Congrats to the Dynamo; an American soccer dynasty. They have now equaled DC's total of four MLS Cups. I believe they also have two Supporters' Shields. Over the years, whether in San Jose or Houston, this club has shown the ability to win the REALLY BIG GAMES. Remember, they were just a hair away from beating mighty Pachuca in both the Champions' Cup and the Superliga unlike DC, which seems to choke on the biggest occasions. With the confidence that they have gained from another remarkable domestic campaign, the Dynamo needs to pay special attention to international competitions next year. Whether its the Concacaf Champions' Cup, Concacaf Champions' League, Superliga, and/or Copa Sudamericana, this team has the ability to win an international championship for MLS. The league, in turn, should have a friendly domestic schedule to offer the Dynamo a chance to maximize their performance. Wouldn't it be great to see this team in the Club World Championship?
where was houston in copa sundamericana? oh thats right, they didn't get invited because dc finished above them in champions cup standings
The San Jose Earthquakes has won two MLS Cup titles and one Supporters' Shield win. The Houston Dynamo has won two MLS Cup titles but no Supporters' Shield win yet. Both teams will each attempt to win its third MLS Cup title next season, with San Jose also going for its second Supporters' Shield win and Houston its first. -G
Presuming their roster doesn't get gutted during the off-season, Houston has as good a chance as any MLS team to progress in international competitions. The primary reason? DEPTH. Houston has the deepest bench in MLS. With the ability to rotate in Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden & Corey Ashe in the midfield, Patrick Ianni in defense, and by rotating Ching/Jaqua/Ngwenya up top, the Dominic Kinnear has the rare ability to keep his players fresh so they can perform well in international competitions without sacrificing their play in MLS.
We're practically guaranteed to lose one good player in the expansion draft. You can't protect everyone, and having good depth makes you a target for losing a player. Good news is that each team can lose only one player. P.S. Next step for the Dynamo is a stadium.
They have managed to finish #2 in the west twice, which has been advantageous for them, since both the #1 finishers (FCD in 2006 and Chivas USA in 2007) have crashed and burned in the first round both years.
Followed by adding that funky ass scudetto to your jersey's; tell me, am I the only one who sees that thing as extremely tacky and wanting to bite off Italian tradition? We look like a bunch of poseurs. Why not just make it simple and just add the f**king star over the crest of the jersey the following season? Your ALLOWED to have the respective number of stars on any other piece of clothing or equipment, but not if the scudetto is shown, as is the case with the jersey. I don't get why you have to wait two years to see that baby pop up. Star over the crest representing number of cups won? Common international Soccer practice. Defending champions getting the exclusive use of the silver ball? Hey, thats fine, I don't know if any other league does that, but I think its a cool little MLS tradition. Fugly scudetto on jersey, which is a blatant imitation of Serie A winning teams? Absolutely retarded. Oh, and I'm not trying to hate on Houston Grats for winning the MLS Cup again - you guys are the first reigning dynasty in this league, which is a great indication of how far the league has come in only a short decade or so.
Oh yeah, DC United sure have choked at the biggest moments as long as they've been around. I guess those 11 domestic and international trophies were just gifted to us. Repeating as Supporters Shield Champs (which was yet another first for United in MLS) must mean absolutely nothing. Except for the invitation to CCC and Superliga. Perhaps you meant to say "New England" as they are the bridesmaids of the league. Twice now, they've had the league in the Cup and blown it. Which brings me nothing but sheer joy. Not to take anything away from Houston, they've played great in knock-out competitions, something United hasn't done lately, I'd gladly trade Houston a shield for a chance to have played them in MLS Cup at RFK this morning. Now THAT would have been an incredible final by every possible standard. (Unless of course you're a Revs Fan, but I'm sure they're all weeping into their scarves at the moment)
There does seem to be a tendency to not give Open Cup or Supporter's Shield trophies due respect - we're so focused on the MLS Cup, and rightfully so, but still. Now that you guys have won the MLS Cup several seasons in a row, all you have left is to go for the double/treble, something which only Kansas City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and D.C. United has on you guys: Kansas City: 1 Double - (MLS Cup/Supporter's Shield, 2000) Chicago: 2 Doubles (MLS Cup/Open Cup, 1998) (Open Cup/Supporter's Shield, 2003) Los Angeles: 2 Doubles (MLS Cup/Supporter's Shield, 2002) (MLS Cup/Open Cup, 2005) D.C.: 3 Doubles (MLS Cup/Open Cup, 1996) (MLS Cup/Supporter's Shield, 1997, 1999) Can't wait to see who pulls off the hat trick and wins all three major US trophies for the first ever treble in MLS history.
