Re: Who's on the team? That would make sense for Schmid (if it's true). But he did not have to cut Fender or Donatelli yet, since they were not even signed to developmental contracts. Sounds like Dom has been pretty much underwhelmed by the draftees this year, except for Chabala and Ianni. So at this point, the only draft picks that are still in camp are Ianni, Chabala, and Moloi. Compare to last year's draft when they were the San Jose Earthquakes, the following guys made the team as draft picks of San Jose: O'Rourke Goldthwaite Ramirez Rodriguez Fulton Wondolowski The only draft pick last year who showed up to camp but did not make the team was Victor Arbelaez. And one other draft pick (CJ Klaas) decided to finish school and then joined the USL. It's just an interesting comparison - on the surface of things, it does not look like a very successful draft this year. But maybe one or two of the remaining three guys will do something special.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. The thing that you have to understand is that the team that wins the supporters shield is far better than the team that wins the MLS cup.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. At last report there was a third keeper in camp but not under contract, Martin Hutton. He did not get any p.t. in L.A., which may or may not mean anything.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. This isn't always true but was true last year in my opinion. I think the 2002 Quakes with Graziani won the Supporters Shield (or came close) and crashed out in the playoffs and they were not as good at the 2003 and 2001 versions that won championships. Last year the Quakes were better than the Galaxy, but the Gals beat us fair and square in the playoffs. A few reasons include weaknesses of ours that were exposed, such as lack of depth, the injury to Brad Davis (our best player earlier in the year) and the inability of a DeRo/runner type o-mid to breakdown defenses in tough tight games.
Re: Who's on the team? Can we read much into Dom's (and I guess Yallop's, too, since Dom was his assistant) patterns in the past about using players in pre-season? For example, if the reserve guys are starting to get more playing time in the pre-season games, does that tells us anything about their chances of getting more playing time in the regular season? My recollection was that Yallop and Dom don't do a lot of subbing during the regular season, but maybe I'm just recalling incorrectly?
Re: Who's on the team? Good question, I've been wondering that myself. I think that it's hard to make a comparison to the past couple of years, certainly not much to last year. The reason is that last year there was tremendous turnover in the entire roster, and the rosters were expanded so that there were tons of new faces in camp. Dom early on played many different starting combinations, it almost looked like he was intentionally playing young guys with the veterans. Virtually all of the developmental guys got into some of the early preseason games. Then, about halfway through, he started to lock in on a starting lineup, but still substituted a lot of guys in the second half. He had to try to decide on a starting lineup, but also didn't know a lot of the other guys who might be on the developmental roster, or who might be the first guys off the bench. This year he locked in on his starting lineup right away, only having to work around Clark's injury and DeRo's absences. He has his starting lineup pretty much returning, and so his decisions are more on who will make the developmental roster. He is not substituting as much in preseason games this year as last year; but one thing I noticed is that they have fewer preseason games this year. So, Dom has jumped more quickly to a starting lineup and stuck with it. I would expect that the guys playing the second half of games are the guys who are the first off the bench, but also some of them may be guys that Dom still doesn't know if they will make the team. He needs to see who he wants to sign to developmental contracts. So I think it's safe to say that the guys seeing playing time are more likely to make the sqaud, but not necessarily the ones who come off the bench first. On substitutions, you remember correctly - Dom very often made no substitutions at all, or wouldn't sub until very late in the game. He also is very biased against playing rookies. It will be interesting to see if Ianni gets any real playing time this year - he was starting in the preseason games only because Clark was out (at least that's my guess, it looked like he was playing defensive midfield). And Moloi has gotton some significant minutes, but he'll be the third guy at defensive midfield so he won't get off the bench unless there are injuries.
Re: Who's on the team? what happened to marcus storey? haven't seen his name mentioned anywhere. wasn't he acquired from columbus? any chance of him making the roster?
Re: Who's on the team? Given that Davis is having surgery for his sports hernia and will be out 8 weeks (at least the first week of May), that opens up some time for a reserve midfielder, unless somebody is acquired. As I count, there are at least two open roster spots right now, both senior. There are 26 players, at most, still in camp and 10 of them appear to be solidly developmental (unless Cochrane is promoted to the senior team, a remote possibility which we have already dismissed).
Re: Who's on the team? He played in the pre-season game against FCD and in the scrimmage against San Jacinto College, but I'm not sure about the rest. See here for links to threads containing game reports, such as they may be: Houston Pre-Season Schedule - some of the threads contain line ups from published reports or first hand observations.
Re: Who's on the team? The same thought crossed my mind. I checked MLSNET and he isn't listed among the league players. Yet I haven't read anything about him being cut. Odd.
Re: Who's on the team? I noticed Marcus Storey was missing also from the roster. Did he move down to reserve maybe. I talked with him at the "pick your seat' and he seemed excited to be here since he's originally from sugarland. If anyone finds out anything please post. Tmac Houston Dynamo
Re: Who's on the team? Storey was never on the senior roster. He was a dev player last year and you'd think he would be this year. He doesn't show up until they sign him, which for the dev players may not be for a couple more weeks. I believe he played in most of the preseason games, but not this week's game against Chivas.
