No matter which side of the Tab argument you choose, you're right: A look.

 

There's no question about it, this has been a tuff season to take.  Lots of disappointment, very little to cheer about, and one big change.  #Brener'sOut (kind of), #Jordan'sOut, and now, we have one last target to be addressed.  Just being upfront, I like Tab and want to see him stay at least one more year.  I also understand that this team has been terrible during his tenure.  This post is about looking at both sides, addressing some of the arguments, and looking at things from the big picture.  

Why Tab should go (factual):

I'll put this first because it's short, sweet, and to the point:

• He has the lowest PPG (1.08) of any coach in the history of the Dynamo.  It's simple and upfront.  Currently, he is the worst statistical coach in Dynamo history.
• The team has averaged 1.22 GPG (worst run of any in Dynamo History) and given up 1.61 GPG during (also worst in Dynamo History).  
• Tab often has some curious substitution patterns or doesn't use his subs at all. 

So, yes, from a results standpoint I can absolutely understand the point of letting him go.  I'd understand if Ted Segal and the new owner would want to go a new direction this offseason.  And if the only thing left that will get the fanbase back involved with this team is giving Tab the ax, then it needs to be done.  But it's incredibly short-sighted.

Opinions on why Tab should be let go (with commentary)

1. He's not a professional coach:  Uh......actually.......he is currently a professional coach.  
2. You can't give Tab credit for what he did for USMNT-U20, because those players were given to him: That's basically what MLS Coaches do, coach players that are given to them.
3. He hasn't developed anyone from the academy: It is unreasonable to expect anyone could overhaul a team's youth development in a year and a half.  If he started last year, you won't see any fruits of this labor until 2024 at the earliest.  You aren't going to transform 16-year-olds in one year.  Sorry man.
4. No one's gotten better under Tab: Griffen Dorsey (22), Sam Junqua (24) Mattias Vera (25), Marko Maric (25), Michael Nelson (26), and Derrick Jones (25) are younger-type guys that have gotten better under Tab.  Fafa Picault (30) is arguably having his best MLS season.  Tyler Pasher and Coco Carrasquilla still have time to grow and improve.  Adam Lundkvist was playing the best LB I've seen him play before he got hurt.  There's 1 player you can actually say regressed this year (Memo) that isn't over the age of 30.
   
   
   
5. Tab just does the same thing over and over: we've used 5 different starting formations (4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-5-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-5-2). We've used 7 different guys at the #6 (sometimes as a double #6), he's used Memo as a #6, #8, #10, RW and LW.  He's played 2 guys at LB, and started with Boniek Garcia at CB.  Tab's played 5 guys at the #9 (Urruti, Baird, Fafa, Lassiter, Bajamich, and had used Christian Ramirez there before he was sold).  He picked up Griffen Dorsey off the street and threw him in the starting 11, and put Carrasquilla in the lineup before he'd even practiced with the team.  He's tried lots of things.
6. 
   Tab's constantly changing things:  That's because he's trying to find something that actually wins games.
   
7. This roster is has Tab's fingerprints all over it, and we are terrible: Really?  You think, when given the option of attacking players to replace Elis and Manotas, Tab was like: "You know who's bringing the Cup back to Houston?? Maxi Urruti.  Go get him." or "Fafa Picault and Zarek Valentine are the best players at their position in the league.  They are must-haves." I don't, not for a second.  I think Tab probably felt like I did when I was standing at the clearance rack of Old-Navy: Outlet shopping for school clothes.  Well, this stuff is cheap, I only have $20 and I need clothes, so I'll take what I can get.  I was excited when I found something that wasn't overly embarrassing to wear, which wasn't easy because I was 6'4" in the 9th grade (I asked my mom please and she still said no, you go to school to learn not for a fashion show!).  I'm fairly certain there are a few guys (Hadebe, Parker, Jones maybe Carrasquilla) which he pushed Jordan to go after.  The rest was just him trying to find something that worked in the bargain bin.  
8. (Finally) Tab's in over his head:  That's because this roster isn't going to win anything, regardless of who the coach is.

Why Tab should stay (IMHO):

When Tab was first hired, I actually thought this could be a really good team.  I actually thought with a little luck we could be a playoff team.  I had questions about Keeper, but I thought up top this would be a completely explosive offense.  It actually started off that way.  For those with short memory, the team only lost 3 of Tab's first 12 games.  We won back to back to back against Sporting KC (5:2 on 8/25/2020), Minnesota United (3:0 on 9/02) and Sporting KC again (2:0 on 9/5) before Elis was sold. Since Elis was sold, we haven't been able to replicate anywhere near that level.  We all know the difference-maker Alberth was here, and it's inexcusable that the team sold him with no backup plan.  Elis and Manotas had both made their intentions to leave public before the season started.  

