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

An all around Terrible display: Dynamo 0:2 DC United

 
Normally when I write these, I sit down and re-watch the game from the night before.  I make notes, I research stats, and look for anything I can to see why the game result came out the way it did.  When I woke up this morning, I couldn't stomach the thought of watching that terrible display from last night ever again. So this won't be an analysis, it's going to be a rant. 

I know that it's early in the season, and I'm fully aware that we are just 10 games into Paulo Nagamura, Pat Onstad, and Asher Mendlesohn's tenure here in Houston, but what we saw last night (and over the last three games) was such a terrible display of soccer I don't know how we ever make it right.  I'm not holding them completely accountable for this roster, although they hold some responsibility.  The Dynamo are so talent deficient there is no chance they can succeed.   This team is so poorly constructed, that they can't do basic things needed to simply get the ball into the attacking third.  They don't compliment each other, they don't have any sort of attacking threats, and they don't have the means to even be competitive.  Last night was more than an embarrassing, uninspired display of The Beautiful game, it was evidence of exactly how poorly constructed this team is.

The first half was an abysmal display.

The scoreline didn't even reflect how bad we were.  There were soo many bad touches, bad passes, and bad dribbles we looked like a JV team.  Coco was extremely poor but looked like a World Class player compared to Darwin Quintero.  El Cientifico del Gol had 41 touches and lost possession 17 times. In the first half, he completed 35% of his passes.   He picked it up a tad in the second half, but this is the second straight game that our best creative player literally did nothing against a press and killed our attack before it even got across midfield. Coco himself had 16 possessions lost (on 74 touches), but actually picked it up down the last 30 minutes of the game.  Vera? 47 touches, 10 lost possessions. When you lose 43 possessions in your starting midfield, you aren't beating even the worst team in the east.  DC United is long, athletic, and play the passing lanes well.  But that doesn't account for all the times we gave them the ball or passed it directly to a black shirt.  It doesn't make up for the times that we one touched it to nobody or lobbed it to the touchline (20 yards away from the nearest orange shirt).  It was soo poor, you couldn't even tell what the Dynamo were trying to do going forward, because they couldn't organize well enough to execute anything.

There is no secret recipe to beat the Dynamo, it's a well-known game plan.  Press high, force them to play through the middle and hit them wide in attack.  They have no pressure release except to pass backward or bang it to open grass and hope Fafa can outrun 2 lines of defense to chase it down. The midfield is slow, small, and can't play with the ball at their feet.  Fafa is the only guy on the roster with enough speed to beat someone, the rest of the roster is small, slow, and not very skilled.  Pasher isn't fast enough to get in behind anybody, and on the rare occasion he does he can't control the ball and make a play.  Dorsey did absolutely nothing, and Sebas is spending so much time in the defending third that he might as well be playing a #6.  He got 1 touch inside the box.  We just went a full 90' without our #9 taking a single shot.  That shouldn't be surprising, since in the last game he had to take one from 61 yards out to score.  It's not that they aren't getting him the ball, it's that they CAN'T.  This isn't about philosophy, mindset, or tactics, it's that this is a team completely incapable of getting a target #9 the ball in front of the net.  You can change formations and tactics all you want, but unless you get players that are capable it's not going to change.

The backline seems content to play with a 5-yard gap, allowing attacking players to pick and choose what they want to do with the ball, and giving them the space they need to run right past them.  This is a reactive defense, not a proactive one.  In order for this team to compete, they have win possessions back, but the last three weeks Dynamo defenders have sat off and allowed the opposition to pick and choose what they want to do with the ball.  It doesn't matter if they are up a goal in the 85th minute (FC Frisco), up a goal to start the game (Austin FC) or down a goal going into the half, the dropping off and switching off has to be fixed.  If you give a player like Fountas space, he's going to bury it.  End of story.  

This team can't win balls in the air, mostly because they have a high concentration of players that are under 5'7" who make up for their lack of size with a lack of speed and jumping ability. Want to beat a team that presses as high as DC United?  Here's how you do it: 

(1) Find a guy that can go up and get the ball, put him in the middle of the field, and lob him the ball. Paulo is using 5'4", 34-year-old Darwin Quintero in that slot, while our star #9 is defending underneath him.  Darwin matched up against most 6'3" defenders in this league has a 0.0% chance of ever winning a ball, and he doesn't have the footspeed to blow past people any more.  It's going to be a long season, even after HH gets here.  

 

(2) Get your wings in behind their backs.  You can't do this when your wings are slow and defending two lines deep.  You also can't do this when your deep-lying midfielders can't hit through balls, 

(3) Get the ball at your feet and take people on.  Coco can do this occasionally.  Quintero can't do this because he's always playing high.  This leaves (much like we saw with Urruti last year) our #9 tracking back to midfield to hold the ball up and play it backward.  Darwin needs to take on more responsibility for breaking these pressing lines.  He seems content to set the high line and stand there.

No sense of urgency:

One can sum up the entire last two weeks with one visual: Steve Clark, standing with the ball, pleading for someone to move.  10 other guys are standing around, man-marked high, totally content to stand there and let Clark have no one to pass to.  How many times did it happen last night?  When the only person in the attack that has a desperation to move the ball is your goal-keeper, you aren't winning any games.  Time after time Clark would have the ball at his feet, or lining up to take a free-kick, or had just scooped up a ball and was running around in the box with no one to pass to.  Nobody moving, nobody making a run, nobody breaking to the ball, everyone just standing around.  

This entire midfield has to go.

Vera is just good enough to help you beat bad teams.  He's just bad enough to be unable to do anything against a press.  It's not all his fault, but he's been here for long enough to know he can't get us over the hump.  Vera is clearly maximizing his talents, but this is his ceiling.  There's not another step up that he's going to take.  Coco is in the same boat.  He does some good things but isn't helping you beat anyone good.  He can't handle the press, is a poor passer against pressure, and is just slow enough to leave gaping holes in front of our back four when he tries to get forward. Coco might have some room to grow, but I don't see a massive upside with him. Darwin Quintero is the best creative player we have but has been unbelievably terrible the last two weeks.  He's lost several steps, he can't pass out of tight spaces, and while he can still find pockets and put the ball on target he offers very little going forward and almost nothing in defense.  Memo, Ceren?  They can go too.  They give you energy and defense, and they play hard, but I would say the two of them are actually regressing and offer you nothing in terms of building a solid midfield rotation.  I love Memo, he's one of us, but I just don't see how he adds anything on the pitch. The worst part about the midfield isn't just that they are bad, it's that they have all either reached their ceiling.

