I heard had been working on his goal kicks during the off season-at the Bouna Condoul goalkeeper camp.
I agree with this-I tempering expectations this year. We never got that upgrade up top that we needed. TFC is going balls to the wall, all in, and has to make the playoffs this season or the Toronto Rock will be called in to kick some pretty boy ass. DC, looks incredible on paper but will it fly? I think it will. New England actually looks pretty good too. And of course, NY is loaded, but maybe now they will have that Eye of the Tiger, go for the jugular mentality. The East will be tough. Maybe it's a blessing we'll be back in the West next season.
Yup, TFC, DCU, NER, NYRB all tough but you forgot the defending MLS Champs SKC. Plus Montreal and Chicago should be decent. This year in the East reminds me of our early years in the West when every team top to bottom was good.
I can see the mood in Dynamo-land is not very happy. I understand. Little margin of error for Houston this year. The lack of goals by Bruin in pre-season even against college teams is alarming.
I think that the squad is very good. Many clubs would love to have a midfield with a destroyer like Rico, playmakers like Davis, and Boniek, and Houston's athletic fullbacks. I'm still concerned with the striker situation. The defense is what it is. If we concede goals, we'll need to be able to score goals as well. The Dynamo do well in the creation department, now players will need to finish chances. I hope the players in 2014 represent the club, and city as well as squads in the past have.
I like what this guy says... http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...r-construction-armchair-an?module=from_footer I know *Rey* and others are not optimistic. I see no reason to be pessimistic, I think we will do fine. And at some point during the year we will probably work out some type of deal to get a new player or two, it always happens. I really like our new guys and I like the progress our year 2 guys have made. Trust me, we will be at or near the top of the East. Don't believe me? Just wait and see.
It's all about forward scoring to me. I suspect we will be strong in the midfield and adequate at the back. What to we get out of Bruin and Cummings and more importantly, when do we get it? Bruin scoring a hat trick against DCU in May when we are running it up on them is not the same as a crucial September goal vs. Montreal or something. These two early home games against decent East squads are a pretty good early barometer.
New England got a 2-2 draw against Colorado in their final preseason game in Arizona. This was the lineup for that game: Bobby Shuttleworth (Luis Soffner 79), Donnie Smith, A.J. Soares (Stephen McCarthy 66), Darrius Barnes (O’Brian Woodbine 66), Kevin Alston (Jossimar Sanchez 66), Scott Caldwell (Paulo DelPiccolo 66), Diego Fagundez (Dimitry Imbongo 66), Daigo Kobayashi (Steve Neumann 66), Kelyn Rowe (Alec Sundly 66), Patrick Mullins (Charlie Davies 59, Pierre Omanga 78), Teal Bunbury (Jerry Bengtson 66) This note was added to the game report: A total of six players were unavailable because of injury, illness or injury precaution: Andrew Farrell (leg), Jose Goncalves (quadriceps), Lee Nguyen (groin), Saer Sene (ankle) and Chris Tierney (hamstring) … trialist Shalrie Joseph (knee) was also unavailable … Andy Dorman and Brad Knighton were rested The Revs finished up the preseason with a record of 2-1-4. Their two wins were against Chicago, 1-0, and Ft. Lauderdale, 2-1. The loss was against Chivas USA.
Brahma's hitting the Kool Aid again folks! I am not totally pessimistic. I agree with most of what you say here. But this season just feels more "Iffy" somehow. IF Bruin contributes IF the back line solidifies IF Omar is truly back IF the new guys contribute Going into last season I had high expectations for Bruin, I trusted Boswell, Taylor, Kofi, Ashe and I expected that Omar and maybe Calen Carr would contribute somehwere in the season. In retrospect almost all of those expectations were misplaced. But in the beginning I didn't have too many IF's.
I was pretty high on the Dynamo's chances last session because they were returning just about everyone plus Omar Cummings. While 2014 play was below standard, most notably being bounced from CCL from an incredibly weak group, the team got pretty good results when everyone was available. I saw recently an analysis that said the PPG form when all regulars were starting was enough to take the Supporters Shield. For me, playoffs came down to the spate of injuries -- especially playing 5/6ths of the SKC series without Rico Clark. Four starters in the SKC second leg were replacements. Not saying it would necessarily change the result but it was a huge factor -- along with fatigue in Leg 1 where the Dynamo did not have the legs to successfully push for the lead they needed to take north. As for 2014: Predictions are difficult. Especially about the future. But I've got these views: - I don't buy the notion that other teams are necessarily getting better vis-a-vis the Dynamo. Everyone thought DCU in 2013 were going to be Cup contenders. How did that work out? Fact is each and every team is a mystery at the start of the season. This is just not European football where you can count on clubs to run to form every year. (#WHYILOVEMLS) - Having said that, some teams will be better and some will be worse. - I've never been overly swooning over the Dynamo roster going into any year in the past. It has been team cohesion and spirit that carries the Orange. That and Kinnear does not beat himself or generally screw up the team. He manages with simple philosophies and policies and his own conviction that his system and his players can win. and pays attention to the locker room. - Having said that, the Dynamo are a complete mystery as well and I can envision disaster as well as glory. The above all not-withstanding -- I look forward to the season with hope and positive expectations. I can't wait to stand for the Dynamo and urge them on. I expect three points out of every game. I temper that with realistic expectations that anything above 49 points is a good season and should make the playoffs. Here we go.
If there is anything this team has taught me-its just make the playoffs and something can happen. With that said, I would be ecstatic if we squeak into the fifth seed on the last day of the season. In past years, I was disappointed we weren't a high seed because we dropped tick tacky points here and there. This upcoming season, I think I would be happen just to get in the dance, regardless of how we get there.
Of course we'd like to see Bruin get back to scoring consistently... but I think the guy we see step up more this season is Giles Barnes. He looks to be in way better shape... he looked really good on the ball in preseason and scored some goals.... and this will be his second full season in the league. Talking with him a couple of times, he really likes it here and he likes MLS. I think he makes it closer to 15 goals this season.
I agree. With a season of learning the forward position under his belt, I think he is poised to have a breakout season. Looked lively and creative during preseason. He does everything Bruin can't - creates for himself, accurate from long range, pacey, good movement off the ball, etc.
The next closest to a winning record here is Columbus. The Crew were 1-1-5 in Houston before last year's Dynamo win.
If I'm not mistaken, you just described one of the best forwards ever to play the game. Marco Van Basten.
I'm Giving Matt Reis all the credit for that record. He's retired, we'll Win every game against them now!
You forget about Tony Caig's contribution. NER were the opponents on the infamous orange cone goal in that an orange cone would have kept the ball out.
Pulling a Caiger. And of course he "forgot". The whole point of alcohol is to erase embarassing moments :/