There are 14 players left from last year's 30 (Maric, Lundqvist, Vera, Quintero, Memo, Figueroa, Valentin, Ceren, Lassiter, Boniek, Fuenmayor, Junqua, Lemoin, and Nelson.) 4 of those have been full-time starters this year (Maric, Lundqvist, Vera, Valentin).  In MLS, you can't just go out and buy 26 new guys.  Truthfully, we could have tried to upgrade every single position other than Quintero, which is a nearly impossible task to do.  The "We need to tear it down and start over" squad isn't paying attention.  WE JUST DID THAT.  WE ARE STILL DOING THAT.  Tab may have been a win-now hire, but the "now" situation quickly changed right after he got here.  Regardless, Tab is a guy that you build a culture with, Tab is a guy that you build systematic processes with, and Tab is a guy that can help lead organizational change.  Those things take time.  No coach, and I mean NO COACH on the planet was making the playoffs with this roster.  Maxi Urruti hasn't registered a goal or assist in 3 months, and he's had plenty of opportunities. In fact, over that span, he's had 35 shot attempts, only 8 of which were on target.  What's worse is that once Baird and Pasher went down, the only other options available were Lassiter and Mateo Bajamich.  Lassiter scored a brace in his first game but has 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 41 appearances (covering 1,378 minutes).  Bajamich looks decent at times but also looks completely lost at others.  

Tab has done some head-scratching things with substitutions at times but also has a head-scratching bench.  He has two clones of each other (Corona and Ceren) in the midfield, and neither are going to win a game for you.  Jones has the most upside of anyone there but also makes game-killing mistakes at times.  You want to know why he waits until the 80th minute to sub sometimes?  Because he doesn't trust his bench.  You want to know why he only uses 2/5 subs?  Because he doesn't trust his bench.  And rightfully so.  With Quintero in the starting 11 now, there's not a difference-maker over there unless Pasher is healthy.  I can't find the stat, but I don't believe we've had a substitute come on and score a goal the entire year.  I can't find one.  We've scored 3 goals after the 60th minute the entire year, all of which have come from a person who started the game. Memo isn't a difference-maker, Jones, Corona, Ceren, Lassiter, Bajamich, Boniek, and the rest aren't winning games for you consistently, much less a game.

Instead of tearing down and rebuilding (again), what we need to do is build off this roster.  There are pieces here you can win with.  Hadebe, Parker, Lundqvist, Quintero, Dorsey, Fafa, Pasher, Vera can all be starters on a playoff-caliber team.  Believe it or not, you can make the playoffs with Zarek Valentine starting on your backline, Portland managed to 3 times.  The defense actually improved this year with Zarek starting and playing 2,000+ minutes. BTW, want to know why Zarek plays soo many minutes? Because the only other person on the roster capable of playing RB is currently starting at RW (Dorsey) because there are no legitimate outside options on the right side (especially when Lassiter is playing for Costa Rica or injured).  

Lastly, I've read multiple times from a multitude of people: "We need to finish the job and fire Tab". That's not finishing the job.  Finishing the job would be building a competitive roster.  I would hope we do that before we decide Tab can't coach.  It's been two awful years, it's also been two years of improving the roster from absolute garbage.  16 new players are in tow.  We still need about 6-10 more. The new GM could easily upgrade RB, RW, LW, DM, GK, LB, Striker and 2-3 bench spots.  Tab might not come back next year, but if the new regime decides to give him a chance, I hope they give him a real one.  I love stories where a team grinds their way back to the top.  I'm cautiously pulling for our beloved #ForeverOrange to do it, and I'm still pulling for Tab.

Thanks again for reading, 

#HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian

Houston, WE have a problem....

 

Houston 3:2 FC Frisco

It started like most other games.  Get to the parking lot, check out the vibe of the band playing outside the stadium, get a feel for how big the crowd would be, and talk about our thoughts on the game.  Wade Dowden is one of the biggest Dynamo fans I've ever met and has been kind enough to share his season tickets with me this year.  We sit in section 203, and Wade has never missed one minute of game action since he started buying season tickets a few years back.  Seriously, the guy won't even get up to go to the bathroom.  We got there a little early yesterday, as we were scared that parking would be hard to come by with the Astros playing across the street.  As we were walking up to the stadium Wade said "Uh.....dude, do you see this or am I going crazy?"  So, for those of you that didn't know, we now have a new Stadium sponsor and name.  It's soo new, they haven't changed any of the signs inside the stadium yet.  This has been reported for a while, PNC has been working on acquiring BBVA for some time.  I had forgotten about it, and hadn't seen anything about this at all, and it kind of took both of us by surprise.

We walked over to Pitch 25 to grab a bite to eat and share a bucket before the game.  The atmosphere there was good (as always), and I just had a good feeling going into the game.  There were a lot of Orange Kitsat the greatest striker in Dynamo History's establishment, lots of beers were flowing, and lots of happy people were mingling.  The last time we played Frisco on August 22nd, we played to a 2:2 draw in which we dominated almost the entire first half and Frisco couldn't get the ball across midfield.  It was a frustrating game, the Dynamo had a ton of chances in the first half, and only a Fafa Picault penalty in the 25th minute found the back of the game.  We wore ourselves out trying to get the second goal, and pushed too high to start the second half.  The game ended in a 2:2 draw, and after two draws with FC Frisco this year I was ready for a win.