We all know......

That both wings, both backs and all three midfielders need to be replaced before this team can seriously compete.  Our entire bench needs rebuilt.  We need one player capable of coming on and scoring a late goal, or a couple of players who can create anything when we are chasing a game. Our bench is full of the same guys.  Guys who are ok defensively and offer nothing going forward.  Zeka hasn't played a ton of minutes but has yet to do anything to show me that he's different. He's not making plays with the ball at his feet or with the pass.  He's small, not very fast, and has yet to make a serious play.

Paulo has his work cut out for him.  I said it last year and I'll say it this year, expecting ANYONE (and I do mean anyone) to win with this roster is an unreasonable expectation.  I've already seen some of us out there calling for Nagamura's job.  That's not going to happen this year.  

Next Up:

The Dynamo are about to go into a brutal stretch of 6 games in 21 days.  With a USOC matchup midweek against San Antonio FC, Nashville, Seattle, LA Galaxy, and RSL coming up, it's going to be very demanding on this squad.  Paulo is going to have to get creative to get the most out of this roster over that span, or we could be looking at 8 straight losses before June.

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

Brian

Almost 1/4 way through the season, is this team better than last year: A look.

Here we sit, 9 weeks into the season after back-to-back losses to our Texas rivals, and everyone's in a tizzy.  Some great debate is being had amongst Dynamo faithful over the direction Paulo Nagamura has this team headed, and many supporters side with the belief that this team is better than last year's version.  There have been signs of life, and there have been shades of last year.  But what do the numbers say?  Let's take a look inside the numbers and see if we haven't exercised some demons from the past.  

Where were we last year at this exact point? 3-3-3 (same record as we currently have).  That was right before Tab and crew managed to reel off a winless streak of 16 games once the June heat set in.  Our goal differential (12 GF - 13 GA: -1 GD) is strikingly similar to where we sit today (12 GF - 11 GA: +1 GD).  We are betting at holding possession than in 2021 (17th in MLS at 48% as opposed to last), and we are a more efficient passing team than a year ago (4th in MLS at 83.7%, as opposed to last), but some of the same problems persist.  While I feel like this season has passed the smell test better than 2021 did, the results are nearly identical.  So are some of the numbers of the players:

Through 9 games:

Fafa Picault

• 2021: 1 goal - 2 assists.        
• 2022: 2 goals - 1 assist

Striker:

• Maxi Urruti: 5 goals - 1 assist      
• Sebastian Ferriera: 4 goals - 1 assist

Goal Keeper

• Marco Maric: 71.4% Save%, 12 goals against, 1 Clean Sheet       
• Steve Clark: 73% Save% 11 GA, 2 Clean Sheets

Wins Against

2021: San Jose, Sporting K.C., Vancouver  

2022: Vancouver, Inter Miami, San Jose

The beginning of this year is eerily similar to last year's.  But (I'm being sarcastic here, chill out) if we win one game in the next 16 that makes it better.......right?  I wrote at the beginning of the year that despite the additions of Clark, Hector Herrera, and Sebas, this team hadn't done enough to qualify for the playoffs.  I'm still leaning towards that notion.  Some of the same problems exist as last year, even though a couple of upgrades have been made.  This team could still prove me wrong, however, and I'm hoping they do.   Here's a look at some key positions that need to step up, with a look to what's ahead.  Here's the good at some of the most pressing matters through the early parts of the year.

The midfield: Where will HH fit in this midfield?

The addition of Hector Herrera is a no-brainer.  He's an upgrade over Memo Rodriguez, Mattias Vera and Coco Carrasquilla as a deep-lying midfielder who can get the ball down the field.  Herrera can get the ball to the next level and sting defenses with downfield passing.  While he's not going to pour in goals and assists, he should be able to connect to the top 4 better than anyone we have.  Teams that press high and play chaotic in the midfield make it almost impossible for the Dynamo attack to hold possession and even cross midfield at times. The biggest signing in the history of #ForeverOrange will help be a solution to that.  Currently, the only players we have that are a threat to get the ball downfield are Teenage Hadebe and Ethan Bartlow.  The question is who fits next to him?  I could see a rotation of Vera, Coco, and HH in order to keep legs fresh with HH getting the bulk of the minutes and his partner based on matchup. 
Coco is the best with the ball at his feet, Vera is a more efficient and smart passer.  Neither has been a threat in the attack, but both have been fairly solid in defense.  Coco's 72 Recoveries, and 23 Tackles + Interceptions are a sign that he's helping win back possessions.  He's been good at taking on defenders and playing direct with the ball at his feet, but that final pass or the pass that sets up the final pass has been lacking.  His 81.9% completion is lower than you'd like from that position, but a slight improvement over his rate from last year.  Coco is an important part of this midfield (for now), and you've got to start to question whether the team will actually pick up his option this summer, or just let it go when HH comes and pair him with Vera.  It's very hard to believe that Coco has already logged more minutes than he did last year, but his work is starting to show.  He's completed more passes at a higher rate and all of his defensive numbers are up too.  He's working harder, and playing a more pivotal role than last year under Tab.  He still has strides to make, but month by month he seems to be improving. I would say he's a player we absolutely need to keep, Pat Onstad has said he'd like to keep him, but Coco came out recently saying they haven't approached him about it.

Vera is a solid workhorse, but he's also extremely limited.  He's not the biggest or fastest, but he works extremely hard and is a really smart player. He picks up second balls, he finds his way in front of shots and crosses, and he's an extremely efficient passer.  He's passing above 90% yet again (91.4%) and is hitting balls at literally every level.  The Dynamo simply don't look the same without him in the midfield.  And while I don't know how much higher Vera's ceiling is, he's a guy we have to keep around. 

Memo has been better this year with less expected of him.  While Memo is very much a player who is in between Vera and Coco in terms of skill (better with the ball at his feet than Vera, a solid passer, and can make the final play at times), he also works extremely hard on both sides of the ball.  While he hasn't been as productive as many of us would like, I don' think anyone who watches the Dynamo question how hard he plays. Memo can always have a role on this team, but they'll never be a true contender if he's a focal point.  If you add in Darwin Ceren, there are just too many defensive, limited going forward midfielders for this team to play the proactive style they want to install. While we still have a lot of positions that could use an upgrade, none is more important than solidifying the midfield.

