We got bunch of old folk at the defense..Craig and Wade is just too slow..it time we need to put some new fresh leg like James and Cameron.. We really need DeRo kind of calibrate player in the midfield..holden just not ready yet..well, that my thought...I could be wrong..
Slow, lethargic, with NO attack and pourous D. Time might finally catch up with this group of guys. Happens. DeRo trade will prove a serious mistake. WTF is wrong with Ching or is that an impostor? Youth is needed. I forgot about Jaqua. Sh#&, HD coulda used him... Midfield is still meh, as if they don't connect with each other.
Holden is a ghost of his former self right now. He needs to sit till he can get his head right. I think it's understandable this hasn't been a good few weeks for him. I'm a fan of Waibel but he was exposed a bunch. I think his age has finally caught up with him. Without Boswell our D is a mess. Dom's changes at half gave us some life. I'm glad he didn't wait to mix things up. Our attack is not on the same page. It seemed like we could work the ball 2/3's of the field and then didn't know what to do. I hope this is just preseason but the two games I've seen we have just looked bad!
So DeRo would have prevented the first two goals tonite? DeRo disappeared from many a game in the last two seasons. The defense let us down early and the offense created some chances but couldn't finish. I do agree with youth and speed needed and that time and age may have caught up to this roster.
I thought we had plenty of chances in both games and lacked the ability to finish. I thought we had the same problems in defense that plagued the Dynamo all year last year from Gamba Osaka to Sapprissa to New England to Red Bulls to Red Bulls in the playoffs. I actually think Holden, outside of the one play in the box in the first leg, is playing better than DeRo normally plays. If anybody thinks that DeRo was a consistent player they are out of their mind...DeRo was a game breaker one game and then shooting wild shots way off target and getting called for 5 offsides a game the next 4. DeRo came up big in big games...but its not like he was a difference maker last year against Sapprissa or Red Bulls. I posted this in the PBP thread, but...its a trend Sapprissa 0-0, 0-3 MetroBulls 1-1, 0-3 Atlante 1-1, 0-3 The Dynamo get plenty of possesion, don't finish their chances, and get burned on the defensive end. I can't honestly say that Metros or Atlante are better teams, but both of them exposed Dynamo defensive flaws and watched the Dynamo fail to put shots on target. Much of this needs to be on Dom. The same failings are repeating themselves over and over and haven't been addressed. Much of this needs to be on the front office for not aggressively finding solutions during off seasons. The biggest offseason splash the Dynamo have ever made is Caraccio (sp?) who didn't even make it through half a season. This team is too good to not put the final pieces to the puzzle on the roster.
Ching was the same as last year and the year before and the year before. He's a streaky finisher, he works hard, and he holds the ball up well. If you're really shocked by his performance tonight, you must not have watched him play very often. Holden was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. He'll never live up to the legend of DeRosario that people have in their heads, but he will stack up fine against the way DeRo actually played the last couple of years. Stu was not even a little bit of the problem tonight. The wing play wasn't very good. It will eventually be good. We all know what Mully and Davis can bring once they get into the flow of the season. Waibel was shocking. He's just not a CB. I think it was a mistake by Dom to start him there rather than Cam. But either way, it doesn't matter, we couldn't finish anything.
It sucks, but I'm not worried. If all anyone told you was, oh hey we lost a preseason game missing our starting CB's against an in-season Mexican team, you wouldnt have cared.
Our midfield will always look bad when a team defends us like they did -- fall back and take away all space in the attacking 1/2, knowing the Dynamo will get sucked forward and you can counter-attack into space. UNAM Pumas thrashed us with this tactic. Redbulls thrashed us with this tactic. Atlante thrashed us with this tactic. Well -- crap happens. I'm not going to panic over the result too much. What is nagging at me is opening camp late and then running out of gas at the start of the second half of the first leg. 5 Concacaf home games in the semi-finals so far. Only home team not to win is our Dynamo. Frankly, it is very difficult to win or even draw on the road in Concacaf when you play any team of quality. Oh well ... at least we are qualified for 09-10.
Except...its the same way we out to Red Bulls...couldn't score and got burned all over the place on the defense.