This game started in a much different way.  The press with the front three of Urruti, Dorsey, and Fafa was much less persistent, and Tab set his back 4 much deeper. Despite the fact that Dallas kept finding Jáder Obrian behind the defense, he kept finding either the side net or the back of Tim Parker's legs for the first half of play.  You could tell Tab had setting our backline and looking to strike on the counter, and it took just under 5 minutes to hit.  With the backline sitting deep and the front 3 putting pressure on Dallas' midfield, the Dynamo were taking away the short passing game and forcing Frisco to play the ball deep.  It saw quick results, as in the third minute a deep diagonal pass from Brandon Servenia to Paxton Pomykal was picked off by Zarek Valentine.  Without an option for a quick counter, the ball eventually was played back to Michael Nelson.  Nelson found Teenage Hadebe, who darted one 30 yards to Fafa in the middle of the pitch.  Fafa chipped a beautiful one-touch pass over a defender's head to Lundkvist on the left sideline, then turned and hit the afterburners. Lundkvist corralled it before going down hard on a tackle by Obrian, but the ball squirted forward and found Fafa on a dead sprint.  Fafa took two nice touches and crossed a bouncing cross through the box.  How the ball didn't find a powder blue uniform, I still don't know.  What's even more amazing is Phelipe was standing like he was frozen in time.  The ball had taken a slight deflection off a Dallas defender and took 4 hops through the box, Griffen Dorsey made a great play chasing it down from the backside, and blasted home his second goal of the season.

There was real excitement when this happened in BBVA (I refuse to call it PNC yet).  The official attendance was 12,353, but I'd say there were more like 6,000-7,000 sitting in the seats.  There was a great group of teenagers sitting behind us that seemed to be a Griffen Dorsey fan club (btw, props to the dude wearing a hat that looked like Homer Simpson's Nacho Hat.)  Those kids were awesome.  Props also to the little kids jumping and screaming "LET'S GO DYNAMO!" while waving their shirts over their heads.  Those kids were up and screaming from the top of the stadium the entire night.  You can see on the replay the jumping and cheering on the goal, like we'd just scored in a derby. It hit home when Dorsey found Fafa right in front of the net for a sliding right-footer at the 20th-minute mark to put us up 2:0, and despite an extremely physical game, there was some great back and forth action.  When Parker got taken down inside the box for a penalty, it was all but over. Darwin Quintero put the penalty shot home for his first goal of the year, and we were up 3:0.  FC Dallas wasn't done though and tried to make a comeback.  You can say we switched off, you could say it was the effect of playing 3 games in 7 days, you can also say we just hung on to a win despite 7 minutes of stoppage time (which actually ended up being about  10 according to my stopwatch). In the end, three points is three points, and while don't like Obrian constantly getting in behind our defense, we got the job done.

Tab has found a lineup.

Over the last three games, Tab has switched from his 4-3-3 (using essentially a #6, and two #8's), to a 4-2-3-1 using Darwin at the #10.  While an increased uptick in attacking efficiency and shot creation shouldn't surprise anyone, winning 7 points out of 9 should surprise everyone with the way this season has been going.  Darwin garners a ton of attention, and defenses are funneling to him in the middle of the field, which opens up our wings.  Griffin Dorsey and Fafa Picault have taken full advantage of this over the last two weeks, combining for 5 goals and 2 assists in the last three games alone. And while I am aware of how terrible Darwin has been at times, you could see him starting to gain traction after the All-Star break.  Both Tab and Glenn Davis have said recently that the problem with Quintero all year long has been fitness, and being that MLS basically gives you nothing in terms of injury or illness reports, and no one has just come out and said what the issue has been all year long, it seems like there's more to the story than Tab simply deciding not to play him. That lineup will have to change a bit with Adam Lundkvist apparently going down for the season with a dislocated knee, which is a shame because Lundi has been playing really, really well for the last month.

Nelson should keep the job for the rest of this year.

He's earned it.  He's been every bit as good as Marco Maric at tending the net, and his distribution is infinitely better.  He's beginning to lead out there as well, you can see him barking orders to Parker and Hadebe in runs of play.  Other than the fact we've looked better in his 5 starts, and finally started winning some games, it should be his job to keep for the rest of the year.  If he performs, we can maybe pick up some help at RB or an international slot back in the offseason for Maric.  I'd love to see a Katy native and former draft pick grab hold of this job and run with it. I'd love even more to see us succeed with him there.  So far, he's been really solid.

The Dynamo won a penalty in every FC Dallas match this year.

Corona's header finding a pinky inside the box in the first game.  Fafa won a penalty in the box in the second, and Tim Parker won one last night.  The Dynamo managed to pull points in each of these matchups and the penalties were the difference.

Why I chose this title and final thoughts.