How much does Darwin Quintero have left?

DQ has been a headache this year.  Sometimes for opposing defenses, sometimes for #HoldItDown FC.  Regardless, he's the only player wearing an Orange jersey that can do what he does.  When he's on his game, he makes the opposition look helpless.  When he's not, he's turning the ball over and creating counter-attack opportunities for the other team.  He's tied for the team lead in goals (already surpassing last year's mark), but has yet to notch an assist.  His goals have all come against terrible defenses as Vancouver and Inter Miami are tied for the 3rd worst defenses in the league (18 goals against), and San Jose is the worst (23 goals against). He was really good against Portland Timbers (7 SCA, 4 shots, 2 on Target, 46 touches) but it didn't result in a goal.  Darwin was decent against Dallas, and mostly terrible against Austin FC, although he had the best two chances of the game.  With the heat setting in, and at 34 years of age, I wonder many more times will see "El Cientifico del Gol" vs DQ the Headache.  Going forward, he has to find a way to connect with Sebas, and the two have to figure out how to play off of each other and with each other.  In the early going, it seems more often than not Sebas is playing behind DQ as opposed to vice versa.  After this year, the Dynamo have to find a way to replace him.  When he comes off the field the Dynamo attack stagnates and is almost non-existant.  Whether that replacement can come from here (Marcelo Palomino, Tyler Pasher) or if they find them in the transfer market, the Dynamo have to make finding another attacking midfielder a priority.

Wide Play and Connecting with Sebas.

It seems weird since Lundkvist leads the team in assists (3) and Pasher, Baird, and Fafa have combined for 3 more, but decent service from wide has been hard to come by so far this year.  I thought that installing Pasher in the starting lineup would help with this, but so far it hasn't resulted in quality combo play or produced goals.  When teams sit back, Lundkvist and Dorsey can overlap and push up the sidelines allowing Pasher and Fafa to cut back inside to their stronger foot.  But Austin, Dallas and San Jose all put soo much pressure on our Fullbacks that they couldn't push up without the threat of getting burned on the counter.  All four have to connect better with Sebas up top.  Of Sebas' four goals, only one has come from inside the box while getting service from wide in open play.  There were times this year when it seemed the Dynamo were trying to force-feed Sebas the ball, and the results were terrible.  It's been a work in progress, but Sebas needs to time his runs and find space in front of the net, and he needs better service.  With 4 goals in 4 games, it seems like they've begun to find it, but there's still a lot of work to do.  Finding a connection with your striker can take time.  It's not always the easiest thing to do in the sporting world.  It's a lot like getting your QB a new receiver.  Players have to know each other's timing, and spacing, and there's a rhythm to it.  Here's hoping they find multiple ways to do that going forward.  We don't need to replicate Urruiti's horrible span from last year.

Lack of quality depth is still a problem.

When a player is underperforming, who does Paulo turn to?  Baird was mostly disappointing in the early parts of the year, and although he brings energy and defense up top he offers almost nothing going forward.  Baird isn't getting to open spots or behind the defense.  He's not creating shots, getting shots, or putting the shots he does get on target. He's not crossing the ball well and gives it away in the attacking third too often. Paulo recently made the switch to Pashern who has also been mostly disappointing.  Although Pasher has notched a goal and an assist in 321 minutes, he hasn't been great at taking on defenders and hasn't found his left foot often enough. Memo and Ceren offer energy and defense, but the attack stagnates when they are on the field.  Lundkvist and Dorsey have been.......uh....ok I guess?  Zeka hasn't done a lot in his limited minutes to show the job should be his.  Thor comes on games and looks like a bull in a china shop, but has yet to produce a goal in any way.  About the only position where it looks like there is quality depth is CB, with 4 guys playing and each doing fairly well.  

In my very humble opinion, I would think that guys like Zeka, Palomino, and Thiago would earn more looks.  Nobody in front of them is a nailed-down starter, and I would hope that Paulo starts giving each extended minutes as the year goes on.  Newcomer Beto Avila deserves to be in the mix too, he's been tearing it up for Dynamo Dos in MLS next and plays a position of need at RW.  While I think it's too early and there are too many people ahead of them to call up Juan Castillo and Pap N'Doye, they are ones to keep an eye on as well.  

Pessimistically optimistic:

I desperately want this team to be better than last year.  We need this team to turn a corner and start nailing down 3 points on a fairly regular basis in order to bring some life to this fanbase, this city, and this franchise.  I think this team is headed down a good path, but they still have a long way to go.  I still don't think this is a playoff-caliber team, even after HH arrives.  He's only a cure to one of the many ills that plague this roster.  Pat has proven that he can build a quality roster and that he can go get quality players.  There are still too many remnants of last year's roster on this team, and that was a roster that had gaping holes.  Could this team catch fire and play itself into a playoff position?  Sure.  Is it a roster I think can compete on a nightly basis with the top half of the league? Absolutely not.  There are simply too many deficiencies and not enough depth.  I also think that 90% of the roster has reached their ceiling.  Guys like Memo, Ceren, Lundi, DQ, Pasher, Baird, Fafa, Parker, Hadebe, Steres, etc. aren't getting markedly better.  If they can put it together and disguise their weaknesses, they've got a chance.  

Next up:

Saturday, May 7th @ DC United  

Last matchup: May 19th, 2019 - Dynamo 2:1 DC United.

DC United has lost 5 of their last 6 games, getting outscored 13-6 over that span. 3 of those 5 losses came at Audi Field.  

Most common Lineup - 3-4-3

Leading Goal Scorer: Ola Kamara - 4

Record: 3-0-5, 9 points (1.13 per game)

Goals: 10 (1.25 per game), Goals Against: 13 (1.63 per game), Diff: -3

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

Brian

A tip of the cap.

