippy, and when the whistle blew people actually booed thinking it was another bad call. There was a wave of relief when it was finally all over, and we were happy to walk out of that with 3 well-earned points.

Jones and Vera spearheaded the win.

Derrick Jones (5 tackles, 1 Interception, 1 assist) was standout in his performance.  Jones is best known for his defensive capabilities and has been searching to find footing in Tab's system and rotation.  While his pass to Urruti for the goal is what everyone will look back to, what no one's talking about is how he just took the ball from Gadi Kenda before he dribbled split two KC defenders and found Urruti in the slot.  The play seemed to develop at a snail's pace live but turned out to be perfectly timed.  Jones led the Dynamo with 4 players dribbled past, and he really made life difficult for Gadi Kinda and Gianluca Busio.  While Marić was named man of the Match, Jones was the most noticeable player in the field.

Vera was flying around making plays all over the field, and even when he wasn't making the play he forced several mistakes by Sporting players just through effort.  While he only gets credit for 1 tackle and 3 interceptions, he forced several mistakes that he didn't get credit for.  He won 3 fouls, he was aggressive with his runs, and he was a 90% passer once again.  Vera is a solid, calming player for us.  He's not upper echelon MLS, but he works hard and gets the job done every single game.  He chased down Khiry Shelton in minute 77 to knock away a chance at a counterattack. He just turns in 90 solid minutes every game out right now.

The best game by the fullbacks yet.

It only took Zarek Valentine 3 seconds to intercept a pass and find Maxi Urruti downfield. He turned another downfield lob away only a minute later. While neither were spectacular, they did exactly what needed to be done.  There weren't many positioning mistakes, and they didn't try to do too much.  They played tonight like I've been asking them to play all year: Just doing their job, and not trying to do too much.  It's an addition/reduction reaction.  When they extend themselves, they hurt those around them.  Valentine (0 Tackles, 1 interception, 6 clearances) also fired a pass downfield which should have ended the pains in my intestine over the last 15 minutes of play but Fafa just couldn't finish off the play.

Lundkvist (2 tackles, 0 interceptions, 4 clearances) has been really bad at times this year, but last night he just played things easy and simple.  He didn't try to make difficult plays or passes, he just played things solid and simple.   That's part of why we were able to keep a clean sheet.  It helped him greatly when Russell went down, but regardless he was where he needed to be and did what he needed to do to help us win.  Don't take this as too big of a compliment from these two.  But if they can play like this week in - week out our defense has a real chance.

Marko Marić earned his clean sheet.

While he only gets official credit for 4 saves, Marco was exactly where he needed to be. The diving slide tackle he made at the 47th minute that ended up deflecting around and landing in Valentine's lap was great.  His 1 v 1 save vs Daniel Saloi in the 50th minute was about anticipation, timing, and being a big target. Marco got low and was able to block the ball with his foot as it came between his legs.  This was probably the best defense that Marić had in front of him to date, but he made plays when he needed to.  He had a diving stop on Pulido's only clean look of the game. The blast in the 65th minute was a laser into the upper right corner, but Marić got both hands on it and knocked it away.  I understand that Marco has limitations, but he's been really solid back there so far this year and is much improved over last year.  I'd like to see him lay on the ball a little more in late-game situations though.  With a one-goal lead and 10 minutes left, he was in far too much a hurry. 

Fafa came to play, but he has to finish off possessions better.

You saw it early in the game.  In the first five minutes, Fafa was extremely active up and down the right touchline.  Tracking back on defense, and making runs down the wing, he was the spark plug early on.  Fafa had a good night, but not a great one.  He made impacts in the press (3 tackles, 2 Interceptions), the counter-attack, and by flat outrunning Kansas City several times, especially late in the game.  He had several crosses on target, but the problem was Vera or Memo were often on the other end of them. He blew right Martens (with the help of a tremendous through ball by Jones) in the 64th minute and found a wide-open Memo on the run at the back post.  Memo botched the header, and he had time to control it and take a shot.