I don't know if it was the shared bucket before the game, or going up 3:0 and knowing we were going to win, but last night felt good.  When I got home (after celebratory Waffle House.....don't judge.  You know YOU love Waffle House), I jumped on Dynamo Reddit to see if there was any news on Lundi's leg injury. What I saw there was expected, but it's also fairly disheartening.  I didn't find anything about Lundi's leg, but I did find a large number of posts of people angry that we're actually winning.  Like.....seriously?  What are we going for, the #1 pick in the MLS Super Draft?  This team is starting to show something we've been looking for two years now....progression.  That's a good thing.  There are people out there still cheering for us to lose so we can tear down a roster we literally just built and fire a coach who spent his first year dealing with losing his best player without a backup plan and having 15 new players in the squad this year.  This was never going to be an immediate results team.  I said it last year, I said it at the beginning of this year, and I'm saying it again now.  This is a squad you can build off of though, and Tab is a coach you can build with.   It's pretty amazing, that anything posted with any positivity about the Dynamo gets met with immediate push-back.  If we win, I get maybe 100 hits on my post.  If we lose or I post something critical of the team, I get almost 1,000.  Negativity has infiltrated us, and it's time for us to let it go.

We have a new owner.  You guys demanding that won.  We got rid of Matt Jordan.  We turned over basically 1/2 the roster in the last 8 months.  We added new pieces at the Transfer Window.  This team has done almost everything the fan base has demanded, and yet......barely anyone shows up and fans still can't let it go.  

We threaten to beat up our own supporter's groups, and fans.  We actually beat up other team's supporters and steal part of their livelihood.  We showed up wearing bags over our heads, and the #FireMattJordan call (and now #FireTabRamos) was louder than the support we give our guys.  We hijack any positive post online with nothing but vitriol and negativity.  It's time to let it go.  At some point, we have to decide to jump back on board and back into the stadium.  There are good things happening there.  I wanted to also take the time to say how proud and appreciative I am of those who stepped up to help the young man from Austin.  That's what this city is about.  This city is about resilience.  We've been through countless floods, hurricanes, disasters, and infighting and have ALWAYS come out on top.  We've always shown up in droves to help each other out, and have each other's backs.  It's time for us to start doing that for our #ForeverOrange crew.  Very few people in this city actually care about the Dynamo, and it's time for the few of us that do to start to have their back.  That includes Ted Segal, that includes Tab, and that includes every person who is currently wearing that uniform.  It's been a long season, it's been a frustrating and disappointing one, but lets soak in this good and go out and cheer our hearts out.  Let's start packing this stadium and letting OUR voice be heard.  After the last two years, this team deserves it.

I know it's been a long time since the glory days of Robertson Stadium and posting 2 stars above our crest, I know the road's been frustrating.  Honestly, I've never really known the Dynamo to be good.  Outside of our run in 2017, they've been bad pretty much the entire time I've followed them.  I think we've found a track, and we need to see this one out.  To all the ones who disagree with me:  You be you, but also let us be us.  To all the ones out there excited about this team:  Keep being excited.  This team doesn't have enough of you, and it deserves more.  When this team finally turns it around, you'll be the firsts in line. Oh, and let's all agree to remember to say a prayer up for Lundi.

#HoldItDown and remember to stay #ForeverOrange,

Brian

What team is this? Houston Dynamo 3:0 Austin FC

 

I've forgotten what that feels like.

:57 seconds is all it took.  :57 seconds for Griffen Dorsey to chase down a loose ball and bang it in the back of the net.  In a sequence that both jumped on you and seemed to take forever, the Dynamo outworked, outplayed and "out-wanted" Austin's Verde for the entire first half of the game.  Both of the opening goals for La Naranja were about effort and desire.  On this night, Houston just wanted to win. They wanted it worse than Austin did.  While many of the things we saw weren't that much different than what we've seen all year, on this night things actually worked out.  We can give credit to a Darwin Quintero start, we can attribute it to a new formation, but in reality, it just came down to putting the ball on target for once.  Desperate for a win, Tab pulled out some new tricks and the guys on the pitch rewarded him for it.  Whether this is a flash in the pan, luck, or a result from putting the right guys together, hopefully, we see more of this down the stretch.

The game opened with the Dynamo in possession.  It didn't take long to notice that Tab had them in a 4-2-3-1 with Quintero in the #10.  It also didn't long for Tab's side to go right after Austin FC:

• :10 seconds in - Adam Lundqvist turns the corner on the left flank and draws a foul.
• :36 seconds in - after a quick switch by Teenage Hadebe, Lundqvist goes directly at Pochettino again, winning a throw-in in the final third.
• :40 seconds in - Lundqvist finds Darwin Quintero in the middle of the box, Quintero wriggles in between two Austin FC defenders, fires a shot on target, Brad Stuver makes a tremendous save. Quintero nutmegged 2 AFC defenders on the play in an unbelievable effort in tight space.

:57 seconds in - Griffen Dorsey outruns the entire Austin FC defense, and despite being in the worse position to get the second ball, not only wins it but blasts one on target.  Stuver gets in position to save it, but instead knocks it into the corner netting.