Re: Who's on the team Coming from a high school and college defender (who now plays some offense as an adult), don't you need a little wildness in central defense? Too much control in the controlled aggression gets you Ronaldinho scoring on Chelsea on Tuesday. The job of a defender is controlled destruction...getting distribution and offense out of them is a bonus. I think San Jose's goals allowed from last year (less than a goal a game in the regular season) speaks for itself. Don't mess with a good thing. I'd be more concerned about losing Califf and playing green guys in his stead than about defenders who do their job and generally avoid the red card being a little wild.
Re: Who's on the team? Storey has appeared a few times as a sub recently and has even been credited with an assist. To the extent it matters, the team only has 22 guys listed on the roster page. Four are deemed developmental players. "Per league rules, all teams must have no more than 18 senior roster players and 10 developmental players on their books as of March 1." The senior side is full, but if he is indeed to be rostered as a developmental player, we might still have room. That being said, Ianni and some players who have had shorter associations with the league than Storey are already explicitly listed as developmental players. Considering the room under the rules that the team has for developmental players, and the length of Storey's career in the MLS, you'd think he would be listed already. Storey may be on thin ice.
Re: Who's on the team? I actually had the chance to watch a couple of the games in Carson. Marcus Storey was there with the team. He played the final 20 minutes or so against New York last weekend. The only other game I saw was the Chivas game they just had earlier this week - he didnt get into that game but very few people did. The only substitutions were Cerritos came in for the second half at attacking central mid for DeRosario, O'Rourke came in at central defensive mid for Clark at the start of the second half, and Wondolowski came in for the final 25 minutes at left midfield. Storey looked a bit lost against New York (he played right midfield) if the number of guys yelling at him to track back and mark was any indication - he had some trouble playing both ends. With that said, he had a couple of nice touches. That is the only time I have ever seen him play and New York had him bottled up enough that we were never able to see his speed.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. This is not England. The table decides nothing. What counts is winning the cup. A supporter's shield and a quarter will buy you a cup of coffee. Who will remember that in 10 years? LA will still be on the books. After all, having Salt Lake and Chivas in the conference was like handing you victories along with your uniform in the preseason. Considering all the internationals who were out during qualifying, the point might have been being ready for the postseason....and LA was more so than SJ. You're underestimating the impact of the Donovan trade on who won last year. Like I said before, the Cup followed him. You can moan about the supporter's shield or you can realize that with the moves of Donovan and Califf, as well as Chung getting out altogether, we might need to pressure the front offense to get some more talent in here. A lot of teams like DC and the Fire are on a youth upswing, and you're living in the past. That does not bode well for the next few years. The team is being hollowed out.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. Califf. You don't lose your best defender, lack a free agent or drafted replacement, and not lose something for it. I think the team will give up more goals this season.
Re: Wave has crested, but they're building. Schmid was waived, so there are 16 or 17 senior players on the roster now. Chabala would be the 17th, but I would be surprised if he had a senior contract already, having been the team's third pick and coming at the end of the first round. Website roster information is not always accurate (as evidenced by the fact that Schmid is still listed).
Is the Dynamo roster up to date on the website? I was looking at the roster on the website ( http://houston.mlsnet.com/MLS/players/roster.jsp?club=hou )and did not see Stuart Holden or Marcus Storey. Are they still in camp or did they get waived? Does anyone have the latest roster if the website is not up to date?
Re: Is the Dynamo roster up to date on the website? There is a thread on this already! To answer your question - Yes Tmac
Re: Is the Dynamo roster up to date on the website? No. The roster is not up to date as Schmid was cut. Storey should be on the roster as I believe he is under contract, albeit developmental (if he was under contract while with Columbus, he is under contract with Houston-- the contract is owned by MLS, not the individual teams). Chabala is listed as a senior roster player, but I question whether that is correct. He is under contract, but I would think developmental. There are players who apparently are still in camp but not under contract, such as Holden, Hutton, Moloi and Lanes. Until they have signed a contract, there is no reason to put them on the website roster.
Re: Is the Dynamo roster up to date on the website? I don't think Storey was under contract with Cbus, he's still fighting for a contract. But, there are so many open dev spots, you'd have to figure he would get one.
Does Dom have a preference for a diamond or box midfield, or has he mixed it up depending on the personnel? I know we had some discussion earlier about O'Rourke maybe being traded - if not, then do you think he sees more playing time with Davis being out injured early in the season, or does Dom instead maybe move someone like Barrett or Gray up into midfield?
I think he will put his best 11 on the field overall, with certain limitations on that approach of course. Thus, he is more likely to replace one of the backs and move up Barrett or Gray (assuming he is not enthusiastic about O'Rourke)-- Barrett more likely. A question would be who would be the first back in off the bench. With Cochrane and Ianni facing injuries (and Ianni still acclimating to MLS), it would seem Goldthwaite has a solid chance. Aloisi, if healthy, may also get significant playing time until Davis is starting again.