This-- "How much are we paying Ponce?? This has been the glaring problem all season & no amount of over priced players from far flung unheard of teams is going to fix it. Maybe Ponce can amount to something next year, but Aliyu, Bassi, & Kolache have to go. 0 SHOTS ON TARGET!!! Absolutely inexcusable." Got turned into this-- "Sorry to all you folks that he is not the combination of Ronaldo, Messi, Ronaldinho, Pele and Maradona that you expect. But so far, so good. He is just getting going with the Dynamo. Maybe he doesn’t work out as well as we want, but it is unreasonable to have expected him to fix all Dynamo offensive issues. BTW …. If you don’t know about Olympiakos of Greece then you just don’t follow world football." The bandwith spent to twist any critique of the offense into a straw man is honestly impressive. PS Olympiakos? I've heard of them but what does that have to do with Ponce? I guess I just don't follow enough world football.
So "How much are we paying Ponce??" in no way was implying he was overpaid. "Just asking information man!" Right. Everyone can judge that for themselves. So "No amount of overpriced players from farflung unheard of teams ..." was not meant to apply to Ponce? Your doing a comedy routine.
Looks like Morris is gonna miss the start, and maybe the game, on sunday with Ruidiaz starting. El Pescadito Dos will cause issues & he should be extra focused given his many poor shots last game. Sounders getting Vargas back as well & that's extra pressure on the midfield trying to keep up with a dynamic young player. Now that dumb ass Coco did dumb ass things and won't be here to help box in Vargas, HH and Artur could be given extra defensive purview thus limiting even further our chances of getting a ball to the front line and actually getting a goal. We may have to rely on a lucky ping ponging ball in the box like we have before to fall at our feet. I don't see much joy happening if we rely on a defensive back miracle shot being headed in. Probably gonna have to dirty up the game & hold all the possession even more than usual and pray for a opportunity. Maybe a Brooklyn or Blessing hero moment?
Our dead ball game has gone walk about as well. Either scoring direct free kicks or scoring off headers and or the odd ping pong ball inside the 18 like you mentioned, all these have dried up. A trait that used to be a cornerstone of our soccer culture. Earning set pieces and scoring from them!
@7seven7 Player of the Century recipient Ezequiel Ponce tells the Chronicle the highest-pressure soccer match of his career was his Dynamo debut. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...quiel-ponce-houston-mls-playoffs-19876990.php
Friendly warning---be sure your posts very clearly speak positively of Ponce or you might get ticketed. For his debut to be the most pressure he's felt speaks again to his lack being accustomed to high leverage situations or having experience to where he is heavily counted on. I hope he can be inspired & grow from it, but for someone who can see the end of their productive career, it may be beyond him. Surely the 8 million dollars paid for him had something to do with the pressure felt as well. I'm just happy to see the Chronicle do write ups this week with the playoffs going on. They must have needed to fill the space that the Astros normally take up this time of year.
What’s an interesting way to go out. This is a very odd dynamo season - Felt like we had more talent than last year, but had a real inconsistent home form especially and basically these games played out the way most of the season played out. Tied for most of the games, but somehow just on the short end.. The red cards in the playoffs by two of your “best“ players is just unacceptable. And I usually will give crap to the refs and think they give out too many soft reds, but the HH one especially was completely stupid. we seem to have a lot of players that don’t really want to be here, that seems like it’s been that way in the past but more so this year and more so with our highest paid players. and Steve Clark is one of the worst shootout goalies I’ve ever seen. He’d be better just diving the same side every single time hoping one hits him.
Lackluster finishing up top from our #9 role again just is not going to win any team games versus top of the table opposition. I mean great, we scored in stoppage time, but there were several solid face to goal chances to finish the play where Ponce did not score. And Sebas when he came on, his tilt full volley attempt around the 75th minute that gets skied over the crossbar, crap finishing like this just is not going to cut it. Nate Jaqua and the Dancing Bear would have finished more than these two over paid dandy lads have this season. Those two red cards sure didn't do our players any favors. But bad refs are always in play, mucking up MLS play. It is part and parcel for the league, always has been. Thus any soccer savvy coach and players must rise above chippy play. Get stuck in! Sure! But do it off the ball and not 7 yards in front of the ref. Then add the VAR review system us fans endure these days where retroactive bookings are in the sport. Modern pro soccer is just not what it used to be. Pro baseball neither. Most pro sports look way different than say 2006. Season 19 is now over. We just did not defend our house like past Dynamo teams did. Here's looking forward to our 20th Season. I hope our FO gets Adidas to some sort of retro kit and original crest. I hear ya Westie. However, Clark did get a solid hand on that last Seattle attempt to only see it somehow travel under his sternum and into the back of the net. In live action, and being a few feet away from the goal there, it looked like he had come up with some miraculous save. Nope.
per usual, the advice is fire the GM, clear out the DPs, and spend some actual money. the coach has stabilized the team defense. team defense, as i argued before, will get you regular playoffs with any offense at all (more than say what austin had). but to progress deeper you need to finish the other half, to field top attackers like this used to have during the championship years. there is a basic question if the ownership will ever spend enough for "easy," and pat will waste what he gets for "hard." as it stands it's significantly more than the sum of the parts, which is a tribute to the coach, but it took this GM 3 tries to get the coach. the GM then nets too low a personnel batting average to join the elite. basically it's a somewhat weaker version of hainault/boswell's best years where the defense cracks against the best teams and they couldn't buy a goal from ching and carr to win it all. my bet is they keep pat and this thing will just kind of hum along about this level. i will be interested if HH's red shocks them out of an autopilot option. it would help if they got their house in order sufficient they could buy a 3rd DP. and i don't see them shifting too many parts because they are scared of risk. even if in postseason terms this actually went backwards. this is not the kinnear era that coldbloodedly knew the weak links and set about fixing them. this bunch is scared change is worse. which should reflect on the GM.