Entering the game I had an admiration for Austin F.C. for what they've built and the direction that they're headed.  I meant it when I said that I am jealous of the way the #Verde fanbase supports their team.  It's the way fanbases should support their team: they show up in numbers and have passion.  The league needs it, the sport needs it here in America, and I'm happy to see it happening here in the great state of Texas.  After writing my last post I still have respect for them, but also think they are much like their goalkeeper:  ignorant, arrogant, and slightly lacking intelligence.  Some of you are playing too far outside your goal, and getting hit with 61 yard blasts that leave you reeling.  I mean this in a pure literary sense, and I'm going to let you in on a secret: nobody cares what you think here in Houston.  You're not one of us, you're not part of us, you've never gone through the things we've gone through.  Not as a fanbase, not as a community.  You can kindly take your snooty thoughts and opinions and keep them within your own, weird #Verde culture.  I'm glad this game played out on the field, but unfortunately (for me) the better team won.  Austin F.C. has bragging rights, and as a brash young fanbase is prone to do go ahead and take full advantage of it.  Tip of the cap to you, you've earned it. 

I guess there's a place in the world for pretentious people who drink champagne with raised pinkies and hide behind a guise of sophistication and general snobbery.  I'm glad you found your place.  If all I had to cheer for was the Longhorns in this town, I'd be running to Austin F.C. too. I've been cheering for crappy teams basically my whole life and am well versed in how to love sports and teams.  I was born into some of my fandoms, others I chose to love.  The Houston Dynamo are one I choose.  I'd never chose yours. I mean, when your biggest accomplishment is beating our hot pile of garbage team you still have a long list of nothing accomplished. I seriously hope you guys have just enough success to never earn a star above your crest.  You know......like those two over ours?  

Shades of last year.

Two big tests, two tests failed, and this team is looking a little bit like a reincarnation of last year.  What both games proved is that we lack the basic ability to break down a defense and organize an attack.  Our midfield looked poor in both games, and while I acknowledge that Coco, DQ, and Vera all got banged up in the FC Frisco game we just don't have the overall quality to do what we need to do.  Both games saw us unable to get the ball into the attacking third with any form of regularity.  Both games we seemed content to take an early goal, try to sit back and bomb the ball deep down the touchlines.  Both times it came back to bite us. 

FC Dallas dominated the game from the 60th minute on.  We simply don't have the horses to take control of a game, hold possession, and grind things out.  Frisco didn't steal points from us, we didn't hand points to them, they simply beat us.  Austin FC outplayed us for 90 minutes.  It wasn't even close.  We managed to complete 3 passes into their box the entire game, and rarely broke midfield much less entered the final third.  After going up 1-0 on a ridiculous 61 yard strike by Sebastian Ferreira and playing fairly balanced over the first 20 minutes, #Verde choked the life out of us owning every major statistical category.  The final score might have been 2-1, but it wasn't even really that close.

This team simply lacks the ability to park the bus and defend while holding a lead, but they need to find it.  This team has to be better.  Point blank, end of story.  Nagamura even said it himself:

• “Players have to understand that we can’t just accept, that because we scored early, we cannot play with no urgency or no commitment to keep pushing the game as well,” 
• “After we scored, we dropped too much, and we stopped playing the way that we wanted to play on a hot day,”
• “It is really tough when you’re just defending, defending even though we were really, really dangerous directly and with our counterattack.” (Credit to The Bayoucitian)

Speaking of the midfield.....

Darwin Quintero wasn't good.  DQ had a rough night despite getting 2 decent chances in the first 20 minutes.  His passing (10/20) was off all night, especially in the short passing game (5/10).  3 of his passes were intercepted going into the final third, and missed guys on runs early in the game.  His second chance (20 yards out, saved by Tarbell 20th minute) he actually had Pasher in the box to his right. He put a good foot on it, but not good enough.  Memo had a good day statistically (3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 14/15 passing%,) but didn't do enough to help hold possession and break lines.  Memo replaced Vera and put in a Vera-esque performance.  While efficient with his passing, he only completed one pass into the final 1/3rd the entire game. You can make the same critique of Coco Carrasquilla, who outside of a really nice ball into the box to Tim Parker wasn't really a serious threat in the game. Darwin Ceren who came on in the 64th minute for Quintero, did almost nothing as did everyone else off the bench.  Pasher and Fafa rarely managed to break through and find the ball, but when they did poor touches and over dribbles plagued the day.  Fafa had one nice cut back to find DQ in front of the box in the 20th minute, but other than that was rarely dangerous.  Pasher didn't do much, gave way to Corey Baird who was awful. 

Quotables:

• "To be honest, I don't think it was our best day, we could have had a couple of better moments on the ball," Parker said of the team's performance. "Obviously, Driussi hits a really good shot into the upper corner from where he is at. There are moments that we might shut off or there are moments that we can prevent these things," Parker added. "There are moments in games where there are small mental lapses, tiredness, fatigue, poor positioning, those kinds of things." (Striker.com)
• "It started well. We scored early, but after we scored, we turned off a bit. Bottom line, it was just a poor performance overall. We came with a plan. Most of the time we stuck to that plan, but we are not consistent enough throughout the 90 minutes," Nagamura said in his assessment of the game. "I think we have to understand that we are a team that cannot afford to turn off, just because the way that we want to play and the way that this league is, very competitive," Nagamura added. "As a group, we have to make sure we are being accountable to each other and make sure that we minimize those moments because teams will capitalize on those moments. This afternoon, we had a few plays that we turned off and we paid the price." (Striker.com)
• “Real significant laceration across his knee, structurally everything looks good,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said of Stuver’s injury. “They may keep him overnight to make sure they clean that up and stitch it up properly, but everything structurally looks good. It was a tough knock and the guys responded from that, but good win. Obviously Brad’s in our thoughts and he should be fine in the coming weeks. But awesome performance by the guys tonight and really proud of them to get three points on the road (in) a difficult place.” (Click2Houston)
  

Final Thoughts:

In all seriousness, Austin F.C. credit to you.  You've been taking it to us in every way since your inception.  Your Front Office has been better than ours, your coach is better than ours, your team is better than ours, and your fan base is bigger and more passionate than ours.  You've been better on the pitch, and you've been better as an organization. Your TIFO game is even strong. I tip my cap to you.  While I will never like you (in a rivalry sense), R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Here's hoping that this rivalry gets better and better.

Thanks again for reading

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

The strange and curious goings on vs. Austin FC.

