Pre/PBP/Post Portland Timbers @ Houston Dynamo, Tuesday 5/15 7:30 PM CT

What on earth was Portland tired from? The game started at 7:30 CST which is 5:30pm PST. Thier last game was on May 5th, so they had 10 days rest. This was our 3rd game in 7 days in which we played alot of bench players. Portland could not have asked for a more favorable road trip.

Not only that, but Boyd couldn't have asked for a cooler night to play in Houston this season.

On a scale of 1 to BEAST, ratings for yesterdays game.

Will Bruin = Tired
Macumba Kanji = 6
Calen Carr = 5
Luiz Camargo = 5+
Nathan Sturgis = 4
Brad Davis = 6 (Tired)
Cory Ashe = 5
Jermaine Taylor = BEAST
Bobby Boswell = 7
Geoff Cameron = BEAST
Tally Hall = 8

This game was definitely a mid-week match because it was not pretty.

Glad to see Dixon get playing time and he showed good energy.

Carr has seen RM like I thought he would, yet it's clear he plays better as a forward even though he won't score loads of goals...

I was talking with some folks and my wife last night about Chingy-the guy looks beat up. I think we all know he's having a tough run of it on the pitch lately and that this is probably his last go round. Off the top of my head-he's been cut from the WC team, heckled ruthlessly for it in NY, divorced, and thrown out with the trash in the expansion draft-and that's just the stuff we know about in the past 24 months.
I think we need to show the guy some love and support over the next few weeks to get him back on track-he wants to be here and didn't want to leave, I think we need to keep this in mind before we throw him under the bus for his lack of finishing.

I was watching him on the bench last night and something just didn't seem right-he's thinking too much-could be his awful match Saturday and weak beginning of the season or it could be something else. Maybe he sees the end of the tunnel coming, who knows?

I just wanted to point that out-as some folks alluded to it.

I had an awful boss once who gave some really good advice-when things aren't good at home, your work will suffer. (and vice versa).

Unfortunately for Houston fans, Calen Carr has been a flop here. He just is invisible most the time. The last two matches he has helped quite a bit on defense though. I like the guy but he hasn't made any impact. we have too many guys that just don't make an impact.

Were we at the same game last night?!?! IMO Carr was a candidate for MOTM. He was everywhere both offensively and defensively. That we didn't get a goal was not because of any errors or lack of effort that I saw on Carr's part. He took on defenders, he made decent crosses, he made solid runs behind the defense.

My own spin on where we are right now as a team is...we need to gel as a team. Carr for instance, didn't play that much last season. You can't expect everyone to be on the same page all of the time when we have so many shifting line-ups, and guys like Carr, Camargo, Clark, and Taylor that don't even have a full season under their belts yet as Active Dynamo players. We all tend to forget that the Champiosnhip Dynamo teams developed their chemistry before they got here!

Our three best chances last night were Carr putting Camargo into a 1v1, Camargo putting Carr into a 1v1, and Carr's pass to Ching that he missed. Plus the play that probably should have been a red card. I don't think Carr is the answer at right mid, but at this point nobody else is either.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kandji and Carr switch spots some when they are both in the lineup.

And last night Ashe had two good crosses and they both came from 25-30 yards out. Maybe the team should try that more often instead of having him try to get to the endline to send in crosses, which generally don't work too well.

Carr got some chances and that's great, but nothing came of them. It may be exciting to watch but when it comes down to results, it's meaningless. Maybe he will do better one day.

We must have watched different games

If I may ask, what section are your seats in? I can tell you that on the lower far side stands (away from benches), it seems like the lights are directly focused at about midway up the level. I wonder if the lights facing the east side may be slightly brighter due to the TV requirements (although that seems somewhat unfair for competition itself).

I would think the lights issue would be a lesser issue for people sitting upstair since the lights are generally angled downward.

How many goals and assists has Calen Carr had since he has been playing? How many goals or assists did he have last night? I'm not saying he's lazy now.

Not sure I agree with this at all. Aside from the fact he was brought here as a forward and is playing right mid; watch his game the next time and notice two things: 1) He is about the most accurate player we have with his head. I don't mean shots on goal but almost every time he goes up he is able to play it directly where he wants. 2) watch his runs off the ball. He is dangerous, but not a clinical finisher.

He has limitations and I am not sure he is a starter but far from a flop at his cost.

Fair point, I am in 206 but the first row.

How many goals or assists do any of our players have?

True, you have a point, but that's really my point as well. Our offensive players are not making an impact.

Oh I agree with this!!! I just don't think the guy brought in as a sub at a low number is a flop because he isn't lighting it up. There is a list of higher paid forwards ahead of him that are contributing a lot less.

It's hard for the salary cost of Calen Carr to classify him as a "flop". He's out of position at right mid but has really played well for us since he came back from concussions last year. I wouldn't put him on the list of our problems right now. He may not ever be more than what he showed last year but that isn't bad.

I'm not blaming our problems on just Carr. The problems have become systemic throughout the offense. I have noted that he plays out of position after a couple of his disappearing acts recently, and to be honest, I'm not bashing the guy: I like him personally. Why is he out of position? Can the Dynamo get anything for him still?

The loudest the crowd got last night was when Ching came in, I thought that was great.

He has value, but frankly I don't want to let him go . . I just want better starting options. I would let go of Weaver up top first. I would trade Watson before Carr. I want Carr to play the role off the bench that he did at the end of the season (and get starts when he is on a roll).

I like him a lot better as a 75th minute sub as a Striker. I think it's a problem that he has to play as a winger. I have to agree that Weaver may have value and may even play better somewhere else. I just want to see some changes that are positive on the offense.

Well, conceivably we have roster spots and money to do that during the summer without letting anyone go. We may need to make one trade if we have two expensive targets, but 1) I think Carr has value to us and (2) You don't buy much cap space moving the 80k guy.

The Dynamo should be looking to trade/sell just about anyone on the roster at any time. An overabundance of strikers and no RM's--how about trading somebody, be it Weaver, Carr, or even Bruin. The only franchise player should be Ching, in my opinion.

I was nodding until you said Bruin.