Fafa was having trouble staying onside.  6 offsides in one match is too much for anyone and add to that the three fouls he committed.  Those are aggressive mistakes, however, and I'll take it.  Fafa knew he could beat Sporting KC with his speed, and he was actively trying to do so.  He dominated the right-wing in the second half. Martens had no answers for him. It was in the 74th minute when he found himself alone with John Pulskamp, and left it too far left and too far in front of Ramirez.  He won a key ball in the 83rd minute, deep in the attacking third, but fired it out of bounds when Ramirez was down after a Pulskamp elbow to the back of the head on a jump ball.  He had a big run in the 87th minute. We all know what happened in the 88th minute, when he had an angle on Martens and instead to a forearm to the back and lost the ball.  He won a ball and blew out of the Defending third in the 90th minute.  He looked tired, but he was still moving faster than anyone else on the pitch all the way through the 95th minute.  He wasn't great, he missed some easy plays, but he definitely came to play and had an impact on the wi.

Final Thoughts:

Dear Tab, if you get fined for this, start a GoFundMe, we'll get your back.  The linesman on the near sideline was simply awful.  There were several questionable calls over the last ten minutes (i.e. the foul called against Fafa, then the no-call on Fafa, and a couple of out-of-bounds calls) that seemed to boil things over.  Then to get red-carded for being upset about it is ludicrous.   As a coach (although in a different sport), I understand that sometimes you just have to stand up for your guys.  I didn't think anything Tab did warranted a red.  On the replay, it looks like all he said is "Hey! You're right here" and pointed at the spot. It should have been a no-brainer foul.  It could have been a Yellow because he made no attempt at the ball.  Instead, our coach gets tossed.  In fact, it happened soo fast I almost missed it.  I looked to the video replay boar to see what happened on the Fafa tackle, and how that was possibly a KC throw-in, I looked back, saw Tab with his hands up, and immediately saw Chris Penso flashing red.  Wade Dowden loves to talk about how much Penso hates us, I actually thought it was a fairly decently called game until about the 90'th minute.  Then the wheels fell off.  Right after that Fafa made another run that obviously deflected off Martens, but instead, KC got the throw-in.  There was a really bad foul call in the 95th minute. As Tab said in the post-game, I'm sure the Dynamo will get a letter of apology, how about we just get better officials? 

Lastly, I do have to question why (in a game where we are clinging to a 1-0 lead) we left two subs unused.  Why did we not turn to Darwin Quintero at all?  Joe Corona looked exhausted after the 70th minute and Memo has logged heavy minutes this week.  With another game Saturday, why would we not get some fresh legs out there?  I understand that playing the final few minutes without Tab might have disrupted substitution plans, but at the same point, we have to have a rotation better prepared.  This is two games in a row where we have gone into the 80th minute with subs available in a close game.  With 3 games in 8 days, and mostly using the same starting 11, I feel the rotations could have been better.  That being said, we played Frisco and The Wiz (I still think this game is cooler than Sporting KC) and ended with 4 points.  Even though it's fun to play armchair coach, I'll take the results so far.

Stat Notes

• The Dynamo are currently 8-6-3 (30 points in 17 games) at BBVA dating back to August 2019.  
• Despite being undefeated at home, the Dynamo have a negative expected goal differential (-0.5) at BBVA.  
• Marco Marić currently ranks 8th in Shots on Target against, is tied for 7th in Goals Against per 90, and is tied for 9th in Save Percentage among qualifiers. He's been very solid, and one of the reasons why the Dynamo have drastically dropped their GA average this year.  He's performing as a top ten keeper in goal, and his distribution has slightly improved the last two games. It's not hard, he's been awful through the first five in that department. Marco's completion % is 4th worst among all MLS goalkeepers, and his distance per kick is 3rd highest.  He needs to be quicker, and find better options after recovery.
• Fafa Picault ranks 4th in the number of times failed to dribble past an opponent in the final third (16).  Fafa is lightning quick, but his slight build means he's often knocked off the ball or knocked down.  He's drawing attention, but he has to improve in this area and either pass and run, or use his angles and speed better.
• Max Urruti currently ranks 150th in the league in times Targeted with a pass (132).  That ranks him just behind Adam Lundkvist (134) and Joe Corona (158) as well as Memo (160) and Fafa (187 - 42nd in the league).
• This isn't a stat, but this is my favorite Tweet of the year so far.
  
  
  
  

Next Up:

Colorado @ Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Thanks again for reading

#Hold it down and stay #ForeverOrange