Well, this rivalry got heated quick.  I mean, I understand it.  I just don't get it.  In only a year of existence, the 290 Derby heated up quicker than a Hot Pocket.  And, just like a Hot Pocket, everyone who bites into it runs the risk of melting the roof of their mouth off with nuclear levels of heat.  Let's be real with each other for a minute.......this entire rivalry is childish. Just like most things going on in America today this matchup has a bunch of grown adults acting like petulant 6-year-olds.  So, just like you should do with a couple of toddlers throwing temper tantrums at pre-school, let's sit down and hash this out.  The two sides need to set some ground rules, boundaries, and get to know one another a little bit.

(1) Austin F.C. Fans, you are more than welcome to come to Houston and cheer on your team.

This is the south (we here in Houston like that, despite certain writers in Austin running from it like it were a swear word), we treat people with hospitality and respect......or at least we fake it really well for the sake of being southern.  This isn't Philadelphia.  Not all of us #ForeverOrange followers are Hooligans just setting out looking to brawl.  Most of us are ashamed of the Hooligan nature of a very small contingent of our fans. So #Verde, despite what some of you are saying about us and our entire fanbase/city, that's nowhere near an accurate depiction. I know you are new to all this, so let's review some basic respect here. 

(1) Show up, cheer your team on, pound your drums and sing your songs.  However, throwing green smoke on our field?  Probably a bad idea.  Booing our team in our stadium?  That's disrespectful.  It's embarrassing to have you outsing us in our own stadium, but something we will have to hang our collective heads and deal with. 

(2) Don't act like you're better than us.  If we are being real, your team hasn't done anything.....at all.  To show up to our stadium and act like you own it is disrespectful. To be honest with you, your team was a slightly less hot pile of garbage than ours was last year.  Congrats.  We know you are off to a great start, but you've never accomplished anything in this league. Sorry, not sorry.

(3) Just show some proper level of respect as you would if you were in somebody's home you didn't know.  You wouldn't show up to someone's house with muddy shoes and start smoking cigars in their house, telling them their cooking sucks and disrespecting their significant other.  Treat our stadium like you are a guest because that's exactly what you are.  I'll admit, during last year's game I looked at Wade and said "That's pretty awesome, but who do these people think they are bringing their drums into OUR stadium?" I'm not saying it was wrong of you to bring them in.  I'm saying your energy was something we hadn't seen, and a little bit shocking.  There's a duality to it, I appreciated it and was angry about it at the same time.  

We know you guys beat us twice last year, and we're kinda grumpy about it.  There are Dynamo fans here in Houston that have pride in our team and our city, but (sporting-wise) we've been on hard times recently.  I'm all for the support you give your team.....truly. Just please keep it classy.....which brings me to my next point.

(2) Dynamo Fans, Austin FC is great for MLS, let's treat them with respect.

Not gonna lie, I'm actually a little jealous of the support and fanfare Austin F.C. has generated in their short time.  It's phenomenal.  We here in Houston can act like jilted lovers, pointing out how fake it is (I'm making a point Austin F.C. fans, relax) and blah blah blah blah blah, or we can accept the fact that what they are doing there is good for the league and hopefully pushes our FO to be better.  100%, they are currently our annoying brothers......well, really more like our annoying distant cousin. They just got here and are acting like they won the league even though they were terrible last season and have never done anything.  I get it. But we can't just threaten them or start smacking them around.  That's not what this city is about.  That's not what this team or this fanbase is about.  I'm not telling you to cheer for them, but it's ok to laugh at them on the inside because they're being a little ridiculous.  As much as we don't like it, it's actually a good thing.  Look at all the empty stadiums across the league. Look at all the empty seats in our own stadium! This league needs more ridiculous, and we could actually do a little to emulate it. I seriously hate every MLS team not named the Houston Dynamo, but I also want to see a league with stadiums packed (including ours).  Let them have their fun, this league and this sport need it.

(3) Please, for the love.....put down the Twitter Muscles. 

#Verde, I'm letting you know (as @HoustonDynamPod tried to do in a very ineloquent way) that there are those among us who will take the things I mentioned above as disrespect.  We all know what happened last year.  You guys are accusing all of us of being Hooligans.  I can promise you that 99.5% of us are not.  So, let's all put down the Twitter muscles, let's all stop flexing our thumbs and digitizing our testosterone.  Stop lumping us all in the same boat. Y'all need to just relax, it's a game.  I love a good, heated rivalry.  I'm a Cowboys fan.  Literally, everyone who isn't one of us hates us. But let it play out on the field.  People on both sides need to quit looking for trouble on Twitter, because you might actually find some.  

Everyone just relax.

It's going to be fun.  Austin FC, I'm glad you're doing well.  Enjoy it, it's exciting and it's awesome.  I hate you guys, but I'm glad that you are off to a good start and have an enthusiastic fan base.  I'm jealous.  I'd love to have the fanbase you guys have here.  So show up, cheer on your team, keep it classy, and everything will be fine. 

3 points are 3 Points: Dynamo 4:3 Earthquakes

 

What.....a.......game.  This game had a lot of everything.  It was action-packed, back and forth, had a lot of "firsts", and ended in 3 points.  It wasn't always pretty, it ended up being a nail-biter, but it got the job done.  15,414 people inside PNC got to see one of the more exciting games in a while. There is a lot to be excited about after this win, and a little to be concerned about as well.  Let's take a look at what happened, unpack a few things, and start looking forward to next Saturday vs. Portland.

The First 45 Minutes:

With San Jose pressing high in the midfield, the Dynamo spread out wide looking to build out of the back and make the San Jose front line run.  With a backline of Bartlow and Hadebe, Nagamura was utilizing two center backs who have good downfield vision and accuracy in order to break lines and put keep San Jose's backline honest.  Mattias Vera was spending time either dropping between the CB's or working his way upfield behind San Jose's forwards and midfield.  Starting Pasher, Quintero, and Picault gave the Dynamo enough speed and playmaking that if the ball got through, there was a great chance to capitalize.  San Jose pushed high in the midfield and dominated possession through the early parts, as in the first 15 minutes San Jose managed to take 7 possessions away from the Dynamo, many of which before the ball even crossed midfield. Vera fired the first warning shot (5 mins in), a deep ball left of middle that was just beyond a streaking Fafa Picault.  The Dynamo were winning the ball back early in their attacking third.  Lundkvist got a steal and found Tyler Pasher, which turned into a throw-in.  Coco intercepted a pass and got another throw-in.  On the throw-in, Dorsey hit a nice weighted pass to Pasher, who centered it to Fafa.  The ball was a little to far in front of Fafa and Paul Marie cut him off and knocked it out for a corner.  That's when the magic happened. 

