San Jose Earthquakes - Houston Dynamo (Saturday, 9/13) in-game/postgame thread [R]

Houston was the better team, but as usual when lucky meets good, good goes "it's not fair!!!" and lucky goes "he he he..." I don't see how Johnson doesn't get a start next week - except for the one pass to a streaking Johnson, I don't think Sealy had a single touch that wasn't a disaster. And Alvarez wasn't a whole lot better. Salinas should have gone in as forward, but at least he didn't push O'Brien to the center and he did have a few moments of interest. Lima was particularly good, as usual.

Damn Houston is a tall team. It looked like the Quakes were all hit by a shrink ray.

 

I'm kind of surprised by everyone bashing Denton. I feel like hes been sort of a revelation, but sure, he did have a poor match today, then again so did Sealey. I think overall Denton has been good and I will definitely give him the benefit of the doubt...and Sealey deserves the same.

 

Indeed, Waibel though, knows its all in good fun and doesn't let it get to his head.... Like Ching...

 

We had a lot of chances to go at least two up before the Dynamo scored that deflection-goal, with Ching sitting there wide open. You could just tell by the way he headed the ball that he really just wanted to say, "Ha! Eff you San Jose fans." And I didn't even see his goal "celebration" until after watching it on TV. Wow. Just wow.

Best part of the night was O'Brien's goal. I didn't get a great look at it, being on the other side of the field, but after watching it on tv multiple times it's truly an awesome goal. John Shrader really didn't know what to say when Ronnie struck that ball and it ended up in the back of the net.

 

Houston put on a clinic.......in bad sportsmanship. They just can't cope with being outplayed by an expansion team. I can say without doubt I have no lingering fondness for any of the creamsicles except Waibel. They've come into town 3 times now and each time behaved badly. I hope Eddie Robinson gets a big, fat fine for screaming at the ref and stalling when leaving the field. Talentless ahole.

In fact, I'll throw the Dynamo into the pot with LA and always root for them to lose to any opponent on any day...no matter the competition or whether we need their "help" to make the playoffs. Boo to the Dynamo.....classless bunch of wankers.... every last one of them.

The ref was incompetent. He pretty much has been all year. Most refs end up seriously in the way of play 2-3 times per game. This guy manages to be in the way once every 5 minutes when he's at his best. Herron would have been worse though I guess. I lost count of how many in-the-box blatant fouls Ed the Talentless Thug got away with....4?
Holden should have been red carded for the donkey kick. Barrett should have been yellow carded for the pick on Lima since there was no attempt to play the ball. Boswell should have been carded for the elbow. The officiating was just a joke.

Joe lacked courage in this game especially early. Thankfully he had very little to do. He did some distribution up the right finally, but again failed to mix it up and still too much punting. He needs to think more like a quarterback and have receivers he checks off to.

Denton's in a serious downslide. His distribution was dreadful. It wasn't so good last game either except for one play that sort of made us have to forgive him. Not this week though. I don't know what's up, but he's just circling the drain.

Sealy had an off night. But, he's always tired at about 70 minutes and then his touch becomes dreadful. We ruined about 85% of our second half attacks. I think he needs to be an automatic sub at 65 minutes, if he hasn't lost his job to Johnson.

Everyone else played pretty well. Although we really need to work on distribution out of the back, from Joe to the whole back line. I guess they sort of had their minds on the height of the Dynamo.

I'm sure it was lost on all the Grabavoy haters who initiated the attack that lead to the goal...and who neutralized Rico Clark...and who earned all the dangerous free kicks we squandered.

ROB.....cracker of a goal!!

I hope the Dynamo get pulverized...physically, mentally, and on the scoreboard in the Champions League...without a doubt, they biggest bunch of jerks in the league.

BOOOOOO to the Dynamo wankers and BOOOOO to Petrescu.

 

I don't want to go in to the nitty gritty of what should have happened what was not called etc.... All I can say is what a game a football!! A new rivalry has really been born. I am proud of the Quakes. I never seriously thought we'd be able to go to toe to toe with Houston at this point of the Season. And the crowd atmosphere on TV was fantastic. This is what the league has missed the last two years.

Go Quakes!!

-Richard

 

Dom's assistant coach, The Midget, picked them all.

 

He's a great shot-stopper. If he only had that distribution down he'd be right there with Friedel, Howard and Keller.

 

John Spencer!

 

He can't shoot. But he does more than Sealy.

 

dunno if anyone caught that yet.

 

Can't disagree with you more on what happened last night. No way they outplayed Houston. A draw was fair.

As for the Houston players, they're the same guys who were here in '05. They act the same way-big chips on the shoulders. The only difference is that they're no longer our guys. Ching did look like an idiot after the goal though.

Really good point about Joe. He didn't handle the corners/crosses very well last night. Fortunately, Houston didn't make us pay, except for Ching.