It was a simply awesome start to the game.  We've seen this before (Coco Carasquilla vs. Minnesota), but with Austin FC's struggling attack you had to believe there was a real chance we could finish this game off.  Austin FC fired a warning shot in the 13th minute, which was from about 25 yards out and off to the left, but it was the first threatening possession Verde had.  Lundqvist immediately went back to work, completely turning Pochetino around before getting taken down hard and drawing a Yellow on the run.  Lundqvist was directly going after Austin's right flank early in this game, which was opening up Fafa and Quintero in the middle.  That's when things really opened up.  With Austin FC trying to build an attack and pushing numbers forward, Joe Corona managed to just knock a ball loose at midfield.  Teenage Hadebe one-touch blasted it deep downfield directly in between defenders Hector Jimenez and Julio Cascante.  Fafa Picault took off, and while his speed is what led to the goal, it was really just his effort.  Cascante took a lazy path to the ball, and instead of getting there and blasting it away, he tried to control it.  Cascante took a horrible touch and Fafa raced past him and took it directly off his foot.  It was really nice to see Fafa calmly split the two defenders and just punch it past a diving Stuver as many times this year he's been in this situation and tried to take extra touches or do too much with it.  It was simple, poised execution after a great effort play and it put the Dynamo up 2:0 twenty-four minutes into the game.

Austin spent much of the rest of the half holding possession, occasionally finding ways through, and every time they did they ran into Teenage Hadebe.  Hadebe made several sliding tackles inside the box that shut down Austin attacks.  The Dynamo were playing extremely compact, extremely organized, and weren't letting anything come easy for Austin.  Every time Austin seemed to find space for a shot, there was an Orange shirt in front of it.  4 of the 6 shots Verde had in the first half were blocked by Dynamo defenders, and Michael Nelson went into the half protecting a clean sheet without even making a save.  The backline did exactly what it's needed to do all season: Keep Nelson clean.  The second goal had also allowed the Dynamo to relax and pack in on defense.  In almost every game this year the Dynamo have had to chase a second goal.  Pressing high and chasing balls all over the field for most of the first half, combined with the ridiculous heat and humidity inside BBVA has usually lead to us being worn out by half-time.  The second goal let us back off and pack in early in the game, and save legs for the second half.  

The second half saw a continuation of this theme: The Dynamo packing in and allowing Austin to hold the ball with their backline.  With Austin trying to build attacks and find cracks in the midfield, but the defense was particularly stingy in this game. Making 2 substitutions coming out for the second half to freshen up the midfield, Josh Wolff's team opened the second half with possession.  The Dynamo extended their defense just enough to not let Austin FC play between lines and force them to place accurate deep balls down the sideline. No matter where Austin passed the Dynamo defense was set and waiting. After a couple of dangerous AFC crosses into the box that found no one on the other end, Austin FC seemed to catch a break as Jimenez punched one downfield and found a streaking Cecilio Dominguez one v. one with Teenage.  Teenage not only chase him down and made a tremendous diving tackle with his back heel, he then popped the ball up to himself and fired a left-footed pass 35 yards downfield on the money to Joe Corona.  Corona corralled it, turned, and fired an excellent weighted ball to Fafa streaking down the left flank.  Fafa took one big touch, cut back inside, and fired a shot to the back post that Stuver barely got his fingertips on.  At the 52nd minute mark, Austin FC fired their first shot on target of the game.  Wade was sitting next to me screaming to pick up the man in the middle of the pitch just as they found him.  Alexander Ring, who had been very quiet up to this point, fired a perfect shot to the back post upper ninety that found a stretched-out Nelson's right hand.  The ensuing corner found a wide-open Pochetino at the back post, who slipped and had the ball bounce off his face out of bounds for a goal kick.  It seemed to be a sure-fire goal, and the Dynamo were extremely fortunate.  The game somewhat bogged down for the next ten minutes as the teams traded punches at midfield.  After Griffen Dorsey found Memo on a really nice chip pass into the teeth of Austin's backline (on a shot that went wide), Sebastian Berhalter blasted a pass downfield to a streaking Rodney Redes. Redes raced past Lundqvist and placed a perfect low cross into Dominguez who had Tim Parker beat and Michael Nelson dead to rights.  Nelson managed to knock it away, and after a deflection off the crossbar, Hadebe chased it down inside the six-yard box, turned, and fired a 40 pass downfield to Fafa.  Fafa held off his defender, let it bounce past both of them, then turned and it was off to the races.  With a numbers advantage and Urruti (middle of the field) and Memo (back post) making runs, there was a multitude of options available. Urruti looped to the outside, Fafa cut back inside, and got the ball on his right foot.  He placed it perfectly in the back-post corner and the Dynamo went up 3:0.  The fact that a team with 33% possession managed to put up 17 shots (7 on target) while holding the other team to only two shots on target the entire game was a testament to how efficient we were last night.