The setup on the corner was nice.  Pasher, Fafa, and Bartlow all pushed hard to the near post.  Hadebe circled around to the back post, with Sebas filling in the gap directly behind Bartlow.  Darwin had set up just in front of the near post, bringing a defender with him. 

Lundkvist hit nice ball that was timed just right off the corner.  A low bouncing ball that laid up perfectly at Sebas' right foot.  Sebas timed it great and had a sliver of daylight to the near post between defenders.  He didn't hit it great, but he hit it just well enough.

The ball tucked in just past a diving J.T. Marcinkowski for Sebas' first goal of the year to put the Dynamo up 1-0.  It was Houston's 2nd set-piece goal of the season and looked like it came straight off the training ground.  Only seconds later, Sebas gobbled up a loose ball off a bad pass from Cade Cowell and fired it downfield to Fafa on the run again.  Fafa cut back inside and hit a shot with his right foot, but didn't get it clean and the ball was an easy one for Marcinkowski to pick up. The Earthquakes came right back, as Monteiro found Ebobise in a nice pocket.  Ebobise got a decent shot off that was blocked by Ethan Bartlow.  After the goal, San Jose pushed even higher, making it very difficult for the Dynamo to even complete a pass.  They were dominating possession (68% possession over the first 15 minutes of play), winning the ball back constantly around the midfield line, and building off runs and direct passes.  From minutes 10-25, San Jose completely dominated the run of play.  Bartlow, Hadebe, and Lundkvist were doing a solid job turning them away, but you could see San Jose was building.  San Jose would hold the ball for long stretches with their backline, swinging it side to side and looking to take advantage of gaps in the Dynamo midfield.  They almost hit the Dynamo on a counter (21st minute) when Jackson Yuell snatched up a bad ball from Sebas in the midfield and found Marcos Lopez on a run down the left side. Lopez tried to wrecking ball his way through two Orange defenders (Vera and Dorsey), went down in the box, and got a Yellow for simulation instead.  It didn't take much longer for the Earthquakes to equalize, as Cade Cowell found Jeremy Ebobise right in front of the net in a huge pocket.  The build-up was decent, but not unguardable.  Christian Espinoza had a nice switch across the field to Cowell who brought the ball deep inside the box down the left flank.  The back 4 set deep in front of the 6-yard box, the midfield didn't make it back, leaving a huge pocket for Ebobise to settle into.  Hadebe reacted a step late and Ebobise hit it in the top corner (25th minute).
For the next few minutes, the game resembled more "Pinball Wizard" than a soccer match, as the ball was bouncing back and forth in the middle third like guys were trying to hit bumpers to collect points. One of those balls found its way through, and Coco found the end of it.  He raced past the defense to track down a really nice pass from Quintero, took two good touches on it, and was in a position to get a good shot.  Marcinkowski and Francisco Calvo had done a good job walling him up and cutting off any angles, and Coco fired a left-footer right at the keeper.

There was no time to think about it, as Marcinkowski hopped up and fired one downfield and San Jose was pinging passes all over the place.  When the ball found Jan Gregus on the right side, Ebobise was set up in his favorite spot again.  The cross was decent, Hadebe gave Ebobise too much space and mistimed his jump, and Ebobise beat him to it and headed one just passed Steve Clark.  This is part Hadebe giving him too much space, and part poor teamwork by the backline as Ebobise broke through a sliver between them, but there were huge gaps in the back on the ball in.  Hadebe seemed to be caught in between two, reacted a second late to this one too, and got beat to the ball. 2:1 San Jose, and at this point, with the way San Jose was holding possession, I was extremely worried about snagging points.

The game didn't change course much for the rest of the first half, as San Jose played high and compressed and was tempting the Dynamo to beat them deep.  In my opinion, Matías Almeyda got greedy chasing a 3rd goal and near the end of the first half, it came back to bite him.  

• 39:30 - The Dynamo finally break through, Vera hits a pass that gets Pasher through, Pasher fires a right-footer into  The Texian Army
• 42:00 - Immediately after San Jose pushed bodies forward deep in Dynamo territory, holding possession and winning every second ball.  Darwin Quintero steps in front of a Cade Cowell pass and finds Vera.  Vera plays one back to Steve Clark.  Clark punches one deep that finds the chest of Calvo. Calvo's control was sloppy and Quintero raced in to scoop up the ball. Quintero hits a perfect ball to Pasher who is in a foot race with Marcos López.   López did just enough to knock Pasher off his path, Marcinkowski rushes out to knock the ball away.  The ball seemed to bounce for an eternity.  Quintero chased it down and snuck one into the lower right corner - 2:2.
• 45+1 - Bartlow fires a tremendous ball 60 yards to Quintero.  The ball holds up just a bit, and Quintero tries to lob it over Marcinkowski.  The San Jose Keeper doesn't bite, and the ball comes right to him. 

It took the Dynamo the better part of 40 minutes to really start hitting on these, but they had found cracks and were really threatening.  

The Second 45 Minutes:

San Jose came out hellbent on getting that third goal.  With the frontline stretched, San Jose was finding huge gaps in the midfield in the early parts of the second half. Christian Espinosa (twice) and Jan Gregus managed to find openings and fire off fairly dangerous shots in the first 6 minutes of the half.  Houston found its way back on the counter after Teenage tracked down a bad pass at midfield.  After braking hard on a soft pass, Teenage collected the ball and hit Quintero on the run.  Quintero weighted a pass to Sebas who tried to touch it past the defender, but the touch was a little too aggressive and Marcinkowski managed to get out and get wide.  The shot deflected back off Sebas for a goal kick.  As fatigue started to set in from the frantic pace, the game got pretty sloppy.  Glenn Davis and Eddie Robinson both described the game as "pinball".  Both teams were having problems getting it out of the middle third, with the occasional run. Finally, in the 55th minute, Coco corralled a pass and fired one 40 yards on a rope to Fafa on the run, Fafa slowed slightly to control the ball, and the shot was deflected out for a corner. Lundy put a good foot on it, it found Fafa's head but deflected back inside the box.  Hadebe hit the rebound back into the goal, 3:2 good guys.