Something I didn't see yet on the thread-Eddie Robinson should have gotten a straight red for his foul. And it looked like it was outside the box.

 

See...you gotta come hang out with me more

 

A very entertaining match! Now that I've had time to settle down and think it over, I'm fairly happy with the point. (I was upset last night that we left the other 2 points out there, given the results of all the other West Conference teams last night...but a point sits MUCH better than a loss at home.)

The reason I was so irritated about not taking full points at home is because I don't expect to see the Quakes get any points next weekend in Houston. Ching and DeRo didn't play the full match this week...they will next Saturday and the game will be on their pitch. I will be elated if we get any points next week. It sure will help knowing that ERob will not be invited to the party.

I'm sorry that Ching felt so "disrespected" here. The emotions certainly run high between these two sides for very understandable reasons. In my eyes, Houston are still the standard of excellence in this league and that's a true testament to Dominic. He knew that Huckerby had to be neutralized and he double-covered Hucks, resulting in very few touches. I give the Quakes credit for taking advantage of what few chances they were able to generate with the long ball attack upon which they had to rely.

Looked to me like our back line was giving too much space to the Creamsicles. Denton, in particular, had a bad night trying to stay with Mullan. Lucky for the Quakes, that space only hurt them once on the night.

After watching Sealy launch a really close free kick high into the Casbah, it makes me add "lethal free kick-taker" to our off-season shopping list. We really don't have one right now. It made me nervous watching Houston with Brad Davis AND DeRo out there for such occasions. They are dangerous even from 30 yards out!

Great match. Great energy/noise from the crowd for most of the match (sounded like we fell asleep at the start of the 2nd half) and favorable results from the rest of the West. Let's hope we have as much (or maybe a little more) good fortune next week!

C'mon the Quakes!!!

 

Spitch, I was thinking the same thing on Sealy's shot. In the first half, there was a free-kick outside of the box. Lima and ROB lined up behind it, IIRC, and it was Lima that pounded it over the cross bar. I always thought ROB would be the guy for such plays or maybe even Grabs.

Anyone have an opinion?

 

The best part of that Ching celebration was Kinnear's face. He was furious that Ching did something like that and he was screaming at him for it! What a f*cking prick, you don't let a few fans who heckle you ruin your relationship with your old fanbase, grow the hell up Ching!

 

Hucks, Arturo & Lima have completely turned us around. Hucks and Arturo have grabbed the headlines and deservedly so but the one that impresses me most is Lima.

His fitness, professionalism, attitude, reading of the game, tenacity and overall technical ability has blown me away. He is the real deal. I know he has solidified our midfield but I think next year he could be the best sweeper/ center back in the league by far. I know most Earthquake fans will completely disagree with me but if we could acquire a top defensive midfielder next season, in my opinion Nick Garcia should be playing wide at the back and Lima takes over in the central position alongside a tall center back.

I think we would see fewer free kicks against us from goal scoring positions and I think we would see better distribution out of the back. I think we would mark better at defensive corners.

The other guy that blows me away is Johnson. If Frank can turn him into a player there are defenders in the league that will be having nightmares. This kid is the best physical specimen I have seen in the league. Incredibly strong, fast, brave, tenacious with great jumping ability, he just has to learn to play and think the game at this level. Players around the world would die to have this guys athletic abilities and I think he is the biggest “diamond in the rough” we have. I hope he uses the off season well.

I also hope that Salinas is taking his time and learning from Ronnie. I hope he is smart enough to learn and improve every day. He has Hucks and Ronnie to watch and he should be making the best of his apprenticeship. Don’t give up on this kid as I think others are watching in the hope that we do.

Great job Earthquake fans for continuing to support the club and please keep doing it with class. San Jose has the most knowledgeable soccer fans in the country and we should have as we have been doing it longer than anyone else. We have produced classy winning teams that play the game the right way and we should be rightly proud of that. By the way, how is LA DOING?

 

Really? Knowing Dom, I would think that he was as pumped as Ching and wanted to join him.

Anyway, beyond all of the sniping, this is going to be a rivalry of some kind for many years to come. In the short-medium term, how can the Quakes get the upper hand on Houston? Houston has a strong advantage in the air and is better at holding possession. And they don't typically start their possessions with a punt. Those advantages are going to have to be addressed somehow before the Quakes can really start to get the upper hand.

 

I just watched it again, and I could be wrong. Only they know, but he looked pissed!

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned but I heard the following (paraphrased) account from some fans as we were walking out of the stadium:

" Some guy in the lower rows behind Houston's bench was heckling the bench players. This guy basically was asking Ching why all the bald heads were on one team's (Houston's, of course) were on one bench. When Ching scored, came back to have a few words."

What I heard but I do not remember the sequence, was that Ching was yelling at the guy in the stands to have some respect. Also, I was in section 104, midway up, and I do remember hearing a loud F-bomb go off as Ching came over but I could not pinpoint the source or direction. Anyone else recall anything like this?