BBVA exploded, and so did the guys on the field.  Hadebe sprinted to the sideline just to give Tab a bear hug soo big he picked him about 3 feet up off the ground.  Hadebe was hugging everyone like we'd just won MLS cup, and you knew at that point the game was over.  If stats from WhoScored.com are right, it was our first counterattacking goal of the season and it was a beauty.  The three points were much needed.  The fanbase has been soo down, soo frustrated, and soo cantankerous that I've gotten off of Dynamo Social Media.  This game gave us a brief glimpse of what this team could do, and gave us a week of relief before we take on Frisco next Saturday.  

Darwin's first start made a difference:

I'll be one of the first to say that Darwin has been disappointing this year.  He's still one of the most accurate shooters we have, and the only person on the squad capable of making dangerous passes into the final third with any sort of regularity.  Despite his struggles this year, his 5.74 shot creating actions/90 minutes greatly outpaces anyone else on the team and would be good for fourth in MLS.  While he has yet to register a goal or assist this year (he's only played 298 minutes), he's made a noticeable difference in the Dynamo attack when he's stepped on the field, especially over the last 3 weeks.  

Darwin has only managed 9 shots the entire season, and 3 of those came last night (all of them were on target).  He looked less frantic and much more relaxed and poised than we've seen him all year, and I'm hoping he can retain this spot for the rest of the year.  Tab and Brad Davis have both said recently that the problem with Darwin all year has been fitness, and it makes me wonder what's the issue's been.  Regardless, it was nice to see him play well last night.

For the Teenage haters out there, what are you watching?

If you wonder how good Teenage Hadebe is, just watch the games, please.  Watch him turn away attackers, watch him shut down dribbles, passing lanes, and areal balls.  Watch him fire left-footed bombs on a dime, and watch him stone an attacker only to turn and fire a laser between the lines. No, we haven't been winning, and no, it's not his fault.   He was ridiculous last night and has been almost all year.  He's been worth every single penny, he's 25, and we have him for 3 more years.  That's a good thing.

Urruti's struggles continue:

Urruti hasn't registered a goal or assist in his last 10 appearances (842 minutes) and has one goal in his last 12 appearances (1,042 minutes).  He hasn't put a shot on target in the last two games (10 shots in total) and four of his last five starts.  He had three really good opportunities last night, and only one of them was particularly close.  His breakaway in the 35th minute after another great Hadebe pass downfield found him one v. one with Nick Lima, he went right-footed, left post, and it went just wide. He's been outscored by Mattias Vera (3 goals) over this span, a player who entered the year with 0 career goals.  While people are constantly saying our defense is a failure, this season would be a different story if Urruti was finding the back of the net or even putting the ball on target with more regularity. His shots/90 (3.54) is the highest mark of his career, while his Efficiency rating (37.3%) is just above his career average and a significant drop off from his mark last year (54.5%).  Urruti had a good run in May and June, scoring 5 goals in 7 games, but has yet to find the back of the net since June 26th. Not only is he not scoring, but he's also not finding teammates either.  His 1 assist in 1700 minutes is also far off his mark as a regular starter.  Urruti has worked really hard this year, he's not afraid to press or trackback, and in no way can anyone question his effort.  He just needs to be much more efficient and composed on the ball.  

We are undefeated when:

Darwin starts, there are remnants of an NCAA game left on the field, it's low 80's at kickoff, and Fafa scores a brace.  If we can just make these things happen all year, we win out (sarcasm, relax Dynamo grumps.)

Final Thoughts:

There was a lot to take away from last night.  I found it weird that it seemed soo packed getting into the game, and the concourse seemed soo busy, yet it was a mostly empty stadium.  It was also somewhat embarrassing that Austin seemed to bring more fans than we did and their supporters section drowned out our entire crowd, even when they were down 3:0.  It honestly makes me a little jealous that we don't have a following like that in our own city.  Austin is a new club and has already built a fanbase that greatly surpasses ours.  I know how hard things have been here lately, but either we support this team or we don't.  We need more people to jump on the bus. With all the negativity on Dynamo Social media, our Supporters groups threatening each other on Twitter, the Jordan out crew, and the bag over their head wearers, at some point we just have to get together and actually support this team and this city. I know I'm a different kind of guy, but I'll show up and cheer regardless of who owns this team, who sits in the GM chair, or how good/bad they are on the field.  They're my team, they'll always be my team, and I could care less about every other team in all of the American continents and all except one in Europe.  Ted Segal's greatest challenge is building an actual fanbase. There were good crowds right after he bought the team that just disappeared. I'm hoping this city comes through.

There were some nice touches again last night.  I loved turning the field orange, that was pretty great.  Hopefully, we show out for FC Frisco this weekend.  There'll be plenty of Frisco Fakes in the stadium again, and it'd be nice to have a derby feel, and maybe the guys have put something in motion here.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown and remember to stay #ForeverOrange
Brian

Suit Game: Impeccable -> Tie Game: On Point!

