Review: Dynamo 2018 Attendance & Off-Field Performance Review

If you look at that collection of players and all you see is they aren't fast enough, I'd argue that you're missing what skills they do possess, as well as how this team is supposed to operate (on paper).

Almost none of those guys need speed to be effective for us. At least not of the physical variety.

 

I think Ceren has been a liability defensively and is really mistake prone. He needs to work on focus when man marking as well. His passing game is solid though. I’m alright with him as a backup, but he’s not what you want starting for you game-in and game-out. I think a lot of his weaknesses are things that can be fixed, but it’s gonna take some real time.

 

We have a lot of speed on our roster and look at where we place in the standings right now.

 

El Naranja: we're a weird mix of young and athletic frontline with an older, slower, hustling back 7. I complained last offseason that while the frontline seemed to be a youth movement the back 7 were a cynical veteran unit milking out their last years. There are some exceptions to this, Martinez, Fuenmayor.

But I think what you're wandering back towards is the identity question, that they made a big deal of a few years back. If it feels slapped together -- and I assume cost is the primary issue there -- it's because the overall unit doesn't reflect some repeatedly applied principle like we decided to take this a specific place and carve a niche as That Team That Plays That Way and has a specific set of players grabbed to do it.

I mean, what's the premise here? Youth? Veteran? Speed? Height? Technical? Airtight shutout team defense? Defenders who get forward? Misfit toys is your result.

 

I disagree. The starting keeper is glacial, that goal last weekend maybe gets saved if he can break off his line with any anticipation and speed. The defense is glacial. The midfield is average to slow. You then tack a very athletic and speedy frontline onto that.

This is part of the reason we give up goals this season, is if teams game plan for the fast forwards, if you shut us down, we then have a very slow back 7 who are easy to work through. Some fraction of it is soccer IQ and positioning but mostly it's that the CBs and Lundkvist and Co. can be passed around so easy, and cannot react to the spot with speed. Our primary defense last season was offense. If you're chasing Elis you're not exploiting Machado.

I mean what people miss on a lot of these throughballs is a faster defender recovers and makes the tackle as opposed to being beat for a goal. Speed gives you a second chance. We lack any speed so any errors of positioning are punished. And the goalkeeper is poor so you aren't getting points from games being bailed out by exceptional keeping. People excuse Willis as behind poor defenses but his stats to me tell the opposite story, of someone who unless covered up by great defenders is going to allow 1.5-2 GAA every season because he doesn't make many special saves.

I mean, at some point are we acknowledging that last season was accomplished with Deric in the net for 26 games allowing 1.19 GAA? That some of this is that with a defense this shoddy part of what keeps us competitive would be keeping, which we don't have? The defense was similar last season but what changed is 1 more year of age and then Deric implodes and is replaced by Willis. When Willis played 26 games in 2016 hmmmmmm the scores and table position feel kind of familiar. To me this season rhymes with Coyle.

 

Ceren stepped into Boniek's spot as the one the other mids strip in possession to go down and score. In his defense, that is solvable, you ask for quicker passes, play back if you have to, and take what you can see, but then maybe you lose some of the home run value he has where he can hit a nice ball forward.

I wouldn't start him until he gets out of his funk. Until then, I'd use him when we're chasing the game and so what if he allows another. When you need special plays at whatever risk.

That's one thing that's concerned me is I don't see subbing with a plan, like I will put a, b, and c in, and the idea is a and b and others will serve c and the forwards left on with crosses. Or that we're going to put players on to chase a game. The scenario I instead see is like LAFC last time where we just grind away as is and hope. I mean at this point what is the downside to throwing numbers up? Elimination? News flash, we're 7 points that direction anyway.

 

Last thought, subtle things you may have missed. We are the only team with a positive goal difference from either conference that is below the red line. Two teams with negative goal differences are above the red line, but the general pattern is positive, above; negative, below.

We also are just 2 games below .500. There are teams above us in the standings that have lost a lot more than they won. How? They don't play to tie. They either get 3 or 0, not so many 1s.

The big changes from last season are a lower GD -- fewer blowouts -- and a weaker home record. Arguably related. Could be game planning against us, or as simple as a less relative talented team regressing in competitiveness.

But you do kind of wonder when you are the only team with a positive GD below the line -- and not just a little -- whether we are simply mismanaged. You could argue, despite the performance fade, that the GD suggests we shouldn't be THIS bad. This was an OK seed last year and this year the other team that's +6 GD is 5th place.

I know at least some of the frustration is this was a semi team last season, though perhaps that was a little flattering. But this is a +6 GD team with a negative record that kind of looks like it's underperforming. How are you 6-4-2 at home? Maybe it's the blowouts ensured the Ws. Maybe it's the coach can't adjust.

 

That last dig on moving future MLS teams to Texas cities like Lubbock, San Angelo and Texarkana is indeed funny stuff!

 

I know a bunch of SG folk were at a long planned event so couldn't make it. The rest is apathy from how the FO treats fans in general and how bad this team is.

At least that's my guess.

 

Had to check what the *asterisk meant...
my 1st thought was... booze not included in purchase.
Turns out it's availability.
I'm betting Kroger would run out of booze first.

 

Jeez, read the comments section. It reads like a carbon copy of all of us speaking on BigSoccer n how customer service is terrible at the stadium and how poorly our FO communicates with us fans.

 

The team has been losing, the weather has been bad, weeknight / school night but the front office had alot of time to sell tickets.

Attendance was what should be expected.

We used to make fun of FCD when we first got a team and they said 'wait until year 10 or so when the excitement and newness of the team wears off'. We will see that in Atlanta. However; there will be pressure on those teams with big stadiums to buy 'big stars' to get butts in seats whereas the Dynamo can operate more cheaply because of lower operating expenses