RBNY came to town but little soccer was played.
Most irritating moment: The 36th minute when Ching (who might have been offside anyway) was 1 on 1 with a cold, newbie keeper and decided to chip the keeper, but didn't adjust his touch accordingly. I see that in youth soccer too often -- players who don't realize that you have to adjust your shooting power when you're going for the crafty arc; but should we see such things from professional soccer players?
Most cynical moment: When RBNY went down to 10 men, I said to my wife, "There goes our only chance to win the game. No goals from here on out." She knows my aggravation at the Orange's inability to break down a 10-man bunkered team.
Most despairing moment: When the game ended, and we hadn't gotten a single goal, and we were left with a lousy point that doubled our total and kept us down with the cellar-dwellers. No wins so far. Ten of twelve points lost thus far.
Most amusing moment: When Coach Osario tried to taunt the fans with his 3-0 hand gestures at the end of the game. Passion like that can be cool when you see it in players; it just looks sad and unprofessional when a coach does it. I knew the coach was a micromanager who, primarily because of the hubris of his micromanaging, is one of the worst gameday coaches out there; but the childish taunting made him look bush-league to boot. It also makes it look like he lives in the past, which should be worrisome to RBNY fans. They should be pleased with the away point they got tonight though.
Here's hoping that Cepero is okay and JP Angel gets his scoring touch back. The League is better when its stars are performing. Here's also hoping that the Orange get their scoring touch, that they find a new MLS star in Ade, and that they start playing complete games and earning complete points. Enough with the malaise! Sheesh, already!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Another blah beginning
The Dynamo are now 3 games into their fourth season and still searching for a win...just like last season! We're alongside fellow winless clubs FC Dallas and LA Galaxy from the West, and from the East last year's MLS Cup opponents: Columbus and RBNY. In fact, going back to last season and the CONCACAF tournament, Dynamo-Houston has won only once in their last 11 matches, and have lost five of those 11.
The results of the past three MLS matches have each been irritating in their own particular way: we gave up the equalizer very late in our home opener, we got two goals against San Jose and couldn't get even a point out of it, and we conceded a goal vs an average DC squad and were shut out even after United went down a man. (Being shut out versus a 10-man squad is a Dynamo tradition, unfortunately.)
The team isn't playing particularly poorly, but they are leaking goals at an un-Dynamolike pace. We are very slow in the back, except for the virtually untested Julius James, who has yet to mesh with the starting 11. I wouldn't be surprised, though, to see James play this weekend when we face RBNY and the speedster, Dane Richards, who virtually single-handedly tore us up and kicked us out of the MLS Cup playoffs last season.
So we'll just wait this one out before we start panicking. We have faith in Dom; he's bound to get this team on the right course or make the changes necessary to at least get us into the post-season. We're excited about the potential Ade Akinbiyi has for this team in a league such as this. We're confident in Stuart Holden's ability to assume DeRo's mantle; he has the chops and he's comfortable with the team, and he's bound to be better than an aging and disgruntled DeRo would have been had he stayed. Plus we have some pretty capable players all around – Boswell, Clark, Ching, Davis, Mullen....
In the media:
J Hutcherson likens Houston's post-championship rebuilding to those of DC's past. He questions how Akinbiyi will help the team, but has good things to say about Ching. Courtesy of television angles, most fans not seeing him in person miss what Ching can bring to a squad. He's one of the few players in MLS that trends towards the smart play from the opening to the 90th minute. He'll play himself out of an attacking move if he sees a better option.
Last month, Goal.com had a preview of the Dynamo season. Nothing particularly new there. They have a fairly optimistic, though safe, prediction that Houston should fare well in the Western Conference, but I wonder if they are more pessimistic now after the recent results. Reporters always seem to place significant importance on the first few games of any season, and most seem to shift their opinions after even the briefest of trends.
Closer to home, Fanblogger Lark was a bit cynical after the home opener, and with good reason. He even used the "C" word, a title that Houston sports fans know too well.
The results of the past three MLS matches have each been irritating in their own particular way: we gave up the equalizer very late in our home opener, we got two goals against San Jose and couldn't get even a point out of it, and we conceded a goal vs an average DC squad and were shut out even after United went down a man. (Being shut out versus a 10-man squad is a Dynamo tradition, unfortunately.)
The team isn't playing particularly poorly, but they are leaking goals at an un-Dynamolike pace. We are very slow in the back, except for the virtually untested Julius James, who has yet to mesh with the starting 11. I wouldn't be surprised, though, to see James play this weekend when we face RBNY and the speedster, Dane Richards, who virtually single-handedly tore us up and kicked us out of the MLS Cup playoffs last season.
So we'll just wait this one out before we start panicking. We have faith in Dom; he's bound to get this team on the right course or make the changes necessary to at least get us into the post-season. We're excited about the potential Ade Akinbiyi has for this team in a league such as this. We're confident in Stuart Holden's ability to assume DeRo's mantle; he has the chops and he's comfortable with the team, and he's bound to be better than an aging and disgruntled DeRo would have been had he stayed. Plus we have some pretty capable players all around – Boswell, Clark, Ching, Davis, Mullen....
In the media:
J Hutcherson likens Houston's post-championship rebuilding to those of DC's past. He questions how Akinbiyi will help the team, but has good things to say about Ching. Courtesy of television angles, most fans not seeing him in person miss what Ching can bring to a squad. He's one of the few players in MLS that trends towards the smart play from the opening to the 90th minute. He'll play himself out of an attacking move if he sees a better option.
Last month, Goal.com had a preview of the Dynamo season. Nothing particularly new there. They have a fairly optimistic, though safe, prediction that Houston should fare well in the Western Conference, but I wonder if they are more pessimistic now after the recent results. Reporters always seem to place significant importance on the first few games of any season, and most seem to shift their opinions after even the briefest of trends.
Closer to home, Fanblogger Lark was a bit cynical after the home opener, and with good reason. He even used the "C" word, a title that Houston sports fans know too well.
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