 

There's no recap here.  You want a recap?  The Dynamo can't score.  They defend like madmen for 89.9 minutes (plus 11 minutes of stoppage time) only to see the game slip away by a total defensive blunder. There's the game.  That's it in a nutshell. That's EVERY game in a nutshell.  That's the SEASON in a nutshell. And look.......I get it.  It's frustrating to watch.  It's easy to throw the blame at Tab, or Matt Jordan, or (insert midfielder or fullback here), but the honest truth is: THIS TEAM IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.  This won't be a recap, this will be a rant. 

It's a scary state, really, when your entire attack hinges on a 26-year-old left-footed Canadian who was a solid USL player for two years.  It's even scarier when the attack isn't even that effective when he's on the field.  Don't get me wrong, Tyler Pasher was a really nice signing.  He's been effective (when he's actually been in the lineup), he's our best wing player by a landslide, and he didn't cost all that much.  Last night was a night that reflected how absolutely mediocre this attack is.  It's a shame, because the defense has been massively upgraded this offseason. Tim Parker is as good as advertised, so is Teenage Hadebe.  Joe Corona and Derrick Jones have been really solid signings this year, and they fly all over the field and scoop up balls.  They occasionally make really nice plays with the ball at their feet, it's just not often enough.  Sam Junqua has made huge strides this year at LB, he's still got a ways to go.  The Dynamo just went three halves without allowing a shot on goal.  No matter who you are playing, that's quite a feat. They haven't allowed the other team to score in five of their last six halves. They hold shape well, they scramble and recover, and their work rate is tremendous.  It's just not going to be good enough.  

I began asking this question in the offseason: Where are the goals going to come from? The Dynamo are currently on pace to record their worst goal output season.....are you ready for this?........ever.  Their current average of 1.13 goals per game is the lowest in the franchise's history.  It's slightly behind 2016's and 2014's pace of 1.15.  What's most frustrating is against San Jose, the opportunities were there.  Corona hits Memo with a beautiful pass on the run after the high press gets the Dynamo possession and some combo play.  Memo times it up perfectly, and then hits the ball right to the keeper.  Fafa makes a great run down the wing, hits Memo with a perfect pass in the perfect spot with space and time.......and Memo blasts it off Griffen Dorsey's face.  He rushed it, he hit it horribly, and despite how open he was that ball had absolutely no chance of going in or allowing Dorsey to make a play.  Dorsey hit Urruti with a nice little chip pass 7 yards from the box.  Maxi can't get a good foot on it and just floats far to the back post.  Despite all the nice runs, terrific passes, and give-and-go action that led to players with the ball in dangerous positions, it took a wonder-strike from Mattias Vera to snatch a point. Tabs squad has scored 1 goal after the 56th minute the entire year, which coincidentally is when the only player wearing #ForeverOrange that has the ability to be a playmaking midfielder steps on the field.  It's frustrating, its infuriating, it's.........just soo mediocre. 

Not to keep rubbing it in, but I called that too in the pre-season. So, lets take a quick look at the attack and what is going wrong.  It's easy to blame it on Tab (and please don't take this is me giving him a pass), but that's not the focus here.  

Maxi Urruti:

It's hard for me to be critical of this guy.  I love his work ethic, he plays hard, and he plays 90+ minutes almost every game.  But, when your attack is hinging on a 30-year-old, journeyman center-forward who has never scored more than 12 goals in an MLS season......this is what you get.  Maxi is a hard worker.  He is one of the best pressing Center-Forwards in MLS.  He's just not particularly skilled with the ball at his feet.  Maxi basically has three problems: 

1. He can't turn:  When Urruti has gotten the ball in the slot, with his back to the goal, he can't simply turn and find (a) the goal; (b) a teammate.  Often he spends soo much time fighting for position he loses the ball.  He's not going to have that much time here.  Defenses are keying on him, because he's the only real goal-scoring threat we have.  By the time he tries to back away the defender, two more are on top of him.  Because of his slight frame, often all that work results in him gaining no ground and having the ball knocked away.  He's got to be able to find a teammate behind him and spin and run to space, or simply turn quickly.  
2. He has bad first touch:   When Urruti gets the ball in space, he often tries to take a first touch to quiet the ball down before he strikes it.  More often than not, that ball is knocked too far away for him to comfortably do anything with it.  This results in either him rushing something, or giving the ball away.  
3. He takes too many touches: Even when he takes a good first touch, Urruti is hesitant to simply shoot the ball.  He's got to be quicker, more direct, and simply put his laces on the ball.  Maxi gets himself (and the ball) in good positions inside the box and quite frequently never even gets a shot off. Hes' got 224 touches in the attacking third this year, and 62 inside the box. A perfect example came in the 40th minute against San Jose, after a nice shot by Fafa, the rebound came directly to Maxi.  He had the ball just inside the 18, with a defender at his back and the ball in the air.  Instead of simply waiting for it and hitting it on the way down, he tried to punch it up behind him, spun around the defender, took it over his shoulder again......and lost the ball.