With Pasher and Fafa now sitting higher to look to counter, Hadebe and Bartlow had to be a lot more active to keep The frontline of San Jose from breaking through.  Finally, in the 67th minute. They hit again. Dorsey intercepted a pass and immediately fired one to Fafa on the run.  Fafa took it, cut back inside, and found Sebas about 12 yards out.  Sebas had plenty of time, set it, and blasted one that Marcinkowski managed to deflect but it went past him into the goal 4:2. Paulo tried to settle the game down at this point, bringing on fresh legs (Memo and Thor), but you could tell that Coco and Vera were wearing down. Ebobise's 75th minute chance from 8 yards out came after Eric Remedi roasted Coco to the touchline. Seconds later, Tommy Thompson found the back of the net after the ball wound up in his lap after a corner deflection.  Nobody marked Thompson, and although Memo tried to rotate over he was late.  That was the end of the scoring, but nowhere near the end of the drama.  San Jose owned the final 15 minutes of play. Baird came on (76th) for Pasher, freshening up the frontline even more, but San Jose was overwhelming Forever Orange for the final stretch.   San Jose managed 8 shots over the last 15 minutes (plus added time), 3 of which were on target.  Ebobise's 84th-minute header was just soft enough that Clark was able to snag it on a dive.  His 87th-minute shot came after he took on the entire backline by himself.  Clark had one more save up his sleeve to secure the win after Gregus' free-kick found its way through the wall and was bouncing to the near post.  You had to hold your breath for the last 20 minutes of play, but in the end in earned 3 points.

Game Notes

Coco Carrasquilla

It's hard to be critical of a guy that made a lot of really good plays, but Coco was up and down all night.  He had some tremendous downfield passes and made several plays with the ball at his feet to keep possessions alive.  He had an excellent run early in the game that led to him being in a good goal-scoring position.  He picked up 6 tackles + interceptions, had 5 recoveries, and was extremely active in the midfield.  But he also gave the ball away several times in horrible positions a lot.  He (4) and Vera (4) accounted for half of the Dynamo passes that were intercepted.  He wasn't great in the short passing game (71%), and was part of the reason the Dynamo couldn't get the ball across midfield for much of the game.

The Possession Game

The Dynamo possession game wasn't on point Saturday night.  Part of that was because of the pressure being applied by Monteiro, Gregus, and Yueill, and part of that was because San Jose was doing a good job playing possession with their backline.  The Dynamo rarely found ways through and were relegated to rely on deep downfield passes most of the night.  San Jose leads MLS in possession % by a pretty good margin, and their 67.4% possession (WhoScored.com) on Saturday only padded that stat.

Griffen Dorsey

Dorsey was all over the place.  He picked up 14 loose balls, had 3 tackles, 3 interceptions, and was up and down the right line all night.  Dorsey and Lundkvist seemed entrenched at the backs, and outside of a squad rotation here and there I don't see either coming out of the lineup much.

Next Up

Saturday 4/16/2022 vs Portland Timbers

Last 6: Portland owns the series recently, got 4-0-2 over the last 6 and outscoring the Dynamo 13-5 over that span.

Hope to see you there.

Until then, remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian

Finally!

Can you enjoy a road win against a not-so-good Inter Miami team?  When it's been since August 25, 2020 (that 586 days by the way), you better believe it.  Can you believe that was Tab Ramos' first win as a coach.....that's how long it's been. You know, back when people were excited that Tab Ramos was our coach?  It was a 5-2 blasting of Sporting KC, and then we decided to sell Alberth Elis. When you are the Houston Dynamo, this is a game you should win.  Inter Miami is in Shambles, and despite having bigger names and flashier toys, they are a team that isn't very good.  Winning a game they should win hasn't always been the easiest thing to do.  While of course there are things to nit-pick at, there are also things we can celebrate. Let's roll up our sleeves and put in the work, and see what we can dig up.

Curiosities before the game:

One thing I'm really starting to like about Paulo Nagamura is the fact that he is completely unafraid to throw guys out there and rotate the squad.  Early on, it's somewhat working, and defensively the team has been pretty consistent.  There were a couple of surprises in the roster selection when it was released.  I was pretty shocked to see (1) Ethan Bartlow in the starting ll (2) Tim Parker and Daniel Steres not even in the 18.  Bartlow played pretty well in the inaugural DynamoDos game the week before.  He positioned himself well and flashed some of his deep passing skills that he was known for at Washington.  Ethan even joined the attack a few times late and hit a nice shot late in the game that was saved by the Vancouver 2 keeper.  It is great to me to see Bartlow in the starting 11 for the first team, but was a little curious not having Parker or Steres even in the team.  Ian Hoffman made the trip and was in the 18, and Memo got the start after Coco returned from International duty.

Miami came out with a fairly attack-minded 11.  Phil Neville's crew had only managed 2 goals entering the game, and the starting lineup of Ariel Lassiter and Robbie Robinson got two of his more dangerous wingers in the lineup.  17-year-old Noah Allen picked up his 3rd start of the season, and the always dangerous Gonzalo Higuain pointed the attack.  The game started over an hour late thanks to a lightning delay, but both the game opened up like it energized them.

The first 45 minutes:

The opening 15 minutes of play was full-bore back and forth action, and really exciting to watch.  Corey Baird opened the frenzy with a  right-footed blast off a nice 1-2 combo from Sebastian Ferriera and Darwin Quintero that was low and to Nick Marsman's right, but he managed to get down and punch the ball away.  :42 seconds into the game, and you could tell that both teams were going after it.  On the following corner, Quintero took a short one, made a move, and found Teenage Hadebe mid-box who hit a wild left-footer that was blocked.  It didn't take long for Inter Miami to answer back.  They immediately began firing test shots down the field, probing the Dynamo defense and keeping Steve Clark plenty busy.  Many of them were down the right side, as Inter seemed determined to take on Griffen Dorsey and Ethan Bartlow.  At the 4:00-mark, Robbie Robinson hit a beautiful 40 pass to Higuain on a dime, in behind Bartlow.  Bartlow just managed to recover, and with a little luck knocked it out for a corner.  Higuain bended a pretty corner into the box (which Fafa managed to head away), and Jean Mota fired one from about 25 yards out one time that went sailing over the goal. Immediately after, Hadebe scorched a perfectly weighted ball through all the lines to Fafa on a dead sprint.  Fafa's run was perfect and he was 1v1 with the keeper, but Marsman did a good job cutting off the angle to Fafa's right foot.  Marsman knocked it away, but it's a chance Fafa HAS to finish. Both teams were sitting mid-high blocks, and the action was extremely quick and fast-paced like a Bundesliga game. 

