When: Saturday, September 23 @ 2:00 pm CDT Where: Pratt & Whitney Stadium; East Hartford, CT Records: New York City (15-8-6), 2nd in East Houston Dynamo (10-10-8), 7th in West TV: UniMas Radio: 610 am/1010 am (Spanish) This is the 29th regular season game of the year for Houston and the 30th for New York City. This is the 3rd meeting ever between the teams. Last year the Dynamo lost at home, 0-2, in September. In 2015 the teams drew, 1-1, in the only meeting in New York. This game was moved to Connecticut due to a conflict with the Yankees. NYC has never played at Pratt & Whitney Stadium before. New York City's most recent game was a road draw, 1-1, at Colorado on Saturday, September 16. That makes them 2-1-2 in their last 5 league games scoring 5 goals and allowing 4. So far this year NYC is 10-2-3 in home league games. Their next game after playing Houston is at Montreal on Wednesday, September 27 and then they play at Chicago on Saturday, September 30. The Dynamo are 1-3-1 over the last five league games scoring 7 goals and allowing 7. Houston is 1-9-5 in road league games this year. The Dynamo next return home for three straight: LA Galaxy (9/27), Minnesota United (9/30), and Kansas City (10/11).
Dynamo @ New York City, all-time: 05/30/15 NYC 1-1 HOU That's 0-0-1 with 1 goal scored and 1 allowed.
I'ts like we are playing the Hartford Whalers pro soccer team. Metroag woulda got this one. Another of our old posters that is gone from our boards.
I figure Dynamo need 8 or 9 more points to make playoffs, not must win yet but I'd look at the LA/Minnesota home games as ones that they need to get 4 of 6 points out of.
In a one game is good as the other sense, you can say mathematically it's not must win. But in terms of schedule reality, we have a buzzsaw of KC (3W) and CHI (1E) for the last three games to finish the season, and are in a tie on points that extends down to 8th place. NYC may seem too tough to admit it's "must result" like MN and LA, but if we don't get the points now, then when? The more likely scenario here is we need points now to build a cushion enough to squeak in at the end. SKC is going to be coming to town not farting around. Others' schedule this weekend: SJ - DC; FCD - MN; RSL - SEA. We have no "6 pointers" left with the competition. If you lose this one you could be as much as 3 points behind and in 8th with 5 to play and have lost control of your fate. Further dose of reality, of the teams remaining on the schedule, prior games this season: 2Ts MN (H & A), 1T LA (A). The assumption that is the edible part of the schedule might have some relative appeal but is not supported by head to head this season. I know saying beat NYC away is a big ask but it's kind of like if you don't start beating playoff teams and accumulating some points you don't belong in the postseason.
I see this as a critical period in franchise history. I think we may look back and regret the hubristic/blasé attitude to the summer window. This has typically been a team that stumbles from the gate but fixes itself in the summer window. We instead broke from the gate well but we're getting caught in the stretch. That Jordan (a) maybe thought we had it made and thus went for Martinez and Senderos and signing RGV people or (b) that we could do no better than that, may in retrospect have screwed us as this progressed. I think the FO got complacent like fans around here do whenever we win some. "Oh, don't change _______ (Alex, etc.), we're doing fine. [And then we aren't.]" Sitting still is a sitting duck IMO. After all, Kinnear was fired by SJ in June. Salt Lake was dead in the salty water a couple months ago. Both teams are -GD but headed upwards. We are +GD and trending down. The coach has also proven poor as the season goes on, we get more marginal, and we need coaching. I didn't expect him to get fired winning but I think if people stepped back, the inability to win away, the goofy selections and subs, inability to control a game, if we need help he doesn't really add it. We've also had spades broken at home, and not gotten where we occasionally win on the road. There goes our margin for error. Though I think keeping up a combination of home perfection and road fecklessness was probably impossible. But anyhow, whether we can grind out some results now is pivotal in franchise history. If we don't make the playoffs this is going to spiral downwards even worse (even if we end up higher in the table and better record than last year). If we do make the playoffs maybe things start to turn around, rebuilding continues, and the gaps in the seats start to fill.
Both teams playing an "Away" game with very little atmosphere... I think it'll look like a US Open Match aesthetically. Hopefully we can grind out a win. Dead horse beating but it really sucks how we went from potential 1st 2nd place to out of the playoffs in a month.
Was actually going to attend this match until it was moved. Weekend in NY sounds nice not so much Hartford.
I'm guessing (and giving benefit of doubt) that Cabrera is looking a the long game of 3 games in 8 days and trying something in this game that keeps some guys fresher for the 2 home games
He's been doing a lot of "keeping guys fresh" the second half of the season. All the while, the team has continued to sink down the table.
Yeah - this team hasn't seemed in sync for a while. At some point you have to just roll your best 11 out and try to win every game and not worry about the next game
I'll say this, next 8 days to me make or break the season - get 4-6 points and you are in good shape for playoffs. Anything less than that and you have a small margin for error the last 3 games
That goal was a cluster. Silly unnecessary foul by Leonardo, Alex can't lock down his man on sidelines, cross goes to a 5 foot 2 inch guy who Beasley loses.
Neither team deserved three points. Some of the worst finishing I've seen in a while. Only good thing in that game was Sanchez.
I love this guy, "probably deserved all 3 points" LOL, could have gone either way but it was far from one-way traffic. Excellent match for the @HoustonDynamo. Probably deserved all 3. Performance to build on! #WeAreOrange https://t.co/YdC70x2IXZ— Brett Zalaski (@bzalaski) September 23, 2017
I would not read much into the selection, I think a decision was made to run out the B team to NYC and see what happens, save the starters for this week. 442? Wenger? Alexander? etc. The question to me is whether we win that game playing the starters, But we're playing a longer game that will come into focus as this week progresses.