Despite all the griping, Urruti is averaging 3.62 shots per game (9th in the league) and of the people in the top 10 in shots per 90, he has the highest On Target percentage of any of them (40.8%).  He's scored 6 goals this year, which is double what Mauro Manotas scored last year.  He's been an upgrade over Mauro from last year, but he can still be better for this club. His goals/shot, however(.12) is tied for 92nd in MLS.  Compare that with Pepi (.32) and Chicharito (.38). Last year he converted at .25 goals/shot. These stats also only account for the times he's touched or shot the ball.  He's yet to get on the end of some fairly crafty passes by Darwin Quintero.  Those two (much like Darwin and Manotas) are not on the same page at all.  With Pasher out, Maxi has to carry the load better.  He doesn't have to put the entire team on his back, he just needs to be more efficient when he has the ball.

Fafa Picault

There's not going to be a big write-up here.  I honestly didn't have large expectations from Fafa.  They were soo low in fact, that he's actually exceeded them already. Fafa works extremely hard.  He defends the entire sideline and tracks back like a maniac.  He's just not very good at what a winger should be good at.  Despite his speed, and his flashy ball skills, he's not very good with the ball at his feet. His left foot is actually extremely poor, especially on crosses. He occasionally goes by a defender and finds a wide-open teammate, but it rarely pays off.  He's not a very accurate shooter (Shot on Target % of 12.5%, which is 28% under his career average), and when he does find space to shoot it normally winds up in the stands.  In reality, Fafa is a stopgap for someone else.  He's 30 years old, is on the downside of his career, but is a major upgrade from the "Post Alberth Elis" guys we saw last year.  

Tyler Pasher

Tyler's actually been good and a pleasant surprise.  Of the signings, he was both the one I was most intrigued by and the one I had the least expectations for.  I thought it would take him a little time to get acclimated to MLS after spending the last few years in USL.  Your Friendly Neighborhood Canadian can actually play through.  Pasher actually needs to find a way to get more involved in the attack.  He's an extremely accurate shooter, and his SOT% of 57.1% is good for fourteenth in the league.  His conversion rate of 43% is second, and his .75 goals per shot is outstanding.  The problem is, he's only gotten off 7 shots in 531 minutes. That's less than a shot per appearance.  He's got to get more involved in the attack.  Pasher has 3 goals and 2 assists in 8 appearances (7 starts).  He's also the only guy on the squad that can effectively go past an opponent.  His success rate of 75% (15/20) is top 25 in the league, and only two players in MLS (Joe Gyau - FC Cincinatti 28/31; Andrew Brody - RSL - 17/24) with more than 20 attempts have a higher conversion rate than him.  The only gripe I have about Pasher (other than he's played in less than half the games so far) is that he completely disappears for stretches.  The Dynamo actually need to be running the attack through him down the wing as often as possible.  Pasher can play both sides, and the way he and Fafa switch sides throughout the game allows them to keep the defense honest and guessing.  Pasher has to insert himself more.

Memo Rodriguez

Think about this a second: Since the beginning of the 2020/2021 season, Memo Rodriguez is one of the least efficient goal scorers in the history of MLS.   His .086 goals per shot isn't just bad, it's historically awful.  He's taken the 22nd most shots in MLS (31), and his goals per shot (.06) ranks him 164th.  The problem isn't with his accuracy.  His 41.9 SOT% actually is pretty solid.  The problem Memo has is he either gets power or accuracy on the ball.  When he's on target, there's a lot of softballs directly to the keeper.  When he hits with power, it's never on target.  He had 2 great opportunities against San Jose, and failed to capitalize on either.  The aforementioned run off a great pass from Corona, and the time he got the ball in the slot off a low cross from Fafa.  The first was a soft, low shot directly to the keeper; the latter was a blast that was nowhere near a goalward trajectory.  I love to watch Memo play, I really do.  He has heart, he works hard, he's a good defender.  Memo just doesn't create goals, and he never has.  Memo doesn't score all that often, he doesn't create for others, and while he's getting better at being more direct he's just not a #10.  He's an #8 playing one though.  While I acknowledge that's not his fault, it's still ok to ask for better.

Final Thoughts:

There's plenty of other blame to go around.  I can (and will) spend the next two hours talking about how bad Darwin Quintero has been this year.  Quintero has been much better the last two games.  He's playing like he feels the pressure to make something happen every time he touches the ball, and he needs to be more composed.  The pass he had to Vera in the 83rd minute against San Jose on Saturday very well could have broken the game open.  Ariel Lassiter has provided virtually nothing to the attack with his minutes either.  Right now we are soo desperate to find something we are playing Lundkvist up top.  Joe Corona has a rare through ball here and there, but offers virtually nothing going forward either.  Remember, it's virtually impossible to make the playoffs averaging less than 1.3 goals/game.  We've got a way to go, and with Teenage/Parker in the back, it should allow the forwards to stay forward, and not have to desperately track back the whole game.  We need to open this offense up, and find some more goals.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown, and remember to stay #ForeverOrange,

Brian