just gonna leave this here & wait to see what the sunshine police does with this. Do they get triggered by all criticism of Ponce & company or only if it's from me? Tune in next time ladies and gentlemen to see who and how gets ticketed!!!! LOL PS Over Paid Dandy Lads is now the name of our front line. So appropriate
Both Coco and HH are club and country captain armband holders over their careers. Have the garra, the claws that dig into the sport, where professionals play hard for the jersey they wear. We all know and understand soccer's way of passion. This act hurt as a long time hincha of our players and our colors. https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42178998
I'm going to venture to say that nobody will be triggered. Reason is simple, there is a difference between thoughtful and reasoned criticism on the one hand, and hyperbole on the other. We all criticize, we just aren't over the top in the way you are. That's fine, that's your style but you have to know that generally speaking when someone's criticism is as nuanced as: "they're trash, fire everyone, they suck, etc, etc" people will tend to tune them out or roll eyes.
Maniac has the right of it. Never, has this board "ticketed" criticism. What gets ripped is stupid criticism and hyperbolic criticism like calling players who play hard "trash." Is there anything worse than whining about people not agreeing with you and saying your persecuted or being policed? I dunno Celt. I think you need to go back and watch the game again. Ponce helped create for himself two decent looks and he fully committed on both. Frie made very good plays on both - especially the first. Ponce did not whiff, or miss the goal, or back out at either one. Both times he fully committed and crashed into defenders/gk. One the first he got a quality shot off that Frie barely saved. Calling him a dandy is rather ... puzzling. I remember all the times Brian Ching failed to finish a good chance. There were more of those than goals. It is the life of a striker. Yet now we fondly remember the legend he actually is. I'm not saying Ponce will, or won't be, as good as Chingee. But I don't seem him doing anything but playing hard and giving it his best chance. At least so far. Aliyu whiffed a big chance. Dorsey created a look then failed to get it out of his feet and tried to shoot anyway. I think there were a few others ... not sure any were Ponce. It is emblematic that Ponce tells the Houston Chronicle that he feels great responsibility and pressure to perform at this new club where he assumes a DP role, and greater responsibility than at his previous teams -- and some people twist that to be a negative? FFS.
Either forgetting or willfully omitting the whiff from Ponce just 4 seconds from the start of the game. Wide open 1v1 against a surprised defense & keeper and it doesn't even make it on frame. I guess you could spin it by saying he didn't whiff as he wasn't trying to shoot but that would make it worse having to admit that he couldn't bring a simple ball down from an easy pass to collect and shoot. Some of us want the most expensive player ever for the Dynamo to at least be able to collect an easy pass in the box and get a shot off. I'm sure this is filtered as "hyperbole" by some but that says more about them than it does of us with basic expectations from a professional player.
Actually, that is a good point. I had forgotten about that opening play. Ponce should have trapped that and gotten a shot off. That was a play he should have made and did not.
Now this is the type of bipartisanship this country needs. Let us be the light.....there is hope yet!!
Just found this. Interesting follow up on HH and moving forward. Hector Herrera's senseless decision to spit at referee could have long-term implications for his Houston Dynamo and Mexico future Herrera took to social media Monday to apologize for the incident. “It hurts to have fallen like that after a great season,” Herrera wrote Monday afternoon on Instagram. “Personally, I apologize to all the fans and my teammates for yesterday’s sending-off. I’m sure we’ll work to come back stronger in 2025. Let’s go Houston Dynamo.”
When Coco lost his cool and took red I thought that it is likely a series and season defining moment. Then HH's red card stole that from Coco. No reason to discuss either card much -- our two biggest stars both in-excusably screwed up. tl:dr: If HH is willing to work harder than ever before to not let this tarnish his reputation here, the dynamo should do it. However, it is not easy and will take a greater commitment from both sides. For me, I see two ways forward for HH. We all know one way, and the Dynamo could force it on him. The other option is for HH to commit himself to not let that moment define his term in Orange. He can commit to working harder during this off-season than he ever has before. Come to camp in January in top peak condition to give himself the greatest opportunity to stay fit -- to not get tired. I never thought he looked totally fit to me this year. Further, commit to focusing on keeping his nose clean and being the standard bearer for the organization that makes everyone proud. From the Dynamo's part, giving him that chance I can't see as automatic. I would love to see the Dynamo do that IF he holds a frank discussion with them, asks for the chance to change his legacy and lead the team to the success everyone wants. I don't see the Dynamo doing it for $5MM/year. Here are elements I'd love to see to make it work: - heavily incentivized contract rather than guaranteed including a discipline standard; - go out and get a young high quality understudy to share minutes with -- a Midfielder who sees the game the way HH does. This guy won't come cheap. Maybe a young talent caught up in numbers game at Barcelona or Man City. I'm talking DP level. - have him take Raines under his wing and transform Raines. Raines takes 3 touches to do what HH does in one. - Go get a big DP #10, a new most expensive player in Dynamo history. - Tell him you want him to succeed and move into the coaching ranks when the time comes, and be the architect of the Dynamo style going forward. HH needs more help than he gets under the current roster. Give him and the team a fighting chance to chase a supporters shield, rather than just be good enough to make the playoffs. Your not really competing in this league if your goal is just making the playoffs.
would be nice if they actually got a brand name player who can score not some dude from 2nd division in Bulgaria. Its really not fun going to dynamo home games to see 1-0, 0-0, type games this does not draw people in, going forward im only going to game if I have a free ticket.
Bingo!! PS "would be nice if they actually got a brand name player who can score not some dude from 2nd division Bulgaria".........This guy gets it!