Manotas is really good. Legit maybe the best forward we've ever had. I want to see the Lundkvist as wide-mid experiment revisited. He looked dangerous and notched an assist. His defending is just horrid though. Like when Glenn Davis throws shade at you on a broadcast that means you must be really bad! He's legit bad enough at that role that I want to see this Junqua kid given a shot over him. Shocked to see Kevin Garcia at right-back. We really have to be low on Duvall if this is the case. Again, even if you hate Duvall I think we should at least consider tossing Hairston out there. Other things - Midfield was just a bruising affair altogether and there could have been several reds shown there. Vera got sucked into that and went in on a frankly stupid Garridoesque tackle that there was zero need for. Boniek looked good and maybe better at the pseudo-#10 role than Martinez, who has been underwhelming. Quioto was aggressive, got up the field, repeatedly beat his man only to send in terrible crosses. Figueroa looks like the best pick-up we have from the offseason.
Manotas is a ********ing finisher. Plan and simple... the kid gets in the box and closes! Lundi's cross was perfect and Manotas buried it. I'm pretty good at seeing goals happen, but this one surprised me. Like a I was genuinely shocked. Glad we signed him to another contract, because when a club comes calling me hold the cards now.
I need to preface my post for the start of 2019 season, even though our club is going through this shift, a shift upwards, after the removal of Canetti, things should get better. I mean I still have a terrific time every night out at Dynamo football It helps to stand and sing for the 90 minutes and to have made BBVA with my buddies a second home. So it is always good to get back downtown! On Opening Night" Boni really answered the bell. Anchored our remote capacity to play well down the spine of our team and move the ball in the middle third of the park. Manotas really is hitting a stride. Again, I think signing him to that bigger contract has shaped him into a footballer that knows his family is secure here in Houston Texas. And he does love the jersey. One of the very few bright spots we have moving forward as a club. Since we spell his name all sorts of ways, I will just use Swede as his name. Swede can get past his marker here and there. Nutmegged a Utah defender on Saturday and he has a few moves to get service in from the left, helps being a natural lefty. Perhaps him and Beaz could play as a combo left back and further up wing back which allows Quioto to play even higher up the field and not have any defense tracking back to do. Which he would not complain now would he. Willis is playing a heckava lot better here in 2019! Like he reinvented himself over the off season, that type of improvement. Watched the KUBE replay of the match last night, specifically to view how Boni was judged to be offsides and sure enough, he was even with the Utah left back even though the defenders near him were behind him, that left back was even. And even is on, has been since the FIFA ruling of 1996ish. So that was our match winner. We lose two points and the VAR was not even used. Why have it then is correct as mentioned earilier. Correct. As solid as a footballer our Central American guys have been for us, loyal and good, honest type of men (Cerritos excluded and perhaps now Quioto) their "image" and name just do not move the needle. And this for the casual soccer fan in Houston. Worse is that the Sallies and Catrachos of our city just do not come out in droves for their own footballers playing in the city that they have immigrated to. It is what it is. Been saying this for years. More so since I have been working in Oil and Gas for years and was the front line marketing voice for our new team back in the day with guys who love them some pro soccer but as Europeans go, were still snobby on who they are going to pay money to watch. Again, it is what it is. I agree. Made worse in that we are quickly becoming the Leeds Utd of MLS. A club that once put fear into Man U and was in the UCL quarterfinals or Semis at one point back circa 2000. Had a true team, with some good players but nothing of Zidane or Roy Keane leadership types and yet their club had a packed house and made runs at league, Cup and regional Cup year after year with the big boys of Europe. Now Leeds languishes in the English 2nd. Which is exactly where our Houston Dynamo would be if we had relegation after these last 5 years.
[QUOTE="CeltTexan, post: 37577662, member: 11022" Watched the KUBE replay of the match last night, specifically to view how Boni was judged to be offsides and sure enough, he was even with the Utah left back even though the defenders near him were behind him, that left back was even. And even is on, has been since the FIFA ruling of 1996ish. So that was our match winner. We lose two points and the VAR was not even used. Why have it then is correct as mentioned earilier. [/QUOTE] I disagree with you, thought he was half a step offside. Either way though, it was so tight that there was no way for VAR to overturn. Did not come close to meeting the standard of "clear and obvious error". Same, by the way, had it been ruled onside on the pitch, VAR would never have overruled it.
I disagree with you, thought he was half a step offside. Either way though, it was so tight that there was no way for VAR to overturn. Did not come close to meeting the standard of "clear and obvious error". Same, by the way, had it been ruled onside on the pitch, VAR would never have overruled it.[/QUOTE] One problem on the replay was the Dynamo broadcast freezes it a split second before the ball is actually played and when it is I see Boniek about 3/4s offside, maybe a leg overlaps with the defender. Maybe. In real time it would have looked offside - which means that whatever called on the field was gonna stand.
Lundkvist was poor as a mid in this scheme. In this scheme a mid needs to cover ground on offense and defense. They also need to be tucked inside which takes away part of his one footer sideline player value. I think in theory he could play left mid but it would need to be in a 451 or 442 where he has plenty of inherent systemic cover on defense. Like we used to have Barrett or Ashe (OK, less so) behind Davis. If you think about where he made these plays that you like, it hints at the next place he should be tried......left wing forward. Those are basically poor man Brad Davis type plays. Bring him off the bench for Quioto. Have him run at backs and hit crosses in. Brad Davis started out with one foot. Brad Davis couldn't defend at first. Brad Davis wasn't real fit when he started. OK, run him and Mac at defenses for 30 minutes. And then in reverse I would like to see Duvall, Hairston, Vera, and Junqua tried as wing backs.
I agree. The Swede could be moved higher up the field to do one thing well, get his left footed crosses into the box for Manotas and Elis to feast on, Pena as well.
Heck, you could probably play Beasley at LF too. My beef about pecking order politics is not just I disagree with his lineup but that I feel like he gets in ruts where he doesn't make necessary changes fast enough, or consider obvious other uses for players. It took a long time to try Wenger back. It took a long time to start swapping out CBs last season. This year I feel like we have a bunch of players who could play different lines. I am upset the overall talent isn't good enough to truly compete, but I think you have the raw pieces, moved around just so, to compete for the red line. Now if you run the predictable conventional choices out there, no, it's about like last year. But if you come up with this season's version of Wenger in the back, and some adjustments in the attack/ off the bench, and they fight every night, it's possible. [If this sounds like faint praise, well, that's the chance we have, at least for now in this configuration.] That or we go out and hit the outgoing/incoming transfers this summer.
I agree. I really would like to have a sit down in a film room with Wilmer and his staff. Not to bark at his lineups or re-watch the match like I do on the KUBE at midnights (which I really enjoy after being in the hinchada for the night) but to just talk like two men at the sports bar on tactics and what I see versus what he sees and his backroom staff see. Cuz as you mentioned, I think our roster is not the most talent for depth goes but certainly the pieces we have can more compliment each other if just given a run out. Obviously you don't try new concepts/tactics versus Tigres in CCL play but when it is Utah at home or San Jose at home or even Colorado away, just try getting out of the same mindset and work some new tactics in training. Thus waiting to begin deploying the new look against the weaker sides we will face in league or Open Cup play.