Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Houston Reserves beat Chivas today 2-1. Dalglish did not play, he was there but apparently cannot play Reserve or any other games until he gets his visa. Holden and Nash scored, assisted by Wondo and I think Chabala. Chivas scored about 3 minutes into the game on a defensive breakdown (not sure who), the Chivas player was pretty much unmarked. Houston scored both goals in the second half. Starting lneup was Wells Waibel - Aloisi - Ianni - Goldthwaite Lanes - Clark - Holden - Chabala Nash - Storey Clark went out at halftime, Wondo came in at forward and Storey moved to wing. I thought Holden played well, and Storey played better than previous games I've seen - athough he did make a reckless play on a ball that the keeper had and took out the keeper. He was lucky he only got a yellow card.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Thanks for the info. I bet Preu wasn't the Ref. in this one,huh.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Are you sure that you aren't remembering the game from Saturday night? Thanks for the report. Anyone know someone with INS who can get Dalglish his freaking visa? Would really like to see him play soon.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Just got back and was able to take in the Reserve Game as well. I was thinking we had a great defense out there with Goldthwaite and Waibel starting and Clark starting at his usual position ... and then we go behind 1-0 in virtually the first minute. As Sportsfan noted - one sub at halftime - and it was a completely different game. We dominated the second half. The first goal was a great shot by Holden from a pretty good assist by Wondolowski who was cutting in from the left at 18 and then saw Holden running straight in from the middle. Stu's first touch was great and the shot from about 18 was wonderful. The second goal was a good header by Julian Nash but I am not sure who assisted. We just kept coming in the second half, wave after wave of attack. Good to see. I thought EVERYONE played well - I really mean that. The first half we had some cobwebs to get out of our head but I thought our reserves looked much the stronger team.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Thanks for the excellent first hand reports. I noticed from the reserves lineup posted at MLSnet that a Jason Cunliffe was on the bench for the Dynamo. This is the only hit that I found - for a mid from Houston (Cy Creek) who played at Santa Clara: Player Bio - Jason Cunliffe Anyone know more about him? Is he someone Dom's considering as an addition to the squad? Has he been playing somewhere since Santa Clara?
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Check out the College Players in PDL thread in College forum. I think hes a big time forward in PDL play
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) I'm not sure, but I think that's John Cunliffe, who does indeed seem to be a good player, but that's not Jason Cunliffe? Dunno.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) good to hear marcus played better than before. did he seem more comfortable playing up top?
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) In my opinion, no he did not look good up top. However he did look good on the right midfield in the second half. He was moved to the right mid at the start of the second half and played the full half there. He beat his man several times and got off a couple of good crosses.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) Woops. Maybe the MLS people got it wrong? Wouldnt suprise me. I have no idea though.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) I agree totally. He seems far more comfortable out on the wing, particularly when he can run into space and chase a ball down using his speed. He can make some moves with the ball to beat his man in the corner, but doesn't seem to be able to do much in the middle of the field. Houstonsoccer said that the team played better in the second half, and I agree. Even with Rico going out, putting Wondo in at forward and moving Storey out to wing seemed to strengthen the lineup a lot. I liked Lanes in central midfield, he seemed more comfortable there than on the wing (I know he played central defensive mid in college). Houstonsoccer - what did you think of Waibel's play? Given how poorly Gray played Sat night, I was watching Waibel quite a bit to see how he did. Obviously it's not the same, as the Chivas reserves don't have the same kind of forwards the first team does, but I thought Craig played pretty well. On the questions on the players on the bench, since they were shorthanded for the game (Moloi is out hurt, along with Ching) they invited down a couple of guys who had practiced with the team a few times last year, to be "guest players" for the Reserve team. Will Weatherly, who went in very late for Julian Nash, was one of them, and Cunliffe was the other. I don't think either player is being considered for anything other than being available as a fillin for the Reserve team if they are shorthanded. I believe the guest players were all from Santa Clara.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) sportsfan-quakes, How do you think Ianni has progressed? He had some bad luck getting injured early in the season in Austin and then had another injury that kept him out for a week or so. I know Dom doesn't play many rookies but he seems like a tough player that likes to win balls in the air and on the ground. He also has some good composure on the ball. Does he look like a guy that could fit in for Gray?
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) How did Chabala play? He has been on loan to the Portland Timbers and returning back to play in the reserve games. The reserve report said he was credited with an assist.
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) First of all, I believe that Waibel wasn't starting because he was injured these past two games, I think a quad injury/bruise? In any event, he certainly took the role of leader on the field for the Reserves and at least in the second half much of the play forward ran through him and his side. He gave Marcus some good balls, played solid defense, and generally looked like he was in full control. I cant really figure out what it is about Craig - slow, not flashy, but he is solid. I also agree with your assessment that the second half was much better for Houston than the first. It looked like Ricardo was "trying" but he is a guy who is an MLS-all star and future European player ... he should dominate a Reserve game shouldn't he?
Re: Dynamo v Chivas Reserves 8/27 (R) I was impressed with Ianni at central defender, both this game and in one previous game I saw. He's particularly strong in the air, he doesn't seem as strong with tackling and winning the ball on the ground. I saw him play a little at defensive mid in a Reserve game a while back, and I like him better at defender. He reminds me a bit of Robinson, a very tough guy who wins a lot of balls in the air and is not afraid to play physically. Still needs to learn positioning and team defense, I'm pretty sure he was one of the guys who got beat this weekend on the Chivas early goal. He played well, particularly offensively. He had several nice crosses, and also had a couple of shots. I remember one shot off the post that he had. He's not as good defensively (more like a Davis than a Mullan), and sometimes doesn't seem to know where to position himself. But when he has the ball on the wing, he does good things.
Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 The Dynamo and DCU reserves will play on Sunday morning, probably at 10:00 am, at Robertson Stadium. These games have been free in the past. They haven't had any concessions at the stadium, but there are a couple of fast food places open on Sunday mornign on Scott St., right next to the stadium on the West side. There are also plenty of quick food options along Elgin/Westheimer and Old Spanish Trail. These games haven't had much of a crowd - around 50 people in attendance - so you can pretty much sit wherever you want or move around. If you sit right behind the benches, you can hear some interesting comments - mostly in a Scottish brogue. There's also a home game for the UH women's soccer team scheduled for Sunday (see below), so if anyone's heard whether that changes anything about the location or procedure, please let us know here. *** Also, if you're really up for a day of soccer, you can catch some good women's NCAA D1 soccer shortly after the Dynamo-DCU reserves game: You can stay on the UH campus and watch the Cougars women's soccer team host Central Florida in a C-USA game at 1:00 pm. They play most of their games at Robertson, although they've also played at the Carl Lewis track/soccer facility. I'm not sure if the Dynamo reserve game will cause any changes. You can also make the very short drive over to Rice and watch the undefeated, nationally ranked, defending C-USA champion, Texas-beating Owls women's soccer team host Southern Miss in a C-USA game at 1:00 pm. They play their games at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. Craig Waibel is a volunteer assistant coach at Rice.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 I'm going to try and make it since I can't make the game Saturday night but who am I kidding...the chances of me making it to a reserve game the morning after a wedding are slim. But I will try.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 It can be tough to make a Sunday morning start time, but it's generally pretty low maintenance. This game is also the last home reserve league game -- although the San Jac schedule has a game against the Dynamo reserves on 10/15.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 is there security at reserves? I think it would be funny if Barra got tossed out from both regular match and reserves on same weekend
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 I asked one of the players at the autograph signing session about where the game is tomorrow. It's at the Carl Lewis stadium, not at Robertson.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 Thanks for the heads up. Getting accurate info on these reserve games has sometimes been a chore. For example, the official MLSnet.com page on the reserve division, always shows every reserve game as starting at 10:00 am ET (9:00 am CT). But the reserve games I've attended here have started at 10:00 am CT. The Chron also mentions in this morning's Dynamo Notes that the reserve game will be at Robertson, so who knows: In any event, it's probably a good idea to get there a few minutes early in case you need to sort out where they're playing. If they play at Carl Lewis (that's where the Dynamo hosted FCD in the USOC a few weeks ago), here's a map of the UH campus: Campus Map If you're from out of town, the Carl Lewis complex is the track stadium that appears in the upper left corner of the map - between Holman, Scott, Cullen, and Elgin streets. It's located just North of Robertson Stadium, so if you've been to Robertson, all you need to do is cross Holman. I've always used the entrance from the Cullen side, although I don't know if you can get in somewhere else. Carl Lewis is located between the softball and baseball stadiums. If you can't park at the Robertson lots, which are probably open, you may be able to use the lots at the corner of Elgin and Cullen. I'll be wandering around out there in an orange t-shirt and a blue Rice cap.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 Houston Reserves win 2-1. Both goals were scored by Wondolowski (the guy is a scoring machine). Houston scored first, about 4-5 minutes into the match. Mike Chabala, playing left wing/midfielder, got a nice ball out on the wing, beat his defender and sent in a beautiful low cross to Wondo. Wondo beat the keeper to the ball, about 10 feet from the goal, and hit a chip shot over the keeper into the upper net. DC scored late in the first half. Kevin Goldthwaite, playing left back, made a poor pass into the middle of the field right to a DCU player. He dribbled toward the goal, passed off to someone (not sure who), who was wide open about 20 feet from the goal. He beat the keeper (Hutton), for the goal. Houston scored the final goal about 30-35 minutes into the second half. Paul Dalglish, who was a late game sub, collected a ball in the right offensive corner which the defense had given up on, and kept it from going over the end line. He made a nice move, found Wondo who made a good run into the box and Wondo put it away for the easy score. The starting lineup was: ------------- Hutton --------------------- Gray --- Ianni --- Aloisi ----Goldthwaite ------------- Moloi ----------------- Storey --------------------Chabala ------------ Lanes ---------------- ----- Nash --------- Wondo ------------- Holden, Dalglish, Cochrane, and Woods were on the bench. I asked a couple of the guys after the game why Holden didn't start, and he's nursing a sore leg so they didn't want to play him too much. He ended up playing the last 15 minutes or so. Dalglish played about the last 20 minutes. Nash hurt his foot and came out early in the second half, Woods went in for him and Storey played forward for a while. When Dalglish went in, he played forward. Wells hurt his wrist in practice, so Hutton got his first action of the year. Wells was wearing a wrist brace, he said that xrays were negative, but didn't know how long he'd be out. I think he hurt it in practice this morning, because he was on the bench for last night's game. The team looked pretty good, the guys I thought did well were Wondo (he just knows where to be, made good runs, and finishes when he gets the chance), Aloisi and Ianni were solid in the middle on defense, and Lanes looked pretty good in the midfield. Chabala also had a really nice play on the assist for the first goal. Dalglish looked good in limited action, he has speed and just looks dangerous out there.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 Nice report. Actually Zach Wells hurt it before the game last night. The last minute of warm ups he took a shot and then he started holding his wrist and the trainer came over.
Re: Reserves v DCU - Sun. 10/1 Holden had an ice pack on his leg after the game last night. Not sure how he hurt it.