Are you talking about the patch on the player's right side with the Rothenburg Trophy? Also, I could've sworn the Dynamo had a star above their crest last season, didn't they? Man, I can't wait for the CCC. I hope the Dynamo gets another shot at kicking Pachuca's ass. ------RM
Apparently there is a practical reason for the "scudetto". Adidas has had problems in the past getting a new star on the shirts of a brand new MLS cup winner in time to sell the shirts for the new season. I don't know why this is the case with MLS and not with others. Maybe because MLS offseason is shorter and during the winter and adidas can't enter new designs as easily. Whatever the reason is, the scudetto patch was an easy solution because it is ironed on, and not produced with the shirt like the club crest and the stars. Therefore, adidas could make shirts with the appropriate number of stars for the previous year, and the new MLS champs just get a scudetto ironed on. Of course, this could all be bullshit and the real reason is that there is a big Serie A fan at MLS HQ, but this is the story I've heard discussed on these boards before.
Goal Differential was used Corky. Houston and DCU didn't even play in the same group so using GD as a way to decide something when the teams involved didn't even play each other or the teams that they did all play didn't even play each other as well is MLS at it's finest. For SuperLiga it is cool to use GD as it is group play. Bracket play is not. DCU going to Copa Sud cuz of GD is second cousin to MLS letting the Revs play their "home" leg of CCC in another country. Politics entered the decision making and if anything I would have thought that the MLS team that actually beat a MFL club would be the candidate for a shot at Copa Sud. If and when Club America beats Ar-say-nal for the title. Oh yeah...Houston beat the eventual Copa Sud winners 1-0. Thus in 2007, Houston defended the MLS crown and beat Pachuca and Club America as reigning Copa Sud champion and new Copa Sud champion respectively. Never mind that out of the 3 matches this year against DCU, Houston won the series 2 games to one. See you ladies in the CCC and an MLS club actually winning in Mexico for a change.
Thanks for the lesson charlie! I thought since the thread starter was a tfc fan I'd give the benefit of the doubt to dynamo fans and assume that they're confident enough in their team that they don't have to go after other people's. I guess I was wrong. For the record I was not trying to bash houston, I was just rebuking the poster's ignorant statement implying dc has a worse international performance compared with any other mls team. I agree the CCC is a wierd setup, but you say going by GD when they're in different groups is whacky yet you think because houston beat pachuca who wasn't in dc's group that that hsould be justification for 3rd place? Thats more retarded.
1997 - DC United won MLS Cup and the Supporters Shield, but lost in the Open Cup final to the Dallas Burn 2002 - LA Galaxy won MLS Cup and the Supporters Shield, but lost in the Open Cup final to the Columbus Crew 2003 - Chicago Fire won the Open Cup and the Supporters Shield, but lost in the MLS Cup final to the San Jose Earthquakes 2004 - Kansas City Wizards won the Open Cup, but lost the Supporters Shield on goals scored (the 3rd tiebreaker) to the Columbus Crew and lost in the MLS Cup final.
Congrats to Houston on defending the title! Must be depressing for New England to lose the 3rd final, though...
If thats true though, that is just so BS - how the hell can Adidas, one of the biggest athletics conglomerates in the world next to Nike, not have the time or resources to put a damn star to the jersey in time for the following season? Think about it: They have time to add the star to any other piece of the kit such as the shorts, but they can't do it for the freakin' jersey?! Its not like most of these teams get a new design every single year or something (I know there are exceptions). They have time to iron stuff on, but they don't have time to stitch on another star - what, do they hand embroid it?
Now wait just one goddamn second. You champion Houston as a clutch performer in international tournaments and you diss DC as a choker even though their records this year are basically identical. We both got booted from CCC semis by a one goal margin, but at least DC didn't lose by 3 goals in Mexico. And also keep in mind that DC's performance in the first round was significantly better than Houston's ... hence the invitation to Sudamericana. For Sudamericana once again we only lost by only one goal. I'm not sure I'd call that choking especially against a team that has 10 times the payroll. As for Superliga, again we both lost in the same round, although DC did lose by 2 more goals. Keep in mind though that Houston had the luxury of playing that semi at home, while DC had to go on the road. Kind of quirky how that worked out, especially since the home teams were selected arbitrarily, not based on any legitimate home field advantage. So as you can see the two teams had virtually identical records in international play this year. Even domestically the two teams split the two big trophies. Even in the USOC they were both eliminated in the same round I believe. When I look at all that I really can't find a lot of daylight between the two clubs. I would give Houston the slightest of edges though because I do think that MLS Cup is slightly bigger than SS, but not by that much.