That was terrible, but first I must admit that I started watching the game late and began to fast forward through the midfield garbage during the second half... and I may have missed out during the pregame as to the reason Bosewll or Robinson wasn't out there and we had the new kid with the *cough* veterans *cough*. Thay just flat out played U-G-L-Y tonight, how many freaking times was a pass made to nothing or did a guy just watched it roll by... or better yet there were three or so guys around the ball like it was 4 year olds chasing the ball around. This team is starting to look like a shell of it's former self. I know it's still our pre-season, but we will deeply regret the DeRo trade this season. We seriously lacked imagination, but I guess you need solid posession to get some imagination with the ball. Is it time to get a striker to replace Ching and to partner with Kamara? Dating back to last season I haven't seen Ching make a play that made me glad he's on our team. Hopefully this is a wake up call and the guys get their crap together over the next few weeks and come out ready for the MLS season. One last thing, we would have maybe had a little better feeling going into this game if Dom would have protected the lead last week instead of only making one sub for a team that was obviously going to tire at the end of the game, but the past is the past.
let's not go to crazy, but we sucked tonight. Things I noticed, have noticed, and have complained about for months and in some cases years: 1) Corey really needs to use his right foot. 2) Mullan really needs to use his left foot. 3) Ching is a one trick pony (but he can really do that trick really well) 4) We need a poacher. Way too many balls bouncing around in the six. We need a guy who's only skill is being in the right place at the right time and has a hard nose for the goal. 5) We are old and slow in the back. If we got rid of DeRo then maybe we should have thought a little more about overhauling the back. 6) Craig can't play in the middle. 7) without Eddie we have no bite. We need a prick. Rico has calmed down, but he only snapped after a mountain of stuff piled up. We need a constant prick at the midfield like Eddie is at the back, just someone who gets more yellows and less reds. Think Dema Kovalenko type. 8) What the hell will Wondo do without the reserve team!? Good things: 1) Cameron can play any position well 2) Pat looks good in green 3) Richie is a smart player, not fast or great, just smart 4) Corey runs at people good things happen, Corey runs around people, he loses the ball 5) Dom can really swear better than most sailors (I don't want hear anyone go pansy about the We are For Kinnear chant) 6) Tally looks really tall when sitting. 7) Organs at soccer matches. 8) The away jerseys looked nice
I don't want to get too deep into a debate on this point -- but I don't consider this a pre-season game. This was a continuation of previous Post-Seasons. This was bigger than any MLS Cup game. I know others disagree, and I respect the variety of opinions. You should consider that for some of us performance in this tournament is the benchmark that matters most. For me -- this is why you win MLS cups and Supporters Shields. So that you qualify for the real meaningful competition of CCL.
I dont remember it being preseason or missing our starting CBs? They couldnt score sure, and thats a problem, but its only a problem of scoring 1 goal, not 3.
I agreed ..I think it a wake up call for Dynamo FO before the season start..They need to get their act together and start looking for a striker fast to backup Ching..Why not start Cory and Cameron from now..they did pretty good ..James was wonderful..I am just worry our midfield can't communicate with our forwards..it the follow-up that we can't execute well..it all boil down to Dom making the right decision as well..
First of all not having Boswell or Robinson hurt us BAD. I mean we had a guy who hadnt played CB in over 2 seasons and who is normally a backup at RB STARTING AT CB along side a guy who is only in his 2nd season in MLS. We went from having one of the best two CBs in the league to having one of the most over-the-hill and green combos. But i guess injuries cant be avoided. But i dont know why we didnt have a better opition there than Craig. Ugly game but i was hopping we would get an ugly goal. How bad are we in aggragate series that finish on the road? Does anyone have the numbers? I cant think of an aggregate that we have lost when we finish at home but it seems like we have lost them all that finish on the road.
Excellent point. You could see this happening early with a few of Atlante's rushes up the field, although the first two goals did not come directly off the counter. And the reality is that we do not have the speed at the back to consistently defend counters with the current lineup, even at full strength. But I don't think we can start off poor this year and just expect to go on a big run later in the year to finish at the top of the West. We'll lose a few guys for long stretches with national team matches and the likelihood of having three seasons with long winning streaks seems unlikely.
I do think that reporting 1 week late for camp was a sign that Dom was prioritizing this year's MLS playoffs over this(last) year's CCL. I definitely wish the priority on ANY of these years would have been to go out in the offseason and get the help to allow the Dynamo to compete for the concacaf crown, but it just doesn't seem like they like to make changes.
I agree. The MLS will never be anything unless it can compete in the international scope. Winning against the other MLS teams is meaningless unless the league itself has more credibility.
I remember all three of their goals coming by them attacking into space. None came from set-pieces. None came with out defense organized behind the ball.
Well he has a point Don. The entire Houston team dropped back to wait for Vilar to flight a 50/50 ball when he threaded that pass past Wade. Its a grey area. That played out like a counter, except Houston had dropped back to await it!