• 5:58 - after Sebas turns the ball over just outside the box, Miami builds up an attack down the left side (Dorsey's side). Allen overlaps, fires in a cross, Miami wins the second ball, and Lassiter fires a left-footer that Clark saves at the near post.
• 8:26 - Inter Miami building again, Robinson finds Mota just outside the 18.  Mota blasts a left-footed strike that is directly at Clark.
• 11:00 - Memo plays short corner to DQ, who taps it back to Memo.  Memo fires a perfect cross to Fafa directly in front of the goal, about 5 yards out.  Fafa gets a terrible head on it and it winds up in the stands.
• 18:31 - Lassiter makes a great run down the right side, collects a ball of a terrific back heal from Mota, and finds Taylor just outside the 18.  Taylor fires it wide right.
• 20:29 - after a terrible turnover by Sebas, Miami streaks down the right side. Robbie Robinson makes a terrific move, turning Bartlow around.  Bartlow drops but Teenage slides in and manages to block Robinson's shot for a corner.
• 21:31 - Mota fires a nice lofted ball to Robbie Robinson behind everyone.  The ball is about a foot too high and Houston wins a goal kick.
• 22:43 - Ethan Bartlow hits a bad leftie to Dorsey, Miami takes the ball deep in their own third.  Quintero accidentally deflects a ball directly to Robinson.  Robinson finds Lassiter who Lassiter's it nowhere close to the goal.
• 23:28 - Lundkvist hits a great ball 50 yards to Ferreira.  Ferreira is trying to fight off two Miami defenders who hold him off just as Marsen corrals the ball.
• 24:44 - Bartlow Fires one deep to Fafa, just a bit too far.  

And on and on and on it went.  Miami was in control of the game, Houston had the most dangerous chances, neither scored and we went into half-time 0-0.  Despite winning most of the cumulative stats (12 shots, 50.5% possession), they never really seemed all that dangerous.  Houston had cracked Miami WIDE open several times but failed to capitalize.  Miami was determined to try to attack down the wings, and I'm never nervous when Ariel Lassiter has the ball.....unless he's on my team.  

It didn't take long:

Immediately in the second half (or immediately after the ESPN+ feed came back on), Higuain had an opportunity behind the Houston defense, but was just offside.  Houston began to build, and finally, it happened. What started as nothing out of the usual, Houston was poking and prodding the Miami defense.  Slow build, look for gaps, and finally Memo found one.  

He laced a terrific pass, splitting two defenders to a wide-open Griffen Dorsey. Dorsey faked inside, cut back outside, and created an angle that gave him the sideline.  Sebas went near post, with Darwin running middle and Fafa covering the back post.

The ball took a slight deflection off of Noah Allen's ankle, which gave it a little extra loft and changed the trajectory enough to throw off both the goalkeeper and his cover. Sebas run pulled the defenders apart, leaving DQ with a clear path to the ball.

DQ beat Yedlin to the ball, and got just enough head on it to beat Marsen and put the Dynamo up 1:0

15 minutes later, DQ helped make it 2:0 on a horrendous play by Marsen after Bartlow lofted one into the 18.  Marsman charged, mistimed his jump, and while reaching up with his right hand to catch it actually laid it in the lap of Quintero.  Marsman had no choice but to tackle Quintero like a defensive end, handing Quintero a penalty.  I was actually surprised that Fafa took it instead of Sebas, but Fafa was money last year.  I thought with Sebas being what Sebas is, the team would hand him the penalty to try to get him on track.  However, Fafa stepped up and hit a laser past Marsman's right and increase the lead to two.  Marsman had guessed correctly but just couldn't get to it. Two minutes later, Steve Clark repaid the favor just trying to make a play. Jean Mota fireballed one into a crowd that pinballed around and ended up behind the defense.  Clark was trying to get to it, but Robert Taylor beat him to the ball.  Clark was in a terrible position and dove for the ball, but Taylor tried to cut back outside and Clark cut out Taylor's legs with his shoulder.  It was a clear pen, but there was nothing malicious about what Clark did.  Higuain lined up to take it, and as he approached Steve Clark seemed to be faking left and set-up right.  It looked like he slipped as he went to his knees right before Gonzalo hit it, but never the less Miami had cut it to 1.  Miami really cranked up the pressure and was throwing people forward, but Houston was had dropped Coco (70th minute sub for Memo) and Vera deeper in their own half, constantly outnumbering any chances Miami had.  

Pasher (75th Minute), Thor (75th Minute), and Coco (70th minute) had come on and brought some fresh legs.  Junqua and Ceren came on in the 84th minute for Baird and Vera, bringing on some fresh defensive legs.  When the 4th official held up 6 minutes of added time, I almost threw something at the television.  There was a strong feeling we were bringing home 3 points on the road for the first time since we've changed Presidents, and the 6 minutes game me an uneasy feeling.  But that's when Fafa exploded. After a terrific tackle by Coco in the box, the ball squirted through for a throw-in.  Coco went down, holding his leg, and you could see that Miami was visibly frustrated by him going down.  Coco got up, received the throw-in, and turned and fired to Tyler Pasher right in the mid-field circle. 

Pasher charged hard right at Noah Allan who was defending the entire right side of the Dynamo attack by himself.  When he hit the pass, Fafa wasn't even in the screen and I jumped off my couch.

Fafa came racing out of nowhere off-screen.  It was a really nice pass from Pasher with good touch on it.  It laid up right in front of Fafa who was now all alone.

Fafa took one really nice touch and bent one just passed Marsman's leg. 3:1 Good Guys.

It felt great to get the win.  The Dynamo now sit at 2-1-2 on the year (8 points).  

Next up: Saturday 4/9 vs San Jose @ 7:30 PM - PNC Stadium

San Jose is last in the Western Conference, with 2 points through 5 games.  San Jose ranks last in the Western Conference (24th in MLS) in Goals against/90 (2.2).  They rank 13th in Goals/90 (tied with the Dynamo @1.2). San Jose also ranks #1 in MLS in Possession % (62%)

See you all on Saturday.

Remember to #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian